Luke 18:31
Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
On His last journey up to Jerusalem He took the twelve apart and told them that as they went up there all things written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man would be accomplished. He spoke as His feet were bending toward Calvary, when the hour of great trial was upon Him. His enemies were then plotting for His life, determined to silence His reproofs and warnings condemning their sins and hypocrisy and to pursue Him until His life paid the penalty for His plain teachings and sharp reproofs.
The accomplishment He foretold, which He went on to explain and which the following verses spell out, was betrayal to the chief priests and scribes, condemnation to death, and delivery to the Gentiles. There He would be mocked and spitefully entreated and spit on and scourged, would suffer at Gentile hands, be put to death, and rise again the third day, and it was fulfilled to the letter.
The disciples understood none of these things; the saying was hid and hidden from them and they knew not what was spoken. They failed to understand because they expected a temporal kingdom with Christ reigning as a temporal prince on David's throne in Jerusalem over all nations, and expected the kingdom to be established soon. They were focusing on the prophets' promises of the Messiah's glory and on His promises of honor in His kingdom, and were unwilling to believe disagreeable truth, to give up the thought of Christ as conqueror, and to harbor the idea of His rejection and treatment as a slave.
By this prediction He sought to impress on them that His kingdom was spiritual, not temporal. But not believing His plain true words, they did not comprehend the prophets and thought the prophets out of harmony with Him. So they were unprepared for the trying scenes they had to pass through. Though His words held out hope for them to cherish and gave them hope, they had almost all forgotten it and nearly forgotten it.
As He suffered on the way to Calvary, His mother remembered those briefly spoken words about what the prophets had written concerning the Son of Man, for they concerned the events unfolding that day. The disciples should have remembered the part about His resurrection on the third day as surely as the events that had already happened. The prediction proves that affection that would spare Him that suffering, though prompted by love, is opposed to the mind and will of God and offensive to the Redeemer, and must be severely rebuked rather than welcomed as solace.