Luke 18:34
And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
On the last journey to Jerusalem, with His steps turning toward Calvary while His enemies were plotting to kill Him for His plain reproofs and warnings, He took the twelve aside and plainly foretold that He would go up to Jerusalem where all things written by the prophets concerning the Son of man would be accomplished. He told them He would be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, condemned to death, delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked and spitefully entreated and spit on, scourged and put to death, and rise again the third day. They understood none of these things about His betrayal, rejection, suffering, mistreatment, death and resurrection. The saying was hid from them, its meaning was hidden, and they did not know or grasp the things that were spoken.
Their blindness came because they expected Him to set up a temporal kingdom, to sit on David's throne and reign as a temporal prince in Jerusalem bringing all nations into subjection to His will. They expected the Messiah's kingdom to be established soon and soon to appear in glory, whereas He was seeking to show that His kingdom was spiritual, not temporal. Therefore His words about suffering and death seemed to them vague and shadowy. They were unwilling to believe the disagreeable truths He opened, unwilling to give up the thought that He would be a conqueror, and unwilling to harbor the idea that He would be rejected and treated as a slave by His enemies.
Because they did not believe the words He spoke to them, though He always spoke truth and never deceived them, they did not comprehend the words of the prophets and thought them out of harmony with His words. Affectionate human love that would spare Him, as in Peter's plea, opposed the mind and will of God and had to be rebuked as inexcusably offensive to Him. By such unbelief the disciples were left unprepared for the trying scenes through which they were called to pass, though standing this side of the cross the predictions of the prophets are seen fulfilled to the letter. The chapter containing the verse also points to the oppressed people of God near the close of the church's history raising a united, persistent cry to heaven for deliverance, whose prayer is answered when the faithful remnant is delivered.