Matthew 17:22 - Meaning and Application

Christ here tells his disciples again about his own sufferings. He had already begun to speak of this before (Matthew 16:21), and since it was a hard thing for them to hear, he saw it was necessary to repeat it. Some things God says once, yes, even twice, and still people do not understand.

Notice, first, what he foretold about himself, that he would be betrayed and killed. He knew ahead of time everything that would happen to him, yet he still took on the work of our redemption, which greatly shows his love. In a way, his clear sight of these sufferings was itself a kind of suffering beforehand, except that his love for people made it all bearable to him.

He says that he would be betrayed into the hands of men. This can be read as God the Father delivering him up by his settled purpose and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23; Romans 8:32). But as the verse is usually translated, it points to Judas’s betrayal of him into the hands of the priests, and their handing him over to the Romans. He was betrayed into the hands of men, people joined to him by human nature, and so ones from whom he might have expected pity and kindness. He was also among people he had come to save, and from whom he might have expected honor and thanks. Yet these were the very ones who would persecute and kill him.

He also says they would kill him. Nothing less would satisfy their anger. They wanted his blood, his precious blood. This is the heir, they said, let us kill him. Nothing less would satisfy God’s justice or fulfill Christ’s mission. If he is to be a sacrifice that removes sin, then he must be killed, for without blood there is no forgiveness.

He adds that he will be raised on the third day. Even when he spoke of his death, he also gave a hint of his resurrection, the joy set before him. In view of that joy, he endured the cross and despised the shame. This was an encouragement not only for him, but also for his disciples. If he rises on the third day, then his absence from them will not be long, and his return to them will be full of glory.

Next, notice how the disciples received this message. They were very sorry. Their sadness showed their love for their Master’s person, but it also showed how little they understood his mission. Peter did not dare speak against it again, as he had before (Matthew 16:22), because he had been sharply rebuked then. Still, he and the others deeply grieved over it, because it meant their own loss, their Master’s suffering, and the sin and ruin of those who would do it.