They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” (Mark 10:32-34 NIV)
Jesus often prepared His disciples for His death – and resurrection – but that still did not make them ready to accept it. They had shared so many good times together that the thought of Him leaving them forever (at least in person, anyway) seemed so far away. But whether they were willing or ready to accept it, it happened. Thankfully, Jesus did come back to life again and their grief was turned to joy.
Not long ago I was waiting for the traffic lights to turn green when I saw a grieving quote on the car in front of me. It said, “Your wings were ready, but my heart was not.” I don’t think we can ever prepare ourselves enough, even if we knew it was going to happen. See, Jesus was ready to die because He knew His time had come, but His disciples weren’t ready to let Him go. Did Jesus know that they would never be ready? I bet. Did He think it was worth preparing them anyway? Absolutely. Because sometimes when you know the person you love won’t be around much longer, you wrap your arms around them much tighter.
Rising with the Son 