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Is there a subject in school you struggle to understand?

For me, it was algebra.

For all but two years of my primary education, I was homeschooled. I went to public school in the second and third grades, but before and after that, I was taught by my mom. She was an excellent teacher, but one thing she and I both struggled with was math.

By the time I reached ninth grade, it was apparent that I was not grasping the concepts of early algebra. My dad, who’s better at math than my mom, tried to step in and help. Although he understood it, he struggled to teach it. He could not instill in me the concepts behind how the formulas worked, which is what I needed to know to succeed.

Thankfully, there was a woman in our church who was an expert mathematician. My mom asked if she would be willing to tutor me, and she agreed. She became my math teacher for the duration of my ninth-grade year, and by the time summer came around, I was doing far better in math than I had before.

I passed the remaining years of algebra without her instruction because, once she had helped me understand the concepts behind how it worked, I was able to figure out the rest well enough to succeed.

That’s not to say that, even as an adult, I’ve become good at algebra. If you handed me a graphing calculator and told me to figure out any equation in an algebra book, I’d probably fail dramatically. It’s been over a decade since I even took college algebra, so most of that knowledge has left the forefront of my mind, replaced or suppressed by information more relevant to my career choices and interests.

I’m a youth pastor. That requires Bible knowledge.

I’m a writer. That requires an understanding of creative writing and the English language.

None of my various titles or responsibilities in life necessitate a knowledge of algebra, so I’ve had no reason to keep up with it.

We all have areas of understanding where we fall short. No human mind is perfect. Something that makes perfect sense to one person might be mind-boggling to another.

That is not to say we cannot train ourselves to understand. We can, and should. But nobody has perfect comprehension of every subject, even the very wise or intelligent.

The disciples of Jesus were no exception to that rule.

In Luke 18:31–34, Jesus set the stage for the beginning of the end. Though there are still six chapters left in Luke after Chapter 18 ends, this section of verses signaled the beginning of the final act of Jesus’ ministry.

Verse 31 begins with Him telling the disciples, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem.”

In the Gospels—particularly Matthew, Mark, and Luke—the beginning of His journey to Jerusalem marked a shift in the state of Jesus’ ministry, His followers, and the reactions of those around Him. His proclamations became more direct. Those who adored Him became more vocal. Those who opposed Him became more aggressive.

None of this caught Him by surprise.

He had predicted the intensifying opposition to His mission several times before. This time, He was more direct than ever: “[the Son of Man] will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon” (v. 32).

In His previous predictions, recorded by Luke in 9:22, 13:32–33, and 17:25, He had not mentioned the Gentiles. He was unveiling more truths about what was about to happen to Him so that His disciples would be prepared.

He went on to say that He would be flogged and killed, but that “on the third day he will rise again” (v. 33).

All of this had been foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the prophets (v. 31). Much of what Jesus would go through was written about in the books of Isaiah, Daniel, and even some of the Psalms. Even so, the writings that hinted at His suffering had apparently been overlooked in favor of those surrounding His eventual victory.

And because of this, the disciples “understood nothing about all these things” (v. 34).

He told them plainly, but they could not fathom that what He was saying was possible. Luke even tells us that the meaning was hidden from them. The widespread Jewish expectation of the Messiah—whom the disciples firmly accepted Jesus to be at this point—centered on a conquering hero and king. Rejection and suffering did not fit easily into that expectation.

But the suffering Jesus faced was necessary.

He came not to free them from the Roman government, but from the bondage of sin and death.

Hebrews 2:14–15 says it plainly: “Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.”

He said as much while quoting Isaiah in Luke 4:18 when He read, “He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.”

It was not enough for Rome to be overthrown, because Rome wasn’t the true enemy.

The powers of sin and death were His true targets, and He intended to face them head-on. To bring about victory over the powers and authorities that have a chokehold on our sinful world, He had to endure the brunt of their injustice, hatefulness, and evil.

This can be hard for us to understand, even today.

But for the disciples, who had not yet experienced the truth of His death and resurrection, it seemed impossible. They didn’t want to consider the possibility that Jesus might die. They couldn’t wrap their heads around it. And when the time came for those events to unfold, most of them would run and hide.

But whether they understood or not, the coming events were set in stone.

The good news for us is that although those awful things did happen—Jesus was beaten, mocked, and killed—they were not the end.

He didn’t only predict His suffering. He also predicted His ultimate victory in resurrection.

Through His death, He took upon Himself the full weight of sin, injustice, and spiritual darkness unleashed on a single human form. But He proved Himself stronger than those powers when He rose from the dead three days later.

His resurrection did more than merely nullify those powers. It crushed them entirely.

And so, we stand capable of redemption and transformation into the creatures God intended us to be. Because He perfectly modeled a godly life, we can “be imitators of God” and “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1–2).

We join in His victory when we believe that His sacrifice took the weight of our sin and His resurrection struck the ultimate blow that can free us from sin and deliver us from death into eternal life.

And with that faith as our starting point, we should live in a way that reflects the hope we have and shares it with the rest of the world.

The disciples did not understand until after the fact, but they got the picture eventually.

We all come to the same understanding in our own time and through our own process, which God uses to reveal the truth of His love for us.

Have you grasped the truth of what He did for you?

Are you willing to respond in faith and stand triumphantly in the victory Jesus won for us?

We have a part in that victory.

It all begins with faith.

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