What does Luke 18:34 mean?
"Jesus' Travelogue to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51—19:27) is a series of stories. These show Jesus teaching the disciples about the kingdom of God so they will be prepared to build the church. The training is almost complete. They are now "going up to Jerusalem" (Luke 18:31). And Jesus warns, yet again, about what will happen there (Luke 9:21–22, 44–45; 13:33).This time, He is more graphic. The Jews will hand Him over to the Gentiles. He will be "mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise" (Luke 18:32–33).
Presumably, the disciples understand the words being formed and spoken by Jesus' mouth: He is saying He will be killed. But in their minds is a severe disconnect between what Jesus says and their concept of the Messiah. Most likely, they think Jesus is speaking in parable or metaphor; they can't wrap their heads around the idea that He means He must literally, physically suffer and die. They still have visions of an independent Israel with Jesus on the throne, and the twelve of them sitting at His side (Matthew 19:28). In fact, directly after this, James and John—and their mother—ask for preferential treatment in Jesus' kingdom (Matthew 20:20–28; Mark 10:35–45).
It isn't until Jesus has resurrected that He reveals how His death fulfills Old Testament prophecy (Luke 24:27, 44–49).
The foil to the disciples is the blind beggar in Jericho. He doesn't know Jesus will die, but he believes what he has heard about Jesus: He is the Son of David; He can heal his blindness; He heals to the glory of God (Luke 18:35–43). May we follow his example and believe what we hear.
