Mark 9:30-32 (ESV)
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
This is about as plan as you can tell someone about the future resurrection. Yet, the disciples still did not get it. Why? Well, think about the thought. We consider the resurrection the pinnacle of Christianity and grew up knowing about it. They had never even heard of a resurrection from the dead. Note what happened after the transfiguration scene a few verses before this:
Mark 9:9-10 (ESV)
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.
John recorded their confusion this way:
John 16:16-17 (ESV)
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
Remember, Mark was not one of the disciples. He is probably recording Peter’s (and other disciples) version of these events. It will not be until they see Jesus’ empty tomb that all this comes together.
John 12:16 (ESV)
His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
The resurrection is the keystone of our faith. At first it was not understood by those told explicitly about it. They will come to know it. It will be their battle cry. So, too, ours!
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