Matthew 17:22-23
Jesus prepares His disciples to understand that the Messiah's path to glory runs through being delivered up, killed, and raised on the third day.
22 While they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered up into the hands of men,
23 and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up.” They were exceedingly sorry.
Jesus prepares his disciples to understand that the Messiah's path to glory runs through being delivered up, killed, and raised on the third day.
Matthew records Jesus' renewed passion prediction to keep the disciples' understanding of the Messiah governed by his necessary betrayal, death, and resurrection rather than by glory without suffering.
The setting is Galilee, where Jesus continues forming the disciples away from the immediate pressure of the Jerusalem authorities but toward the destiny that awaits him there. The saying assumes the growing conflict already visible in Matthew and anticipates the handing over that will unfold in the passion narrative. The disciples' grief reflects ordinary messianic expectation struggling to process a suffering and dying Messiah.
The Glory of the Son, the Coming of Elijah, the Failure of Little Faith, and the Son’s Humble Freedom
The Father reveals Jesus as the beloved Son whose glory surpasses Moses and Elijah, whose path includes suffering and resurrection, whose authority conquers demonic power, and whose sonship expresses itself in humble, non-offensive freedom.