Luke 9:45

45 They didn't know what he meant. The meaning was hidden from them so that they didn't understand it. Besides, they were afraid to ask him about what he had said.

Luke 9:45 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 9:45

But they understood not this saying
What was meant by being betrayed into the hands of men, and by his being put to death; they knew not, how these things could possibly be, for they could not by any means reconcile them with the notions they had of a temporal Redeemer, and victorious Messiah:

and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not;
the true meaning of this saying was hid from their understanding, which was veiled with the above notion of the worldly grandeur of the Messiah, that they did not take it in;

and they feared to ask him of that saying,
of the meaning of it; imagining that he had a secret mystical meaning in it, which they could not reach; lest he should reproach them with their dulness and stupidity; or should rebuke them with the like sharpness and severity he had reproved Peter not long ago, upon the same head.

Luke 9:45 In-Context

43 Everyone was amazed to see God's wonderful power. Everyone was amazed at all the things that Jesus was doing. So he said to his disciples,

44 "Listen carefully to what I say. The Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to people."

45 They didn't know what he meant. The meaning was hidden from them so that they didn't understand it. Besides, they were afraid to ask him about what he had said.

46 A discussion started among them about who would be the greatest.

47 Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he took a little child and had him stand beside him.