Why didn't the disciples understand Jesus when He told them He would be crucified and rise again?
The disciples did not understand because God had hidden the saying from them and never opened their eyes to it. Jesus told them more than once He would be crucified and rise again, but this truth remained veiled; even on resurrection morning, they did not expect Him to be alive.
Les explains that the disciples' failure to understand was because the saying was hidden from them. The Scripture says it was 'hid from them,' and 'neither knew they the things which were spoken.' Jesus told them more than once He would be crucified and rise from the dead, but God never opened their eyes to it. Les illustrates this by asking whether the eleven knew He would be back among the living on Sunday morning; not one did. If they had understood, they would have been outside the tomb waiting to see it happen. But they didn't know. Even on resurrection morning, Mary Magdalene thought someone had stolen the body. So their lack of understanding was due to God's hiding the truth from them.