The disciples did not understand because God deliberately hid the meaning from them—Jesus' words were plain, but the understanding was concealed until God's appointed time.
Jesus took the twelve aside and told them plainly that He would be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged, killed, and rise again the third day (Luke 18:31-33). Yet the very next verse says they understood none of these things because the saying was hid from them (Luke 18:34). Les Feldick points to God as the One who hid it: it was not time for the twelve to know. Their absence from the tomb on Sunday morning shows they truly had no expectation of resurrection.
Luke 18:31-34 — This is the central passage: Jesus speaks of His death and resurrection with complete clarity, and the text immediately explains that the saying was hid from the twelve.
John 20:9 — This verse confirms that even after seeing the empty tomb, the disciples did not yet understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.
In Luke's Gospel, Jesus takes the twelve aside on His way to Jerusalem and tells them exactly what will happen: He will be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, spitefully entreated, spit upon, scourged, put to death, and rise again on the third day (Luke 18:31-33). The next verse records the disciples' response: "And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken" (Luke 18:34). Without that explanation, an observer might assume the disciples were simply slow or unwilling to listen. Scripture says otherwise: the meaning was hidden from them. John's Gospel provides the same picture after the resurrection. After Peter and John ran to the empty tomb and saw the linen clothes, John writes, "For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9). The Bible presents the disciples' ignorance not as a mental failure on their part but as a divinely ordered concealment that remained until God's time to reveal it.
Les Feldick repeatedly takes students to Luke 18:31-34 and calls Jesus' prediction as plain as it could possibly be. He notes that Jesus was not speaking a foreign language and was not using a brand-new topic: He had been with these men for three years and spoke the same language. Yet the twelve understood none of it. For Les, the verse itself supplies the answer: "this saying was hid from them." He then asks the obvious question—"Who hid it? God did." God purposely concealed the death and resurrection from the disciples because it was not time for them to know; God reveals in His own time the things that man has to know. Les demonstrates the reality of their ignorance by pointing to Sunday morning. Had the disciples understood that Jesus would rise, they would have been waiting outside the tomb to see it happen. Instead, none of them were there. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb only to carry out the custom of anointing the body with spices. Even later, when Peter and John ran to the sepulchre and saw the evidence, they still did not understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. For Les, the whole sequence proves that God had veiled the meaning until His appointed time.
Yes. Les Feldick emphasizes that Luke 18:31-33 is as plain as language can make it. Jesus said He would be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, spitefully entreated, spit on, scourged, put to death, and rise again on the third day. Les points out that He was not speaking in a foreign language, and this was not the first time He had spoken to them about it—He had been with them for three years. The problem was not clarity; it was concealment. The next verse explains why they failed to understand: the saying was hid from them.
According to Les Feldick, the answer is God. Luke 18:34 says the saying "was hid from them," and Les asks, "Who hid it? God did." God purposely hid these things from the twelve because it was not time for them to know. Les also makes the broader point that throughout human history God must speak something before a generation can believe or understand it, and God reveals the things man must know in His own time.
Les Feldick offers the empty tomb as the proof. If the disciples had understood Jesus' promise to rise on the third day, they would have been waiting outside the tomb that Sunday morning. Instead, they were nowhere to be found. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, but she came to anoint the body with spices, not to watch for a resurrection. She was shaken when the body was gone because she had no idea He was alive. Even after Peter and John ran to the sepulchre and saw the evidence, John 20:9 says they still did not know the Scripture that He must rise again.
Jesus spoke to the twelve in very plain language as they traveled toward Jerusalem. He told them that everything written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man would be fulfilled: He would be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, mistreated, spat upon, scourged, put to death, and then rise again on the third day. He knew exactly what was coming because He knew the end from the beginning. Yet the disciples understood none of it. The message was not unclear; it could not have been stated more plainly. The reason they did not grasp it was that these things were hidden from them. God had not opened their eyes to understand what Jesus was telling them, even though He told them more than once that He would be crucified and rise from the dead. Their lack of understanding was evident at the crucifixion and resurrection. After Judas was gone, none of the remaining eleven expected Jesus to be alive on Sunday morning. If they had understood that He would rise, they would have been outside the tomb waiting to see it happen. Instead, they did not know what the spoken words meant, because the understanding had been withheld from them.
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God Hid the Meaning From Them
Les explains that the disciples understood none of these things because the saying was hid from them, and if they had understood the resurrection they would have been outside the tomb on Sunday morning.
Plain Words, No Comprehension
Les notes that Jesus told the twelve clearly He would be put to death and rise again, yet they comprehended none of it; only Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, expecting to anoint a body, not to see a risen Lord.
God Did the Hiding
Les directly answers the question "Who hid it?" with "God did," and shows the disciples' despair by noting they went back to Galilee thinking it was all over; even Peter and John at the empty tomb had not yet understood.
God Reveals in His Own Time
Les says God purposely hid these things from the disciples and reveals in His own time what man has to know, reinforcing why the twelve had no expectation of resurrection.
Plain as Day
Les reads Luke 18:31-33 and declares the language was as plain as it could be; the verse itself explains the disciples' failure—the saying was hid from them.
Three Years With Jesus, Still No Understanding
Les emphasizes that these were men who had been with Jesus for three years, so the explanation is not ignorance but divine concealment: God hid it because it was not time for them to know.
God Must Speak Before Understanding Comes
Les places the disciples' failure within the broader pattern that God must speak something before a generation can believe it, showing that even plain words require divine opening.
Luke 18:31: Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Jesus deliberately gathers the twelve to tell them what lies ahead in Jerusalem.
Luke 18:32-33: For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
This is the plain prediction of the crucifixion and resurrection that the disciples failed to grasp.
Luke 18:34: And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
This is the key verse that answers the question: the disciples did not understand because the meaning was hidden from them.
John 20:9: For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
This confirms that even after seeing the empty tomb, the disciples still had not internalized the resurrection promise.
Yes. In Luke 18:31-33, Jesus told the twelve exactly what would happen: He would be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, spitefully entreated, spit upon, scourged, put to death, and rise again on the third day. Les Feldick says the language was as plain as it could possibly be, and Jesus had been speaking to the disciples for three years in the same language.
Les Feldick teaches that God deliberately hid it because it was not time for the twelve to know. Luke 18:34 says the saying was hid from them, and Les asks, "Who hid it? God did." God reveals to man the things he must know in His own time.
They were not waiting at the tomb on Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene went there only to anoint the body with spices. Even after Peter and John ran to the sepulchre and saw the evidence of the resurrection, John 20:9 says they still did not know the Scripture that He must rise again from the dead.
Watch the Teaching: Why Did God Hide Secrets in the Bible Until Now?