<p>17:22&nbsp;<em>And while they stayed in Galilee, Jesus said to them</em>- Luke adds that the curing of the young man led to wonder and amazement at His healing power, but He wished the disciples to realize that the crowds would all the same turn against Him: &ldquo;But while all were marvelling at all the things which He did, He said to His disciples: Let these words sink into your ears. For the Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of men&rdquo; (Lk. 9:43,44). The note that He reminded them about His passion whilst they were still in Galilee is another hint at the Lord&rsquo;s structured approach to training the twelve. Before they went back to Jerusalem, He wanted them to be aware well ahead of time that He was going to His death. Mark adds that He didn&rsquo;t want people to know of His presence because He was teaching the disciples about His death. Once again we encounter the theme of the Lord intensely focusing upon His disciples rather than upon the masses of Israel. It could be argued that He could have healed far more people had He not had this policy; but His long term intention was to create a solid body of followers who would bring His message to the world after His death. And we must likewise achieve a balance between good deeds for the world, and the need for strengthening the body of believers.</p>
<p><em>The Son of Man shall be delivered up into the hands of men</em>- Mk. 9:31 puts this in the present tense- He&nbsp;<em>is</em>&nbsp;betrayed / delivered [s.w.]. The Lord likely said both- He shall be betrayed, [in fact] He is being betrayed / delivered. This is the sense recorded in John, of &ldquo;the time comes but now is&rdquo; (Jn. 4:23; 16:32). He knew that the essence of the delivering over to the Jews /&nbsp;Romans was happening right then, although the final delivering / handing over was when in Gethsemane He said that &ldquo;the hour is come&hellip; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners&rdquo; (Mk. 14:41). The word for &lsquo;betrayed&rsquo; means literally to be handed over or delivered, and so the Lord&rsquo;s statement wouldn&rsquo;t have necessarily implied to them that there was to be a betrayal from amongst their own number.</p>