His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. (John 12:16 ESV)
Understanding
I have been playing chess for decades. Sometimes I think I understand the game, but then something happens to remind me that I have a long way to go.
I once was on my way to a regional championship, but a pre-teen beat me, and taught me what I had done wrong.
I was giving chess lessons to some students, when one of them showed me that I was missing something and repaired my error.
I recently bought a new book and found already in chapter one a couple of treasures.
Everyone wants to understand everything. But just like chess, life is more complicated than we think. There is always another thing to learn.
But the disciples discovered that they will understand.
They had years sitting at Jesus’ feet, and thought they understood… but the deeper understanding came later.
And that happens for all of God’s children.
As well as we understand things today, Paul reminds us that we see things as if we were looking through dark glass (I Corinthians 13:12). But we WILL see Him fully, completely, absolutely.
The disciples learned they had more to learn, but also learned that they WILL understand.
No one else will, in fact.
We are peculiar, we will understand.