22Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful.
This is very important. Jesus wants His disciples to understand so He again predicts His upcoming betrayal, death, and resurrection. Last time Peter rebuked Him. This time no one does. Instead they are all exceedingly sorrowful.
A footnote in my Bible mentions how the disciples failed to understand the glory of Jesus' resurrection when Jesus told them of this. That is actually good news. Should they be feeling so sorrowful?
Yes, their sorrow could only be because their thoughts were on things of men, not things of God. They were sorrowful because they were going to lose their teacher, their mentor, their friend. And this Man who means so much to them is going to be betrayed and have to suffer so much. But one thing I noticed as I read through this today, is that Jesus didn't rebuke them for their sorrow. Jesus had always been very free to rebuke His disciples when they didn't understand something or when they were missing the point. He rebuked Peter when Peter tried telling Jesus that He shouldn't have to go through with the plan of suffering and death. He rebuked His disciples when their faith wasn't strong enough. But He didn't rebuke His disciples when they were feeling sorrow at Jesus' pending death and resurrection.
So when I read this text, I shouldn't be feeling that the disciples are simply dense, missing the wonder of the good news that Jesus is telling them. Jesus didn't say there was anything wrong with their sorrow. He let them have their sorrow. I should too.
Jesus always showed compassion. No matter what it might have interfered with, Jesus always took time to show compassion. Showing compassion is never wrong. I believe that these disciples show of sorrow is an indication of their compassion. Showing compassion is never wrong.