At several points in the Gospels, Jesus tells his disciples something that they do not yet understand. While the disciples eventually came to know what Jesus meant by “the Son of Man will be handed over to men,” there are things about God and God’s ways that can seem equally confusing today.
One has only to follow the news to see immense heartbreak and pain caused by war, hurricanes, earthquakes, and division between people. It can be easy to ask God why these things are allowed to happen. The answer is that because our world isn’t perfect, and true peace only comes from God. Jesus asked to be spared the cross because, even though he knew it was his father’s will, he preferred to avoid the suffering. God could obviously have intervened and kept his son from being handed over, but God instead chose to give each of us the unimaginable gift of eternal life with him.
—The Jesuit Prayer team