They
were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
Mark 10:32-34
Mark 10 [29.] Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last first.”
Mark 10 [32.] They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
Mark 10 [35.] James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask.”
Meaning:
For the third time in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples plainly what is about to happen to him. The first time was after Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:30-33), the second as they passed through Galilee (Mark 9:30-31). Now, on the road to Jerusalem, he gives the fullest account of all, describing his betrayal, trial, mockery, flogging, death and resurrection step by step. Each prediction is followed by the disciples misunderstanding, and this one is no different: the very next scene shows James and John asking for places of honour (Mark 10:35).
- “Going up to Jerusalem”
Jerusalem stands high in the hill country of Judea, so travellers always spoke of going “up” to it. The road from Jericho climbs more than a thousand metres in about twenty-five kilometres through dry, rocky wilderness. Crowds of pilgrims were travelling the same way to keep the Passover feast. For them the journey was a joyful one, but for Jesus it was the road to the cross. Jesus went with the determination of one who knew exactly what lay ahead and had chosen to fulfil his mission.
- “Jesus was going in front of them”
Mark paints a vivid picture. Jesus walks ahead alone, leading the way like a shepherd going before his flock. The disciples were “amazed”, perhaps at his resolve, and “those who followed were afraid”. They sensed danger. Jerusalem was where the chief priests and scribes, who already opposed him, held power. Jesus was not being dragged towards his death; he was walking towards it willingly.
- The details of the suffering
Jesus’ earlier predictions had said that the Son of Man “must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). This time he adds new details. He will be “delivered” to the Jewish leaders, who will condemn him and then hand him over to the Gentiles, because under Roman rule the Council could not carry out an execution: “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31). The Gentiles will mock him, spit on him, scourge him and kill him. Every one of these things happened, as Mark later records. Isaiah had foreseen the suffering servant who was “despised, and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3) and who went silently “as a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7).
- “On the third day he will rise again”
Jesus never spoke of his death without speaking of his resurrection. Hosea had written, “On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him” (Hosea 6:2). The angel at the tomb would announce, “He has risen. He is not here” (Mark 16:6), and the apostles proclaimed that Christ “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The cross was not defeat but the path to victory.
The Significance of Mark 10:32-34
- Jesus went to the cross willingly
He knew in detail what awaited him and still walked ahead of his disciples. His death was not an accident or a tragedy that overtook him, but the deliberate act of love by which he gave his life for others. Peter later preached that he was “delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
- Following him means following on the way
The disciples followed with fear. Followers of Jesus today still walk a road that includes suffering, but they walk behind one who has gone ahead and conquered death.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 53:5: "But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed." Why the Son of Man suffered.
Mark 9:31: "The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again." The second prediction of the passion.
Hosea 6:2: "After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him." The third day of revival foreshadowed.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4: "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" The gospel the apostles preached.
Conclusion: On the road up to Jerusalem, Jesus walked ahead of his frightened disciples and told them for the third time what would happen: he would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, condemned, delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, spat on, scourged and killed, and on the third day he would rise again. The prediction shows Jesus going willingly to the cross in fulfilment of Scripture, and it assures his followers that suffering leads on to resurrection.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible