As
Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
Matthew 20:17-19
Matthew 20 [13.] “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 20 [17.] As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
Matthew 20 [20.] Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
Meaning:
Jesus had just told the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, which ends, “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). Now, on the road to Jerusalem, he tells the twelve plainly what it will cost him to make the last first. This is the third and most detailed time in Matthew that Jesus foretells his death and resurrection.
- “As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem”
Jerusalem stands high in the hills of Judea, so travelers always spoke of going “up” to it. Jesus had left Galilee and was travelling through Judea beyond the Jordan toward the city, probably with crowds of pilgrims going up for the Passover. Mark adds that “Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid” (Mark 10:32). Jesus walked ahead with determination toward the place where he knew he would die.
- “He took the twelve disciples aside”
This teaching was not for the crowds but for the inner circle. The disciples needed to be prepared, even if they did not yet understand. Jesus had told them twice before. After Peter’s confession he “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things” (Mark 8:31), and in Galilee he said again, “The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him” (Mark 9:31). Each time, they found the words hard to accept.
- “Delivered to the chief priests and scribes”
This time Jesus gives the details. The first stage is a Jewish trial: he will be handed over to the leaders of his own nation, and they will condemn him to death. This was fulfilled when the council met at night and condemned him as worthy of death (Mark 14:63-64).
- “Hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify”
The second stage is Roman. The Jewish council could not carry out a death sentence under Roman rule; John records the leaders saying to Pilate, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31). Mocking, scourging and crucifixion were Roman punishments. For the first time Jesus names the cross itself, the most shameful death the Roman world knew.
These sufferings had been foreseen by the prophets. The Servant of the Lord says, “I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair” (Isaiah 50:6). Isaiah also explains why: “But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).
- “And the third day he will be raised up”
Jesus never spoke of his death without his resurrection. The passive “will be raised up” points to the Father’s action in vindicating his Son. Paul later summarised the Good News in the same terms: “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” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Matthew sets this prediction right before the request of James and John for the best seats in the Kingdom (Matthew 20:20-23). The contrast is sharp: Jesus speaks of a cross while his disciples think of thrones.
The Significance of Matthew 20:17-19
- Jesus went to the cross willingly
He was not caught by surprise. He knew every step of what awaited him and still walked ahead of his disciples toward Jerusalem. His death was an act of love and obedience.
- Suffering and glory belong together
The path to the resurrection went through rejection, mockery and the cross. Followers of Jesus can trust that suffering for his sake is not the end of the story.
- Listen when Jesus speaks plainly
The disciples heard these words three times and still did not grasp them. We too need to let the message of the cross shape our expectations, rather than our own dreams of greatness.
Cross-References:
Mark 10:33-34: "They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." Mark’s account of the same prediction.
Isaiah 50:6: "I gave my back to those who beat me," The Servant’s suffering foretold.
1 Corinthians 15:4: "he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures," The fulfilment at the heart of the Good News.
Conclusion: On the road up to Jerusalem Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, for the third time, what was about to happen: he would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, condemned to death, given to the Gentiles to be mocked, scourged and crucified, and raised on the third day. The passage shows that Jesus went to the cross knowingly and willingly, in line with the prophets, and that his suffering would end in resurrection.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible