His Imminent Death
Jesus explains that he is on the way to Jerusalem where he will be arrested, tried, and executed per the plan of God – Mark 10:32-34.
In Mark, Jesus is “on the way”
to Jerusalem and his inevitable death. This same theme occurs several times, beginning
with John the Baptist who “prepared the way before the Lord.” The Son of
God is the suffering servant of Yahweh who is on the road from Judea to Golgotha
where he meets his death outside the city.
The passage
adds a very apt description - they were “going
up to Jerusalem.” The city was approximately 1,060 meters above the
Jordan River valley.
The passage
includes the third prediction of his death in Mark. In all three cases, Jesus
foretells his death while he and his disciples are on the way to
Jerusalem, and each time, he refers to himself as the “Son of Man.” Thus,
Mark links that title to the suffering and death of the Messiah.
- (Mark 10:32-34) - “Now, they were on the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed, and those following were afraid. And again taking the twelve, he began declaring the things that were going to happen to him, that, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles and they will mock him and spit on him and flog and kill him, and after three days he will rise up’” - (Parallel passages - Matthew 20:17-19, Luke 18:31-34).
HANDED OVER
Jesus “is
going before” or leading his disciples for he knows what lies ahead.
Nevertheless, he presses on all the same. He is not being led to the slaughter
like a prisoner of war or a sacrificial animal, and he soldiers on in accord
with God’s purpose.
The disciples journeying with
him “are afraid.” This suggests they have some inkling of what lies
ahead. While they do not yet understand his messianic mission, previously, he
predicted his future sufferings at the hands of the Temple authorities.
His
pronouncement emphasizes the coming complicity of the religious leaders of the nation
in his trial and execution, though the Roman authorities are also involved.
Nevertheless, the high priest and his entourage are the catalysts in the whole
sordid affair. And in the end, no one’s hands are clean.
The Greek
verb rendered “handed over” or paradidōmi means “to hand over, deliver
up, betray.” In Mark, this is a theologically loaded term first used when
John the Baptist is arrested and “handed over” to Herod Antipas - (Mark 1:14).
The betrayal of John was a harbinger of what lies in store for Jesus. Beginning with the first ‘Passion Prediction,’ “handed over” is used consistently for his betrayal into the hands of those who are plotting his demise.
Moreover, Jesus
uses this same verb to describe how, in the future, his followers will likewise
be “handed over” to suffer for his sake - (Mark 13:9-12).
DISCIPLES ARE BEWILDERED
As before,
Jesus refers to his rising “after three days.” Mark reckons the
three days per the Jewish custom of counting even part of one day as a full day
- (i.e., Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday morning).
Since the
disciples do not understand, or perhaps better, they will not accept his predicted
death, they also cannot understand what he means by the rising from the dead. The
idea of God sending His Messiah to be killed by his enemies remains beyond
their comprehension.
The use of
the term “Son of Man” when describing his death reflects the passage in
the book of Daniel from which this term is derived. In his vision, the
prophet saw “one like a Son of Man” approach the “Ancient of Days”
to receive his “dominion.”
But before
the receipt of the “everlasting kingdom,” the malevolent figure known as
the “little horn” made war “against the saints and overcame them.”
Only then was the judgment rendered “for the saints” - their vindication
- and so they “possessed the kingdom – (Daniel 7:13-21).
In Daniel, the
figure of the “Son of Man” is virtually interchangeable with the “saints.”
The war on the latter falls first on the former. He is the representative of
the people of God.
And implicit in the image is the idea of the “Son
of Man” suffering
for his brethren so they will receive the kingdom after a time of persecution
and tribulation.
