His Impending Death

Jesus journeyed relentlessly toward Jerusalem, where he, “the Son of Man,” would be arrested, tried, and executed – Mark 10:32-34.

Jesus is “on the way” to Jerusalem in the Gospel of Mark, where his enemies will kill him, but he will sacrifice his life on behalf of his people. The theme of Christ’s relentless journey to his death is repeated in Mark, beginning with John the Baptist, the forerunner who came to “prepare the way of the Lord.”

Jesus of Nazareth completed his mission as ‘the Suffering Servant’ described in the Book of Isaiah when he was tried by the priestly leaders of Jerusalem and was executed outside the walls of the city at the hands of the Roman authorities, apparently as an enemy of the World Empire.

[Cross - Photo by Luke Mollet on Unsplash]

There is an apt description of his journey in Chapter 10 of Mark – Jesus and his disciples were “going up to Jerusalem.” The city was over 1,000 meters above the Jordan River valley. The passage includes the third prediction of Christ’s death in Mark. As before, Jesus foretold his death while he was on the way to the City of David.

Each time Jesus described his coming death, he referred to himself as “the Son of Man.” In this way, the Gospel of Mark links this designation to Christ’s sufferings.

• (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 to declare the things that were going to happen to him: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over [‘paradidōmi’] 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’” - (Parallel passages - Matthew 20:17-19, Luke 18:31-34).

Jesus was “going before” or leading his disciples on the way to Jerusalem. He knew what lay ahead. Nevertheless, he pressed on all the same. He was not being led to slaughter like a prisoner of war or an unthinking animal. His sacrificial death was part of God’s plan to redeem humanity:

• “Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has put him to grief <…> by the knowledge of himself my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he carried the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” – (Isaiah 53:10-12).

• “For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” – (Mark 10:45).

• “But he poured himself out, having taken the form of a servant, and having come to be in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, yes, the death of the cross” – (Philippians 2:7-8).

The disciples “were afraid,” suggesting they had some idea of what was coming, or at least sensed danger. While they did not yet understand Christ’s mission as “the Servant of Yahweh,” he had previously predicted that he would suffer and be killed in Jerusalem.

Christ’s pronouncement emphasized the complicity of the religious leaders of Israel in his trial and execution. Though the Roman authorities would execute him, the High Priest and his entourage in Jerusalem were catalysts in the affair. In the end, no one’s hands were clean, and even his closest disciples abandoned him.

The Greek verb translated as “handed over” in the passage, or ‘paradidōmi’, means “to hand over, deliver up; to betray.” It is a theologically loaded term in the Gospel of Mark, and it is first used to describe the arrest of John the Baptist. He was “handed over” to Herod Antipas - (Mark 1:14).

The betrayal of the Baptist foreshadowed what was coming. Beginning with his first ‘Passion Prediction,’ “handed over” is used for the betrayal of Jesus into the hands of his enemies, and he used the same Greek verb to describe how his followers would likewise be “handed over” or betrayed by friends and family to suffer for his sake. Tragically, Jesus was betrayed to his enemies by a member of his inner circle, Judas Iscariot:

• “But take heed to yourselves, for they will betray you to councils [‘paradidōmi’]. And in synagogues you will be beaten. And before governors and kings you will stand for my sake, for a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. And when they lead you to judgment, and betray you, be not anxious beforehand what you will speak. But whatever will be given you in that hour, that speak, for it is not you that speaks, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved”- (Mark 13:9-12).

• “But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord”- (Matthew 10:23-24).

• “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. <…> Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you”- (John 15:18-20).

• “And Judas Iscariot, he that was one of the twelve, departed to the chief priests, that he might betray him to them. And they, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him [‘paradidōmi’]”- (Mark 14:10-11).

THE BEWILDERED DISCIPLES

Jesus referred to his rising “after three days.” Since the disciples did not understand his impending death, they could not begin to comprehend what he meant by the “rising from the dead.” The idea of God sending His Messiah to be slain by his enemies was incomprehensible to his followers.

The term “Son of Man” echoes the passage in the Book of Daniel from which it is derived. In his vision, the Prophet saw “one like a Son of Man” approaching the “Ancient of Days” and receiving the Kingdom:

• “Behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed” – (Daniel 7:13-14).

Before he received his dominion, the figure identified as the “Little Horn” waged war, “on the saints and overcame them.” Only then was vindication pronounced “for the saints,” and thus they “possessed the Kingdom” through suffering – (Daniel 7:13-21).

The “Son of Man” figure is interchangeable with “the saints” in the passage from Daniel. This “war” on the latter fell first on the former. The Messiah was the representative of the people of God, and therefore, he suffered on their behalf. Like their Lord, they also would experience persecution.

The death of Jesus on a Roman cross was no accident or detour in God’s plans. Implicit in the term “Son of Man” in Mark’s account is that Jesus would die for his people. Only afterward would his followers receive the Kingdom.

Jesus fulfilled his Messianic role when he, as the “Son of Man” and the suffering ‘Servant of Yahweh’ was betrayed and then executed on Golgotha, and in this manner, Jesus of Nazareth gave his life “as a ransom for many.”

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SEE ALSO:

• In the Wilderness - (After his baptism, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness where he was tested by the Devil. The Messiah succeeded where Israel failed)

• The Royal Servant - (Following his baptism in the Jordan River, the Voice from Heaven identified Jesus as the Son of God and the Servant of the LORD)

• Ransom for Many - (Christ’s disciples are called to self-sacrificial service for others, just as Jesus gave his life to ransom many from sin’s bondage – Mark 10:35-45)

• His Kingdom - (Jesus proclaimed a unique political reality, the Kingdom of God, one that differs radically from the governments and ideologies of this present age)