In this message we shall begin to consider 10:32-52. This is the last section in the Gospel of Mark concerned with the move of the Slave-Savior’s gospel service.
Chapter ten describes a number of matters that took place on the way to Jerusalem. We have pointed out that in 10:1 the Lord Jesus rose up from Galilee and came into the district of Judea. The Lord made this move deliberately so that He might die in Jerusalem for the accomplishment of God’s eternal plan. Therefore, to be on the way to Jerusalem is to be on the way to enter into the death of Christ. Then through death, we enter into His resurrection. Hence, the way to Jerusalem is the way into Christ’s death and resurrection.
After the end of chapter ten, no further miracles of healing are recorded in this Gospel. At the end of Mark 10, the move of the Slave-Savior’s gospel service is concluded with the healing of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. After that healing, the Lord and His followers came into Jerusalem. Their purpose in entering into Jerusalem was to enter into death, resurrection, and even ascension. The last six chapters of the Gospel of Mark, chapters eleven through sixteen, unveil how Christ with His followers entered into an all-inclusive death, a wonderful resurrection, and a marvelous ascension.
As we have pointed out in foregoing messages, as the Lord and His disciples were on the way to Jerusalem, He taught His followers how to handle the matters of marriage, oldness, and money. Each of these matters is closely related to our entering into the kingdom of God. The incidents in 10:32-52 also take place on the way to Jerusalem.
Mark 10:32a says, “Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” Here we see that the Lord Jesus was strong, bold, and eager. Walking in front of the disciples, He took the lead to go up to Jerusalem with eagerness. The Lord’s followers were greatly surprised, perhaps even shocked, by His boldness. This verse says that those who followed were afraid.
Why was the Lord Jesus so bold in going up to Jerusalem? Concerning this, Luke 9:51 says, “And it came about, when the days were being fulfilled for His being taken up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” The Lord’s face was set like a flint, for He knew that the time of His death was very near. At this point, there was approximately one week remaining before He would be put to death. The Lord was not willing to be stopped, frustrated, or hindered in any way from going up to Jerusalem. If He were hindered, He would miss the day of the Passover, the day for Him to die as the Lamb of God. This was the reason the Lord was so bold to walk in front of all the disciples on the way to Jerusalem.
According to Mark 10:32b-34, as the Lord was going up to Jerusalem, He unveiled His death and resurrection the third time: “And taking the twelve aside again, He began to tell them the things about to happen to Him: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they shall mock Him and spit at Him, and shall scourge Him, and kill Him; and after three days He will rise.” The first time the Lord revealed His death to the disciples was in Caesarea Philippi, before His transfiguration (8:31). The second time was in Galilee, after His transfiguration (9:31). Now we need to see that the third unveiling took place on the way to Jerusalem. This revelation was a prophecy, altogether strange to the natural concept of the disciples, yet literally fulfilled in every detail.