Mark 10:32

Here is, I. Christ's prediction of his own sufferings; this string he harped much upon, though in the ears of his disciples it sounded very harsh and unpleasing.

1. See here how bold he was; when they were going up to Jerusalem, Jesus went before them, as the captain of our salvation, that was now to be made perfect through sufferings, Mar 10:32. Thus he showed himself forward to go on with his undertaking, even when he came to the hardest part of it. Now that the time was at hand, he said, Lo, I come; so far was he from drawing back, that now, more than ever, he pressed forward. Jesus went before them, and they were amazed. They began now to consider what imminent danger they ran themselves into, when they went to Jerusalem; how very malicious the Sanhedrim which sat there was against their Master and them; and they were ready to tremble at the thought of it. To hearten them, therefore, Christ went before them. "Come," saith he, "surely you will venture where your Master ventures." Note, When we see ourselves entering upon sufferings, it is encouraging to see our Master go before us. Or, He went before them, and therefore they were amazed; they admired to see with what cheerfulness and alacrity he went on, though he knew he was going to suffer and die. Note, Christ's courage and constancy in going on with his undertaking for our salvation, are, and will be, the wonder of all his disciples.

2. See here how timorous and faint-hearted his disciples were; As they followed, they were afraid, afraid for themselves, as being apprehensive of their own danger; and justly might they be ashamed of their being thus afraid. Their Master's courage should have put spirit into them.

3. See here what method he took to silence their fears. He did not go about to make the matter better than it was, nor to feed them with hopes that he might escape the storm, but told them again what he had often told them before, the things that should happen to him. He knew the worst of it, and therefore went on thus boldly, and he will let them know the worst of it. Come, be not afraid; for, (1.) There is no remedy, the matter is determined, and cannot be avoided. (2.) It is only the Son of man that shall suffer; their time of suffering was now at hand, he will now provide for their security. (3.) He shall rise again; the issue of his sufferings will be glorious to himself, and advantageous to all that are his, Mar 10:33, Mar 10:34. The method and particulars of Christ's sufferings are more largely foretold here than in any other of the predictions - that he shall first be delivered up by Judas to the chief priests and the scribes; that they shall condemn him to death, but, not having the power to put him to death, shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to the Roman powers, and they shall mock him, and scourge him, and spit upon him, and kill him. Christ had a perfect foresight, not only of his own death, but of all the aggravating circumstances of it; and yet he thus went forth to meet it.

II. The check he gave to two of his disciples for their ambitious request. This story is much the same here as we had it Mat 20:20. Only there they are said to have made their request by their mother, here they are said to make it themselves; she introduced them, and presented their petition, and then they seconded it, and assented to it.

Note, 1. As, on the one hand, there are some that do not use, so, on the other hand, there are some that abuse, the great encouragements Christ has given us in prayer. He hath said, Ask, and it shall be given you; and it is a commendable faith to ask for the great things he has promised; but it was a culpable presumption in these disciples to make such a boundless demand upon their Master; We would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. We had much better leave it to him to do for us what he sees fit, and he will do more than we can desire, Eph 3:20.

2. We must be cautious how we make general promises. Christ would not engage to do for them whatever they desired, but would know from them what it was they did desire; What would ye that I should do for you? He would have them go on with their suit, that they might be made ashamed of it.

3. Many have been led into a snare by false notions of Christ's kingdom, as if it were of this world, and like the kingdoms of the potentates of this world. James and John conclude, If Christ rise again, he must be a king, and if he be a king, his apostles must be peers, and one of these would willingly be the Primus par regni - The first peer of the realm, and the other next him, like Joseph in Pharaoh's court, or Daniel in Darius's.

4. Worldly honour is a glittering thing, with which the eyes of Christ's own disciples have many a time been dazzled. Whereas to be good should be more our care than to look great, or to have the pre-eminence.

5. Our weakness and short-sightedness appear as much in our prayers as in any thing. We cannot order our speech, when we speak to God, by reason of darkness, both concerning him and concerning ourselves. It is folly to prescribe to God, and wisdom to subscribe.

6. It is the will of Christ that we should prepare for sufferings, and leave it to him to recompense us for them. He needs not be put in mind, as Ahasuerus did, of the services of his people, nor can he forget their work of faith and labour of love. Our care must be, that we may have wisdom and grace to know how to suffer with him, and then we may trust him to provide in the best manner how we shall reign with him, and when, and where, and what, the degrees of our glory shall be.

III. The check he gave to the rest of the disciples, for their uneasiness at it. They began to be much displeased, to have indignation about James and John, Mar 10:41. They were angry at them for affecting precedency, not because it did so ill become the disciples of Christ, but because each of them hoped to have it himself. When the Cynic trampled on Alexander's foot-cloth, with Calco fastum Alexandri - Now I tread on Alexander's pride, he was seasonably checked with Sed majori fastu - But with a greater pride of thine own. So these discovered their own ambition, in their displeasure at the ambition of James and John; and Christ took this occasion to warn them against it, and all their successors in the ministry of the gospel, Mar 10:42-44. He called them to him in a familiar way, to give them an example of condescension, then when he was reproving their ambition, and to teach them never to bid their disciples keep their distance. He shows them,

1. That dominion was generally abused in the world (Mar 10:42); That they seemed to rule over the Gentiles, that have the name and title of rulers, they exercise lordship over them, that is all they study and aim at, not so much to protect them, and provide for their welfare, as to exercise authority upon them; they will be obeyed, aim to be arbitrary, and to have their will in every thing. Sic volo, sic jubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas - Thus I will, thus I command; my good pleasure is my law. Their care is, what they shall get by their subjects to support their own pomp and grandeur, not what they shall do for them.

2. That therefore it ought not to be admitted into the church; "It shall not be so among you; those that shall be put under your charge, must be as sheep under the charge of the shepherd, who is to tend them and feed them, and be a servant to them, not as horses under the command of the driver, that works them and beats them, and gets his pennyworths out of them. He that affects to be great and chief, that thrusts himself into a secular dignity and dominion, he shall be servant of all, he shall be mean and contemptible in the eyes of all that are wise and good; he that exalteth himself shall be abased." Or rather, "He that would be truly great and chief, he must lay out himself to do good to all, must stoop to the meanest services, and labour in the hardest services. Those not only shall be most honoured hereafter, but are most honourable now, who are most useful." To convince them of this, he sets before them his own example (Mar 10:45); "The Son of man submits first to the greatest hardships and hazards, and then enters into his glory, and can you expect to come to it any other way; or to have more ease and honour than he has?" (1.) He takes upon him the form of a servant, comes not to be ministered to, and waited upon, but to minister, and wait to be gracious. (2.) He comes obedient to death, and to its dominion, for he gives his life a ransom for many; did he die for the benefit of good people, and shall not we study to live for their benefit?

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

See the notes at Mat 20:17-19.

Mar 10:32

Jesus went before him - In the manner of an intrepid, fearless leader and guide, exposing “himself” to danger and death rather than his followers.

And they rather amazed ... - They were afraid that evil would befall him in the city; that the scribes and Pharisees, who had so often sought to kill him, would then do it. Their fear and amazement were increased when he told them what would befall him there. They were amazed that, when he knew so well what would happen, he should still persevere in going up to the city.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mar_10:32-34

And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem.

Christ on the road to the cross

Full of calm resolve Christ comes forth to die. Behold the little company on the steep rocky mountain road that leads up from Jericho to Jerusalem; our Lord far in advance of His followers, with a fixed purpose stamped upon His face, and something of haste in His stride, and that in His whole demeanour which shed a strange astonishment and awe ever the group of silent and uncomprehending disciples.

I. We have here what, for want of a better name, I would call the heroic Christ. The Ideal Man unites in Himself what men are in the habit, somewhat superciliously, of calling the masculine virtues, as well as those which they somewhat contemptuously designate the feminine. He reads to us the lesson, that we must resist and persist, whatever stands between us and our goal. The most tenacious steel is the most flexible, and he who has the most fixed and definite resolve may be the one whose heart is most open to all human sympathies, and is strong with the almightiness of gentleness.

II. The self-sacrificing Christ. Hastening to His cross; surrendering Himself to death. His self-sacrifice was not the flinging away of the life which He ought to have preserved, nor carelessness, nor the fanaticism of a martyr, nor the enthusiasm of a hero and champion; but the voluntary death of Him who of His own will became in His death the oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.

III. The shrinking Christ. May not part of the reason for His haste have been that instinct which we all have, when some inevitable grief or pain lies before us, to get it over soon, and to abbreviate the moments that lie between us and it? (See Luk_12:50; Joh_13:27.)

In Christ this natural instinct never became a desire or purpose. It had so much power over Him as to make Him march a little faster to the cross, but it never made Him turn from it.

IV. The lonely Christ. Unappreciated aims; unshared purposes; misunderstood sorrow; solitude of death-all this He bore, that no human soul, living or dying, might ever be lonely any more. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The Saviours alacrity to reach the end of His course

A lowly band of travellers journeying towards Jerusalem. Already they are within sight of the hills that encompass the capital. One of the company out strips the rest. His countenance is lit up with joyous expression, like that which glows on the face of one who, after long absence, is again drawing near to his fathers house. It is Christ; and He is going up to Jerusalem to expiate a worlds guilt by the sacrifice of Himself. Sorrows such as have never yet filled the breast of man await Him there; and least of all is it ignorance of what is before Him, which makes Him in haste to press forward. What was it that prompted Him to such eagerness? He designed to teach by action

(1) a doctrine for His disciples to learn, viz., the necessity of His suffering, and suffering alone. In the work on which He was now entering, no man could be associated with Him. He must go before.

(2) An example for them to follow. If He goes first, they come next. By His alacrity He would teach them how noble a thing it is to suffer in a good cause. They would think of this afterwards, and take courage. They would recollect the insignificance of all their sufferings as contrasted with His; and as they remembered this, the thought how bravely the Saviour went forward in the path of tribulation would nerve them to endurance, and make them almost impervious to fear. Arm yourselves with the like mind, and blush at the very thought of cowardice or retreat when summoned to suffer for the Redeemers sake, remembering how eagerly He went before. (R. Bickersteth.)

Christs life founded on a plan

There was no uncertainty or experiment about that life; every detail was foreseen from the beginning. Every mans life may be planned by Divine wisdom, but the man himself is ignorant of his own course, unable to foresee the next hour.

2. That Jesus Christ knew all the developments of His plan of life. The sorrow of the first day, the sleep of the second, the triumph of the third, were all before Him, as conditions of His daily labour.

3. That though He knew the result, He patiently fulfilled the whole process. There was no precipitancy; there was no fretfulness; every case of need was attended to as though it were the only case in the world. The Christian knows that heaven will be his portion at last; let him be stimulated to constant activity, as though human want demanded his whole attention.

4. That Jews and Gentiles were alike engaged in carrying on a work which was for the highest benefit of the whole world. How unconsciously we work! We may be pulling down in the very act of setting up.

5. That the assured triumph of the right is a source of strength to the good man. Jesus Christ spoke not of the crucifixion, but of the third day. The picture was not all gloomy. Light broke through the very centre of the darkness. How hopeless, but for the third day, is the lot of suffering men. The third day may suggest

(a) the brevity of bad influence;

(b) the impossibility of destroying that which is good, and

(c) the transference of power from a temporary despotism to an eternal and beneficent sovereignty. Brief and frail is the tenure of all malign powers. (F. Wagstaff.)

The cross, the object of desire.

I. That the cross should have been an object of desire and of intense longing to our Saviours heart is a statement too remarkable to be barely asserted. Such a death was abhorred by all mankind. It was a death of ignominy, agony, and shame. Yet, contrary to the universal sentiment, Christ desired it. That the cross was a token of desire rather than fear will be seen by the way our Lord checked every hindrance or suggestion raised against it, and by His words and deportment as He approached it (Mat_16:23). He desired the cross, and wanted to communicate that desire to others. On one occasion He reveals His desire in most remarkable language (Luk_12:50). When He entered the Samaritan village, we are told His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem (Luk_9:53). The text discloses the same zeal-Behold we go up to Jerusalem; a sentence which sounds the keynote of triumph. His eager gait betokened the onward desire of His soul.

II. We would consider the reasons for this desire. The cross could not be in itself an object of desire. It was not like the joy set before Him at the Fathers right hand; if desired at all, it must be because of its results. These were in two directions-one in relation to God, the other to man. The glory of God and the salvation of man were the ruling motives of Christs conduct. We can all strive to be like Him in His inward life, though only martyrs are completely like Him in His outward life, His great motive was the glorifying of the Father (Joh_5:30). God was glorified on Calvary (Joh_17:1). The cross was the Divine way of repairing the honour of God, which had been outraged by sin. The heart of Jesus was consumed with this desire of a reparation which was in His power. We know what it is to burn with indignation, when one who is loved, is offended and unjustly injured; how then must the true perception of sin have kindled the flame of desire for the cross in the Man Christ Jesus. Also the cross was to be the means of glorifying God by manifesting the Divine character-harmonizing mercy and justice; it was to be the witness of love-removing such misconceptions of the Deity, as may have arisen from the misery of sin. Thus viewed in relation to God, the cross was to Christ an object of desire. His love for us made it an object of desire on the human side. The cross was necessary according to the predestination of God as a means for imparting life to others (Joh_12:24). Thus an object of desire; for to restore the creature must redound to the glory of the Creator.

III. The greatness of that desire. Its greatness lies in its intensity and purity-Jesus went before them. It was not a mere impulse which prompted this onward movement, as the hero is carried forward in the excitement of battle. All impulse in Jesus was regulated by His calm mind and perfect will, therefore vehemency of action betokened the ardour of His soul. Moreover, our desires are in proportion to the strength of our inward faculties. Their intensity will depend upon the vigour of our wills and the reach of our minds. The mind must present the object sought. The perfection of Christs mind will show the strength of His desires. He saw the cross with all its detail of suffering. He saw all the effects of the cross. He looked beyond it and traced all its powers; all the powers of grace and supernatural beauty which would result from the merit of His passion; He saw the saints enjoying countless ages of happiness in heaven. Hence the intensity of His desire for the cross.

2. This desire may be measured by the natural fear which it overpowered. As man, Christ feared death and suffering. Pure human nature shrinks from torture.

3. The greatness of this desire of Christ for the cross, consists in its purity, as well as intensity. With all the vehemency of our Saviours zeal, there was calmness of spirit and an obedient will. The purity of desire lies also in the nature of the cross He had to bear, of shame and desolation. The hiding of the Fathers face separates His cross from that of the martyr. It was comfortless suffering. The cross, too, was a punishment viewed with contempt. Some desire to suffer great things, because their greatness brings renown. Pride will support much bodily mortification; the cross had at that time only the aspect of humiliation. Christ took His disciples aside that He might impart to them His desire. He wanted to cast out of that fountain of fire which glowed within His own soul some sparks which might inflame them also-Behold we go up. He suffers not only instead of us, but also to purchase for us power and grace to suffer with Him and for Him. He has not removed the necessity of suffering by His suffering, any more than He has removed the necessity of temptation by His being tempted. The same cross whereby we are redeemed promulgates, as the condition of emancipation, the law of mortification. The desire of the cross Christ communicates to His members. St. Paul prays that I may know Him, and the fellowship of His sufferings. It must begin with the mortification of our lower nature (Gal_5:24). It is a high pitch of nature to desire to suffer as a means of closer union with our Lord; we must first learn to bear crosses without murmuring; then to accept them with resignation; and, lastly, to meet them with desire and joy. (W. H. Hutchings, M. A.)

As they followed they were afraid.

Following Jesus fearingly

See the union of two apparently contradictory things. The fear was not enough to stop the following, nor the following sufficient to arrest the fear. That walk up to Jerusalem illustrative of the path to heaven. You follow Christ, you love Him too much not to follow Him. But your religion is an amazement; it creates fear. Certainly, if you were not a follower, you would not be a fearer. I never knew anyone begin to fear till God had begun to love him, and he had begun to love God. The fear is an index that you are on the road. Fear! ought we not to be beyond it; ought not to be the motive. How is it that a real follower may be a real fearer?

I. They had not adequate ideas of Him whom they followed. They did not know what exceeding care He takes of His own. If you knew the character and work of Christ you would get rid of fear.

II. Though the disciples loved Christ, they did not love Him as he deserved. If they had, the love would have absorbed the fear; they would have rejoiced to die with Him.

III. They had not, what the Master had, one great, fixed, sustaining aim. This will lift above the petty shafts of little disturbances; above yourself.

IV. The disciples had their fears undefined. It was the indefinite which terrified them. Take these four rules.

1. You that follow and are afraid, fortify yourself in the thought of what Christ is-His Person, work, covenant; and what He is to you.

2. Love Him very much, and realize your union with Him.

3. Set a high mark, and carry your life in your hand, so you may reach that mark, and do something for God.

4. Often stop and say deliberately to yourself, Why art thou cast down, O my soul. Many increase their fears by thinking so much about them. The onward going will gradually overcome the inward fear. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Following and fearing

Experience ought to teach us that our fears are seldom fulfilled.

I. As they followed; then even the glorious army of martyrs were afraid. For they includes St. Peter. Fears disheartened them. Never let us think that the greatest souls are heroic right through, ever and always. The battle with the flesh was keen in them. Besides, some fears have their moral uses. It is well to be afraid of ourselves, if our dependence on Christ is strengthened. Then, what courage may not fear afterwards merge into!

II. As they followed: then fear did not hinder their progress. If there was fear in their hearts, there was fidelity in their steps.

III. As they followed; then we need not doubt our discipleship because we are afraid. It is indifference that is to be dreaded, and presumptuous self-confidence. Forgiveness is needed for others, not for them.

IV. As they followed: then the departure of some fears does not do away with them all, They did not fear poverty, they had left all to follow Christ; they did not fear change in Jesus, they found His word of promise sure. We shall never lose all fears here; this discipline is wise for us.

V. As they followed; then let none turn back. Even when the intellectual beliefs are burdened with difficulty, never be afraid. Follow on. Be faithful unto death. (W. M. Statham.)

As they followed, they were afraid

The disciples conduct. Up to the very period of Christs death and resurrection, the disciples looked forward to His manifestation as a prince who should release their nation from bondage, and advance it to an hitherto unattained height of glory and dominion. All along they had been staggered at the meanness of their Masters outward appearance; and now they were amazed to find that the expected Deliverer of mankind was on His way to suffering. They could not understand it. They were amazed, too, at His readiness to suffer. He was advancing to the cross, like a victor to his crown. We must note here that

(1) they followed. This is to their praise. They knew He was going on to death, yet they did not desert Him. They had true faith. But it was also weak faith, for

(2) they were afraid. Strange, that while with Him they should fear. They thus missed much of the comfort they might have derived from His companionship. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea are instances of the same-a true but weak faith-a faith which does not fill its possessor with peace. Let us not rest in a timorous faith. Let us be valiant for the truth. We have not the same excuse for fear that they had. They had not then experienced the Resurrection, the Ascension, the gift of the Comforter. When once the Spirit was given, they no longer knew fear. Shame on us, if with all our superior knowledge and privilege, we cast not aside the fear of man, and follow Jesus, with diligence to do, and with readiness to suffer, whatever He is pleased to prescribe or appoint. (R. Bickersteth.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 10:32-34. They were in the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed — At his courage and intrepidity, considering the treatment which he had himself told them he should meet with there: and as they followed, they were afraid — Both for him and themselves: nevertheless, he judged it best to prepare them, by telling them more particularly what was to ensue. The rulers at Jerusalem had issued out a proclamation against our Lord, immediately after the resurrection of Lazarus, and probably promised a reward to any that would apprehend him, Joh 11:57. This might be the reason why the disciples were astonished at the alacrity which their Master showed in this journey to the capital city, and afraid while they followed him. In such circumstances our Lord knew that a repetition of the prophecy concerning his own sufferings was proper; because it showed the disciples they were entirely voluntary. And as he told them expressly that they had been predicted by the prophets, and consequently decreed of old by God, the opposition that he was to meet with, though it would end in death, instead of weakening their faith, ought to have increased it; especially as he informed them at the same time that he would rise again the third day. Behold we go up to Jerusalem, &c. — See on Mat 20:18-19.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 106. — HIS SUFFERINGS AGAIN FORETOLD, Mar_10:32-34.

(See on Mat_20:17-19.)

Our Lord is now on his final journey to Jerusalem, before his crucifixion.

32. Jesus… before them… amazed… followed — The picture is a very striking one. As our Lord is boldly starting to move forward, and is about leading on the way, his tremulous and trembling disciples hesitate in dismay at the prospect of going to the capital at the present time. Our Lord then pauses with them at the wayside to show that the destiny which he goes to meet is the divine destiny of his mission.

§ 107. — AMBITIOUS REQUEST OF SALOME FOR HER SONS, (See notes on Mat_20:20-28.)

According to Matthew, the request is made by the mother of James and John. But if the two sons did not verbally make the request, they spoke through the mouth of their mother.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_10:32-34

(PARALLELS: Mat_20:17-19; Luk_18:31-34; Joh_11:53-57.)

On the way to Jerusalem.—Every act of Christ relates not only to those disciples who were the immediate witnesses of it, and to events which then and there transpired, but also to His whole Church through all future ages, and to events bearing upon the interests of that Church, till her probation on earth is finished, her numbers are made up, and she stands complete in Him before the throne above. The circumstances recorded in the text therefore bear a striking analogy to the spiritual circumstances of all believers in Christ.

I. The course they pursued.—The “way” here meant was the highway to Jerusalem, a type of the way which leads to heaven, along which all must pass who wish at last to reach that glorious world.

1. As there was a public, appointed, and common way to Jerusalem, so there is an appointed and common way to heaven.

(1) The way of regeneration.

(2) The way of repentance.

(3) The way of holiness.

(4) The way of faith in Christ.

(5) The way of holy obedience.

(6) The way of atonement.

2. They were in the way. It is not sufficient for us to know that there is a way, but we must see to it that we are in it.

3. They made advances in the way. It is not sufficient that we know the way to heaven, and be in the way to heaven; but we must make progress in it, and be like the disciples, ever going up. The new life within must grow and be constantly giving forth new fruits and beauties.

II. The place of their destination.—“Jerusalem.” It was called the Holy City, because there stood the temple, there dwelt the sublime symbol of the Divine Presence, there Divine worship was carried on, and there all God’s people met to pay their Divine honours to His name. Its peace, its glory, its religious services, its enjoyment of the Divine Presence, and the security of its inhabitants caused it to be selected as a type of heaven, and hence John calls it the New Jerusalem and the City of God. There the weary pilgrim is at rest; the weather-beaten mariner has anchored for ever in the fair haven of peace; the worn-out warrior doffs his helmet and puts on his crown; the heavenly runner has reached the goal and enwreaths his brow with the garland of immortal honour; and all ascribe their glory to free and sovereign grace.

III. The Leader they followed.—“Jesus went before them.” This act of Christ was typical of glorious truths—truths which apply not only to those who immediately followed Him, but also to all His followers down to the end of time.

1. He went before them as their Mediator, to break down the impregnable barriers which sin had reared in their way to happiness, to God, and to heaven, and to give them free access to glory by His precious blood.

2. He went before them as their Glorious General, to subdue all their enemies, to lead them in the good fight of faith, to instruct and arm them for the holy war, to conduct them from conquest to conquest, and to bring them to final victory and immortal triumph.

3. He went before them as their Great Pattern of submission to the Divine will, of patience under suffering, of self-denial in the Divine service, of love to God and man, of a pure benevolence, of intense desire for the glory of God.

4. He went before them as their Infallible Guide in doctrinal truth, in practical holiness, and in the way to glory, honour, and immortality.

5. He went before them through death and the grave, to take away their terrors, and bring life and immortality to light.

6. He went before them in the first resurrection, to demonstrate to them His own almighty power and the acceptance of His great atonement on their behalf by the Father, and to teach them to rest in hope of that glorious day when He will change their vile bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body, according to the power whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.

7. He went before them to heaven, to take possession of it in their name, to prepare it for them and them for it, and to supply them with all needed grace, till they abide in His presence and see Him as He is.

IV. The feelings they experienced.—

1. They were amazed. This appears to have been an impression made up of the mental elements of reverence, awe, admiration, and wonder, thrown over the disciples’ minds by the sublime spirit and conduct of Jesus on this occasion. As you follow the Lamb to eternal glory, have you not often felt amazed? Have you not often felt amazed at the benevolence which led Him to become poor that you might be eternally rich?—amazed that He should have loved sinners so as to become for them a Man of Sorrows, that they might become participants of eternal joys?—amazed that He should have chosen, predestinated, called, renewed, sanctified, and preserved you, when, had you been left to yourself, you had now been in the road to eternal ruin?—amazed that you do not love Him more and serve Him better, who has done, is doing, and will do so much for you?—and amazed that the glories which He has revealed as the eternal portion of His faithful people do not produce upon you a more heavenly influence in this world of sin and woe?

2. “As they followed, they were afraid.” Such were their weakness, their timidity, their imperfect knowledge, their erroneous views of His glorious mission and the true nature of His spiritual kingdom, that all the glorious majesty which He here displayed was not sufficient to preserve them from fear—fear for themselves, fear for Him, and fear for His cause. Believers fear for Christ—fear for His cause, fear for themselves—fear persecutions, dangers, afflictions, and death—because their knowledge of Christ is defective, or because they do not look sufficiently to Him.—W. Gregory.

The intensity of Jesus.—What a wonderful picture is here! There are only a few words, only a few touches of the painter’s brush, but they are the words of a loving heart, the touches of a skilful hand; and as we look at the picture we seem to realise what it means. Jesus is going up to Jerusalem with His disciples; it is the last time they will tread that road together; and on the way, instead of keeping close to Him, and hanging on His every word, they linger behind, wrapped up in their own petty trifling interests, disputing with one another as to which of them shall have the pre-eminence when the rewards of the kingdom are distributed. And Jesus goes before them, and they know it not; talking of the kingdom they have forgotten the King, and on a sudden they look up and see Him alone, sad, silent, grave, awful in the majesty of that sad face and eager on-looking eyes, and are amazed. Amazed, why? Because they see and read in all this what you and I can see and read there yet more clearly than they, a wondrous intensity. “Intense.” This is one of the words adopted by a modern sect of fashion—a fashion which delights in making men look effeminate and women masculine, which puts mere mawkish sentiment in the place of noble deeds, mistakes a rhapsody of words for great realities, and has learned the art of taking the meaning out of grandest words. But while the word has been taken and spoilt by some, remember what a depth of meaning there is in this word “intensity.” Would you know what it means? Then look at Jesus and you will learn.

I. You will see, first of all, in Him an intensity of purpose. Those fixed eyes, that set mouth, those firm steps, that grave face, they tell us of a Man who has set before Himself a great aim, who means by the help of God to accomplish it. It is the will of God, it is His Father’s business, which He had set before Him from the first. And because His aim is so high, His purpose so simple and grand, therefore the life of Jesus is not like ours, a zigzag, crooked path, but a straight, onward, undeviating path.

II. But in His intensity we see also the intensity of humility. The consciousness of a great aim in life, the recognition of a great purpose, sometimes, because of our innate weakness, makes us conceited; it gives a man self-consciousness, and so spoils his aim. But as we look into the face of Jesus Christ, so sorrowful and sad, as we look onward to the object on which His eyes are fixed, as we listen to the words wherein He explains what all this means, we learn what intensity of purpose needs to control and guide it aright. The intensity of Jesus is one that stooped, that bowed itself—ay, it is an intensity which was “obedient even to the death upon the Cross.”

III. But there is more than this; look again into His eyes and you will see what it is. Something more is wanted, something that shall join together the intensity of purpose with the intensity of humility. What is it that will make a man’s life straight as the flight of an arrow, and yet at the same time lowliness itself? Nothing, I think, but the intensity of love. This intensity of Jesus, remember, is for us.

1. For us, because all this intensity was expended on our behalf. He goes up to Jerusalem before us as our Sacrifice. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”

2. For us, because this intensity may be ours. He goes up to Jerusalem before us as our Example (1Pe_2:21). And hence you and I may go forward on the path God hath marked out for us, in some of this intensity of purpose, of humility, of love, which marked the life of Jesus. This intensity may be ours, for He was Perfect Man as well as Perfect God. His intensity was human intensity, made up of human purpose, human humility, human love. This intensity may be ours, for we see something of this intensity in the lives of others. Other men have attracted us or shamed us as we have looked upon their intensity and compared it with our lack of it.—C. J. Ridgeway.

Following Jesus fearingly.—Notice the singular combination, the compatibility and the union of two apparently contradictory things: though they “feared” they “followed,” and though they “followed” they “feared.” The fear was not enough to stop the following, nor the following sufficient to arrest the fear. There was a love in the fear which kept them following; and yet a nature in the following which still left them fearing. And I should not be wrong if I carried the connexion of these two thoughts a little further. They feared because they followed, and they followed because they were afraid. Fear is the strongest fascination. There is always a tendency to go to what we greatly fear. So the following led up to the fear, and the fear led up to the following. That walk up to Jerusalem appears to me strangely illustrative of the path by which many of you are going to heaven. This strange and, but for experience, this incredible condition of a man’s heart—the fear that follows, and the following that fears—whence is it?

I. Certainly, if you were not a follower, yon would not be a fearer.—I never knew any one in my life begin to fear till God had begun to love him and he had begun to love God. The fear is an index that you are on the road. Because you are His the Spirit works those tender, awe-stricken feelings in your mind; because you are His men hate you; because you are His the devil harasses you; because you are His you know that “through much tribulation you must enter into the kingdom of God.”

II. But is this, then, right?—Have you ever known what it is, in any sense, to have undertaken—absolutely to have undertaken for anybody? And then have you felt the mortification of finding that person, for whom you had undertaken in everything, afraid, mistrusting? It is good to follow fearingly; but it is much better to follow trustingly.

III. How is it that a real follower may be a real fearer?—I will find the answer on that road up to Jerusalem. Why did the disciples fear?

1. They had not adequate ideas of Him whom they followed. So it is with you. If you knew the character of Christ, if you knew the work of Christ, you would be rid of that fear.

2. Though they loved Christ, they did not love Him as He deserved. If they had, the love would have absorbed the fear; they would have rejoiced to endure with Him, even to the death; the dignity, the happiness of partnership with Him would have swallowed up every other consideration.

3. They had not what their Master had—one, great, fixed, sustaining aim. There is nothing so ennobling, there is nothing which makes a hero, a martyr, a saint, like an object, distinct, lofty, worthy. Usefulness is such an object; the extension of Christ’s kingdom is such an object; the glory of God is such an object.

4. They had their fears undefined. It was the indefinite which terrified them. I should hardly say too much if I said that fear is indefiniteness. The terror is the mist which enwraps it.

IV. Take, then, four rules.—

1. Fortify yourself in the thought of what Christ is—His person, His work, His covenant; and what He is to you.

2. Love Him very much, and realise your union with Him—the preciousness, the grandeur of that union, especially in sorrow, persecution, and death.

3. Set a high mark, and carry your life in your hand, so you may reach that mark, and do something for God.

4. Often stop and say deliberately to yourself, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” and do not go on till you have got an answer.

V. But are you still afraid?—Let me offer you this counsel. Do not care about it; do not care for your fears; do not fear because you fear. Only follow on, follow on. The disciples came in all right to Jerusalem at last, though they did follow fearingly.—J. Vaughan.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar_10:32. The way of the Cross.—All nature trembles in a man, when God obliges him to take the way of the Cross. Christ goes forward therein, with a firm and even pace, and with a true courage. He who hazards his life in hopes of a better fortune exposes it only because he hopes not to lose it, and is but the more fond of it on this account; as a covetous person is really the fonder of riches the more he exposes to the hazard of gaming, on the prospect of greater gain. True courage consists in the contempt of this present life through the hopes of that which is eternal; and this contempt is so much the greater the more sure a man is of losing it, as Jesus Christ and the martyrs were.—P. Quesnel.

Mar_10:33-34. Going up to Jerusalem.—

1. They were very near the end of one experience, and on the threshold of the next. Every sudden transition awakens strange feelings. The change from one experience to another, when it appears to come with any measure of suddenness, comes to us with pathetic interest. This must have affected the disciples with exceptional power.

2. The feeling that an important experience has come to an end without our having made the best use of it, adds to our sense of loss and our feeling of regret at the thought of parting company with such an experience. Christ knew nothing of that sadness. In His experience everything had led up to the Cross; and although there was a natural recoil on His part as the Son of Man from the agony of the Cross, and the dread experience of deadly contact with the world’s sin, yet He had nothing on his own part to dread as He entered the conflict.—D. Davies.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10

Mar_10:32-34. Will-power.—There is nothing to be done in life without an inflexible will. “To be weak is to be miserable, doing or suffering.” And our Master has set us the example of this, that unless there run through a man’s life, like the iron framework on the top of the spire of Antwerp Cathedral, on which graceful fancies are strung in stone, unless there run through a man’s life the rigid bar of an iron purpose that nothing can bend, the life will be naught and the man will be a failure. Christ is the pattern of heroic endurance, and reads to us the lesson, resist and persist, whatever stands between us and our goal.—A. Maclaren, D. D.

Invincible courage.—It was as if, in the old days, some excommunicated man with the decree of the Inquisition pronounced against him had gone into Rome and planted himself in the front of the piazza before the buildings of the Holy Office, and lifted up his testimony there.—Ibid.

The may of the Cross.—An old ecclesiastical legend tells how an emperor won the true Cross in battle from a pagan king, and brought it back, with great pomp, to Jerusalem, but found the gate walled up, and an angel standing before it, who said, “Thou bringest back the Cross with pomp and splendour; He that died upon it had shame for His companion; and carried it on His back, barefooted, to Calvary.” Then, says the chronicler, the emperor dismounted from his steed, cast off his robes, lifted the sacred Rood on his shoulders, and with bare feet advanced to the gate, which opened of itself, and he entered in. We have to go up the steep rocky road that leads from the plain where the Dead Sea is to Jerusalem. Let us follow the Master, as He strides before us, the Forerunner and the Captain of our salvation.—Ibid.

Stern resolution in face of danger.—With unshaken resolution Jesus pressed forward to receive the crown of thorns, and to pass through the terrible crisis that awaited Him. We may remember, by way of illustration, the words of Julius Cæsar, when he embarked in a raging storm to obtain the sooner aid for the famine-stricken people of Rome: “It is necessary that I should go, but it is not necessary that I should live!” Thus a brave man is inspired by the circumstances, and supported by the enthusiasm of those around; but in our Lord’s case, in the solitariness of His mysterious life, He “treads the winepress alone.”

The loneliness of the great.—Great men, as a rule, are not club men. The thinkers of the world have not been society fractions. In their isolation they remind us of the oak, which is never seen in a crowd, forming what may be properly termed a wood. An oak forest is nothing more than a poetical figure; for the oak stands alone, or mingled with other trees of different foliage, which it dominates with venerable feudal sovereignty. We have one Dr. Johnson and a number of Boswells round about him.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

FOURTH SECTION

THE ASSEMBLING OF THE DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO THE CROSS

Mar_10:32-34

(Parallels: Mat_20:17-19; Luk_18:31-34; Joh_11:53-57.)

32     And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed,11 they were afraid. And he took again33 the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles; 34And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him,12and shall kill him; and the third day he shall rise again.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See on the parallels of Matthew and Luke. Comp. also the observations in the Introduction to Mark.—Our Evangelist here brings into clear prominence a critical period in the history of our Lord, concerning which John has given us the most exact account. For there can be no doubt that the narrative has to do with the last retreat of the Redeemer into the town and desert of Ephraim. where He prepared Himself, and collected His disciples for the last journey to Jerusalem (see Joh_11:53 ; Leben Jesu, ii. 2). We hear their tone of mind expressed on the occasion of the departure of Jesus from Peræa in order to raise Lazarus. In the spring of the year 783 (p. u. c), Jesus went from Peræa to Bethany, and raised Lazarus from the, dead; He then, because the Sanhedrim had laid Him under excommunication, and decreed that He should die, retreated back into the desert of Ephraim. That desert, eastwards from Bethel, extends towards the desert of Quarantania, between Jerusalem and Jericho. (See for particulars, Robinson, ii. 353.) The last abode of Jesus in the wilderness, His last retreat in this world, forms a counterpart and contrast to His abode in the wilderness after His baptism. In the former, it was necessary for Him to decide on going amongst the people as it were without a name, in order that He might avoid the Messiahship, as it had become an idea grossly perverted into a mere watchword of deception; but now He must decide to yield Himself up to the people, according to the true and purified idea of the Messiah, which He had in the whole tenor of His holy life re-established amongst them. This was the great task that He now contemplated; and Matthew himself points to it also. He took His disciples κατ̓ ἰδίαν ἐν τψ͂ δςψ͂ ,and gave them the last and most express preannouncement of His passion. Luke gives the faintest record of the crisis: παραλαβὼν—ἰδοὺ, ἀναβαίνομεν. But Mark describes, first, the great confusion and terror with which the disciples regarded the final catastrophe, and how they followed their Master not without much fear. This expression, ἀκολουθοῦντες ἐφοβοῦντο, is stronger, in consequence of the seeming inversion of the participle and the Past tense. It indicates a wavering, and a danger of being scattered abroad, which Jesus prevented by the παραλαβὼν πάλιν. We therefore understand it thus, that this morbid depression, which the Lord contended against, was followed by a new and more mighty impulse of excitement, that found its expression in the immediately following appeal of the two sons of Zebedee. Mark is most copious in the prediction of the passion, and presents it to us in simple active propositions in the Future. Matthew lays the main stress on Jesus’ being delivered over to the Gentiles: He is delivered up, betrayed to mockery, to scourging, and to crucifixion. Luke makes Christ’s person the central point, and records what He would suffer and encounter. Mark depicts the double betrayal in its vividly apprehended consequences; and the word of Matthew respecting the crucifixion he divides into two parts: they will spit upon Him, and they will kill Him. Luke gives prominence, moreover, to the fact, that Jesus declared at the beginning that the Scriptures must be fulfilled; and lays stress at the end on the circumstance, that the disciples could not and would not understand His prediction.

Mar_10:32. And as they followed, they were afraid.—Meyer prefers the reading, οἱ δὲ ἀκολ. ἐφοβοῦντο, which would give this meaning: The greater number of the disciples held back in astonishment and confusion; those who followed Jesus, who advanced before them, followed Him only with great fear. We agree with Meyer so far as this, that the crisis was a very special one; but his reading makes it too emphatic. It is a reading not sufficiently supported; and, moreover, we have no sign in John that at that time many of the disciples left the Lord. If any are disposed to think that about this time the thought of betraying the Lord entered the soul of Judas as a germ, yet it must be remembered that there was no development of it until the subsequent feast in Bethany, and that it was not a fixed decision until the Passover. An express contrast between those who now left the Lord, and those who followed Him in fear, would have been expressed in stronger terms: as, for instance, at that earlier crisis, after the declaration of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum, Joh_6:66. The fact that the sentence of death was now uttered against our Lord (Joh_11:45), might indeed make some of those who reverenced Jesus waver and apostatize. But how decidedly His genuine disciples still put faith in Him and His cause, is proved by the subsequent palm-entry into Jerusalem, as well as by the circumstance, which Luke prominently mentions, that the disciples did not thoroughly lay to heart and believe the announcement which Jesus had made concerning His own death.—And He took again the Twelve.—See John’s statement, Joh_11:7 seq., and John 10:54.—And began.—The expression intimates that a series of new and decisive explanations took place (comp. Mar_8:31; Mar_9:22). These consisted in, 1. The decision of the time. He had first declared that He must suffer death generally (ὅτι δεῖ), and that it was near at hand (μέλλει in Matthew and Luke; in Mark expressed by the Present παραδίδοται): He now declares more expressly that all this would take place at the coming journey to the feast (ἀναβαίνομεν, etc., καὶ δ υἱός). 2. In the more precise statement of the form of suffering: a. the being rejected generally (Mar_8:31); b. the betrayal, and the delivering up by the Jews to the Gentiles (Mar_9:12; Mar_9:31); c. the great double betrayal,—the first betrayal, or the delivering up to the high priests, coming in our passage into marked prominence. 3. In the more precise definition of the critical elements of the passion, especially His execution by the hands of the Gentiles, Matthew expressly mentions the crucifixion, while in Mark and Luke it is plainly hinted at. Compare the Critical Notes on the parallel place in Matthew.

Mar_10:34. And they shall mock Him.—The text does not require us, with Meyer, to limit this verb and that which follows to the Gentiles. Why should they be omitted who were the original movers of the whole, and who gave it their continual aid? Compare Matthew and Luke.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See on the parallel of Matthew.

2. Here again, as in many other passages, Mark goes beyond the other Synoptists, and decidedly approximates to John; and the account of the last Evangelist concerning the final abode of Jesus in the wilderness of Ephraim is made more plain by the circumstances given here by Mark. The amazement and hesitation of the Lord’s disciples was occasioned especially by His heroic and decisive bearing as He went before them. They saw in His majestic, resolute, solemn, and fixed deportment, that a most important crisis was impending. Since the astonishment and wavering of His disciples precedes the definite prediction of Christ concerning His now approaching passion and death, it can only refer to the obscure and anxious foreboding with which the thought of something unknown, but critical and decisive and fearful, filled their minds (De Wette). For all this they were as yet but little prepared; hence the Lord collected them together, and strengthened them in solitude. He foretold to them His whole passion, so far as He could do so (that is, without a premature disclosure of the traitor, who had not yet decided on his treachery); He repeated to them all the comforting promises of His resurrection, and thus prepared them for all, while waiting for the Galilæan-Peræan festival companies.

3. The abode of Jesus in the wilderness of Ephraim, in its connection with His abode in the wilderness of Quarantania, and in its contrast with that abode.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See on Matthew.—Jesus as going before His disciples in the way of sufferings: 1. His heroic spirit; 2. their despondency; 3. their invigoration in His strength.—Follow Me, saith Christ our Leader and Champion.—Jesus, go before us!—Christ, the Captain of our salvation, Heb_2:10.—The Lord in the midst of His disciples, before the coming of the hours (or days) of great and solemn crisis and decision.—The shuddering presentiment of the disciples, contemplating the unknown future; excited by, 1. beholding the holy and joyful solemnity of the Lord; 2. the journey to Jerusalem; 3. the consideration of the people’s disposition; 4. the consideration of their own frame of mind.—How the Lord seeks to deliver the disciples from an indefinite fear, by setting before them the clear idea of a fearful, but salutary and saving, certainty.—The trembling and wavering discipleship.—We must not tremble and be amazed in the uncertainty of the way of suffering, but be bold and dare in the certainty of it.—Morbid feelings must become cheerful; and feebleness must be invigorated by the thought of the glorious and final end.—The Lord’s assembly in solitude for His great and decisive encounter with the world. (See running title.)—The importance of stillness for the kingdom of God: 1. Into stillness; 2. in stillness; 3. out of stillness.—How the Lord collects His disciples for the conflict of suffering: 1. Every one to Him (with Christ); 2. every one into himself (in the inner life); 3. every one singly (to his companions).—The source of the suffering of Christ; or, the enmity of the world against Him.—The ever recurring cry from heaven, in the prospect of all Christ’s sufferings and His people’s: and [the cry] on the third day.—The Lord deals with His disciples in the spirit of heavenly simplicity and fidelity.—The plain disparity between the temper of the disciples and the feeling of our Lord: 1. Its meaning; 2. its signs; 3. itself a sign of the betrayal, the denial, and the forsaking Him in the night of His passion.

Starke:—Conversations in travelling should further us in the heavenly pilgrimage.—All the steps which are taken in suffering with Christ, are steps taken to glory, 2Th_3:5; 1Pe_4:1; Heb_12:2; Heb_12:8.—We should often remind ourselves of the cross.—Christ summons us to fellowship with Him, as often as we hear of His sufferings and death.—We should be of good heart (Luk_24:26), remembering in our sufferings the resurrection, and expecting our redemption in patient hope.—Lisco:—They were amazed and affrighted at the way which Jesus so boldly took into the very presence and power of His enemies.—Braune:—On account of their Master, they were amazed; for themselves, they feared.—Jesus going before them attracted them to follow.—A secret presentiment and longing of the spirit points to fellowship with Christ upon the cross; but the flesh grievously recoils.—We must train ourselves to endure sufferings.—Gossner:—All nature trembles when God leads man on the way of the cross.—Bauer:—The Master going before them, what remained but that they should follow?

Footnotes:

[11] Mar_10:32.—Meyer adopts the reading οἱ δὲ ἀκολοθοῦντες, after B. and others. So Ewald. Cod. C. reads καὶ οὶ, which dentifies those “following” fas the disciples.

[12] Mar_10:34.—The spitting connected with the mocking in B., C., L., Δ., [Lachamann, Tischendorf,] may be explained by exegetical motives. B., C., L., Δ. read μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας, Lachmann, Tischendorf. Probably this was introduced to conform it with Mar_8:31; Mar_9:31.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark

CHRIST ON THE ROAD TO THE CROSS

Mar 10:32.

We learn from John’s Gospel that the resurrection of Lazarus precipitated the determination of the Jewish authorities to put Christ to death; and that immediately thereafter there was held the council at which, by the advice of Caiaphas, the formal decision was come to. Thereupon our Lord withdrew Himself into the wilderness which stretches south and east of Jerusalem; and remained there for an unknown period, preparing Himself for the Cross. Then, full of calm resolve, He came forth to die. This is the crisis in our Lord’s history to which my text refers. The graphic narrative of this Evangelist sets before us the little company on the steep rocky mountain road that leads up from Jericho to Jerusalem; our Lord, far in advance of His followers, with a fixed purpose stamped upon His face, and something of haste in His stride, and that in His whole demeanour which shed a strange astonishment and awe over the group of silent and uncomprehending disciples.

That picture has not attracted the attention that it deserves. I think if we ponder it with sympathetic imagination helping us, we may get from it some very great lessons and glimpses of our Lord’s inmost heart in the prospect of His Cross. And I desire simply to set forth two or three of the aspects of Christ’s character which these words seem to me to suggest.

I. We have here, then, first, what, for want of a better name, I would call the heroic Christ.

I use the word to express simply strength of will brought to bear in the resistance to antagonism; and although that is a side of the Lord’s character which is not often made prominent, it is there, and ought to have its due importance.

We speak of Him, and delight to think of Him, as the embodiment of all loving, gracious, gentle virtues, but Jesus Christ as the ideal man unites in Himself what men are in the habit, somewhat superciliously, of calling the masculine virtues, as well as those which they somewhat contemptuously designate the feminine. I doubt very much whether that is a correct distinction. I think that the heroism of endurance, at all events, is far more an attribute of a woman than of a man. But be that as it may, we are to look to Jesus Christ as presenting before us the very type of all which men call heroism in the sense that I have explained, of an iron will, incapable of deflection by any antagonism, and which coerces the whole nature to obedience to its behests.

There is nothing to be done in life without such a will. ‘To be weak is to be miserable, doing or suffering.’ And our Master has set us the example of this; that unless there run through a man’s life, like the iron framework on the top of the spire of Antwerp Cathedral, on which graceful fancies are strung in stone, the rigid bar of an iron purpose that nothing can bend, the life will be nought and the man will be a failure. Christ is the pattern of heroic endurance, and reads to us the lesson to resist and persist, whatever stands between us and our goal.

So here, the Cross before Him flung out no repelling influence towards Him, but rather drew Him to itself. There is no reason that I can find for believing the modern theory of the rationalists’ school that our Lord, in the course of His mission, altered His plan, or gradually had dawning upon His mind the conviction that to carry out His purposes He must be a martyr. That seems to me to be an entire misreading of the Gospel narrative which sets before us much rather this, that from the beginning of our Lord’s public career there stood unmistakably before Him the Cross as the goal. He entertained no illusions as to His reception. He did not come to do certain work, and, finding that He could not do it, accepted the martyr’s death; but He came for the twofold purpose of serving by His life, and of redeeming by His death. ‘He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for the many.’ And this purpose stood clear before Him, drawing Him to itself all through His career.

But, further, Christ’s character teaches us what is the highest form of such strength and tenacity, viz., gentleness. There is no need to be brusque, obstinate, angular, self-absorbed, harsh, because we are fixed and determined in our course. These things are the caricatures and the diminutions, not the true forms nor the increase, of strength. The most tenacious steel is the most flexible, and he that has the most fixed and definite resolve may be the man that has his heart most open to all human sympathies, and is strong with the almightiness of gentleness, and not with the less close-knit strength of roughness and of hardness. Christ, because He is perfect love, is perfect power, and His will is fixed because it is love that fixes it. So let us take the lesson that the highest type of strength is strength in meekness, and that the Master who, I was going to say, kept His strength of will under, but I more correctly say, manifested His strength of will through, His gentleness, is the pattern for us.

II. Then again, we see here not only the heroic, but what I may call the self-sacrificing Christ.

We have not only to consider the fixed will which this incident reveals, but to remember the purpose on which it was fixed, and that He was hastening to His Cross. The very fact of our Lord’s going back to Jerusalem, with that decree of the Sanhedrim still in force, was tantamount to His surrender of Himself to death. It was as if, in the old days, some excommunicated man with the decree of the Inquisition pronounced against him had gone into Rome and planted himself in the front of the piazza before the buildings of the Holy Office, and lifted up his testimony there. So Christ, knowing that this council has been held, that this decree stands, goes back, investing of set purpose His return with all the publicity that He can bring to bear upon it. For this once He seems to determine that He will ‘cause His voice to be heard in the streets’; He makes as much of a demonstration as the circumstances will allow, and so acts in a manner opposite to all the rest of His life. Why? Because He had determined to bring the controversy to an end. Why? Was He flinging away His life in mere despair? Was He sinfully neglecting precautions? Was the same fanaticism of martyrdom which has often told upon men, acting upon Him? Were these His reasons? No, but He recognised that now that ‘hour’ of which He spoke so much had come, and of His own loving will offered Himself as our Sacrifice.

It is all-important to keep in view that Christ’s death was His own voluntary act. Whatever external forces were brought to bear in the accomplishment of it, He died because He chose to die. The ‘cords’ which bound this sacrifice to the horns of the altar were cords woven by Himself.

So I point to the incident of my text, as linking in along with the whole series of incidents marking the last days of our Lord’s life, in order to stamp upon His death unmistakably this signature, that it was His own act. Therefore the publicity that was given to His entry; therefore His appearance in the Temple; therefore the increased sharpness and unmistakableness of His denunciations of the ruling classes, the Pharisees and the scribes. Therefore the whole history of the Passion, all culminating in leaving this one conviction, that He had ‘power to lay down His life,’ that neither Caiaphas nor Annas, nor Judas, nor the band, nor priests, nor the Council, nor Pilate, nor Herod, nor soldiers, nor nails, nor cross, nor all together, killed Jesus, but that Jesus died because He would. The self-sacrifice of the Lord was not the flinging away of the life that He ought to have preserved, nor carelessness, nor the fanaticism of a martyr, nor the enthusiasm of a hero and a champion, but it was the voluntary death of Him who of His own will became in His death the ‘oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.’ Love to us, and obedience to the Father whose will He made His own, were the cords that bound Christ to the Cross on which He died. His sacrifice was voluntary; witness this fact that when He saw the Cross at hand He strode before His followers to reach that, the goal of His mission.

III. I venture to regard the incident as giving us a little glimpse of what I may call the shrinking Christ.

Do we not see here a trace of something that we all know? May not part of the reason for Christ’s haste have been that desire which we all have, when some inevitable grief or pain lies before us, to get it over soon, and to abbreviate the moments that lie between us and it? Was there not something of that feeling in our Lord’s sensitive nature when He said, for instance, ‘I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished’? ‘I am come to send fire upon the earth, and O! how I wish that it were already kindled!’ Was there not something of the same feeling, which we cannot call impatient, but which we may call shrinking from the Cross, and therefore seeking to draw the Cross nearer, and have done with it, in the words which He addressed to the betrayer, ‘That thou doest, do quickly,’ as if He were making a last appeal to the man’s humanity, and in effect saying to him, ‘If you have a heart at all, shorten these painful hours, and let us have it over’? And may we not see, in that swift advance in front of the lagging disciples, some trace of the same feeling which we recognise to be so truly human? Christ did shrink from His Cross. Let us never forget that He recoiled from it, with the simple, instinctive, human shrinking from pain and death which is a matter of the physical nervous system, and has nothing to do with the will at all. If there had been no shrinking from it there had been no fixed will. If there had been no natural instinctive drawing back of the physical nature and its connections from the prospect of pain and death, there had been none of the heroism of which I am speaking. Though it does not become us to dogmatise about matters of which we know so little, I think we may fairly say that that shrinking never rose up into the regions of Christ’s will; never became a desire; never became a purpose. Howsoever the ship might be tossed by the waves, the will always kept its level equilibrium. Howsoever the physical nature might incline to this side or to that, the will always kept parallel with the great underlying divine will, the Father’s purpose which He had come to effect. There was shrinking which was instinctive and human, but it never disturbed the fixed purpose to die. It had so much power over Him as to make Him march a little faster to the Cross, but it never made Him turn from it. And so He stands before us as the Conqueror in a real conflict, as having yielded Himself up by a real surrender, as having overcome a real difficulty, ‘for the joy that was set before Him, having endured the Cross, despising the shame.’

IV. So, lastly, I would see here the lonely Christ.

In front of His followers, absorbed in the thought of what was drawing so near, gathering together His powers in order to be ready for the struggle, with His heart full of the love and the pity which impelled Him, He is surrounded as with a cloud which shuts Him ‘out from their sight,’ as afterwards the cloud of glory ‘received Him.’

What a gulf there was between them and Him, between their thoughts and His, as He passed up that rocky way! What were they thinking about? ‘By the way they had disputed amongst themselves which of them should be the greatest.’ So far did they sympathise with the Master! So far did they understand Him! Talk about men with unappreciated aims, heroes that have lived through a lifetime of misunderstanding and never have had any one to sympathise with them! There never was such a lonely man in the world as Jesus Christ. Never was there one that carried so deep In His heart so great a purpose and so great a love, which none cared a rush about. And those that were nearest Him, and loved Him best, loved Him so blunderingly and so blindly that their love must often have been quite as much of a pain as of a joy.

In His Passion that solitude reached the point of agony. How touching in its unconscious pathos is His pleading request, ‘Tarry ye here, and watch with Me!’ How touching in their revelation of a subsidiary but yet very real addition to His pains are His words, ‘All ye shall be offended because of Me this night.’ Oh, dear brethren! every human soul has to go down into the darkness alone, however close may be the clasping love which accompanies us to the portal; but the loneliness of death was realised by Jesus Christ in a very unique and solemn manner. For round Him there gathered the clouds of a mysterious agony, only faintly typified by the darkness of eclipse which hid the material sun in the universe, what time He died.

And all this solitude, the solitude of unappreciated aims, and unshared purposes, and misunderstood sorrow during life, and the solitude of death with its elements ineffable of atonement;-all this solitude was borne that no human soul, living or dying, might ever be lonely any more. ‘Lo! I,’ whom you all left alone, ‘am with you,’ who left Me alone, ‘even till the end of the world.’

So, dear brethren, ponder that picture that I have been trying very feebly to set before you, of the heroic, self-sacrificing, shrinking, solitary Saviour. Take Him as your Saviour, your Sacrifice, your Pattern; and hear Him saying, ‘If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and where I am there shall also My servant be.’

An old ecclesiastical legend conies into my mind at the moment, which tells how an emperor won the true Cross in battle from a pagan king, and brought it back, with great pomp, to Jerusalem; but found the gate walled up, and an angel standing before it, who said, ‘Thou bringest back the Cross with pomp and splendour. He that died upon it had shame for His companion; and carried it on His back, barefooted, to Calvary.’ Then, says the chronicler, the emperor dismounted from his steed, cast off his robes, lifted the sacred Rood on his shoulders, and with bare feet advanced to the gate, which opened of itself, and he entered in.

We have to go up the steep rocky road that leads from the plain where the Dead Sea is, to Jerusalem. Let us follow the Master, as He strides before us, the Forerunner and the Captain of our salvation.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:32-34 The disciples’ awe and the people’s fear cast a dark shadow over what lay ahead, given the hostility of the Jerusalem leaders toward Jesus (see 3:22-30; 7:1-13). Taking the disciples aside again, Jesus described the coming events in the greatest detail yet (see also 8:31; 9:31). He knew what was about to happen; what awaited him in Jerusalem was neither a tragedy nor fate, but God’s will (see 8:31-33; Acts 4:27-28). As the Son of God, Jesus had unique knowledge of his upcoming unique death as the Savior of the world.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 10:32. Ἐθαμβοῦντο, they were amazed [fear-struck]) They knew not themselves the reason why. Often something, which does not fall under the vision [the ken] of the mind or of the eye, affects another sense; Dan 10:7. They were fear-struck [shuddered with amazement] on account of Jesus, who went before: they were afraid, on account of their own selves, who were following Him. By this shuddering amazement and fear, they were divested of their opinion and hope of earthly things, if not completely, as, for instance, in the case of James and John [Mar 10:35, etc.], yet in part.—ἤρξατο, He began) Already He had begun before, ch. Mar 8:31; but now He began to speak more fully and at large. And this even as yet was but the beginning.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar_10:32-34 See on Mat_20:17-19. Comp. Luk_18:31-33. Mark is more detailed and more characteristic than Matthew.

ἦσαν δὲ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ] The occurrence with the rich young man had happened, while they went out εἰς ὁδόν, Mar_10:17; now they were on the way (ἀναβαίνοντες is not to be taken with ἦσαν). Jesus moves on before more intrepidi ducis (Grotius), and the disciples were amazed; but they who followed were afraid,[139] for the foreboding of a serious and grave future had taken hold of them, and they beheld Him thus incessantly going, and themselves being led, to meet it! See Mar_10:24-26, the μετὰ διωγμ., Mar_10:30, and the declaration, Mar_10:31. Comp. Joh_11:7-16.

πάλιν] refers neither to Mar_11:31 (de Wette), where there is nothing said of any παραλαμβάνειν, nor to Mar_9:35 (Fritzsche), where the ἐφώνησε τοὺς δώδεκα, which happened in the house, is withal something entirely different; but towhat is just relatedthe partial separation of Jesus from His disciples on the way, after they had previously gone together. Only in part had they followed Him fearfully; most of them had remained behind on the way amazed; He now made a pause, and took again to Himself all the Twelve (hence in this place there is put not merely αὐτούς, but τοὺς δώδεκα).

ἤρξατο] so that He broke the previous silence.

Mar_10:34. The Gentiles are the subject of ἐμπαίξ as far as ἀποκτ. (comp. Matthew). Instead of ἀποκτενοῦσιν Matthew has the definite, but certainly later, crucifying.

[139] According to the reading οἱ δὲ ἀκολ. ἐφοβοῦντο; see the critical remarks. The matter, namely, is to he conceived in this way, that the majority of the disciples stayed behind on the way in perplexity, but those among them who followed Jesus as He went forward did so only fearfully. As to this use of οἱ δέ, see on Mat_28:17.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 10:32-34 . Third prediction of the Passion (Mat 20:17-19 , Luk 18:31-34 ).

Mar 10:32 . εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα , to Jerusalem! The fact that they were at last on the march for the Holy City is mentioned to explain the mood and manner of Jesus. προάγων : Jesus in advance, all the rest following at a respectful distance. ἐθαμβοῦντο : the astonishment of the Twelve and the fear of others ( οἱ ἀκολ . ἐφοβοῦντο ) were not due to the fact that Jesus had, against their wish, chosen to go to Jerusalem in spite of apprehended danger (Weiss). These feelings must have been awakened by the manner of Jesus, as of one labouring under strong emotion. Only so can we account for the fear of the crowd, who were not, like the Twelve, acquainted with Christ’s forebodings of death. Memory and expectation were both active at that moment, producing together a high-strung state of mind: Peraea, John, baptism in the Jordan, at the beginning; Jerusalem, the priests, the cross, at the end! Filled with the varied feelings excited by these sacred recollections and tragic anticipations, He walks alone by preference, step and gesture revealing what is working within and inspiring awe “muthig und entschlossen,” Schanz; with “majesty and heroism,” Morison; “tanto animo tantâque alacritate,” Elsner; “more intrepidi ducis,” Grotius. This picture of Jesus in advance on the way to Jerusalem is one of Mk.’s realisms.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The disciples are again prepared to patience, not to be overcome by the foretelling unto them of his death, which was at hand, and therewithall of life which should most certainly follow.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 32. And he took again the twelve] Or thus: For having again taken the twelve, c. I translate και for, which signification it often bears see Lu 1:22; Joh 12:35, and elsewhere. This gives the reason of the wonder and fear of the disciples, FOR he began to tell them on the way, what was to befall him. This sense of και, I find, is also noticed by Rosenmuller. See on Mt 20:17-19.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(32-34) And they were in the way.—See Notes on Mat_20:17-19.

Jesus went before them.—Better, was leading the way. The word is the same as that used in Mat_21:9; Mat_21:31. The graphic picture of the order in which the Master and the disciples were at this time travelling is eminently characteristic of St. Mark. The special mention of “the Twelve” implies that there were other disciples, possibly the Seventy of Luk_10:1, and the “devout women” of Luk_8:1.

And they were amazed.—We have clearly in these words a vivid reproduction of states of feeling which the disciples remembered, but for which the facts related hardly give a sufficient explanation. Probably the words that had just been spoken—still more, perhaps, the look and tone which accompanied them—and the silent withdrawal from converse with them, struck all the disciples with a vague fear, and the Twelve with absolute terror.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32–34. Predictions of the Passion

32. they were in the way] Our Lord would seem to have now descended from Ephraim to the high road in order to join the caravans of Galilæan pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. St Mark gives a special prominence to this critical period in His human history: He describes (a) the prophetic elevation and solemnity of soul which He displayed; (b) His advancing before them as the destined Sufferer, (c) the awe of the disciples as they followed Him.

and Jesus went before them] “After the manner of some leader who heartens his soldiers by choosing the place of danger for himself.” Trench, Studies, p. 216.

and as they followed] Or, according to the better reading, and they that followed, as though there were two bands of the Apostles, of whom one went foremost, while the others had fallen behind. “There are few pictures in the Gospel more striking than this of Jesus going forth to His death, and walking alone along the path into the deep valley, while behind Him, in awful reverence, and mingled anticipations of dread and hope—their eyes fixed on Him, as with bowed head He preceded them in all the majesty of sorrow—the disciples walked behind and dared not disturb His meditations.” Farrar, Life, ii. p. 179.

And he took again] This was for the third time. The two previous occasions are described in (a) Mar_8:31, in the neighbourhood of Cæsarea Philippi, just after St Peter’s confession, and (b) Mar_9:30-32, shortly afterwards, during the return to Capernaum. The particulars are now more full and more clear than ever before. St Matthew (Mat_20:17) distinctly tells us that this mournful communication was made privately to the Apostles.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him,.... Along with their mother, who was their mouth, and spoke for them, and they by her:

saying, master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire: that is, we earnestly desire, that whereas we have a favour to ask of thee, that thou wouldst not deny us it, be it what it will; See Gill on Mat 20:20.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

32 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,

Ver. 32. Jesus went before them] As most willing of his way, though he went now to suffer. Show we like forwardness, and say, "I am in prison till I am in prison."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ goes before, to shew his eagerness to suffer the ignominies and torments of his approaching passion, for our salvation. (Theophylactus) --- But the disciples being already forewarned of what their Master was to suffer from the high priest and Scribes, went along the road to Jerusalem, with silent fear and trepidation, either lest they should be put to death with him, or lest he, whose life and doctrines they enjoyed, should fall into the hands of his enemies. But our kind Redeemer, foreseeing that the minds of his disciples were disturbed, comforts them with the assurance of his resurrection. (Ven. Bede)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

See Poole on "Mat 20:17", and following verses to Mat 20:19. This is at least the third time that our Saviour instructs his disciples as to his passion, toward which he was now going, and that with such a readiness, that, to the amazement of his disciples, he led the way, and outwent them. It is observable that Christ here describeth his sufferings more particularly than before. He tells them here that he should be first

delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they should condemn him. Then they should

deliver him to the Gentiles, ( such were the Romans and Pontius Pilate), and they should

mock him, scourge him, spit on him, put him to death, but he should rise again the third day. Luke adds, Luk 18:34, They understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. How hardly do we believe what seems contrary to our interests! But we are to hear for the time to come. This premonition was afterwards of use to them, they remembered the words of Jesus when the things were come to pass. Preachers’ words are not lost, though at present they be not believed or hearkened to.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They were now going up from Jericho to Jerusalem, going up with Christ to his cross and his death. He went before them, eagerly leading the way for his timid disciples, who were now beginning to realize what was about to happen, and that he would be condemned and crucified. Therefore the evangelist adds, they were amazed (Greek, eyambounto); the same word which is used at ver. 24. The words in the original, according to the best reading, make a distinction between the utter amazement of the disciples and the fear of the others who followed (oi de akolouyountev efobounto). St. Mark draws a distinction between the disciples, who would be following him, though at a little distance, and the mixed company, who were also following him, though at a greater distance. The whole scene is before us. Our blessed Lord, with an awful majesty on his countenance, and eager resolution in his manner, is pressing forwards to his cross. "How am I straitened until it be accomplished!" His disciples follow him, amazed and bewildered; and even the miscellaneous crowd, who no doubt gazed upon him with keen interest as the great "Prophet that should come into the world," felt that something was going to happen, though they knew not what some-thing very dreadful; and they too were afraid. In the case of the disciples, Bede says that the chief cause of their amazement was their own imminent fear of death. They were amazed that their Master should hasten forward with such alacrity to his cross, and they feared lest they too should have to suffer with him. He took again the twelve; and once more impressed upon them the dread realities which were awaiting him. They were still slow of apprehension; they required to be told again and again.

Vers. 32-34. The reiterated prediction.

This was the third occasion upon which Jesus expressly and formally intimated to his followers the approaching close of his ministry and life. The occasion was the last great journey up to Jerusalem. He wished the disciples to understand what their discipleship involved, into what scenes they were now about to follow him; that, forewarned, they might be forearmed. Observe.

I THE PREPARATION FOR THIS COMMUNICATION. Mark, in a few words, graphically and vividly portrays the scene. An unusual state of excitement pervades the company. The attitude of the Master, and the expression of the disciples" countenances, display the prevalence of common emotion. Jesus goes before, absorbed in contemplation of his approaching sufferings; the.group of disciples are amazed at the prospect opened up to them in the words of warning they have just heard; and the people around are silent with dread and awe!

II JESUS PREDICTS THE PLACE OF HIS SUFFERINGS. They are going up to Jerusalem. The city, in which he has often preached and wrought his mighty works, is about to reject him. The metropolis is in this act to fulfill the counsels of the nation. "He came to his own, and his own received him not." "It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

III IT IS FORETOLD WHO SHALL, BE THE INSTIGATORS OF THE MARTYRDOM. The chief priests and the scribes have opposed him at every point; have disputed with him, calumniated him, stirred up the people against him. And now it is into their hands that he is to be delivered, and they are to take the initiative in his destruction. The leaders of his own nation are to compass the violent end of him who is that nation"s Glory and Redeemer.

IV IT IS FORETOLD WHO SHALL BE THE AGENTS IN HIS MARTYRDOM. It is a proof of our Lord"s prophetic foresight, that he predicts that the instrumentality by which the leaders of the Jews shall effect their purpose is not a native but a foreign agency. He came "a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of God"s people Israel;" and it was permitted that he should be "despised and rejected of men," and that both sections of the human race should conspire and concur in his martyrdom.

V JESUS FORETELLS THE INSULTS AND INDIGNITIES WHICH SHALL PRECEDE HIS DEATH. The circumstantial manner in which the great Sufferer describes beforehand the cruel and inhuman treatment with which he shall meet, is pathetic and instructive. He reads the very hearts of his foes, and marks their malignity and baseness, their hostility to himself and to all that is good. Death is formidable, but the prospect of such a death as this awakens horror.

VI THE RESURRECTION IS FORETOLD AS THE COMPLETION OF THE MARTYRDOM. Christ"s death was not merely a martyrdom; it was a sacrifice. Its purpose would not have been answered had it not been shown that it was impossible that he should be holden of death. Thus was there given to the world an assurance from Heaven that this was indeed the Christ, declared to be the Son of God with power. And for the sake of the disciples themselves, the Lord Jesus foretells his approaching victory over the grave, that their hearts may be cheered and their hopes inspired, that they may learn the more truly to reverence him and the more ardently to trust him.

Vers. 32-34. (Cf. Mar_9:30-32) M.

Vers. 32-34. The coincidence of opposites.

Once more the forecast of shame and death.

I MEN FLY IN THE FACE OF THEIR INTEREST, AND TREAT THEIR BENEFACTORS AS ENEMIES. Christ foresaw that the ruling party would be angry with him "because he told them the truth." And we partake of this guilt. We are blind to love in its disguise. We hate that which reproaches us. It is an error of the understanding and of the heart.

II PROVIDENCE BRINGS GOOD OUT OF OUR EVIL, AND FURTHERS OUR SALVATION IN SPITE OF OURSELVES. So limited is the power of passion, it gains but a momentary end. The patriot or the traitor falls by the hand of the assassin or the judicial murderer; and his principle takes the deeper root, watered by his blood. Christ"s resurrection is the eternal type of all moral victories. J.

Vers. 32-34. Parallel passages: Mat_20:17-19 Luk_18:31-34. A third prediction by our Lord of his passion and resurrection.

I REPEATED PREDICTIONS ON THESE SUBJECTS. The disciples required line upon line on this subject; they were so slow to grasp it and so loth to entertain it. It appeared to them inconceivable and incredible. When it was first directly and definitely announced, Peter deprecated it in the strongest terms, and so far forgot himself that he presumed to rebuke his Master, which drew down on him in turn that severe and sharp reproof, "Get thee behind me, Satan," as though Satan had employed Peter as his emissary, and to do his work on that occasion by tempting our Lord to shrink from the sufferings he foretold. Instead of affording our Lord that support and sympathy, that strength and encouragement which, in view of the approaching ordeal, his human nature craved, his servants whom he loved and who loved him so well, though not always wisely, fell in with Satan"s own suggestion at the temptation to the Savior, to seek the crown without the cross. Why not prove his Messiahship and assume his Kingship over the nations with out such suffering and sorrow, without the sharpness of death and shade of the sepulcher?

II PREVIOUS PREPARATION. The previous training which the disciples had received from the Lord would, one might think, be sufficient to have disabused their minds of the prejudices of their race and nation to which they were so prone. Even after they had been convinced of his Messiahship, and after Peter"s notable and noble confession of it, they needed to be repeatedly reminded of the necessity of his suffering and death to the completion of his work, and to be instructed once and again about the needfulness of his resurrection to demonstrate the divinity of his mission, and that he had power to lay down his life and power to take it again, as also that, delivered for our offenses, he was to be raised for our justification. The notion of a temporal kingdom was so firmly fixed in their minds, and intertwined with all their Messianic hopes and expectations, that it was next to impossible to eradicate it. And yet, at an early period of his ministry, and almost immediately after his proclaiming the near approach of the kingdom of heaven, he expounded the principles, laws, and spiritual nature of that kingdom. Thus, in the sermon on the mount, he explained the object and elucidated the rules of that kingdom in the fifth chapter of St. Matthew; he then interpreted, according to the rules of the kingdom, those religious exercises in which the subjects of the kingdom engage, in the sixth chapter of the same Gospel; while in the seventh he lays down the mutual duties of the members, with other duties of a more general but practical kind. In his seaside parables, again, as recorded in the thirteenth chapter of the same Gospel, he traces the gradual progress, steady development in spite of all obstacles, and ultimate success of that kingdom. When thus prepared for it, he proclaimed to them once and again, and now the third time, in distinct, definite, and decided terms, his passion, death, and resurrection.

III AN ADDITIONAL FEATURE IN THIS PREDICTION. In this third direct prediction a new element is introduced, the Gentiles are mentioned for the first time in connection with our Lord"s death. "The Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. " And yet, strange, yea, passing strange, "they understood," as St. Luke tells us, "none of these things." It is probable that they understood his Language as figurative, and expressive of the great difficulties to be overcome, and the formidable obstacles he would have to encounter in making his way to his Messianic throne. Hence it was that they were amazed at his alacrity, as he went before them and led the way as they were going up to the capital. This much, at the least, they must have known, that he was soon to face his bitterest foes; they must have had some foreboding of the risk he was about to run, and the perils to which he was going to expose himself. Consequently they were amazed at the more than wonted energy with which he pressed forward to the place of danger and the scene of suffering; and though, like a dauntless leader, and fearless hut faithful general, he marched at their head, preceding them and leading them forward, they fell timorously behind, afraid to follow him in the perilous path he was pursuing. We may here recall to mind that the first direct prediction of his death was in the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi, soon after Peter"s confession; the second shortly after, as they were returning to Capernaum; and now, on their way up to Jerusalem, he states the particulars more fully and clearly than ever before. The "spitting" is here mentioned by both St. Mark and St. Luke, the condemnation of the Jewish Sanhedrim is referred to by St. Matthew and St. Mark; the execution by the Gentiles is recorded by all three synoptists; while the mode of death by crucifixion is mentioned by St. Matthew alone. J.J.G.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They were in the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed - At his courage and intrepidity, considering the treatment which he had himself told them he should meet with there: and as they followed, they were afraid - Both for him and themselves: nevertheless he judged it best to prepare them, by telling them more particularly what was to ensue. Matt. xx, 17; Luke xviii, 31.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

in Christ’s Kingdom.

Third foretelling of the Passion:

v. 32. And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them; and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And He took again the Twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto Him,

v. 33. saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles;

v. 34. and they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him; and the third day He shall rise again.

The nearer they came to Jerusalem, the more clearly the object of Christ’s journey was brought out by His bearing and by His words. They had spent some time in their journey down the valley of the Jordan, and had now crossed the river and were slowly ascending toward the range of hills, on one of which Jerusalem was situated. The bearing of Jesus became stranger as time went by. It was characterized by a resoluteness, by a firmness that troubled and astonished the apostles, and caused all those that followed Him to fear. The strong emotion under which He was laboring, the majesty and heroism which shone forth from His manner, the fact that He preferred to walk alone and ahead of them: all these factors filled all the disciples with fear and with forebodings of an impending calamity. In addition, He took the opportunity of impressing once more on His apostles the fact and the manner of His Passion. He took the Twelve aside, He wanted these, His intimates and His successors in the work of preaching, to realize that they must give up their carnal ideas of an earthly Messianic kingdom. The prophecy which He here spoke is more detailed than the foregoing ones. It specifies that the Jewish authorities would deliver Him into the hands of the Gentiles, the Romans; it enumerates the indignities which He would have to endure during His Passion: mocking, spitting, scourging. These facts were vivid, not in His imagination, but in His knowledge. But always, like a shining beacon, came the comforting assurance of the resurrection. By the constant repetition of this fact Jesus hoped to impress the disciples that they would remember it at the critical period.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is at least the third time that Christ had acquainted his disciples with his approaching sufferings. The first time he told his disciples of his death in general; the second time he declares the means, by treason; now he tells them the manner, by crucifying him: all this he did to prevent their dejection at his sufferings.

Learn hence, That it is highly necessary that the doctrine of the cross be often preached to us, that so being armed with expectations of sufferings before they come, we may be the less dismayed and disheartened when they come. Our Lord’s forewarning his disciples so frequently of his death and sufferings, was to forearm them with expectations of his sufferings, and with preparation for their own.

Observe farther, Who were the persons that were the instrumental causes of our Saviour’s death: they were both Jews and Gentiles: The Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests, and they shall deliver him to the Gentiles. As both Jews and Gentiles had a hand in the death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, so are they by faith capable of an interest in the merit of his death, and in the virtue and efficacy of his sufferings. Christ offered up his blood to God on behalf of them that shed it.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CI. Foretelling His Passion].

CI. FORETELLING HIS PASSION. REBUKING AMBITION. (Peræa, or Judæa, near the Jordan.) aMATT. XX. 17-28; bMARK X. 32-45; cLUKE XVIII. 31-34.

b32 And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem [Dean Mansel sees in these words an evidence that Jesus had just crossed the Jordan and was beginning the actual ascent up to Jerusalem. If so, he was in Judæa. But such a construction strains the language. Jesus had been going up to Jerusalem ever since he started in Galilee, and he may now have still be in Peræa. The parable of the vineyard which [553] closed the preceding section was likely to have been spoken before he crossed the Jordan, for Peræa abounded in vineyards]; and Jesus was going before them: and they were amazed; and they that followed were afraid. [When Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem, his disciples dropped behind and hung back. The outer circle of his disciples knew enough not to be fearful of the consequences, and the inner circle, fully acquainted with the dangers, were amazed that he should dare to go thither. A short while before this they had despaired of his life when he had proposed to go even into Judæa ( Joh_11:7-16), and his going at that time had not bettered the situation, but had, on the contrary, greatly increased the enmity and danger ( Joh_11:47-57). Notwithstanding all this, Jesus was now on his way to Jerusalem itself, and was speaking no reassuring word as he formerly had done-- Joh_11:9, Joh_11:10.] a17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took bagain cunto him athe twelve disciples apart [He separated them from the throng of pilgrims on the way to the Passover, and from the outer circle of the disciples, for it was not expedient that these should hear what he was about to reveal concerning his death. Such a revelation might have spurred his Galilæan friends to resist his arrest, and might have resulted in riot and bloodshed], band began to tell them the things that were to happen unto him, aand on the way he said unto them, 18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and bthe ascribes; and they shall condemn him to death, 19 and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify: b34 and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him; and three days he shall rise again. aand the third day he shall be raised up. cand all the things that are written through the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man. 32 For he shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon: 33 and they shall scourge and kill him: [554] and the third day he shall rise again. [This was the third and by far the clearest and most circumstantial prophecy concerning his death. For the other two see Mat_26:66) and forced Pilate to confirm the sentence ( Luk_23:24). Since the evangelists honestly record an actual prediction, we may well pause to note how remarkable it is in that it gives seven details as follows: 1. Delivery or betrayal by Judas. 2. Condemnation. 3. Delivery to the Gentiles. 4. Mocking and the manner of it. 5. Scourging. 6. Death by crucifixion. 7. Resurrection on the third day. The announcement of these sufferings was made for the purpose of checking any materialistic hopes which the apostles might entertain as to the glories, honors, and offices of the Messianic reign. That such hopes were present is shown by the ambitious request which immediately follows. Moreover, to prepare them that they might not be crushed either by the announcement or the accomplishment of his death he gives them the clear promise of his resurrection.] 34 And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said. [So fixed and ineradicable was their false conception of the Messianic reign that they could not believe that what Jesus said could be literally true ( Mat_16:22). Only later did the full significance of his saying dawn upon them-- Joh_16-14:26.] b35 And there a20 Then came bcome near unto him athe mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, bJames and John, aworshipping him, [giving him homage as a coming ruler, not worshiping him as a divine being], and asking a certain thing of him. bsaying unto him, Teacher, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of thee. [Zebedee's wife was named was Salome. See note on 1Ki_2:19, 1Ki_2:20. They asked [555] through their mother, thinking that Jesus would be more likely to favor her than themselves.] a21 And he said unto her, bthem, aWhat wouldest thou? bWhat would ye that I should do for you? [Though Jesus knew what they wished, he required them to state it plainly and specifically, that their self-seeking might be clearly exposed and properly rebuked.] aShe saith unto him, Command that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, and on on thy left hand, in thy kingdom. b37 And they said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory. [In the previous section Jesus had spoken about the thrones to be occupied by the apostles. The sons of Zebedee, presuming on their high standing among the apostles, and their near relationship to Jesus, were emboldened to ask for special seats of honor among the promised thrones--the seats to the right and left of the sovereign being next to his in dignity and consideration; thus Josephus represents Saul as seated with Jonathan on his right hand and Abner on his left. The terms "kingdom" and "glory" are here used synonymously. Despite the fact that Jesus was now telling them plainly of his death, these apostles could not rid their minds of the delusion that he was about to ascend the earthly throne of David.] a22 But Jesus answered and said, bunto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink? athat I am about to drink? bor to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? [The word "cup" among the Hebrews meant a portion assigned ( Psa_16:5, Psa_23:5), whether of pleasure or of sorrow. But the idea of sorrow usually predominated ( Mat_26:39, Mat_26:42, Rev_14:10, Rev_16:19, Rev_18:6, Psa_75:8, Isa_51:17, Jer_25:15). To be baptized with suffering means to be overwhelmed with it, a metaphorical use of the word arising from the fact that it means an immersion. This metaphorical use of baptism aids us to understand the meaning of that word, for neither sprinkling nor pouring could have suggested the overpowering force which the metaphor implies. Alford distinguishes [556] between cup and baptism, making the former refer to inward spiritual suffering, and the latter to outer persecution and trial.] 39 And they said { asay unto him, We are able. bAnd Jesus said asaith unto them, My bThe cup that I drink aindeed ye shall drink: band with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized [They probably thought that Jesus referred to some battle or conflict which would attend the ushering in of the kingdom, and as they were not wanting in physical courage, they were ready enough to pledge themselves to endure it. They spoke with unwarranted self-confidence, but Jesus rebuked them very gently, as he foreknew what suffering they would indeed endure. James was the first apostolic martyr ( Act_12:2), and John's spirit was sorely troubled with the conflict of error, as his epistles show, and his last days were darkened by the shadow of persecution-- Rev_1:9]: 40 but to sit on my right hand or { aand on my left hand, is not mine to give; bbut it is for them for whom it hath been prepared. aof my Father. [Future rewards are indeed meted out by the hand of Christ ( 2Ti_4:8, Rev_2:10, Rev_2:17, Rev_2:26, Rev_2:28, Rev_3:12, Rev_3:21, et al.), but they are not distributed according to caprice or favoritism, but according to the will of the Father and the rules which he has established. Jesus proceeds to set forth the principles by which places of honor are obtained in his kingdom.] 24 And when the ten heard it, they were { bbegan to be amoved with indignation concerning the two brethren. bJames and John 42 And abut Jesus called them unto him, and said bsaith unto them, Ye know that they who are accounted to rule over athe rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 26 Not so shall it be b43 But it is not so among you: but whosoever would become great among you, shall be your minister; 44 and whosoever would be first among you, ashall be your servant: bshall be servant of all. [The ten, sharing the same ambition as the two, jealously resented their efforts to take unfair advantage of [557] the Lord's known affection for them. To restore peace among them, and to correct their false views, he draws the distinction between the worldly greatness to which they aspired, and the spiritual greatness which they ought to have sought. In an earthly kingdom honor and authority measure greatness, but in Christ's kingdom it is measured by humility and service. Jesus added power to his rebuke by showing them that their spirit was not even Jewish, but altogether heathenish.] 45 For { a28 even as bthe Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. [He enforces this lesson by his own example in that he came to serve men and not to have them serve him. Jesus could ever refer to himself as the best example of the virtues which he taught. Since honor consists in being like the King, the highest honor consists in being most like him. The closing words state the vicarious nature of Christ's suffering as plainly as language can express it. The ransom is offered for all ( 1Ti_2:6), and will be efficacious for as many as accept it. The words are nearly a reproduction of the words of Isaiah-- Isa_53:12.]

[FFG 553-558]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

32–34. They were amazed; … they were afraid. For they now distinctly perceived that their Master intended to proceed with the pilgrims to Jerusalem, and they held back in dismay, knowing that his destruction had been determined on by the ruling authorities there. They seemed to hang back as men foreboding peril, and were amazed that their Master should throw himself into such danger. He began to tell them. To their terror lest he should be put to death at Jerusalem, he responded that he was going to die. He had told them at least twice before, but they were unable, as yet, to understand it. See notes on Matt. 20:17–19. Compare Luke 18:31–34.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

They were on the road ... and Jesus was going ahead of them

"Jesus and his disciples were walking on the road ... and Jesus was in front of his disciples"

those who were following behind

"those who were following behind them." Some people were walking behind Jesus and his disciples.

See

"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"

the Son of Man will

Jesus is speaking about himself. This can be stated clearly. AT: "I, the Son of Man, will" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

the Son of Man will be delivered to

This can be stated in active form. AT: "someone will deliver the Son of Man to" or "they will hand the Son of Man over to" (See: Active or Passive)

They will condemn

The word "They" refers to the chief priests and the scribes.

deliver him to the Gentiles

"put him under the control of the Gentiles""

They will mock

"People will mock"

put him to death

"kill him"

he will rise

This refers to rising from the dead. AT: "he will rise from being dead" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Jerusalem

amazed

fear

the twelve

Son of Man

chief priests

scribe

condemn

die

Gentile

mock

raise

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

32–34. THE LAST PREDICTION OF THE PASSION

Mat 20:17-19. Luk 18:31-34.

32. οἱ δὲ ἀκολουθοῦντες ([2276][2277][2278][2279][2280][2281]) rather than καὶ ἀκ. ([2282][2283][2284][2285][2286]). Cf. Mar 7:24. Wrede (Messiasgeheimnis, pp. 96, 275) would omit καὶ ἐθαμβοῦντο. Some Old Latin texts seem to have omitted either ἐθαμβοῦντο or ἐφοβοῦντο.

[2276] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2277] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2278] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[2279] An asterisk denotes that the word is not found elsewhere in N.T., and such words are included in the index, even if there is no note on them in the commentary.

[2280] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[2281] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

[2282] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[2283] Codex Purpureus. 6th cent. Full text in Texts and Studies v. No. 4, 1899. Contains Mar 5:20 to Mar 7:4; Mar 7:20 to Mar 8:32; Mar 9:1 to Mar 10:43; Mar 11:7 to Mar 12:19; Mar 14:25 to Mar 15:23; Mar 15:33-42. See below on Ψ.

[2284] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mar 6:47 to Mar 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[2285] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[2286] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

32. Ἦσαν δέ. Note the unusual δέ and see on Mar 7:24. Translate “Now,” not “And” (A.V., R.V.).

ἀναβαίνοντες. As in English, a journey to the capital is “going up.” This is literally true of Jerusalem, which is “a city set on a hill” (Mat 5:14), and the hill stands high above the sea; cf. Joh 2:13; Joh 5:1; Joh 11:55; Act 11:2; Act 25:1; Gal 2:1. The verb is exceedingly freq. in LXX., where it translates about twenty different Hebrew words.

Ἰεροσόλυμα. Quae urbs illud occidendi Prophetas quasi usu ceperat (Grotius on Luk 13:33). Mk and Jn always have this Greek form of the name; so also Mt., except Mat 23:37, and Josephus. The Hebrew Ἰερουσαλήμ prevails in LXX., and in N.T. where the name has religious significance, as distinct from mere topographical meaning (Mat 23:37; Gal 4:25; Heb 12:22; Rev 3:12; Rev 21:2; Rev 21:10). But Lk. uses Ἰερουσαλήμ without religious significance. Both forms have a smooth breathing; the aspirate comes from a mistaken connexion with ἱερός.

ἦν προάγων. As an Oriental shepherd “goeth before” his sheep, who follow with complete docility (Joh 10:4). This graphic detail of His leading for a while in silence and their following in fear is in Mk only; it may be something that Peter remembered well. There are two companies; the Twelve, who were awe-struck at Christ’s demeanour and fixity of purpose (Luk 9:51; cf. Eze 3:8-9; Isa 50:7), for He had said that He would suffer much at the hands of the hierarchy, and He was going to their headquarters; and the casual followers, who had an indefinite presentiment that something untoward was impending. But there is no indication of “excitement” in His manner. See crit. note.

παραλαβὼν πάλιν τ. δώδεκα. In all three; it implies the presence of other followers. The verb means “taking to oneself” (Joh 1:11; Joh 14:3), and therefore aside from others (Mar 4:36, Mar 5:40, Mar 9:2, Mar 14:33). In class. Grk it is freq. of taking a wife or adopting a son. The πάλιν means that He rejoined the Twelve.

ἤρξατο. He renews the unwelcome topic. This is the fourth (not third) recorded prediction (Mar 8:31, Mar 9:12; Mar 9:31). Apostolis saepius dixit, et indies expressius, ut in posterum testes essent praescientiae ipsius (Grotius). This is more accurate than Loisy, who says that this prediction is made en termes identiques; it is more definite and detailed than the previous predictions, and this has probability on its side. The voluntary character of His death is made clear to the Apostles; He knew the inevitable consequence of going to Jerusalem now.

τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτῷ συμβαίνειν. The things which were sure to happen to Him (Mat 17:12; Mat 17:22; Mat 20:22; Luk 9:31, etc.). On κατακρινοῦσιν c. dat. see Blass § 37. 2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32-34.] Fuller declaration of His sufferings and death. Mat 20:17-19. Luk 18:31-34. (The remarkable particulars of ver. 32 are only found here.)

This was (see Mat 16:21; Mat 17:22) the third declaration of His sufferings which the Lord had made to the disciples, and it was His going before them, accompanied most probably by something remarkable in his gait and manner—a boldness and determination perhaps, an eagerness, denoted in Luk 12:50, which struck them with astonishment and fear. See an interesting note here in Wordsw.

Observe, that ἦσαν and ἀναβαίνοντες must not be taken together. “They were in the way, as they went up to Jerusalem.”

32.] ἤρξατο, anew: He again opened this subject.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32-34. On the journey to Jerusalem, Jesus again foretells his death and resurrection.

They are now on their way to Jerusalem. And there is evidently some feeling of fate overhanging them. It is evident enough that they had not understood Jesus’ predictions of the violent death awaiting him in the city. But on their own construction of events, the approach to Jerusalem meant the crisis in their fate, the decision of the Messianic claim. They were a mere handful, and the authorities were against them. Would the people be with them? And if they were, what of the Roman power? It is no wonder that they were astonished as Jesus put himself at their head, and that some turned back, while others followed with fear. Then Jesus takes the twelve aside, and repeats, with some additional details, the prophecy of his death and resurrection. The prophecy is given here with clearness and particularity, describing the whole course of events. And then follows the clearly impossible request of James and John for the first places in the Messianic kingdom. It is evident that the subsequent history has been read into what must have been at the time distinctly veiled prophecy.

32. ἦν προάγων—was preceding them. The introduction of this apparently commonplace item shows that attention is drawn to it as something out of the common. And in connection with παραλαβὼν πάλιν, in the following clause, it evidently means that Jesus was not mingling with his disciples as usual, but was going before them. καὶ ἐθαμβοῦντο—and they were amazed. We are not told by what, but the very simple προάγων is evidently put forth by the writer as containing the key of the situation. Something in the manner of that invested the whole proceeding with mystery, and brought to their minds the fateful character of this progress to Jerusalem, the tremendous issues to be decided, and the odds against them. And somehow, with all their confidence in Jesus, the question might arise, whether it was confidence for such a crisis.

οἱ δὲ ἀκολοθοῦντες—and those following. Without the art., this would refer to the disciples. But with the art., it picks out some from among them, who followed Jesus, while the rest were left behind, too much perplexed to follow him. The statement is, that those who followed him did it with fear. καὶ παραλαβὼν πάλιν—and having taken to himself again. This is opposed to προάγων (v. 32), which represents him as separating himself from them. But it is only the twelve, not the multitude generally, to whom he joins himself, as the teaching that follows is esoteric. He joins himself to them again, after he sees the effect produced on them by his going on before them, and explains to them what it is that has produced the strangeness of his manner.

Οἱ δὲ, instead of καὶ, before ἀκολουθοῦντες Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BC* L Δ 1, Memph.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Were amazed. The sudden awe which fell on the disciples is noted by Mark only.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.