10:32 Jesus and His disciples were travelling to Jerusalem from somewhere in Perea or Judea. They had not yet passed through Jericho (vv. 46-52). Jesus' position in front of them, in typical rabbinic fashion, suggests His determination to go to Jerusalem in spite of His coming death there (cf. 14:28; 16:7). His attitude probably accounted for the disciples' amazement. Other disciples following farther behind were afraid because of what Jesus had said lay ahead there. Jesus turned to give the Twelve further information about His coming passion.
10:33-34 The following chart shows the greater detail of this prediction and the fulfillment in the passion narrative compared with the previous two predictions.253
Since there is such a remarkable correspondence between these predictions and their fulfillment in the passion narrative, many liberal commentators believed Jesus could not have predicted them.255Still even without divine foresight Jesus could have anticipated what awaited Him in Jerusalem. He knew the depth of the religious leaders' antagonism, and He understood the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah's career (cf. Ps. 22:6-8; Isa. 50:6; 52:13-53:12).
"Jerusalem' is a place of danger and condemnation to death [in Mark]. Jesus' enemies are at home here, and from here scribes and Pharisees come to Galilee to attack him and his disciples. And the Temple,' the house of God's presence and the seat of the religious authorities' power, is a place of intense conflict: Prior to his passion, Jesus' last great confrontation with the religious authorities occurs here."256
