This is the last time Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die and rise again as He approached Jerusalem. Each time Jesus gave them more information than He had given before. The first time the disciples reacted violently (8:32). The second time they did not understand what He meant and were afraid to ask Him for an explanation (9:32). This time Mark recorded no reaction to His announcement except that an argument about who would be the greatest in the kingdom followed immediately. Clearly the disciples were not comprehending what was coming because they continued to focus increasingly on the coming physical kingdom and their roles in it. Nevertheless Jesus continued to teach them lessons of discipleship that they needed.
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
This pericope parallels 9:30-37. Both sections deal with true greatness, and both follow predictions of Jesus' passion. This second incident shows the disciples' lack of spiritual perception and their selfishness even more than the first one.
10:35-37 James and John's request seems almost incredible. They wanted Jesus to give them whatever they requested, carte blanche. When asked what that might be, they explained that they wanted the positions of highest honor in Jesus' messianic kingdom. The person who sat at a ruler's right hand enjoyed the highest assigned position, and the person who sat at his left the second highest.257These brothers obviously believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and they thought He was going to establish His kingdom soon, perhaps when they reached Jerusalem.
Matthew wrote that their mother, Salome, the sister of Jesus' mother, voiced their request for them (Matt. 20:20). Mark put the words in their mouths because they came from their hearts even though Salome spoke them. Perhaps they thought their family connection with Jesus justified their request. Frequently rulers appointed close family members to important government positions.
"This narrative contains a bright mirror of human vanity; for it shows that proper and holy zeal is often accompanied by ambition. . . . They who are not satisfied with himself alone, but seek this or the other thing apart from him and his promises, wander egregiously from the right path."258
10:38-40 Those who share Jesus' honor in the kingdom must also share His sufferings in this age. The cup is a symbol of trouble and suffering in the Old Testament (Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15-28; 49:12; 51:7; Ezek. 23:31-34; Hab. 2:16; Zech. 12:2). Likewise baptism, being under water, pictures inundation with trouble (Job 22:11; Ps. 18:16; 69:1-2, 15; Isa. 43:2).
James and John confidently affirmed that they could endure all the trouble and suffering that Jesus might have to endure because they had not understood what He had predicted about His passion. They would indeed experience a measure of suffering themselves as Jesus' disciples but not as much as Jesus would have to endure. James was the first apostle to experience martyrdom (Acts 12:2), and John was evidently the last. However, God the Father would determine who would receive the positions of authority and honor in the messianic kingdom (cf. Matt. 20:23).
10:41-44 The jealous reaction of the other disciples shows that selfish ambition also motivated them.259Jesus had to repeat His teaching about greatness because the disciples had not learned its lesson (9:33-37).260
Rule and authority in the kingdom come by faithful and humble service in the present age.261The disciples needed to concentrate on present service rather than future honor. The godless world focuses on the benefits of position. Disciples of Jesus should concentrate on qualifying for honor. The godless even exercise authority prematurely by lording it over others. Disciples should voluntarily place themselves under others to help them. A slave (Gr. doulos) was one who sacrificed his or her rights to serve others (cf. Luke 22:24-30).
Notice that Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for wanting to be great in the kingdom. This ambition is good. He corrected them for focusing on self-centered goals rather than on altruistic goals, and He clarified the method for obtaining greatness.
"Here is the paradox of the Kingdom of God. Instead of being lords, its great ones become servants, and its chiefs the bond-servants of all."262
10:45 Even the Son of Man had to follow the rule that Jesus just explained. He is the great example of it. His incarnation was not that of a potentate whom others had to serve but that of a servant who met the needs of others.
His service extended to giving His life as a ransom (Gr. lytron, cf. Matt. 20:28). In koineGreek (the common Greek of the New Testament world), this word often described the money paid to release slaves. In the New Testament, it has a narrower, more theological meaning, namely release or redemption.263The Exodus is the great Old Testament instance of this redemption and release.
"For"(Gr. anti), used in Mark only here, means "instead of"or "in place of,"a clear reference to substitution (cf. Matt. 2:22; Luke 11:11; 1 Pet. 3:9).264
"Many"(lit. "the many") contrasts with the one life (Gr. psychen) of Jesus given as a payment (cf. 14:24). One man's act affected many others. "Many"does not mean some in contrast to all. While Jesus' death benefits everyone in one sense and the elect in another sense, that was not the point of Jesus' contrast here. Jesus took the place of everyone else by paying the penalty for their sins.
This verse is not only the climax of this pericope (vv. 35-41), but it is the key verse of Mark's Gospel. It summarizes the ministry of Jesus as the Suffering Servant of the Lord, Mark's particular emphasis. Here it constituted another announcement of Jesus' coming death, but it added the purpose for His dying not previously revealed.
"This verse contains the clearest statement of the object of Christ's coming found in the gospels. But this theological declaration was made to enforce a practical truth for everyday conduct."265
Mark probably included this incident in his Gospel because it illustrates how Jesus would open the spiritual eyes of His disciples that were still shut (cf. 8:22-26). This is the last healing miracle that Mark recorded.
"This second account of the blind being healed (see 8:22-26 for the first account) concludes this central section of Mark (8:27-10:52) and serves as bookends' of this section. Recorded as they were and where they were may be suggestive of the trouble the spiritually blind disciples were having in grasping the need for the death of Christ and the need for faithfulness in taking a stand for Christ in the midst of opposition.
"This passage is the only place in Mark where someone called Jesus Son of David.' That Jesus accepted this title and healed the man is evidence that He affirmed the truth that He is indeed the Messiah."266
10:46 Jericho stood about five miles west of the Jordan River and six miles north of the Dead Sea.
Scholars have attempted to harmonize this account with the other two in the Synoptics. A few believe that the accounts represent three separate events. Some believe there were two healings, one as Jesus entered Jericho (Luke 18:35) and another as He left Jericho (Matt. 20:29; Mark 10:46). Still others believe there was only one healing, and it happened somewhere between old Jericho and new Jericho that Herod the Great had built one mile southwest of the old city.267I prefer this view since the three accounts are quite similar. Another view is that the beggars approached Jesus as He entered the city but He healed them as He departed from it. The various descriptions of what happened argue against this theory.
Mark was the only evangelist to record the more prominent of the two beggars' names. This is in harmony with his interest in individuals and detail.
10:47-48 The two descriptions of Jesus in these verses reveal the faith of Bartimaeus. The crowds simply described Jesus as "the Nazarene."Bartimaeus had obviously heard about Jesus and had concluded that He was the Messiah. "Son of David"is a messianic title (cf. 12:35-37; 2 Sam. 7:8-16; Isa. 11:1, 10; Jer. 23:5-6; Ezek. 34:23-24). Even though Bartimaeus lacked physical sight he saw more clearly who Jesus was then the multitudes who could see. His cry for mercy from Jesus expressed the attitude of trust, humility, and dependence that Jesus had been teaching His disciples to maintain.
10:49-50 Jesus responded again to the faith of a believer. Bartimaeus' response verified his belief that Jesus could help him. Mark's details stress Jesus' compassion and the beggar's conviction.
10:51-52 Jesus' question allowed Bartimaeus to articulate his faith and made personal contact with him. "Rabboni"is an emphatic personal form of "rabbi"meaning "my lord and master"(cf. John 20:16). Jesus healed him instantly with a word attributing his healing to his faith. His faith was its means, not its cause. The Greek word translated "made well"or "healed"is sesoken, meaning "saved."
"What was happening in the man's body was really, we may presume (ver. 47, 48), but the outward picture of what had happened in his soul."268
"The second stage in the progressive disclosure of Jesus' identity [to the reader] centers on his Davidic sonship (10:46-11:11; 12:35-37). . .269
"What is noteworthy in this scene is that Bartimaeus, a person of great faith, appeals to Jesus as the Son of David. By granting Bartimaeus his request for sight, Jesus in effect accepts for himself the title Son of David. Moreover, he also shows how he fulfills the end-time expectations associated with David. He does so not by donning the helmet of a warrior king but by using his authority to heal and in this way to save."270
Bartimaeus responded appropriately and began following Jesus.
This incident sets the stage for the climax of Mark's story. Jesus had finished His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. Some people, like Bartimaeus, were believing on and following Jesus. Others, like the religious leaders, did not believe. Conflict in Jerusalem was inevitable.
"Bartimaeus pictured discipleship clearly. He recognized his inability, trusted Jesus as the One to give him God's gracious mercy, and when he could see' clearly he began to follow Jesus."271
