Jesus Presses on Towards Jerusalem Where He Will Give His Life As A Ransom For Many (10:32-45).
It is only at this point that Mark draws our attention to the fact that Jesus has begun His final journey to Jerusalem, and having done so he will immediately hurry on to the final days. This contrasts with Luke who emphasised that Jesus' face was set for Jerusalem seemingly long before He actually reached it (Luke 9:51). But the timing is in fact actually similar. It is only that Luke then includes a whole host of extra material. It is simply a difference of presentation.
And yet Mark's assessment of those final days comes out clearly for he devotes to them over one third of his Gospel. Much is left out of the life of Jesus which he must have known, but the final days are dealt with in great detail, showing how important he saw them to be. To Mark Jesus' death was not just the end of His life, it was the culmination of all that He was and of what He had come to do. It was His final achievement. As he will shortly point out, He had come to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and to seal the new covenant in His blood (Mark 14:24).
Analysis.
a And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And He took again the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were to happen to Him (Mark 10:32).
b Saying, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they will mock Him, and will spit on Him, and will scourge Him, and will kill Him, and after three days He will rise again” (Mark 10:33-34).
c And there come near to Him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying to Him, “Teacher, we would that you would do for us whatever we ask of you” (Mark 10:35).
d And He said to them, “What would you that I should do for you?” And they said to Him, “Grant to us that we may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your glory” (Mark 10:36-37).
e But Jesus said to them, You do not know not what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? or to be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?” (Mark 10:38).
f And they said to Him, “We are able” (Mark 10:39 a).
e And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink, and with the baptism that I am baptised withal shall you be baptised” (Mark 10:39 b).
d “But to sit on My right hand or on My left hand is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared “ (Mark 10:40).
c And when the ten heard it, they began to be moved with indignation concerning James and John (Mark 10:41).
b And Jesus called them to Him, and says to them, “You know that those who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them (Mark 10:42).
a “But it is not so among you. But whoever would become great among you, will be your servant, and whoever would be first among you, shall be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
Note that in ‘a' as they were going up to Jerusalem and ‘following Him' the disciples were filled with awed amazement, and He told them what was to happen to Him, and in the parallel He tells them that He will give Himself as a ransom for many, calling on them to follow Him in His example. In ‘b' He describes what the Jewish authorities and Gentiles will do to Him, and in the parallel reminds them that such love lording it over people. In ‘c' James and John come near in order to preempt the other disciples, and in the parallel the other disciples are angry at James and John. In ‘d' they wish to sit on His right hand and His left in His glory, and in the parallel such is for those for whom it has been prepared. In ‘e' He asks them whether they can drink the same cup as He will, and be baptised with the same baptism, and in the parallel declares that they will indeed participate in both. Central is the naive claim that ‘we are able' when they had no idea what they were talking about.