8:31 Then 1 Jesus 2 began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer 3 many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, 4 and be killed, and after three days rise again.
8:34 Then 5 Jesus 6 called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, 7 he must deny 8 himself, take up his cross, 9 and follow me.
10:17 Now 10 as Jesus 11 was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 12
13:9 “You must watch out for yourselves. You will be handed over 17 to councils 18 and beaten in the synagogues. 19 You will stand before governors and kings 20 because of me, as a witness to them.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn The necessity that the Son of Man suffer is the particular point that needed emphasis, since for many 1st century Jews the Messiah was a glorious and powerful figure, not a suffering one.
4 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
6 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Grk “to follow after me.”
8 tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.
9 sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.
10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
sn Mark 10:17-31. The following unit, Mark 10:17-31, can be divided up into three related sections: (1) the rich man’s question (vv. 17-22); (2) Jesus’ teaching on riches and the kingdom of God (vv. 23-27); and (3) Peter’s statement and Jesus’ answer (vv. 28-31). They are all tied together around the larger theme of the relationship of wealth to the kingdom Jesus had been preaching. The point is that it is impossible to attain to the kingdom by means of riches. The passage as a whole is found in the section 8:27-10:52 in which Mark has been focusing on Jesus’ suffering and true discipleship. In vv. 28-31 Jesus does not deny great rewards to those who follow him, both in the present age and in the age to come, but it must be thoroughly understood that suffering will be integral to the mission of the disciples and the church, for in the very next section (10:32-34) Jesus reaffirmed the truth about his coming rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection.
12 sn The rich man wanted to know what he must do to inherit eternal life, but Jesus had just finished teaching that eternal life was not earned but simply received (10:15).
13 tn Grk “his brother”; but this would be redundant in English with the same phrase “his brother” at the end of the verse, so most modern translations render this phrase “the man” (so NIV, NRSV).
14 tn The use of ἵνα (Jina) with imperatival force is unusual (BDF §470.1).
15 tn Grk “raise up seed” (an idiom for fathering children).
16 sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.
17 tn Grk “They will hand you over.” “They” is an indefinite plural, referring to people in general. The parallel in Matt 10:17 makes this explicit.
18 sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.
19 sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.
20 sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of councils and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.