Matthew 20:17-19 17And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
This is the fourth time Jesus has predicted his death in Matthew (16:21; 17:12, 22-23). He knew what awaited him in Jerusalem. This saying has more details that the previous ones. Jesus took the twelve aside perhaps because he did not want word to get around what was going to happen. There is no clear indication of where he gave this saying, simply that he and the disciples were going up to Jerusalem. Everyone went up to the city because it was located on a hill. It was a sharp ascent of almost 3,400 feet in 15 miles to go from the area of Jericho where they were to Jerusalem.
In verse 18, we find out the detail that Jesus will be handed over to chief priests and teachers of the law. Jesus’ self designation of Son of Man will become more significant over the next few chapters as the themes shift from Jesus’ present teaching and healing ministry to his eschatological mission of salvation. The idea of delivered and condemned has a judicial connotation of some kind of trial. The Sanhedrin was the highest court of the land. Under Roman power, the Sanhedrin could not put people to death, but they could condemn them and then negotiate with the Romans about the actual execution. The extent of their power is not always clear (for example, the mob attack on Stephen in Acts 7).
Verse 19 gives the detailed prophecy of what will happen to Jesus in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders will do two things to Jesus: condemn him and hand him to the Gentiles. The Gentiles obviously refers to the Romans. The Romans would then mock, flog and crucify him. Mocking would increase the shame that Jesus bore for our sins. Flogging was a cruel form of torture in preparation for the actual crucifixion on a cross. Jesus would face total rejection by the Jews and cruel death by the Romans. The disciples may not have fully understood all of this. Whatever they did understand must have brought confusion and a sense of fear. Trial before the Jewish leaders and death on a Roman cross were the ultimate form sof rejection and execution in that time.
Jesus’ prediction of his resurrection on the third day is significant because it expresses his ultimate faith in his heavenly Father to come to the rescue and complete the plan of salvation. Sunday morning was the third day according to how the Jews counted days. The verb will be raised (egerthēsetai) is a passive voice, meaning that someone else would raise Jesus. He would be truly dead, unable to resurrect himself. God the Father’s intervention in the suffering and death of Jesus would confirm everything Jesus ever said and did.
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