In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus’s prophesying of his betrayal, death, and resurrection are followed by the request of James’ and John’s mother (in Matthew and Mark) and the healing of the two blind men (Matthew) or the one blind man, Bartimaeus (Mark and Luke).

Verse 17 → “And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,”
From everything we know, Jesus is coming to Jerusalem from the North. Since Israel is in the Northern Hemisphere, this would be a strange wording in English. The Greek word for “go up” is anabaino, and it means to “go up”, “arise”, or “ascend”. The same word is used to describe Jospeh’s journey with Mary to Bethlehem in Luke 2:4. It appears again when one Zacchaeus climbed up a sycamore tree in Luke 19:4.
Why would the authors describe Jesus as “going up” to Jerusalem? There is one obvious answer and another speculative answer. First of all, in Matthew 19:1, Jesus and the disciples left Galilee to go to Jerusalem. The Sea of Galilee sits at an elevation of -709 feet. The city of Capernaum is at an elevation of -700 feet. If you were leaving anywhere that was 700 feet below sea level, you would have to go up! Furthermore, Jerusalem sits at an elevation of 2,575 feet. The Sea of Galilee is about 70 miles from Jerusalem. You would certainly realize you were going up!
The more speculative answer lies in the symbolism of Jesus ascending to Jerusalem. In chapter 21, Jesus will have the triumphant entry where there are many parallels with his return in Revelation 19. In Revelation 19:11, the Second Coming of Christ is described and he descends down to earth. Jesus’s journey from Galilee will be the last time he ascends to Jerusalem. The next time, he will descend from heaven!
This journey “up to” Jerusalem, was not necessarily light hearted. Mark’s account described the disciples as “afraid” in 10:32. This could have been speaking of their reverence towards the words of Jesus, but it could have been their nerves being uneasy with coming to the city where the higher ups would not welcome them.

Verse 18 → “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and
unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,”
This is not the first time that Jesus prophesied of his death and resurrection. Jesus first spoke of it in chapter 16:21. Peter protested in response, arguing that it would not happen. However, Jesus harshly rebuked him, referring to him as Satan for going against the will of God.
Once again, Jesus uses the phrase “Son of man” to refer to himself. This is a self given title. It almost always corresponds with prophecy. It is often in reference to the specific identity of Jesus, he is the promised Messiah. It also speaks to his humanity. Make no mistake, Jesus is a man. He can suffer and be killed.
It is important to note who is actually condemning Jesus. It is not just the public opinion. From the crucifixion account, it is clear that it isn’t even the Romans. It is the head of the nation of Israel. For the Kingdom to come, Israel as a nation would have to repent and acknowledge the identity of Jesus. This is why the Kingdom is a national gospel, as opposed to our gospel which is individual.

Verse 19 → “And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third
day he shall rise again.”
Jesus then reveals that he will be handed over to the “Gentiles”, referring to the Romans. This is an accurate description of Rome being that they were very mixed in their ethnicities. While many were of Latin descent, Rome was extremely assimilated. This is largely due to the fact that the Greeks who came before them were diverse and the fact they had conquered so many nations and regions. Rome truly did serve as a representation of the nations as a whole. Even some Jews, such as Paul, were considered Roman citizens.
This fact of the crucifixion makes it even more heartbreaking. God’s chosen nation condemns their promised savior to death. So they hand him over to the people of the world, the descendents of those God spared on the Ark. However, they had nothing but indifference towards him and used him for their own amusement. The Son of God, the only hope for humanity, was hated by his own people and was seen as useless to the entirety of mankind. However, this fact also makes the amazing gift of salvation that much greater. Despite all this, God still provided a way for humanity to be reconciled unto God!
Despite Jesus clearly revealing this to the disciples, they were still shocked when Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and crucified [Luke 18:34]. Even some doubted the resurrection after they had seen Jesus! Because of this, many tend to view the disciples as ignorant and unintelligent. After all, they have the Old Testament, couldn’t they clearly see the prophecies that explained the Messiah had to die and be resurrected? “It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal!” However, we forget that we are getting to read the Old Testament with hindsight.
If we were in the disciples' shoes, we wouldn’t understand what was happening either. We can read Isaiah 53 and understand exactly what it is saying. However, the disciples didn’t have the New Testament to read and have this all revealed to them. We read the Old Testament prophecies as if we have superior intellect. In reality, we had the New Testament take us by the hand and walk us through it. If you took someone who never read the New Testament and only let them study the Old Testament, they would have no idea the Son of God would die and be resurrected. The idea of the promised Messiah being killed was not a part of Jewish belief. The Messiah would come, deliver Israel, and establish the kingdom. Sadly, the religious leaders overlooked the prophecies that taught he would be a suffering servant.
Let this be an illustration why we need to take the Bible for what it says and not read our assumptions into it. The Bible needs to be translated in its entirety. Many false doctrines have been built by reading Jesus, salvation, the church, or a modern nation into every single passage.