What does Mark 10:1 mean?
In Galilee, Jesus had suspended His public ministry. He had taught there extensively, but the Pharisees' hard hearts reached a tipping point (Mark 8:11–13), and Jesus chose to concentrate on teaching His disciples, instead. When Jesus left Galilee, He resumed teaching the people in Judea and Perea who hadn't heard Him before. John 7—11 and Luke 9:57—18:14 cover this timeframe in much more detail. Jesus and the disciples went down to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2) where the Pharisees and chief priests tried to arrest Him (John 7:32–52), twice (John 10:22–39). He went to Bethany at least twice, once to teach (Luke 10:38–42) and once to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1–16). Now He is east, across the Jordan River from Jerusalem, in Perea.Jesus and the disciples had been in Capernaum, a fishing village on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. The region of Galilee is a smallish district north of Samaria that cradles the western shore of the sea. Galilee is ruled by Herod Antipas, whom Mark simply refers to as "Herod." Antipas also rules the territory "beyond the Jordan," or Perea. Perea is a larger, oblong-shaped district along the east side of the Jordan River from about one-fourth of the way south of the Sea of Galilee to half-way down the coast of the Dead Sea. It is bordered on the northwest by Samaria, on the northeast by Decapolis, and on the southeast by Nabatea. It was in Perea that John the Baptist preached, baptized, and confronted Antipas (John 1:28; 10:40).
Herod Antipas was originally married to a princess of Nabatea. When he dismissed her so he could marry his brother's wife Herodias, the king of Nabatea became a very real international threat. John the Baptist then preached against Antipas' new marriage, and became a domestic threat. Herodias and her daughter manipulated Antipas into killing John (Mark 6:14–29). Antipas knew of Jesus and thought He had taken John's mission, but didn't appear threatened, perhaps because Jesus' personal attacks against Antipas were milder (Luke 13:31–32). Although Antipas purportedly wanted to kill Jesus, when they finally met, he was first more curious, and then contemptuous when Jesus wouldn't perform any tricks (Luke 23:6–11). He didn't try to save Jesus from being killed, but he didn't appear to do anything to convict Him, either.