On the third day I accomplish my purpose

The Pharisees as a whole might not like Jesus, but they have no love at all for the ruler of Galilee, the tetrarch Herod Antipas.

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Herod suspects Jesus to be John the Baptist redivivus—having come back to life—and so seeks every opportunity to see him—indeed to kill him, as the Pharisees warn Jesus.

On the other hand, the Pharisees may have simply wanted Jesus to leave the area, for they find him too much for them.

Despite the warnings coming from some “sympathetic” Pharisees, Jesus does not flinch from danger; he “sets his face” toward Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the place of his destiny, as it was for God’s prophets.

Jesus is leaving Galilee where he had success in his mission to preach the Kingdom of God; now he journeys toward Jerusalem— “today, tomorrow, and the following day” (v 33)—not the three days he needs to reach Jerusalem, but a reference to “the third day” when he will rise from the dead, whereby he will accomplish his mission on earth.