Mark - Chapter 14
14:1-11
Preparations for the Death of Jesus:
This passage leads readers on this side of the cross to think about their own response to God's costly gift.
The plot of the priests and scribes displays the growing conflict that began in chapter two. Judas is presented clearly as one of the twelve in verse 10. The verb “betray” is used about him twice in verses 10 & 11. The opponents of Jesus needed the failed disciple to accomplish their purpose, not to identify Jesus who was widely known, but to arrange His arrest quietly and with little notice. The behavior of both was surely horrid.
The first setting is the house of Simon, a former leper. The woman who anoints the head of Jesus is not identified. She is anonymous bringing an alabaster jar of nard, an ointment of pungent perfume. Such a luxury was expensive, said to be worth as much as the annual wage of a worker. The observers contrast the use of the ointment on Jesus with giving the value of the gift to the poor. The beauty of her gesture is due to the particular situation seen in which Jesus is about to die. Her act is beautiful because she gave the best she had to Him who was soon to give His life for her.
14:12-26
The Last Supper:
In Mark's account of this frequently preached scene, things come together and things fall apart. The themes of communion, passion (suffering), atonement, covenant, and return all come together. At this same moment Jesus's predicts His betrayal, and from this point forward He will experience growing abandonment and isolation. The passage provides three smaller units, the preparation for the Passover (12-16), prediction of betrayal (17-21), and the covenant meal (22-25). These three prepare us for the scene of the arrest of Jesus coming shortly, but it also prepares the disciples for the shattering discovery of their own faithfulness showing them all failing. The supper was to prepare the disciples for their lives without Jesus.
Nothing is out of place within the scene. All that occurs is by divine appointment along with careful preparation of the moment.
Verse 17 marks a shift in time and place. Action is focused upon the disciples as they begin their day with the Passover meal. By the time the Sabbath begins at sundown, twenty four hours later, the death of Jesus will be a reality. We see three forms of failure here, betrayal, denial, and the falling away of all. In Mark's scene, Judas completes the supper with the others.
If it was the plan of God for Jesus to be betrayed why do we see the blame fall on the betrayer? This question has troubled truth seekers for 2,000 years. The text teaches that He would be betrayed by one of the twelve but it does not state that God made him commit the act. We seem to have our strongest scriptural clue as to the choice of Judas for this betrayal in John 13:26-27:
“... And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot … and after the sop Satan entered into him...”.
(John 10:28 + John 17:12)
At the Last Supper, there is blessing and giving thanks. It is not yet known by the disciples that the greatest blessing will come from Jesus gifting His life and he allows the clue of that great gift when he says “... Take, this is my body … this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many...”. This new covenant is exactly the one described by the Lord's prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31 of his book in the OT. The next statement allows us to see a small glimpse into the coming kingdom when Jesus says he will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until He does so in the new kingdom. A passage that began by preparing the disciples for the death of Jesus ends by pointing them to the glory of His coming kingdom.
14:27-52
The Arrest:
Jesus and His disciples have left the upper room and are now on the Mount of Olives. Three events will take place before they return to the city:
A prediction of abandonment and Peter's denial (27-31)
The struggle in Gethsemane (32-42)
The Arrest (43-52)
Jesus tells His chosen ones that they will all fall away (they all do). He struggles inside the garden with the contention of His own will against the will of His Father who had sent Him here for this very hour. The arrest brings truth to the fleeing of His disciples and clearly shows His betrayal. Verse 34 warns again that His own followers should watch. This warning stretches down through the centuries to us today. The command is the same for each of us. He is arrested by a mob led by Judas.
The agony in the garden clearly teaches us what this event costs God to arrange as well as a great lesson of the obedience needed to the will of the Father so that the event planned from the foundation of the world should be accomplished.
14:55-65
The Trial:
The trial of Jesus turns upon two charges. First, he had said he would destroy the Temple and in three days rebuild it not made with human hands". Second, He had claimed to be the son of God. What is so crucial here is that both charges are true. He was the Son and His sacrifice forever made Him the Temple of God, no longer to be a building of stone. When Jesus is directly asked by the priest “Art thou the Christ?”, He answers clearly “I am...” The mocking and abuse of Him fulfills the prophecy of such things seen in chapter 10, and at that very moment outside Peter is denying three times that he is with Jesus. The cock crows in verse 68, and Peter remembers the words of Jesus and he wept at his own faithlessness.
The good news for us in this sad moment for Peter is that our salvation is not based upon our consistency after we are converted. We all fall short and some fall short many times. Our salvation is not based upon our poor performance but on the faithfulness of God, who never leaves or forsakes us once we are His. He redeems even those who deny Him and allows us to remain a part of the body of His Son, and brings His strength to prevail over our weaknesses, and remakes us as pure again and again as we humbly confess.