Gospel of Mark Study #48

“Asleep at the Switch”

Mark 14:32-42

Study #48 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

On August 28, 1991, a New York City subway motorman failed to slow at a switch and ended up derailing his train, killing five passengers, and injuring another 200. It was the worst New York subway disaster in 63 years. The driver, Robert E. Ray, had a 0.21 blood alcohol level hours after the crash. According to police, Ray admitted that he had been drinking all day before going to work on the night shift, and that he was asleep at the throttle when the train hit a switch traveling at far above normal speed. He was indicted and convicted on five counts of second-degree murder.

The idiomatic expression, “asleep at the switch,” comes to us from the early days of railroading, when it was the job of certain men to switch cars from one track to another by means of manually operated levers. Should he fail to do so correctly and at the right time, trains could collide. If the “yard goose” or “switch monkey” (railroad slang for a switchman) happened to doze off for a minute during a slack period of railroad yard traffic, he was said to be “asleep at the switch.” Nowadays, the expression refers to any inattentiveness or lack of alertness while on duty.

TRANSITION:

In our text for today we witness several of the Lord’s choice disciples “asleep at the switch” and derelict in their duties. This is a painful passage for us to read, for several reasons: First, it reveals the Lord’s pain and suffering in a way that we can barely relate to; second, it shows the frailty of the disciples in a way that mirrors our own, reminding us that we too are often weakest in the hour when we should to be the strongest.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 32: They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”

·       Gethsemane was a lovely, wooded, secluded place on the lower slope of the Mount of Olives. The name is Aramaic for “oil press.” These days there are two competing traditional sites shown to tourists, both claiming to be the place where Jesus prayed, but no one knows exactly where on the hillside this all took place.

·       Jesus specifically asked His disciples to sit down and wait for Him while He went on ahead to pray. Notice that He left 8 of the guys here together, but He did not give them any further instructions as far as we know. But He had a special plan for the other three guys.

Verse 33: And He took with Him Peter and James and John and began to be very distressed and troubled.

·       Why did He only take Peter, James, and John? We do not know but they were the same three that He chose to be with Him on several other occasions (e.g., at the Transfiguration, and in the house at the raising of Jairus’ daughter, etc.). In time of trouble, we want someone with us. We do not necessarily want them to do anything or even say anything, but we want them there with us. This was true of Jesus also. He wanted both divine comfort and human fellowship in His time of greatest need.

·       We see here a little glimpse of the weight of sorrow and dread that Jesus was carrying. The KJV translates this verse saying He “began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy.” That is partly right and partly wrong. The word they translated as “sore amazed” is used elsewhere to mean “terribly upset and deeply agitated.” Jesus was not amazed in the modern sense of the word. He knew exactly what was going on, but the weight of it was almost unbearable. The second word, “very heavy,” means to be “weighted down with distress.” The extent of this is seen in Jesus’ comment in the next verse.

Verse 34: And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”

·       “...My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.” This was a crushing load of grief and it felt to Him like it was killing Him.

·       What was the worst part? Fear of crucifixion? No. Rather, the knowledge that He was being asked to bear the sins of the whole world upon Himself. The sinless Lamb was to be the sacrifice for sinners. 

Verse 35: And He went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.

·       So, Jesus left the three disciples and went on ahead by Himself to pray. It says He “fell to the ground,” which reveals the depth of His pain and suffering. In His grief, He prayed. There is a lesson here for us. Sometimes we do other things to deal with our pain and frustration—we scream, curse, complain, cry, take our pain out on others, blame God, drink, etc. But Jesus prayed. We should do the same. In times of trouble, we should draw near to God, who is our source of comfort and strength.

·       What was the substance of Jesus’ prayer to the Father? - “...that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.” Here we have God the Son asking God the Father if there might be some other solution, some other way to redeem fallen sinners. But from before time the answer was clear—there was no other way to accomplish what needed to be done. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.” The blood of the Lamb had to be spilt. A perfect sacrifice had to be offered on behalf of helpless sinners. The Father knew that. The Son knew that. All of Heaven knew that. Yet the human part of Jesus cried out to God, hoping for another way. But there was no other way. 

Verse 36: And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

·       The word, “Abba,” is just the normal Aramaic word for “father.” It is a familiar term, not a formal address, but it is also not a “nursery word” as some have alleged. It communicates love, tenderness, and respect, all at the same time.

·       “This cup” in verse 36 and “this hour” in the previous verse both refer to the same thing—they refer to the time when, in the plan and purpose of God, the Son would have to suffer and die as the atonement for sin.

·       “...yet not what I will, but what You will.” This phrase perfectly describes how Jesus lived His whole earthly life. Everything He did was to carry out the will of the Father. This was just the culmination of that lifestyle. 

Verse 37: And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?”

·       Jesus poured out His heart to the Father in prayer for a while. Then He got up off the ground and walked back to where He had left Peter, James, and John. As He approached, He could see that all three of them were sound asleep. He addressed Simon Peter, the leader of the group. “Simon, could you not keep watch for even one hour?” But notice that Jesus used his earthly name, Simon, rather than his spiritual name, Peter. Right now, he was acting as a natural man, not like a spiritual man.

Verse 38: “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

·       This is some of the best advice ever given to Christians: “Keep on watching and keep praying so that you do not fall into temptation.” The verb tense speaks of continual action, meaning without stopping. But notice that Jesus does not say anything about the devil. He does not blame Satan for this kind of temptation. No, He points to another source, one that is more insidious, that can easily sneak up on us because we underestimate its power—the FLESH! Jesus says that even though our spirit may be willing to do the righteous and noble thing, our FLESH IS WEAK!

·       It was not the devil that Peter and the boys were fighting that night, it was their own weak, selfish, whining flesh. “I’m tired, I want to sleep. I worked all day and I deserve a little nap. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute while I pray. In fact, I always pray better with my eyes closed—less distractions and all you know.” Yada, yada, yada!

·       “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation.” What temptation is Jesus referring to here? I believe He is talking about the temptation to deny the Lord, run from trouble, choose cowardice over courage, and fold up like a cheap lawn chair when the soldiers show up. 

Verse 39: Again, He went away and prayed, saying the same words.

·       Jesus probably went back to the same area where He had been praying before, and once again, He fell on His face and poured out His heart to His heavenly Father, using the same words, expressing the same pain mixed with submission to the will of the Father.

Verse 40: And again, He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.

·       After a season of prayer [another hour, perhaps?] He went back a second time and found the three disciples asleep once more.

·       “Their eyes were very heavy.” Have you ever had this experience before, when you just could not seem to keep your eyes open? They feel like someone has tied lead weights to them. Your head nods, your eyes droop, you get that spacey, far away glazed look. Back when I was in college, for about 2½ years I worked the night shift at KPDQ 93.9 FM, a Christian radio station in Portland, Oregon. I was going to college full-time during the day and taking a heavy class load and working a full 40-hour schedule besides. “NoDoz” tablets and strong coffee were my constant companions. Sometimes at night while I would be playing that soft Christian music, “the Sound of Inspiration,” I would fall asleep behind the control board. I would think to myself: “I will just shut my eyes for a minute while this song plays out.” Suddenly, I would startle and wake up to the sound of absolute silence in the studio monitors. That was terrifying. In the radio business that is called, “dead air,” and it can get you fired if the Program Director happens to have a mild case of insomnia that night and just happens to turn on his radio to make sure that everything is running OK at the station. My spirit was willing. I wanted to do a great job. I wanted to make my boss proud of me, but sometimes my flesh was weak.

·       “...and they did not know what to answer Him.” Can you imagine how they must have felt, getting caught napping for a second time? There was nothing to say. They were caught without words, which was especially rare for Peter! 

Verse 41: And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

·       So, Jesus went back and prayed some more, hammering on the doors of Heaven, wrestling through the issues, the possible alternatives, coming to the inevitable conclusion that there was no other way. Having reached His decision He placed His life and His fate in the Father’s hands, submitting His will to that of God the Father. At that point He was ready to move forward.

·       He got up and went back to where He had left Peter, James, and John. Once again, He found them sound asleep, asleep at the switch. Rather than stand with Him in prayer, they gave in to their weakness. Their failure was complete. What is so sad about this... whenever the disciples needed Jesus, He was always there for them; but when He needed them most, they were nowhere to be found. AWOL! Asleep at the switch!

·       This story is recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In Luke’s account, in 22:45 he writes: “He came to His disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow.” We can perhaps understand this. Stress is very tiring, and they too were going through stress and worry, even though they did not really understand what was happening to Jesus or to them. However, this does not take them off the hook. Just because we can understand how hard it was for them to stay alert and awake to be able to support Jesus in prayer, it cannot excuse their failure. It is what it is—a negative example, to be used for our warning and our instruction.

Verse 42: “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

·       He stirred the three men out of their slumber, perhaps just with words or by a gentle hand on their shoulder.

·       At this point everything had been decided, everything had been determined. He knew what He must do. He knew what lay ahead. His disciples had been no help whatsoever, but His Father had given Him all He needed to face the task ahead. But it is still sad that Peter, James, and John were such losers when He needed them the most.

·       “Behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!” Jesus knew that Judas and the soldiers were on their way. He knew that the betrayal had already been accomplished. He knew that His hour had come, the cup that He had hoped to avoid, was now His to drink, and He was ready.

CONCLUSION:

This passage reveals two serious faults of the disciples:

1.       Unwatchfulness - “Keep watching.” “Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour?” Jesus had pounded in this point only a short time before, as recorded in 13:33-37. However, apparently it had not made an impact.

2.      Prayerlessness - “Keep watching and [keep] praying, that you may not enter into temptation.”

These same two things will get us in trouble too, every time. Do not kid yourself; we also can be taken by surprise by our own weak flesh. We do not need the devil to “lead us into temptation.” We can do that all by ourselves. The apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 10:12 - “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” That verse comes immediately before this very well-known one: “No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”

Based on this verse, I do not believe that the result of the testing of the disciples in Mark 14 was inevitable. They did not have to fail, just because they were frail. Oh yes, if success were only a matter of human strength, then sure, they were doomed to fail from the beginning. But success in spiritual matters has nothing to do with human frailty or human strength—it is all about appropriating God’s strength to accomplish His will. Peter, James, and John failed, not because of their tiredness and human weakness, but because they gave into those things and failed to appropriate the resources that Jesus was there to willingly give them if they had but asked Him. Instead, they just lay down, and fell asleep at the switch.

Gospel of Mark Study #47

“Offended by the Cross”

Mark 14:22-31

Study #47 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

Today we continue in our verse-by-verse study of the Gospel of Mark. These verses describe the last night before the crucifixion of Jesus. Our Lord spent those intimate hours with twelve men whom He had come to know and to love in a special way. They had been with Him for over 3 years, going everywhere, participating in everything He did. Now Jesus was sitting down with them for a last meal, knowing full well that within the next few hours some of them would betray Him, others would desert Him, and He would be left alone to face the cross.

The cross! Have you ever noticed that some of our favorite hymns are about the cross of Christ: “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and many others. Consequently, when someone talks about the “offense of the cross” we are perplexed. Who in the world would be offended by the cross? Indeed, we see images of the cross everywhere we turn these days and therefore it has lost its impact for most of us. On television you will often see immoral, foul-mouthed actors and actresses wearing big gold crosses as jewelry. Likewise, rock musicians wear huge diamond-studded crosses on stage while they spew out their songs about sordid sex, and drugs, and hatred. The cross obviously does not offend them.

We will investigate this a little later but first let’s get into our text for today, Mark 14:22-31.

TRANSITION:

You need to understand that this Passover meal meant a great deal to Jesus. Try to picture the scene in your mind. In Luke 22:14-16 we are told, “When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table and He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.’” 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 22: While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”

• According to the Passover seder practice this bread was unleavened. It was in the form of a hard cracker, like the matzah [or matzo] used today in the Jewish Passover meal. Or it may have been fresh unleavened bread that would have been more like East Indian chapati or Native American fry-bread. In any case, it was bread made without yeast.
• He took the bread in His hands and held it up before them. Then He recited the traditional Hebrew prayer before eating: “Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinhu, Melech ha-olam, hamotsi lechem min ha-arets.” “Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
• He said, “Take it; this is My body.” Notice that He did not say, “This will magically become My body after I pray over it.” He said, “This is My body,” even though He was physically right there with them.

Verse 23: And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

• Taking the cup Jesus followed the traditional pattern. He held it up before them and said: “Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu, Melech ha-olam, borei p’ri hagafen.” “Blessed are You, O LORD our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

Verse 24: And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is to be shed on behalf of many.

• Notice that this is a one-sided, or unilateral covenant, not a normal agreement between two equal parties. God was the one who initiated the covenant, and all that man can do is either accept it or reject it. In any case, the blood of Jesus is the blood of the new covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:6-13.

Verse 25: “Truly I say to you, I shall never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

• He was saying that He would not drink wine again in this present age here on earth. I take it that He was looking forward to the celebration referred to as the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” described in Revelation 19:6-9, although I cannot prove it.

Verse 26: After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

• Which hymn did they sing? When I was a boy The Lord’s Table was always at the very end of the service in our little country church. Before being dismissed with prayer we would almost always sing the same song: “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.” However, that song was not even published until 1845 so I can say with confidence that it was not the song Jesus and His disciples sang before going out to the Mount of Olives. So, what was it?
• Almost certainly it was one of the “Hallel Psalms” (Psalm 113-118) or perhaps Psalm 136, which is known as the “Great Hallel.” The singing of one or more of these was the traditional close of the Seder ceremony.

Verse 27: And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’

• Presumably, this revelation took place as they made their way on foot to the Mount of Olives where they planned to camp out for the night. Here Jesus paraphrased from Zechariah 13:7, which predicted that the Messiah would be abandoned by His friends.
• “You will fall away…” The King James translates it, “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night…” The word used here originally meant “to catch in a trap or a snare.” With time it came to also mean, “to cause someone to stumble.”
• Jesus said, “You will ALL be offended. You will ALL fall away. You will ALL run like frightened sheep. You will ALL abandon Me. You will ALL be scattered to the four winds.” The word all is obviously important.

Verse 28: “But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

• Jesus knew the exact chronology of events because He was the one orchestrating the events. He was in charge. He had the power to lay His life down, and He had the power to take it up again. He was confident that He would rise on the third day, and He affirmed that truth many different times, even though the disciples did not connect all the dots until after the Resurrection.

Verse 29: But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away [i.e., be offended], yet I will not.”

• Notice that Peter picked right up on the word that Jesus had used and immediately contradicted Jesus. He boasted that he would never chicken out. Talk about famous last words… after 2,000 years even non-Christians can tell the story of this famous line spoken by Peter. It has become the poster child of dumb things people say. Oh, he was serious and thought he was tough, and he was filled with good intentions, but he underestimated his own weakness. He thought that he was different from everyone else—stronger, more dedicated, and more prepared. His hubris [i.e., excessive pride, arrogance] and self-assurance are what got him into trouble. That is true of us as well.

Verse 30: And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that you yourself this very night, before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny Me.”

• Jesus knew exactly how this thing would play out and how Peter would fail miserably. After all, Jesus was truly God and truly human. He knew that Peter would fold up like a cheap lawn chair when the going got tough. He also knew that this experience would eventually work for good in Peter’s life and would help to shape him into a man that God could someday use. But Peter had to be broken first. While he was boasting about his strength God could not use him. That is true for us as well.

Verse 31: But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing, too.

• You would think that hearing the truth one time from Jesus’ mouth would be enough for Peter, but it was not. He was insistent that he would stand even if everyone else abandoned Jesus. How many times in the years that followed did Peter hear and rehear those words uttered by his own lips? But words, once uttered, cannot be taken back.
• “And they all were saying the same thing, too.” So, Peter was not the only big talker. The other guys were just as guilty, just as full of themselves, and just as confident in their own strength. And what is even scarier… if we had been there, we would undoubtedly have been saying the same stupid stuff. Do not kid yourself.

CONCLUSION:

In Galatians 5:11 Paul wrote, “Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.” When Paul wrote these words, he was under attack. His message was being criticized from every side. Indeed, Paul argues that criticism is to be expected. He was not preaching the popular “gospel” that told people what they needed to DO to earn salvation. Instead, he preached that we can only be saved through the cross of Christ. As he pointed out, this message the world finds very offensive, and he was right!

We must remember that a Roman cross was a horrible, despicable instrument of torture and death. I will give you three reasons why it was offensive to the Jews: 

1. The cross was offensive because of the barbarity of crucifixion. Familiarity can dull us to the horror, revulsion, and shame of the crucifixion of Christ. It was a dreadful thing! Even more dreadful, of course, is the fact that He was innocent of any crime or wrongdoing. However, the cross of Jesus has become so familiar to us that we are in danger of forgetting just how dreadful, how horrific, how offensive, it was. We make crosses of brass as ornaments. We wear the cross as jewelry. Perhaps we should wear an emblem such as a miniature electric chair, or a hangman’s-noose, for those are also symbols of shameful execution. Unlike the electric chair, however, crucifixion was one of the most refined processes of torture that the twisted human mind has ever devised. It was the extreme punishment, reserved for the worst kind of criminal. The victim was totally degraded in his naked, vulnerable shame. It was an offensive thing. Crucifixion was something not even mentioned in polite company. And in fact, we have no idea of how offensive to the Jewish leaders was the idea that the Messiah could suffer crucifixion. The very notion that the Messiah of God would be asked to carry such a stigma was unacceptable. They considered such an idea to be downright blasphemous. They insisted that the Messiah would never be allowed to undergo such indignity and suffering. God would never allow it. Certainly, the Almighty would put a stop to such notions before they could be carried out. Unless, of course, this was exactly what the Father designed for the Son. 

2. The cross is offensive because of what it implies about humanity. This contemporary world does not want to hear that our sin made Christ’s death necessary. We run from concepts related to death, judgment, and punishment. No, we want to hear about the goodness of man. We want to talk about our great, untapped potential. We resist and fight any notion that we are “sinners in the hands of an angry God,” to quote Jonathan Edwards. When we consider that our sin was responsible for Christ’s suffering we turn away. We cannot and will not bear that responsibility. This is a view of our own sinfulness we do not want to see. However, the Bible paints a clear picture. We have rebelled against God, constantly and much more than we are willing to admit. This rebellion is infinitely offensive to our Holy God. We deserve God’s electric chair. We deserve judgment. There are no appeals before God, no last-minute calls from the Governor. We are condemned unless the Judge Himself intervenes. We can rationalize, we can blame, and we can seek to redefine sin. However, God’s standard does not bend. He does not waver. God hates sin! It is so terrible to Him that He was willing to allow His Son to suffer unspeakable indignity and torture to free us from that sin.
• Anytime we do “our own thing” (rather than God’s), we sin.
• Anytime we compromise the truth for self-preservation, we sin.
• Anytime something or someone has more influence in our lives than God, we sin.
• Anytime we point a bony finger at another person in condemnation rather than compassion, we sin.
• Anytime we make a promise and do not deliver, we sin.

Obviously, the list could go on and on. But we say, “Hey, everybody does these things.” And you are right. However, the implication drawn from your comment is this: everyone does them so…it is understandable. NO, IT IS NOT! These are the very sins that sent Christ to a horrible death. These are the sins that killed Him! Violence has become so commonplace that we are becoming numb to it. Immorality is so pervasive that we hardly notice anymore. And sin is so much a part of what we do and who we are that we seldom give it a second glance. But those sins we shrug off are the ones He went to the cross to save us from. Face it, most people find the cross offensive because it shows them a picture of themselves that they do not want to see. 

3. The cross is offensive because it declares us helpless to contribute to our own salvation. People may be able to deal with the fact of Christ’s suffering, they may be willing to concede their sinfulness, but they recoil at the idea that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. They hate the idea that we are at the mercy of the court. The cross reminds us that there is only ONE way for us to be reconciled to God. Namely, God Himself had to take up human residence, live a holy life despite constant temptation from Satan, and then give His life to unimaginable suffering, all to pay for our sin. It was the only way. His glorious resurrection was the exclamation point to His sacrifice. The world considers this whole idea to be foolishness. The very idea of God becoming man! The notion that a perfect God would reach out in such a way to rebellious humanity! The notion seems preposterous. The world laughs, scoffs, and sneers. And the world dies. Americans, perhaps more than any, resist this teaching. We relish our independence, our freedom. We believe we can do whatever we want if we set our minds to it. We believe that enough hard work and determination can lead anyone to reach his goals. But it is a lie! It is impossible for us to work hard enough to earn our own salvation. We cannot do it, even if we wanted to try, and we will not! We are helpless. But people want to control their own destinies. The real reason that the cross is offensive is because it wounds our pride because it declares that the only way to be saved is to throw yourself completely on the mercy of God. Do you understand how offensive this is to contemporary man? People want rules to follow. They want formulas. They want control. But the Gospel tells us that salvation is gained only by those who:
• Admit their sin with a sincere attitude of repentance (meaning we are sorry for the sin itself, not just for getting caught).
• Place their trust and hope in Jesus alone. Salvation is not about a formula to follow, or special words to be recited. It is a total surrender to Jesus Christ. It is saying, “Lord, I give myself to You. I trust in You as my Savior. I will rely on You alone. I will submit to Your rule and leadership in my life.”

There are several ways I hope we will respond to this lesson today:

1. I pray that we will take the time to seriously ponder the message of the cross once again. We need to see the horror of the cross with fresh eyes so that we can understand the devastating nature of what Christ suffered for us when He took our sin upon Himself. We need to see with new freshness the horror of sin, our sin. Where it is needed, we must repent. Where we have been compromising, we must quit. Where we have rationalized, we must begin telling ourselves the truth. We need to stop hiding and face reality. Sin is hideous and ugly.
2. I pray that we will resolve never again to water-down the Gospel presentation. It is tempting to make things more agreeable to the world. It is tempting to talk about our goodness, power, and ability. It is tempting to explain the Gospel in terms of formulas and systems. It is tempting to tell people what they want to hear. But we must not do that. Christ’s blood is the only way of salvation. It is only by trusting God’s mercy that we can be saved. To compromise the true message is to withhold the words of life, or worse…to lead someone down the wrong path, the path that leads to eternal destruction.
3. I pray that we will examine ourselves. Let me ask you: are you still trying to find some way to save yourself? Are you hoping to be good enough? Friend, anything other than repentance and faith is a worthless substitute for the truth, which alone can save. If you ask Him in faith, Christ’s righteousness will be applied to your account. His blood will be applied as payment for your sin, and you will be made clean and righteous in God’s sight. And one day, like the thief on the cross, you will be with Him in Paradise.

Gospel of Mark Study #46

“The Passover Lamb”

Mark 14:12-21

Study #46 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

In Exodus 3 we learn about Moses’ encounter with the Living God at the Burning Bush when the LORD said to Moses, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” That is how I feel about the passage of Scripture we are entering into today—it is “holy ground.” Of course, all Scripture is holy ground in a sense, but this portion describes those last hours of our Lord’s earthly life and the events leading up to His death for us on Calvary’s cross.

TRANSITION:

We have been slowly working our way through the Gospel According to Mark and have been taking our time to stop along the way to savor each moment and to investigate the details. I believe this is how Bible study should be done. I believe that Christians grow through the systematic, word-by-word, line-upon-line, precept-upon-precept, literal, historical, grammatical, contextual approach to the study of God’s Word.

My goal as a preacher and teacher of God’s Word is not to entertain people or to make them feel good. That is not my job. My assignment is to feed them, to help them understand God’s Word, and to provoke them into doing something with it that will move them the next step forward in their Christian growth and maturity. Today we are in Mark 14, starting at verse 12.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 12: On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

·       The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which in Hebrew is called “Pesach,” from the verb meaning, “to pass over, or to spare,” is one of the most important religious festivals in Judaism and one of the three pilgrimage feasts in which Jewish men who lived in ancient Israel and Judea were required to make the trip to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices. (The other two pilgrimage feasts were Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks/Harvest, later called Pentecost, and Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.)

·       The Feast of Unleavened Bread always began on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year (i.e., Nisan) and ran for a total of eight days (N.B. after sundown on the 14^th was the 15^th by Jewish reckoning). The Jewish calendar was based on the phases of the moon, so Passover always started on the night of the first full moon after the vernal (i.e., spring) equinox. This meant that from year to year the feast would start on different days of the week. That year, the 14th fell on our Thursday.

·       Passover was the commemoration of the miracle that God performed many years before when He freed His people from their captivity in Egypt. You can read the whole story of this Tenth Plague in Exodus 12. The Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to free the Israelites, despite the series of plagues that God inflicted upon the Egyptians. Finally, God sent His angel of death among them to slaughter the firstborn of every Egyptian family. However, before He did that, He commanded His people to kill a spotless lamb and to sprinkle its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. That was a sign of their faith and obedience and wherever the blood was applied, the angel of death “passed over” those homes. Later, God told His people that they were to commemorate that event annually so that they would never forget what God had done for them. He had saved them through the blood of the Passover Lamb.

·       Now on that day every family in Israel was slaughtering a perfect, spotless lamb and preparing it for their Passover meal, not realizing that God was also preparing a Perfect, Spotless Lamb, who would soon be dying for the sins of every man, woman, and child, not only in Israel but in the whole world.

Verses 13-15: And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.”

·       We know that Jesus and His disciples had been spending each night in Bethany, probably at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They would walk the 2.5 miles back and forth each day. On that Thursday morning, the 14^th of Nisan, Jesus sent two of His men into Jerusalem to finalize preparations for Him and the Apostles to commemorate Passover together.

·       But you must look at the details here. He said, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you...” He did not describe the man or say where they would find him. But Jesus said that he would be coming toward them: “...he will meet you.” But there would be something strange about him: “...a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water.” What kind of description is that? Not much to go on. However, what you need to know is that in that culture men did not carry water! Ever! That was considered women’s work. To find a man carrying a pot of water was rare, indeed. Then Jesus said: “Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house...”

·       Jesus even supplied the disciples with the dialogue they were to use with the house owner: “...Say to him, The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” Think about this. Did Jesus already have a relationship with this fellow or did He just know that the man was supportive of His ministry? Or had Jesus talked to the man previously about using his room? We do not know; however, it is apparent that Jesus knew that the man would be amenable to loaning that upper room to Him and His followers. Yet we know nothing about the man, nor do we have any indication in any of the Gospel accounts of Jesus making prior arrangements. “And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” Jesus was already acquainted with the room and knew that it would be furnished and ready. How remarkably interesting! 

Verse 16: The [two] disciples went out and came to the city and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

·       Here we see their obedience despite their questions, and in their going they got the confirmation that they needed. We often want to turn the process around the other way. We want God to lay everything out first so that we can look at His plan and decide whether we like it or not. Then, if it looks good, we might obey Him. However, we need to learn to trust that Jesus knows what He is doing. We need to obey Him unquestioningly. We do not need to have full disclosure to be able to obey Him. We just need to have faith in Him.

·       Before AD 70 the custom was to take the Passover lamb to the Temple to have it ritually slaughtered by the priests. This is almost certainly what the disciples did that day. After arranging things with the owner of the upper room they went out and bought a lamb and had it killed and prepared for roasting. They purchased the other components of the Passover meal, such as the wine, the bread, the bitter herbs, the vegetables, etc. and prepared the meal for that evening. This would have involved a considerable amount of time and labor and some expense. 

Verse 17: When it was evening, He came with The Twelve.

·       Around sundown Jesus and the 12 disciples showed up and made their way up to the upper room, probably via a stairway up the outside of the house. They made themselves comfortable, reclining on rugs arranged around a common low table, propping themselves with pillows. 

Verses 18-19: As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.” ¹⁹ They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”

·       Here we see them with the meal already underway. In fact, they were ¾ of the way into the Passover liturgy and ceremony. The way the disciples formed their question expected a negative response: Literally, “It is not I, is it?” Such a betrayal seemed monstrous to them, and they could not imagine anyone doing such a heinous thing.

·       Interestingly, Matthew 26:25 tells us that Judas also asked the question; however, this was obviously an attempt to hide his treachery. He already knew full well what he was going to do and how he was going to betray the Lord Jesus with a kiss. 

Verse 20: And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl.”

·       This verse used to confuse me because I thought He was saying that it was the one whose hand was in the bowl with Him at that moment. But that is not what Jesus was saying. It was just His way of saying that the betrayer was one of them, one of the twelve who were in the room eating with Him. Had Judas’ hand been in the bowl at that moment everyone would have known immediately that the Master was referring specifically to him. However, that fact was not yet clear to them until a few hours later. That is why they all kept saying, “Is it me?” 

Verse 21: “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

·       “For the Son of Man is to go [i.e., go to His death] just as it is written of Him...” This means that it all must happen the way it has been prearranged by God—including the betrayal by a friend. However, that does not lessen the personal responsibility of Judas. Nobody made him do what he did. He had a choice. He could have believed in Christ and refused to listen to the devil’s voice. He was not merely a helpless pawn in God’s hand, forced to play his foul role in this drama. No, he was responsible for his own wickedness, even though God knew ahead of time what he would do and wove it into the tapestry of His plan.

·       Jesus said: “...But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” That is a powerful statement, and one that gives us pause. He said it would have been better if Judas had not even been born. Frankly, I have had that same thought a few times about people I have known or known of. I feel that way about Adolf Hitler, Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, and every trafficker of teens and little children in the sex traffic industry.

·       Modern theologians have tried to give Judas a makeover. They have called into question the biblical account and have tried to say that Judas’ motives may have been pure. They theorize that perhaps Judas just wanted to force Jesus into a situation where He would have to declare Himself, to come out of the closet, so to speak, and to take a more active stand in speaking out against Rome, etc. They say that Judas was really a true believer but was misguided in his actions. You might have read about the so-called, “Gospel of Judas,” which even the National Geographic weighed in on. The Gospel of Judas, translated in 2006 by the National Geographic Society, is a Gnostic “gospel” purported to document conversations between the apostle Judas Iscariot and Jesus. Rather than portraying Judas as the low-down traitor as he is described in the biblical Gospels, the Gospel of Judas interprets Judas’ act not as betrayal, but rather as an act of obedience to the instructions of Jesus Himself. This assumption is that Jesus required a second agent to set in motion a course of events which He had planned. In that sense Judas acted as a catalyst and in direct obedience to Jesus.

·       What rubbish! This view is totally incompatible with Scripture and with Jesus own words concerning Judas as recorded in John 6:70 where Jesus called Judas a “devil,” and John 17:12 where He said that He had lost none that the Father had given Him except for one: “...not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

·       It is hard to do a nice-guy makeover on somebody that Jesus called “a devil and a son of hell.” But that is how the world rolls. The world wants to take Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God, and turn Him into a scoundrel and a fake, and at the same time take Judas and turn him into a virtuous hero. How screwed up is that? 

CONCLUSION:

It is interesting to me that only Jesus and Judas knew of the evil plan in Judas’ mind and heart. Had the other disciples learned of it they would have tried to stop him, even using violence if necessary. In the same way, there may be things that we succeed in hiding from our fellow men, but we cannot hide them from God. He sees everything and weighs the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

Also, Jesus could have easily stopped Judas. When Jesus confronted Judas and told him to go quickly and finish what he had planned to do, I think that was Jesus’ way of offering Judas a way out. At that point he could have repented and turned away from his plan. However, he hardened his heart and went ahead with it anyway.

How often do we do the same thing? Even knowing that something is wrong, and even knowing that God is aware of what we are up to, we still rush out and sin against Him. We do it with our eyes “wide open.”

Gospel of Mark Study #45

“A Study in Contrasts”

Mark 14:1-11

Study #45 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

Historians love to compare and contrast the lives of famous people, especially presidents, dictators, military leaders, philosophers, and artists. I would love to have a dollar just for every book about Robert E. Lee vs. Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Roosevelt vs. Harry Truman, William Jennings Bryan vs. Clarence Darrow, Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephan A. Douglas, and John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson. These pairs make for interesting studies in contrasts. 

TRANSITION:

In our text for this week, we have another fascinating “study in contrasts.” One of the two people is among the best-known Bible characters while the other is one of the least known. One was a woman, the other was a man. One will forever live in infamy and disgrace, the other will forever be honored and beloved. Have you guessed about whom I am talking? Let’s look at the passage—Mark 14:1-11. We are now in the section describing the last few days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In fact, these events took place during what we call the Passion Week, the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

NOTES on the Text:

Verses 1-2: Now the Passover and feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; ² for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.” 

• So now the story picks up on Tuesday evening (Jewish Wednesday) of Passion Week, that last week before Christ’s crucifixion on Friday. As you read through this section you get the feeling that time was moving---ever---so---slowly. That is because the Gospel writers included so many of the events of those days as well as a careful record of the actual words spoken by Jesus.
• “Not during the festival…” John 11:56-57 says that their original plan was to seize and kill Him during the Feast, but the Triumphal Entry and the Tuesday debates in the Temple apparently made them decide to wait until after the festival was over. For three days Jesus had been walking around in plain sight, in the Temple and in the courtyards where the people congregated. He was not hiding Himself. He knew what was going to happen to Him, but He pressed on anyway. He preached and taught, answered questions, and interacted with the scribes and teachers of the law, and the people loved Him. That is what made the leaders so nervous.
• Those same religious leaders had tried to entrap Him in legal, political, religious, and philosophical arguments but their schemes failed miserably. Now, however, they are talking about out-and-out murder. Yet they were afraid to move against Jesus because they knew that many of the common people greatly admired Him. Therefore, the leaders were reluctant to arrest Him or send men to beat Him up, because they were afraid that it might backfire against them. 

Verse 3: While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial [flask] of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. 

• A couple of things about this verse stand out to me. First, I am curious about this guy, “Simon the leper.” Who was he? We know that leprosy was the scourge of that day, the very word, “leprosy,” striking fear in the hearts and minds of people. And yet, Jesus went to Simon the leper’s home to dine with him. Almost certainly, Simon was a man whom Jesus had healed and who now wanted to repay the kindness. In those days there was no known cure or treatment for the disease. In fact, the cure for leprosy was only found in the late 1970s. After much testing, the World Health Organization began recommending multidrug therapy (MDT) in 1981, but it was not until 1995 that the treatment was made available worldwide. That was also the year that they officially announced that the disease was “cured.” Despite that fact there are thousands of people around the world who still suffer from the horrific effects of the disease. For example, there are still over 1,000 leper colonies in India alone. https://www.leprosymission.org/ 
• This same story about what occurred in the home of Simon the leper is told in Matthew 26:6-16. However, many people confuse this Simon with another Simon mentioned in Luke 7:36-50. But there is no way that they can be the same man, even though they both had the same first name and had similar things happen at their homes. For example, in both cases a woman barged in during dinner and anointed Jesus from an alabaster flask. However, the Simon in Luke is called “Simon the Pharisee.” In Mark and Matthew’s account the woman anointed Jesus’ head. At the other Simon’s house, the woman anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. In the Mark/Matthew story Jesus rebuked His disciples. In the Luke story He rebuked the host, Simon. Besides all that, the chronology is all-wrong. The Luke story occurred much earlier in Jesus’ ministry. The anointing described here in Mark 14 happened at the very end of Christ’s ministry.
• To make things even more confusing, some Bible scholars and commentators say that the woman who broke in on Simon the leper’s dinner party (cf. Mark 14, Matthew 26) was really Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who also lived there in Bethany. They arrive at this conclusion by equating Mark 14 with John 12:1-8. This makes me go a little bit crazy because John 12:1 says that Mary’s anointing of Jesus occurred in Lazarus’ home, not Simon’s. Moreover, it says that Mary’s anointing occurred 6 days before Passover, thus putting it on the Saturday before the events of Mark 14. But notice that Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet clearly took place the day before Palm Sunday (cf. John 12:12-13).
• Why is all this important? Just because the Bible talks about similar events occurring, please do not jump to the conclusion that these are all just people’s imperfect recollections of the same event. The fact is, Jesus was anointed at least three different times, by three different women, in the homes of three different people. It happened first at Simon the Pharisee’s place where an unknown prostitute came in and anointed Jesus’ feet (cf. Luke 7:36ff). Later in Jesus’ ministry at the beginning of Passion Week it happened in Lazarus’ home when Mary again anointed Jesus’ feet (John 12:1ff). Less than a week later, while Jesus and His disciples were dining with Simon the leper, another un-named woman came in and anointed the Master’s head (cf. Mark 14:1ff; Matt. 26:6ff).
• Be a Berean! Check the facts for yourself. Do not buy into what people say just because they wrote a book or have a radio show. Compare Scripture with Scripture and do not be taken in by people who make bold assertions in loud voices. Study the Word for yourself and learn to be an “approved workman who accurately handles the Word of Truth.” 

Verses 4-5: But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?  ⁵ For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. 

• “But some were indignantly remarking to one another… The KJV says, “And they murmured against her.” The word here translated “indignantly” literally means, “to snort,” like a horse. Don’t you just love it when people get all huffy and indignant over something about which they know nothing? I doubt that those people had any insider knowledge about the current price of nard and frankincense, but that did not keep them from launching into a diatribe about the high cost of perfume and the deplorable conditions of the poor. They estimated the value of the perfume at­ “over 300 denarii,” which was nearly a year’s salary for a workingman. That was indeed a lot of money to them.
• What is sad, however, is that they were missing the point entirely. They failed to see the beauty of this woman’s extravagant gift to Jesus. They were blind to the fact that she got it, and that they were clueless. In fact, they were so infuriated that they began scolding her for what she had done.
• Who was this woman? We do not know. The Bible does not tell us her name or any details about her life. We also do not know what provoked this costly display of love and devotion for Jesus. We do not know if she was rich or poor. All we know is that she understood that Jesus was headed for the cross and that He was the Savior who had come to take away the sins of the world. Perhaps Jesus had healed her or one of her loved ones. Or perhaps she had heard Him teaching in the Temple courtyard and had come to believe in Him as her personal Lord and Savior, her Messiah. We must wait until we meet her in Heaven to learn all the details, but her actions speak volumes, even without any words.
• Look at what she DID:

Ø  First: She did not let anything get in the way of her getting to Jesus. Even the fact that she had not been invited to the party did not stop her. Even the fact that she was a woman and would be looked down on for this behavior did not stop her. Nothing got in her way.

Ø  Second: She invested what was probably her most precious material possession in a one-time extravagant act to honor Jesus. She held nothing back for herself. She poured it all out on Him.

Ø  Third: She held her ground in the face of scorn and rebuke because she knew that what she was doing was the right thing, whether it was popular or not.

Verses 6-8: But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me.  ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.”  

• Jesus knew that the disciples’ feigned concern for the poor was bogus. He pointed out that there would always be opportunities to show kindness and generosity to poor people. However, He was not going to be with them for much longer. So, when the disciples began scolding the woman Jesus stood up for her. He defended her generous, loving act and her honor.
• Not only that, Jesus also defended and explained her motivation. He said, “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.” Jesus could see into the woman’s heart. He knew precisely what motivated her to do what she did, and He approved of it. He said that she was anointing His body for burial. That is a sobering thought. Somehow, she had come to understand what the disciples had not—that He really was going to DIE! She got it. They did not.
• “She has done what she could” That is a melancholy statement. Jesus had to die. He knew it, and apparently, she knew it, too. To save sinners Christ had to die. There was no way around it. The cup could not pass from Him. But the woman did what she could—she anointed Jesus with the most precious thing she owned, as a way of showing her gratitude for what He was about to do. But that begs the question, doesn’t it? — “Have we done all that we can do to honor Him?” I will leave that one for you to ponder.
• Notice that the disciples were condemning something that Jesus approved. It strikes me that we need to learn to approve what God approves, and to condemn what God condemns. All too often we get those two categories confused. We, like the disciples, wax eloquent about things we think God would not approve of, and yet sometimes totally ignore the things He says He “hates.” What do I mean? What does God hate? Well, let’s start with Proverbs 6:16-19: “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: ¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, ¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” We read that list and immediately say: “Well shucks, I can think of a whole bunch of things worse than those. How about being a drug dealer, or a homosexual, or a child molester, or a bank robber? Those are worse, aren’t they?” Well, I am sure that God does not approve of those things either, but before we start making our own lists, I think we should get serious about avoiding the behaviors that God put on His list, if you know what I mean. 

Verse 9: “Truly I say to you, wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” 

• The loving act of this un-named woman has come down to us through 2,000 years of history and stands as a timeless monument to what it means to genuinely love Jesus. The Master Himself said that her gift would never be forgotten. She did something that counted for eternity. Through the wonder of Bible translation her story is still being told in languages all around the world. Her love for Jesus and her wonderful gift will be remembered forever.

Verse 10: Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. 

• We will probably never fully understand what motivated Judas to do such a weaselly, cowardly thing. Perhaps it was partly in response to Jesus’ rebuke to His disciples. It made Judas hopping mad! Or perhaps he had become disillusioned with Jesus’ failure to lead the rebellion against Rome and establish His own Jewish kingdom, the way Judas had hoped. On the other hand, Luke explains it by saying that Satan entered him (cf. Luke 22:3). Matthew describes Judas as having a love for money (Matt. 26:14-15). Maybe it was a combination of all four of these things.

Verse 11: They [i.e., the chief priests] were glad when they heard this and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time. 

• The Jewish religious leaders finally saw their chance to get at Jesus. That came in the form of one of the Galilean’s own followers who was willing to betray his Master for a few coins. The hellish covenant was made, the deal was witnessed, and the price was agreed upon. Now all that remained was to seal the deal with a kiss, a traitor’s kiss. 

CONCLUSION:

William Barclay, in his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, says this about verses 10-11: “The very essence of sin is pride. The very core of sin is independence. The very heart of sin is the desire to do what we like and not what God likes. That is what the Devil, Satan, the Evil One stands for. He stands for everything which is against God, and which will not bow to God. That is the very spirit which was incarnate in Judas. We shudder at Judas. But let us think again—covetousness, jealousy, ambition, the dominant desire to have our own way of things. Are we so very different? These are the things which made Judas betray Jesus, and these are the things which still make men betray Him in every age.”

This text centers around two people: Judas Iscariot who betrayed his Savior, and the dear un-named woman who anointed Jesus with costly oil. It is a study in contrasts.

Ø  Judas took all he could get: the woman gave all that she had.

Ø  Judas did his evil work under a cloak of secrecy and darkness: the woman did her righteous work openly, in the light, before witnesses.

Ø  Judas was filled with hatred and resentment toward Jesus: the woman was filled with love for her Savior.

Ø  Judas’ name will forever be synonymous with scheming and betrayal: the woman who anointed Jesus will forever be a model of unselfish love and dedication.

Ø  Judas went to Hell where he will be forever: the woman went to Paradise and is now and ever with the Lord.

Ø  Judas betrayed the Savior for chump change: the woman poured out a year’s wages in one glorious unselfish act.

Ø  Judas did not value Jesus at all: the woman valued Jesus above all.

Ø  Judas was willing to dispose of Jesus for the price of a slave, to bring pleasure to himself: the woman was willing to dispose of all she possessed to bring pleasure to her Master.

FEEDBACK:

What stands out to you from this text? Is there a spiritual lesson for you in these verses? What can we learn from the reaction of the disciples? The attitude of Judas? The unselfish act of the woman? How will this story affect your life this week?