#59 The Beginning Of Sorrows! Series

#59 The Beginning of Sorrows!

Series: Mark

Chuck Sligh

January 30, 2022

TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 14:43.

INTRODUCTION

Over the last two years, we’ve been studying the Gospel of Mark.

We have seen…

Jesus’ deity,

His perfect humanity,

His incredible power,

His miracles,

His authority over demons and His power to heal,

His holiness,

His unparalleled teaching,

His bountiful compassion and mercy,

and also His justice and righteous wrath.

It’s hard to find an opening illustration that is appropriate today’s sermon. Often, to pique your interest, I’ll begin a sermon with a joke or a humorous story that illuminates in some way the content of the sermon. But our text today is so sad and serious that it wouldn’t feel right to start with such an introduction.

In last week’s sermon we were with Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus looked at the bitter cup of suffering that was ahead of Him, and in His humanity, He prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what you will.”

This was the first great battle for our souls. The second great battle would be on the cross itself when God the Father would judge God the Son for our sins—something incomprehensible…yet it happened, as we’ll see in greater detail when we get to the crucifixion in Mark’s gospel.

But between Gethsemane and Golgotha are some tragic events that give us insight into the depths of utter wickedness to which corrupt and evil people can stoop, how fickle and unreliable followers of Christ can be, and the magnitude of Jesus’ glorious resolve to carry out the plan of redemption. One of those stories between Gethsemane and Golgotha is in today’s text in Mark 14:43-52.

I. IN VERSES 43-45, WE SEE JESUS BETRAYED – “And immediately, while he was speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 And he who betrayed him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I shall kiss, he is the one; take him, and lead him away safely.” 45 And as soon as he came, he immediately went to him, and said, ‘Master, master’; and kissed him.”

While Jesus was speaking with the eleven other disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, there was A SUDDEN DISRUPTION in His discourse. A mob of people from the chief priests, the scribes and the elders—the three groups that made up the Sanhedrin—came with swords and clubs. This action was approved by the Sanhedrin, but John’s gospel also speaks of a detachment of soldiers and a commander accompanying them, and since the Jews had no military, this must have meant the Romans were also involved in this plot. If so, for once the Jewish and Roman leaders were united on something: the capture and destruction of Jesus Christ.

Mark said “a great crowd” came for Him. Why were they so heavily armed and so many involved in the manhunt? We saw several chapters back that the Jewish religious leaders had determined to kill Jesus. What kept them from acting was His popularity. They were seeking a way to capture Him when there was not a crowd of followers around that might cause a disruption or riot if they arrested Him in a public place. Perhaps they also feared that the apostles, who always accompanied Jesus, might put up resistance. So when they got an opportunity to seize Jesus without these incumbrances, they came “loaded for bear,” as we say down South.

When Judas knew Jesus and the other eleven apostles would be at the Garden of Gethsemane, he alerted the Sanhedrin, and once everyone was well-armed and ready to act, he led them to where Jesus was.

He had prearranged a signal so that in the dark they would capture the right man…a kiss. A light kiss on the cheek was the customary greeting for a friend or someone you highly respected and still is in some Middle Eastern lands. No one would have thought it unusual, but Judas and Jesus knew that this was not a kiss of AFFECTION, but a kiss of BETRAYAL. Mark tells us there was no hesitation on Judas’s part. He went immediately to Jesus and kissed Him so that the mob could quickly apprehend Him before any resistance could be mustered.

II. IN VERSES 46-48 WE SEE JESUS CAPTURED – “And they laid their hands on him and took him. 47 And one of them who stood by drew a sword, and struck a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have you come out as against a thief, with swords and with clubs to take me? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not take me: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.’”