Deserted And Disowned Series

Don’t be unbelieving. Don’t doubt what God is doing in your life.

Don’t be faithless and desert Jesus like His disciples did. Don’t be faithless and abandon Him like His original followers did. They did not trust in God’s plan, so they ran away.

Mark 14:50-52 And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. (ESV)

Mark is the only Gospel which records this account of one of Jesus’ followers, a young man, running away naked. Many Bible scholars believe it was John-Mark himself, the writer of this gospel.

He may have been in bed with only his pajamas on (“a linen cloth”) when he heard about soldiers going after Jesus. So he ran out of the house to warn Jesus, but got there too late. They had already arrested Jesus when he arrived, and were about to arrest him too, but he barely got away, leaving his pajamas in their hands.

Did you ever have a dream in which you find yourself naked in the middle of a crowd of people? How embarrassing! How shameful! Well, that’s exactly the picture that Mark wanted to paint of the disciples running away from Jesus. It was a shameful desertion, because they lacked the faith and courage to follow through with their boastful claim. Just a few hours earlier, they had emphatically declared that they would stay by Jesus no matter what (verse 31). Now, they are running away with their empty boasts fully exposed in shame.

My dear friends, when tragedy strikes, that’s not the time to run away from the Lord in shame like Jesus’ disciples did. that’s not the time to skip out on worship; that’s not the time to abandon the church like so many people do these days.

Instead, that’s the time to get even closer to the Lord! So when life takes an unexpected turn, don’t be faithless and desert Jesus like His disciples did.

And second, don’t be faithless and denounce Jesus like the religious leaders did. In the midst of your pain, don’t accuse Jesus of wrongdoing; don’t condemn Him in your own mind.

Mark 14:53-56 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.

The Mosaic Law required agreement in the independent testimony of at least two witnesses to condemn a man to death, which they couldn’t find. But that wasn’t going to stop them. After all, why let the facts get in the way of your own blind bitterness and hatred? So they kept looking for more witnesses.

Mark 14:57-59 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. (ESV)