Love And Hate Series

Introduction

A. I heard the true story of a woman who took a number of children to see a movie.

1. Before going into the seating area, they stopped at the concession stand and the woman offered to buy popcorn for the children to share.

2. One of the children objected declaring, “I hate popcorn!”

3. When the child would not budge from their position of popcorn hatred, the women also bought some candy for the children to share along with the popcorn.

4. So into the theater they went and they sat down and began enjoying the snacks before the movie began.

5. Suddenly the woman noticed the child who hated popcorn was eating some of the popcorn and she said to the child, “Why are you eating popcorn? You said you hate popcorn!”

6. The child replied, “I like it, but I hate it.”

B. There’s an old saying, “there’s a fine line between love and hate” and it can be true in many different ways.

1. Today, as we move into Mark chapter 14, we notice how Mark places the themes of love and hate alongside each other to create a sharp contrast.

2. First, we will notice the hatred of the Jewish leaders towards Jesus which is immediately followed by Mary’s loving act of anointing Jesus, which is then followed by Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

3. The first group had only hate for Jesus, Mary only had love, and Judas had some kind of mix of the two.

4. Every person must decide about their own reaction to Jesus – whether it be love or hate – but the results of that decision and the trajectory of a person’s life based on that decision, couldn’t be any more different.

I. Scene #1: The Hatred of the Jewish Leaders (Mark 14:1-2)

A. Mark wrote: 1 It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 “Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.” (Mark 14:1-2)

1. Mark began his Passion narrative by setting the stage, telling us the time, the tenor, and the circumstances of Jesus’ final days in Jerusalem.

2. The time was the time of Passover.

a. Mark said that there were only two days left before the Passover began.

b. During the time of Passover, Jerusalem would burst it seams with people as every Jewish male within 15 miles of Jerusalem was required to attend the feast in Jerusalem.

c. In addition to those living close to Jerusalem, Jews scattered around the world made it their goal to attend the Passover celebration in Jerusalem at least once in their lifetime.

d. Josephus, the 1st century Jewish historian, said that the Passover brought as many as 3 million people to Jerusalem.

3. The Passover had the distinction of being the greatest feast of the Jews.

a. It was joined with the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread.

b. The Passover meal and the seven days of unleavened bread that followed were both referred to as “The Passover.”

4. But this Passover was destined to be like none before or since, because God’s only Son was going to be offered as the true Passover lamb and His blood is the price of our redemption.

B. Meanwhile, Mark tells us about the attitudes and plans of the chief priests and the scribes.

1. They were aware that their time to deal with Jesus was drawing short.

2. If they were going to act, it had to be soon, but they didn’t want to execute Jesus during the Passover week because of His popularity with the crowds – the last thing they wanted was a riot.

3. The control of the crowds at the Jewish feasts was always a concern for the Romans and the Jewish leaders.

4. To contend with the tension of the masses during the Jewish feasts and to squelch possible rebellions, reinforcements by the Romans were brought in and were stationed at strategic spots around the city.

C. But why did the Jewish leaders have such hatred for Jesus?

1. Jesus’ three year ministry had been growing in its influence and impact on Jews and Gentiles.

2. His teachings and miracles often rode roughshod on the Jewish leaders’ traditions and exposed their hypocrisy.

3. And then, after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem with its Messianic overtones, His cleansing of the temple, His parables that plainly characterized their rejection of the Messiah, and His prediction of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, something had to be done.

4. In their mind, they had only two choices: Destroy Jesus or be destroyed by Him.

5. You know which one they chose.