The Arrest, Trial and Death of Jesus, Part 1
Mark 14:27-65
- Reminder, final msg in Mark, Wed Oct 22, will be “open forum” style
- Jesus is demonstrated in this book as a “servant”
-- Today we continue the final week of Jesus’ life and ministry
- Last Sunday we saw three critical things happen:
- 1) Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper with His Disciples
- 2) He reveals that He will be betrayed by a Disciple
-- It is the unfaithful man who will lie to the Lord directly to His face
- 3) God is STILL faithful to fulfill His promises!
-- The covenants of body and blood are forever sealed in the promise of Bible
-- These are as firm as John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
-- The Word will NEVER pass away; it is our foundation if we live by it
- Read Mark 14:27-31
∆ Point 1 – Running Scared (27-31)
- This is probably one of the most pivotal events in the life of Peter (v27)
-- Second only to when he is restored by Jesus for failing Him as he will
-- Jesus uses Zechariah 13:7 to emphasize what is about to happen
-- “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!" declares the LORD Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.”
- Jesus is prophesying that they will ALL flee and deny Him shortly
-- It’s a very prophetic look at how humans react to a trying, difficult time
- (v28) is then the promise, the other side of the coin if you will
-- “But after I have risen …” … HEY! There is more ahead than just this!
-- Peter’s statement was of boldness, but not without its own problems
-- Jesus corrects him and informs him directly of what will happen
- Peter states that he is willing to die (v31), but we know that is false
-- It is where we find ourselves tonight: “How much will we give Him?”
-- How much are you and I will to sacrifice for Him, will we go all the way?
- TRANS: From here, Jesus leads them to a place of solitary to pray
- Read Mark 14:32-42
∆ Point 2 – Father …. Please (32-42)
- Jesus retreats with several disciples to pray, to spend time with God
-- It is a sign of intimacy that He shows; where He can commune with the Father
-- He takes these men with Him that He trusts to “keep watch” … for me! (v34)
- What Jesus is asking here is simple: Pray for me while I am praying for you!
-- How do we know this? Because of WHAT He prays … He prays for us
-- He prays for our strength and for what we will be faced with ahead of us
- Turn to and read John 17:6-19
- Jesus lay on the ground, prone, crying out for His Father to hear Him
-- (v35-36) is a representation of what prayer really looks like
-- It is an offering of everything we are, asking for everything we need
-- APP: But, it is not a selfish act – it is an act of total devotion to God
- In the Bible, the cup of God’s wrath is referred to as punishment/judgment
-- Isaiah 51:17, “Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.”
-- But even with that (THIS IS HUGE), Jesus submits to the Father’s will (v36)
- Jesus’ command to the disciples after catching them asleep is simple:
-- “Stay away, pay attention, keep watch so you will not be deceived!”
-- It is demonstrated that we will still sleep, even as the Disciples did (v37, 40)
-- APP: This is a challenge for ALL believers today to LIVE these words out
- Then something very interesting happens (v41)
-- Jesus catches them sleeping again, wakes them up, and says “enough”
-- This is a command word, meaning: it’s time for me to do what I must
-- It leads Him to announce that His betrayer has arrived and it’s time (v42)
- TRANS: The time has now come for Jesus’ to do what He is here for
- Read Mark 14:43-52
∆ Point 3 – The Kiss of Death (43-52)
- A crowd, probably filled with soldiers, has come to arrest Jesus
-- His prophecy that one will betray Him definitely has hit home now
-- Judas, “one of the Twelve”, shows just how close He was to them (v43)
-- He betrays Jesus with a kiss, a sign of affection reserved for teachers
- The Gospel of John tells us that Peter is the one who wielded a sword
-- It is removed here; prob. b/c this is not Peter’s finest hour (he’s dictating)
-- However, he is not a trained soldier and therefore misses and hits the ear
- What Jesus does next (v48-49) is critical to us in seeing how shameful this is
-- They have come to arrest Jesus in the night, under secrecy, in shame
-- It is the act of ones who don’t want to be found out; who hide in sin
- Things done in the light are revealed clearly – they don’t want that
-- Jesus implies, “you’ve had plenty of time to arrest me, now you do this?”
-- It is Jesus shaming the men who’ve come to arrest Him; including Judas
-- We are to live in the light; not to live and act in darkness (see 1 John 1:5-10)
- Now, notice this young man in v51-52 of Mark’s Gospel
-- There is no identification of who this is, and he is not in any other Gospel
-- One commentator supposes this could have been Mark Himself
- Perhaps he was witness to some of these events as a young man
-- Consider: He is the nephew of Barnabas; a future Disciple of Christ
-- Maybe this is his way of testifying that he too saw these events take place?
- TRANS: Following Jesus’ arrest, the stage is being set for Him to die
- Read Mark 14:53-65
∆ Point 4 – The Beginning of the End (53-65)
- This brings us to the most publicized, kangaroo court ever held
-- It is a sham, filled with false charges and blasphemy but not from Christ
- The Sanhedrin would’ve consisted of about 70 men (teachers, scribes, etc.)
-- They are meeting in secret, probably at the high priest’s house
-- This avoids everything being done in public where it should’ve been
- Peter is trying to stay with Jesus, but yet even now he’s at a distance (v54)
-- He has some very good intentions here, but he is just not willing to act
-- So what happens is everyone gets to lie about Jesus, with no defense (v56)
-- “Many” testified” -- Well … many lied with intent of “… look at me …”
- The OT tells us that if two witnesses agreed, then it must be so!
-- Numbers 35:30, “Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.”
-- The Sanhedrin had no problem finding people to lie about Jesus
-- APP: Interesting, even though its late at night witness are all lined up …
- When they ask Jesus if He is the Messiah (v61) and His answer floors them!
-- “I am” Wow. Two of the most POWERFUL words EVER spoken
-- Moses got the same two words when he doubted if he could go to Pharaoh
-- John got these two words in the final prophecy before time ends
- He then emphasizes who He is by reciting two critical verses (v62)
-- Psalm 110:1, “The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."”
-- Daniel 7:13, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.”
- This is what the religious leaders were waiting for; confession from Jesus
-- To them, this is all they need to prove blasphemy and send Jesus to His death
-- This leads them to mock Him, to beat Him, and to taunt Him (v64-65)
- What happens next is what we will see on Sunday morning … Pray
