Mark 14:10-21
Mark 14:10-21
The theme of chapter 14 is the abandonment of Jesus.
It opens with His betrayal by Judas.
Soon we will see Jesus abandoned not just by Judas, but also by Peter, by the rest of His followers, by the Jewish people, by the Romans, and ultimately by God the Father as He hangs on the cross and absorbs the full weight of our sin.
Our focus last week was on the story Mark inserted into the opening betrayal story about the woman who poured out every last drop of her expensive perfume (the equivalent of a year’s wages) in an act of worship to Jesus.
We talked about how she was willing to give it all because Jesus was worth it all.
We talked about how for her to do what she did required her to break cultural norms and take a major social risk… and yet her love for Jesus was so pure that Jesus said everywhere the gospel is preached from now on, this woman’s story would be told. And it has.
To a true disciple, Jesus is worth it ALL.
Today we see the negative example.
The main takeaway this morning comes in the form of a warning: proximity to the community of Jesus does not equal an eternal relationship with Jesus.
May this passage be both a wakeup call and an encouragement as we look to the only hero of the story, the only one who has no hint of betrayal in Him, Jesus Christ.
Mark 14:10–21 (ESV):
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.
Notice that statement, he was “one of the twelve”.
A man who was by all appearances a true insider… eating with Jesus, camping out with Jesus, getting mentored by Jesus, being in constant proximity to Jesus, even doing ministry alongside other core disciples in the name of Jesus, who had answered the call to follow Jesus (at least superficially)…
And here’s the craziest thing: there is no indication that anyone ever doubted his commitment to Christ.
But Jesus knew. And Jesus knows that Judas, while He was unique as the man of perdition, would not be the last to masquerade as one of His followers.
In Matthew 7 Jesus said there would be many who come to Him on the last day claiming that they did all kinds of things to merit salvation… but He’ll turn to them and say, “depart from me, I never knew you”.
11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
The chief priests… the very ones who were supposed to be directing the nation of Israel to worship their God… are now celebrating the fact that they get to murder God the Son.
Think of the level of self-deception that is going on here. Think of how deluded you’d have to be to kill your long awaited Messiah. Your deliverer. Your God.
Matthew 26 tells us that it was 30 pieces of silver. That was the price Judas was willing to betray Jesus for.
Contrast that with the woman we saw last week who poured out every last drop of her expensive ointment in an act of worship.
And who was it that was upset about the misuse of her gift? Judas.
Yet here he betrays Jesus for the equivalent of about half the value of the perfume that was dumped out in a beautiful act of worship.
Therefore, this is not just betrayal but also hypocrisy.
Verse 12 introduces a scene change:
12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
The Passover was a meal instituted by God for the Jewish people to commemorate their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
God sent His angel of death to carry out the wrath of God on Egypt because of their sin… but He said that for everyone who had the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, His wrath would pass over them.
According to Deuteronomy 16:5-8, the Passover could only be eaten in Jerusalem, which is why there would be a mass pilgrimage of Jews to Jerusalem for this annual feast.
Jewish historian Josephus reports that in the year AD 66 (a significant year because it’s when the Temple was completed), there were 255,600 lambs sacrificed. From this, he calculates that around 2.5 million Jews would have been present.
So this was a huge annual occasion.
Of course, that was a foreshadowing of Christ who would become the once-for-all Passover Lamb whose blood turns away the just wrath of God for all who believe in Him.
And so here, there is PROFOUND symbolism manifesting before the disciple’s eyes. Here they are looking to eat the traditional Passover meal, probably not fully realizing that they are going to be eating it with THE Passover Lamb Himself.
By the way, this is why as Christians we celebrate communion, which is essentially the fully realized version of Passover.
We don’t just celebrate God’s deliverance of His national people from physical slavery, we celebrate God’s deliverance of His people (who belong to Him by faith) from our ultimate slavery to sin and death.
Whereas all of redemptive history before Christ looked forward to the Lamb who would be slain on the cross, we look back at the Lamb who was slain on the cross, and we can say along with Jesus, “It is finished”.
13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
If you remember, a very similar scenario played out back in chapter 11 when Jesus commanded two disciples to go into Jerusalem and find the donkey tied up, on which Jesus would ride into Jerusalem in the triumphal entry.
Both incidents involve Jesus sending two disciples
Both incidents involve a covert mission that must happen in order for crucial events to unfold.
Both errands entail mysterious meetings
And both happen exactly according to what Jesus predicts.
The cumulative force of these events shows us that Jesus is in charge. He is completely sovereign over the events leading up to His death and resurrection.
Jesus is not a hero whose plan happened to be sabotaged by the devil.
The cross was not some cosmic accident that God turned around for good.
Acts 2:23 (ESV): 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
So notice, the parties involved are still morally responsible. They are killing the Son of God… and that is their choice and their sin… and yet, all of this is held within God’s grand plan.
And so think of this: if even the greatest tragedy in the history of the world was carefully held within God’s sovereign plan, how much more can we trust Him with the tragedies of our lives?
Doesn’t mean they aren’t real tragedies… doesn’t mean they aren’t evil… but it does mean He’s still in control. And, He’s good.
17 And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”
20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.
We’ve noted many times how the life of Jesus fulfills myriads of prophecies. What you might not expect is that even this small detail is one of them.
Psalm 41:9 (ESV): 9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
And that is the sense of what Jesus is saying. ‘One who is part of my closest circle. One who is even so intimately close to me that they are dipping bread into the same dish as I am. Someone that close is about to betray me.’
Now, this betrayal is obviously unique to Judas. Jesus makes that clear in verse 21…
21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
But, as we’ll see, Judas is not the only betrayer around that table.
Before long, Peter will deny Jesus three times.
The others will desert Him.
In fact, it’d be more accurate to say that everyone around that table would betray Jesus in one way or another.
In fact, to broaden the circle even more… we might say we are all betrayers. There is only one Judas, yes. But we have all betrayed Jesus on one level or another by our sin. By our lack of faith. By our inability to follow Him faithfully.
In fact, this betrayal is so pervasive over humanity that the scriptures can say, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless.”
Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
In fact, we have such an inability to keep God’s law that Paul could write in Romans 3, “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
In other words, since we are so broken, the Law of God simply works like a mirror reflecting our sinfulness back at us. Showing us we can’t perform up to His standard.
If this is shocking to you… if you weren’t expecting to get to the end of this story about Judas and come away identifying as a betrayer… let me gently remind you that this is the reason Jesus came.
The reason the Messiah is dining with betrayers and will die for betrayers is precisely because they are betrayers!
And in His love and justice He made a way through His life and death to save betrayers.
The question is not, “am I a betrayer of Jesus”... the question is, “at the end of the day, do I cling to Jesus as my Savior”... “Do I truly know Him”.... “Do I truly belong to Him….”
Remember, I said at the outset that proximity to the community of Jesus doesn’t necessarily equal an eternal relationship with Jesus.
The determining factor is repentance and faith.
As we’ll see in the coming weeks, there is a vast difference between Judas and Peter, for example.
Both betrayers.
But one ends up coming around and being restored.
What was the difference?
On a cosmic level, it was the will of God.
But from a human vantage point… it was repentance and true faith. That’s all we can cling to.
Mark 1:15 (ESV): (Jesus came came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,) 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Repent.
Turn from sin. Change your mind about your sin. Go the other direction.
Westminster Shorter Chatechism “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”
1 Jn. 1:9 “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Believe.
That is, call upon Him in faith. Cry out to Him as the Savior He is, and the Savior you desperately need.
Galatians 3:26 (ESV): 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV): 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Romans 10:13 (ESV): 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”