Mark 14:53-65

Mark 14:53-65

Having decided to eliminate Jesus and then having him unexpectedly betrayed into their hands the council had to move forward with a plan to kill Him. If He got away, they might not get such an opportunity again. Killing Him was either now or maybe never. Jesus, in their opinion, had to die and that had to be now or His power might undermine their control. But this creates for them a problem. A simple assassination would be easily accomplished and it would not be beneath the high priestly family’s conduct. But the murder of the prophet of Galilee would be fraught with problems. After the confrontation in the temple everyone would know who had ordered the killing. The murderer must be a judicial murderer. It had to be carried out by the Romans so the council would have some deniability of responsibility for His death. But to turn a fellow Jew over to the Romans would be vastly unpopular, unless they could manufacture a religious reason. A murder would bring a riot, which would bring harsh Roman reprisal. Turning a fellow Jew over to the Romans might bring the same results.

Religion is often a useful tool wicked people use to accomplish their wicked plan. So the witnesses offer religious testimony, which was inconsistent. But even if it had been consistent, prophecy does not qualify as a capital crime, even prophecies that include supernatural powers. Especially since supernatural power is clearly at work in Jesus' ministry.

Perhaps the priests knew that Jesus had accepted the title “Christ”. But this would be an even more dangerous game. If He was the Christ to turn him over to the Romans makes the council the very enemy of Israel and of God. In the past, the council apparently didn't make much effort to root out would-be Christs.

Jesus had to solve their problems for them because on their own they lack the wit, courage, or the convictions to condemn Jesus. Jesus has to serve Himself up to them on a platter so that they don't bungle it. In verse 62, Jesus’ quoting from Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13 and attributing it to Himself would be a blasphemous act if it were not true. It would be punishable under Mosaic Law, but not under Roman law. In this statement we are confronted with a terrible trilemma. In His claims, Jesus is either a madman-a raving lunatic, perhaps being driven mad by the very forces of darkness. It could be that Jesus was a calculated deceiver and with His lies had some scheme or plan for personal advantage. The third possibility is that He was the One we will all see sitting at the right hand of God and coming in Glory.

Lord, thank You for the extreme effort You went to in order to see the Father's will done. AMEN"

Mark 14:43-52

Mark 14:43-52

Nothing that happened in the garden at the time of Jesus' arrest was a moment conceived in itself. Every event is the birth from a conception and that occurred earlier and is in itself a moment of conception for future events. The Lord's arrest was the birth of the conception from the past. The priests’ commitment to maintain power was the moment of conception the arrest was the birth. Judas' bitterness and hard heart was the moment of conception the kiss and greeting of love and respect as betrayal was the birth. Peter’s attempt to use worldly force to prevent God's plan was the moment of birth following the moment of conception of not watching and praying.

This moment for us is a moment of conception and in the future, perhaps hours, or days, or years, from now this moment will give birth to a thought and action or a deed. That is why every moment must be guarded. Every moment must be protected. It is in this moment we allow a sinful thought or agenda to conceive it's will and in a future moment give birth to a death-dealing moment. But the opposite is true that if in this moment we conceive acts of righteousness and holiness it will give birth to a life closer to God in the future. Life is not a string of events isolated from each other. They happened one after another, but every moment is the birth from a former conception and every moment is a conception of a future birth. My present moment is the birth of my past conception, my present moment is a future birth of the rest of my life.

"Lord, help me so that every moment will be the instant of the conception of righteousness. AMEN"

Mark 14:32-42

Mark 14:32-42

A book could be written about this passage. It links back to the Old Testament and forward to our lives. There's a startling Revelation in this passage.

Within a few hours Peter is going to fail in the most remarkable and appalling way. We have heard the story of Peter's denial and subsequent restoration so often that we lose sight of how momentous it was. It was momentous and wicked on par with the betrayal of Judas. In this moment Judas and Peter are at parity. They act from different motives and while one is calculated and the other impetuous they were both in the moment spiritual traitors.

But in Peter we see that the moment of obvious failure was not the crucial moment. In verse 38, Jesus calls the three to do two things that, if done these three will not come into temptation. "Keep watching, keep praying so you do not enter into temptation." If we look at this in reverse it is apparent that we enter into temptation as result of the failure to keep watching and praying.

Peter failed at his moment of temptation because while his flesh was willing, even so bold that he would take up arms, his spirit was weak and what he faced was not a physical but a spiritual battle. Peter's failure in the moment of temptation was not in that moment alone. It was the whole moment that went back to the failure to pray and watch. Like toxins poured into a creek affect not just the local water but also the whole downstream, the failure to watch and pray in the moment impacts all the moments to come.

Select whatever sin or vice you will and we can see the pattern (Galatians 5:19-21 will provide an adequate example). When we are in the midst of the sinful behavior we are there because we failed to pray about our weaknesses and vulnerability. We know our weaknesses we just don’t want to admit them to God, others or ourselves. We also fail to watch. We did not suddenly end up in a fit of rage, in the inner burning of envy, or staring at a screen filled with pornography. There were little steps, little compromises, little triggers, and emotional clues of where we were going. But we refuse to watch for them and we didn't pray about them.

We do not suddenly find ourselves in a hate-filled outburst of anger or drunken carousing or in an adulterous bed. We say “I can't help it” or “it just happened”, neither of which is true. No, our failure reaches much further back. We did not pray about our weakness and we did not watch for the little moments of temptation leading us down to sin. Peter's denial was the expression of the failure of the garden’s time of prayer.

"Lord, stir me to pray. AMEN"

Mark 14:12-31

Mark 14:12-31

Mark covers the preparation for the Passover, the celebration of the Passover, and the conversation after the Passover in less than 20 verses. This is a much shorter text than any of the other Gospels. But a beautiful theme develops in this text. The disciples witness the providence and predictive power of the Lord. We're told little about how Jesus arranged this Passover plan. But the disciples were sent and found the man with the water jar, which is unusual because that is woman's work. They followed him to a house where the owner was supportive of Jesus' work. In our lives as disciples we enjoy the Lord arranging events, meetings, encounters, jobs, etc. etc. with startling regularity. So much so, we tend to miss them as God’s providence or we even expect them as routine. We become so familiar with God’s providential care that we may, tragically, even lose wonder or forget thankfulness as our response.

When they come in the upper room the disciples experience Jesus in the most intimate way possible. Volumes could be filled on all the implications of the supper. It was new in that it was celebrating an effective sacrifice for sin. It was new in forming a new and better covenant. It was the fulfillment of the Passover, which had always been a promise. In the Passover, forgiveness was leased from one year to the next, but in the sacrifice of Christ we have forgiveness with a clear title. The disciples enjoyed closeness with Christ, but all the implications of that closeness they could not comprehend.

Despite this closeness they would all fail. Even in their failure the Lord loved them. We are never let off the hook for our responsibility to live holy. Grace and mercy are not passes to misbehave. Those with the closest relationship to Christ still fail. But that Lord loves them and us and desires that we turn back to Him.

"Thank You Lord for loving me and caring for me even when I just don't get it. Amen"

Mark 14:1-11

Mark 14:1-11

This short passage is very full of powerful moments. First the priests are ready to commit judicial murder, but they are willing to wait till after the Passover if that will suit their purpose. But by God's Sovereign will there is no other time when the Lamb of sacrifice is to be slain.

Second, Mary's costly gift indicates a heart fully given to the Lord. There were not many ways for her to express her love for the Lord, but what she could do she did do. This woman that Mark leaves unnamed, driven by her love is then compared to the parsimonious money counting disciples. Her simple, humble devotion is contrasted with these less purely motivated men. We might expect those closest to Jesus would have had the greatest devotion. Not so, these men had an agenda.

The third moment comes from Jesus' statement, “The poor you will always have with you” is a freeing statement. Jesus neither absolves the disciples of their responsibility to care nor does He indicate that the only proper way to use funds is for poverty relief. We are charged with caring for the poor, but nowhere does Scripture indicate that by our efforts alone poverty will be eradicated.

The final moment in this passage is with Judas.  It is in this context that we see Judas begin the process of betrayal. We often seem surprised when church leaders conduct themselves wickedly. We act as if this is a new or unusual behavior. But the consistent pattern of Scripture is that even among those nearest the Lord we find wicked men. How many times have we said, “I can't believe he or she or they did that?” Perhaps there is a better question to ask, “Will I be the one to betray my Lord or His church?”

"Lord, keep my heart for You and You alone.  Amen"