Mark 14:53-72 - Unfair trials and bitter tears

The easily-persuaded rent-a-mob take Jesus back to the chief priests and other religious authorities as instructed for an unfair trial and Peter reaches his darkest moment...

Mark 14:53-72

Jesus' only crime is blasphemy, which basically means 'claiming to be God when you're not'.  The only problem is that no-one who wants him dead can find anything he's done wrong that would prove he's lying (v55).  The average lunatic claiming divinity would have loads of embarrassing dirt to dig up to expose them but Jesus has none.  The religious types try and make things stick but but none of it does and as Jesus stays silent, the only thing that's exposed is their own twisted agenda but no-one dares to admit it.

The only question Jesus dignifies with a response is about his true identity and he answers clearly (v60-61), saying he is indeed the Messiah (God's chosen rescuer).  He's happy to say it one more time, knowing that no-one can prove otherwise: "I'm God."

Religious anger takes over and they start attacking Jesus physically (v65).  This is the inevitable conclusion of the trial.  No-one's interested in the truth and Jesus will soon be tortured and killed.

Peter, who has been following at a distance and hanging out with Jesus' enemies (v54), now can't even stand up to a little slave girl (v67-68).  Three times he denies he knows Jesus and even calls down curses (v71), which probably means something like, "May God strike me dead if I'm wrong."  He's perfectly (but not deliberately) fulfilling the prophecy Jesus had made earlier the same day (v72).

Peter's response to his sin is bitter tears (v72) and it's the best response possible.  When we realise just how serious our sin really is, the only proper response is deep sorrow.  We stop pretending we're better than we really are and we fall down and admit that we're wrong, broken and in need of forgiveness from God.  This is the moment we all need to have at some point in our lives and it's the moment God waits for...

Psalm 51:17...
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

1 John 1:8-9...
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The promise of God in the Bible is that because of Jesus, we can come to him with the weight of our sin and guilt and he will forgive and purify us.

Mark blog

Mark 14:43-52 - Jesus is arrested

Events are unfolding exactly as Jesus and ancient prophecy said they would...

Mark 14:43-52

Judas comes to betray Jesus by identifying him with a kiss so that the mob sent by the religious authorities could arrest him.  Their biggest problem with Jesus was 'blasphemy', which means claiming to be God when you're not God (John 10:33).  Judas has been watching for an opportunity to hand Jesus over (Mark 14:10-11) and Jesus had predicted that one of his closest 12 friends would betray him (Mark 14:18-20).  Judas makes his own mind up but his actions are totally fulfilling everything Jesus said would happen. 

One of Jesus' friends sticks up for him violently by slicing off an ear of one of the mob.  From John's gospel account, we know that this was Peter (John 18:10).  His passion is admirable but his perspective and methods are wrong.  Jesus is not planning to win his battle with swords but by his own sacrificial death on the cross for the sin of the world (Colossians 2:15).

Jesus challenges the religious thugs but he knows their actions are part of the fulfillment of prophecy.  He himself had said it would happen this way (Mark 8:31).

All Jesus' friends desert him at this point and run away scared.  Again, fulfillment of prophecy from hundreds of years before, which spoke of God striking the shepherd and the sheep scattering (Zechariah 13:7).

And then we have this seemingly random detail about a guy who runs off naked from the scene.  What's that about?  It's not fulfillment of prophecy like the rest of this section.  So why is it included?  Scholars tell us that the description of the robe implies someone who was well-off and it's thought by many that this is Mark himself.  This detail is perhaps the author's way of saying he was there too and even he ran away and left Jesus alone.

These are dark times and even though the disciples can't see it, there is hope.  Jesus is not choosing to fight a battle with swords but he does have a battle plan - one that will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Mark blog

Mark 14:32-42 - Suffering for suffering

What do you do with your sadness, sorrow, struggle and suffering?  Jesus prays.

Mark 14:32-42

Jesus is fully human and fully God.  The Bible says that 'in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form' (Colossians 2:9).  We call it the 'incarnation'.  God took on flesh and became a human being in Jesus.  He's called 'Immanuel', which means 'God with us' (Matthew 1:23).  In this section of Mark's account, we see just how human Jesus is at his lowest point and yet he doesn't sin.  His soul is 'overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death' and he asks for another way but he remains faithful to God the Father and determined to trust and obey him whatever needs to happen.  

How does Jesus manage to struggle and not sin?  Is it because he's God and it's no real problem at all?  No.  He's not cheating!  Jesus is fully God but he's laid aside certain rights to become genuinely human (Philippians 2:6-8).  This is Jesus truly struggling.  Struggling but not sinning.  And he manages it be cause he prays.  He gets his friends to pray too, but they let him down.  When we struggle or face temptation we have two options: run towards God or run away from him.  In the garden in Genesis, the story tells us Adam and Eve sinned and ran and hid from God (Genesis 3:8-10).  In this garden, Jesus runs towards God in prayer and he shows us that full reliance on our heavenly Father in our darkest moments is our only hope.

Jesus is struggling and suffering for the world's struggling and suffering.  He knows his imminent death on the cross and separation from God the Father will ultimately bring peace, forgiveness, friendship with God, life to the full and life forever to those who trust and follow him.  Jesus knows he will pay a high price for the world's rebellion against God so that people who respond in faith may be free and have a certain hope that outlasts the suffering of this world.  He knows this part of the plan is necessary to offer rescue to the people he loves and that by going through with it, he will ensure that for those who trust and follow him, the suffering they face in this world will be as bad as it gets.  No-one will have to face absolute separation from God unless they stubbornly choose it.

Mark blog

Mark 14:27-31 - Known failure

Jesus knows his friends will fail and he knows exactly how they'll fail...

Mark 14:27-31

Here we see yet another prophecy from the Old Testament part of the Bible (written 500 years before Jesus came)... 'I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.' (Zechariah 13:7).  Jesus repeatedly said he was 'the good shepherd' (John 10:11, 14) and Isaiah (written 700 years before Jesus came) said that he would be 'stricken' by God (Isaiah 53:4) and that it would be God's will to 'crush him' (Isaiah 53:10).  Jesus is again describing how another prophecy would be fulfilled.  He knows his friends will all desert him in his time of greatest need, according to what God had said through the prophets hundreds of years before.

Peter claims he will remain true to Jesus, even if no-one else does but Jesus knows better and even describes the exact details of how Peter will fail.  And it happens just as he says (Mark 14:66-72).

Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows we will fail him and he knows how.  The good news is, this is not the end of the story.  Jesus is on his way to his death and our failure is the reason why.  He knows us.  He knows our failure.  And he knows what it will cost him to make a way out for us.

Mark blog

Mark 14:12-26 - The new Passover

It's the beginning of a pretty bleak time for Jesus and the disciples.  In this section as they share the Passover meal together, Jesus discloses some dark news about one of his closest friends and talks again about his death.

Mark 14:12-26

Passover was a big deal in Jewish culture and we first read about it in Exodus 12.  It was a serious reminder of Israel's slavery in Egypt and a joyful celebration of the miraculous way God rescued them.  This particular Passover would be one that Jesus and his disciples would never forget.

Jesus drops the news that one of the disciples will betray him.  Judas knows what he's on about because he's already decided he's going to do it (Mark 14:10-11) but the rest assume that Jesus is telling the truth because they know he knows the future.  It was only a few hours ago he accurately predicted the specific details of the preparations for the meal they're now sharing and they know Jesus must be right about this too.  One of them will betray Jesus and it will be worse than any of them can imagine right now.

Jesus continues to talk about the near future by using the bread and the wine to show the disciples about his death.  Jesus has spoken a lot about his death and they know it's going to be important somehow but they can't see it all yet.  He uses the bread to show them that his body will be broken and the wine to show that his blood will be poured out.  He speaks of his death as a sacrifice for people and he says enough for his disciples to know that it's all going to happen very soon.

This particular Passover meal became a new reminder and a new celebration.  Christians today regularly share bread and wine together to remember the death of Jesus.  Like Passover, it's a serious reminder of our old slavery to sin and a joyful celebration of the miraculous way that God has rescued us through Jesus.

Mark blog

ECCU Day of FREE CAKE!

So today was the Exeter College Christian Union Day of FREE CAKE!  We spent the day giving away cake to students and staff and asking people three questions...

1. What's your life all about?
2. What do you think Jesus' life was all about?
3. If it was possible to know God personally, would you want to and why/why not?

As ever, we had some AMAZING and significant conversations with loads of people, some of which lasted half an hour or more because people were genuinely interested in getting to the bottom of who Jesus is and whether or not he's really God and worth trusting and following.  It seems people really are hungry to explore and discover the truth rather than stick with gut feelings or popular opinion.  It was a real privilege to chat to them and try to help point them towards the evidence about Jesus and everything he's done for us so we can know God personally!

If you're reading this because we met you today - THANK YOU!  And please feel free to explore the blog (especially the Why Follow Jesus? bit) and ask me any questions using the link on the right.  I promise I'll get back to you and try to be helpful.  If you want to meet up to chat properly, I'm well up for that too.

Hopefully chat soon!

Dave
:)