Gospel of Mark 14:1-36 Commentary by
Pastor Ron Beckham
Audio Sermon – Mark 14:1-36
All Will Stumble
Many people through the centuries have said, “If only I could see God, I would believe in Him,” but here in Verse 1, these “chief priests and the scribes” SAW God the Son face-to-face and what did they do? – They “sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.” And all of this was at “the Passover… the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” Their thoughts were not about this holy time of their religion, but about killing Jesus, which they didn’t do, only because “there might be an uproar of the people.” Verse 2 shows they were motivated by fear, not by love.
And now we find Jesus “in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,” in Verses 3-5, where “a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard… she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.’ And they criticized her sharply.” It’s instances like this one that show the lack of perception within humanity. The poor are important, but this was greater.
It is true that many of our valuable resources are wasted on this planet and that there are selfish people who have much while others have too little. If only we would all share, it might be that there would be enough for all. But this was a unique incident. Jesus said, in Verses 6-9, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Out of all the people in history, this one woman was permitted to touch our Lord, to anoint Him, to salute His majesty as He went to die for our sins.
We see in Verses 10-11 that this anointing of Jesus by the woman was the “last straw” for “Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve.” He observed that Jesus had not yet cast out the Romans and restored Israel to greatness; instead of becoming king, He called Himself “Son of Man” and said He would die. Judas wanted no more of this and “went to the chief priests to betray (Jesus) to them.” John would later reveal Judas as “a thief” (John 12:6), who was entrusted with “the money box,” but stole from it. The chief priests “were glad and promised to give him money,” which motivates all too many people, and Judas now “sought how he might conveniently betray (Jesus).”
We’ll see more of Judas Iscariot in this chapter, but the focus in Verse 12 is on “the Passover lamb.” His disciples asked, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” In Verses 13-16, He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, The Teacher says, 'Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.' So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.” Note the precision - things happened just as Jesus said they would. He has a precise plan for your life and mine as well. Part of the confusion in our lives is that we tend to think our plan is even better than His.
What we call the “Upper Room” was ready, it was evening, and in Verse 17 we find Him entering it with the twelve apostles. In Verse 18, the elaborate Passover Meal (Seder) had just begun when Jesus shocked them by saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.” In Verse 19, all twelve did what we would likely do: “They began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, 'Is it I?'” They didn’t quite get it at the time as He answered clearly in Verse 20: “It is one of the twelve who dips with Me in the dish.” Jesus continued in Verse 21, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.” The Lord is your King, your Savior and your Friend – to betray Him, to reject Him is not only wrong, it’s also self-destructive. But if you’ve done it, don’t lose hope - Read Matthew 12:32 – "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man it will be forgiven him.” but note also that it continues: “whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him…”
And now, in Verses 22-25, as they sat at table for this historical Seder Meal, “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said (as He is saying to you and me), ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Then in Verse 26, they sang a hymn and “went out to the Mount of Olives.”
Jesus said in Verse 27, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,’” a quote from Zechariah 13:7. The Lord continued in Verse 28. “But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter, of course, being the way he was, replied, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” We like confidence, don’t we? We like it in ourselves, our children and in our leaders, but to be real confidence, it must be based in reality. Jesus would now wake Peter up to his true condition.
The points in Jesus’ reply were missed by the disciples: He would die, His disciples would be scattered, all of this would fulfill Old Testament Scripture, and He would rise from the dead. There is so much in the Lord’s statement that we can ponder it for years and never fully grasp the depths and heights of it. But Peter in Verse 29 was like people everywhere. He missed it because he was absorbed with himself.
Jesus said to Peter in Verse 30, “I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” Peter was still defending himself in Verse 31, shouting, “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And the rest of the apostles felt the same.
Jesus now led them in Verse 32 to the place called “Gethsemane” ("olive press"), a garden area outside the city walls. He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He didn’t tell them to pray or to stand guard because He knew they were ineffective in both of those roles. And He also was overwhelmed by the reality that His death would be terrible. We see in Verse 33 that “He took Peter (and the brothers) James and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed." Jesus was very brave indeed - the great struggle here was that “Him who knew no sin (was) to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was more innocent than we can comprehend and the terrible sin of this world was about to be upon Him.
He said to them in Verses 34-36, “’My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.’ He went a little further, fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’”
What a difference between the wish of Peter that he might be seen as strong, loyal, unfailing and brave; and the response of Jesus to the Father. Jesus knew for certain what was ahead of Him and He prayed but there was no other way for humanity to be saved. You may have wondered, “Wasn’t there ANOTHER way for our sins to be forgiven?” The answer is: No! - Only Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who died on the cross, can save us from stumbling, sin and death.
Father, we all stumble like Peter, fooling ourselves that we are better and stronger than we are. We confess that we stumble and ask Your forgiveness. Thank You, Jesus, for dying in our place. Lead us, Lord, though the road may be hard. We trust in You now. In Jesus Name. Amen.
