Living By Faith When Life Gets Hard - Mark 14:43-52

 

Living By Faith When Life Gets Hard

Mark 14:43-52

Introduction: Jesus had predicted, based on Scripture, how history would unfold… Many of those predictions must have seemed unimaginable to the disciples, like the Temple being razed and Jerusalem overrun by armies (Mk 13). But at a personal level, they had to be hit hard when Jesus made two shocking predictions: First, one of them, one of the twelve who ate with Him at the Passover table, would betray Him; and secondly, that they would all desert Him. Not only did He make these predictions, but he quoted Scripture to show that these developments were part of God’s plan and had been revealed in Scripture. Peter was even told that He would deny Jesus three times that very night, before the rooster crowed twice!

       We can miss how stunned the disciples must have been in hearing these predictions. Since we have the whole story, we can put together why Jesus did not expose his would be betrayer (Judas), nor did He avoid the mob who came to arrest Him. This was the plan of God, devised in the counsel of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit, in eternity past. Back in Mark 8, after the disciples had made a strong confession of Jesus as the Messiah, we see a little conflict revealing their lack of understanding of the messianic mission. We read in Mark 8:31-33…

³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man..."

He came to be our substitute, to satisfy the justice of Holy God, so that we could be rescued from the wrath that we deserved. And so, that brings us to…

The BIG Idea: Life can be hard, but don’t panic, Jesus came to rescue us; He is Lord and His Word will be fulfilled! We’ll see, 1) Determination; 2) Duplicity; 3) Desertion…

I. Determination: The Resolute Obedience of Jesus (41-43). He knew what was coming, but made no effort to evade the mob coming to arrest Him. Rather, He submitted to the divine plan. Let’s start the reading in 14:41, to set the context…

⁴¹ And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  ⁴² Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."  ⁴³ And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 

       In 14:41 Jesus had been praying, seeking the Father’s help as His hour was at hand. He had taken three of the disciples with Him, a little further into the garden, Peter, James, and John. As He prays in the face of what was coming, becoming our sin-bearer, being accursed for us, taking the judgement that we deserved, He is strengthened to drink the cup that was coming. We see His humanity, and the importance of prayer. The disciples, in the meantime, fall asleep—three times! Jesus had warned them to “watch and pray lest they fall into temptation,” because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

       Did He know they would fail? Surely He did, in fact He predicted betrayal, denial, and desertion, by all. But even as He steels himself for the awful task ahead, He is still teaching the disciples—after the Resurrection they would have their minds opened and begin to understand. Finally, the story is about to move toward its climax, “Enough! Let’s go, the hour has come!” As we saw in the last message, that is by no means a call to retreat, but rather to move ahead with determination to the task ahead.

       Jesus could have avoided the confrontation and left the garden. Luke gives us the observation that we have seen unfolding in Mark as well, that “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). The language used there has the sense of determined action, “His face set like a flint” toward Jerusalem. Clearly, He was not only looking at a geographical location, but anticipating all that He knew had to happen there during this Passover. He had a mission to carry out. He had then looked resolutely toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), now, more specifically, He looks resolutely toward Calvary, and the cup He must drink.

       He could have passed through the crowd, but chose not to. Earlier, He had done exactly that on different occasions. Look at two texts from other gospels…

Luke 4:28-30   ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.  ²⁹ And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.  ³⁰ But passing through their midst, he went away.

John 8:58-59   ⁵⁸ Jesus said… "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."  ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

You see, on those occasions, His hour had not yet come, and they could not touch Him unless He allowed it, so He passed right through their midst.

       He had repeatedly predicted this moment (8:31; 9:31; 10:32). Since the disciples professed faith in Him as the Messiah, He began to inform and correct their understanding of the messianic mission. He would be handed over, be tortured and killed, and on the third day be resurrected. He came to reconcile sinful humans to Holy God, by becoming our substitute and sacrifice (cf. John 12:27).

       And so, after addressing the disciples, “immediately, while He was still speaking,” Judas arrives with the mob to carry out their plan. That word, “immediately,” has been used about 40 times in Mark, and we’ll see it three or four more times before we’re done, once more in this scene. Mark wants us to understand that Jesus came with a mission, and that He stayed “on task,” always moving ahead, carrying out the Father’s plan, Thy will be done... This is why He came. And so, even though, in this fallen world, life can be hard, don’t panic.  Jesus came to rescue us; He is Lord and His Word will be fulfilled. In contrast to the 1) determined obedience of Jesus, we see…

II. Duplicity: Judas exposes His own unbelief with a traitorous kiss, as he greets Jesus still pretending to be a disciple (44-49; cf. John 18:4-8).

⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard."  ⁴⁵ And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi!" And he kissed him.  ⁴⁶ And they laid hands on him and seized him.  ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.  ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me?  ⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled." 

       This famous scene is well known to us, and it is one scene where each of the Gospels includes details, sometimes significant ones, that don’t appear in the others. A kiss, a sword, scattering, and arrest are all common themes, and that is what Mark emphasizes in this account. As the story continues here, it is, by now, dark. There are no flashlights or photos, how would they be sure they got the right man? Judas… In that culture, at that time, the typical way for a follower to greet His beloved rabbi, would be a kiss.  Mark reports it simply, in v.45, “he immediately went to Him, saying ‘Rabbi!’ and kissed Him.” The title and the action that should have signaled respect and devotion, instead is a sign of betrayal, a signal to the arrestors, betrayed by a kiss. Jesus was not surprised, He knew what was coming and who the betrayer was. But right up to the last minute, to this scene, Judas is still pretending… he calls Jesus “rabbi,” teacher, and greets him as though he was a devoted follower. As far as I could find, all Judas ever called Jesus was “rabbi.” Never “Lord.” It is clear he did not believe. He did not understand who Jesus is. Ironically, Judas thought he was pointing out Jesus to the mob. He was. But he was also exposing his unbelief to the others. I wonder if they gasped as they saw him lead the crowd into the garden and walk right up to Jesus and identify Him?

       One of those standing by (Peter), draws a sword and swings it at the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. I don’t think Peter was swinging for the ear! Mark doesn’t tell us what happened next: Jesus immediately healed the ear! One writer speculates that Peter was emboldened by what happened just before, after Judas had gone up to Jesus. Only John tells that part of the story… We read in John 18:4-8…

⁴ Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"  ⁵ They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.  ⁶ When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.  ⁷ So he asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."  ⁸ Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go."

As you read the Gospel of John, the English translations obscure some of what is happening here. Jesus had been identifying himself in the Fourth Gospel with the phrase “I AM,” sometimes with an expressed predicate, “I am the bread of life,” or “I am the Good Shepherd,” and a few times with an absolute expression, for example as He came to the disciples walking on the water, “Do not be afraid, I AM [it is me!],” or at the end of John 8, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” As you read through the gospel you can’t miss that He is using that phrase to allude to the self-revelation of God to Moses in the burning bush, He is the great I AM, now incarnate! Well, here in the Garden, as He is being arrested, He asks the crowd, “Who do you seek?” They reply, and He says, “I AM!” And they all fall back on the ground! He is in control; they cannot touch Him unless He allows it. OK, now returning to Mark’s account, we don’t have that whole part of the scene told to us, but something emboldened Peter in that moment to attack! He jumps into action! But just like when he had thought he needed to intervene back in Chapter 8, when Jesus first told the 12 about His coming death and resurrection, Jesus, again, has to redirect him. This is the way it has to be—put away your sword Peter. You don’t understand now, but I’ve got this!

       That’s the Big Idea, we can trust Him, always. *Life can be hard but we don’t need to panic, Jesus came to rescue us; He is Lord and His Word will be fulfilled. So we’ve seen the determination of Jesus and the duplicity of Judas, finally comes…

III. Desertion: His friends abandon Him, fulfilling Scripture (50-52).

⁵⁰ And they all left him and fled.  ⁵¹ And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him,  ⁵² but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

     They all left Him and fled.  As they left the upper room earlier in this chapter and headed toward the Mount of Olives, Jesus had predicted that He would be deserted by His followers, and that is what unfolds here. Back up a few verses to Mark 14:27-31…

²⁷ And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."  ²⁹ Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not."  ³⁰ And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times."  ³¹ But he said emphatically, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same.

Really Peter? Again? Jesus not only said what would happen, but He pointed to Scripture, to prophecy, to show it had been predicted long ago. But none of them could imagine failing Jesus so blatantly! Rather than focusing on the promise of restoration and resurrection, they essentially say, no, it will never happen!

       Only Mark gives us the detail in 51-52 of the young follower running away naked. Many commentators speculate that this might have been John-Mark, the writer of this gospel. Whether it is or not it is an embarrassing detail that shows the authenticity of the account—who would make up such a story! Not only does he run, but he is literally “naked and afraid”!  Naked. Since the context has led us to think about another Garden, the first garden, Eden, it is hard not to imagine a connection. Only after the Fall did the man the woman “know they were naked” and tried to cover themselves and hide from God. And in the context of judging their sin, He also gave them skins for a covering, pointing forward I think to the provision that would finally come in the sacrifice of the Son. He would be beaten, and stripped, and nailed to a cross, bearing our sin and our shame, so that we could be clothed in His righteousness.  Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly!” That doesn’t mean life in this fallen world will be easy. But our life has purpose, and in Him we can have joy, and peace that goes beyond our circumstances. We are here on a mission.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Life can be hard but we don’t need to panic, Jesus came to rescue us; He is Lord and His Word will be fulfilled.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?

     1) Some of you have had hard times recently. Pressures, temptations, struggles, sickness, pain, death of loved ones. These are consequences of living in a fallen world. It can seem like too much to bear. Isa 53:4 says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…” and 53:7, “…the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” With the trial, He promises a way of escape… (I Cor 10:31). If you know Him, there is no need to panic! If God is for us, who can stand against us? We can trust Jesus, He came to rescue us, He is Lord! His “steadfast love,” endures forever. His Word will be fulfilled!

       2) There are warnings here for us to consider as well. For one thing, being outwardly identified with the church doesn’t necessarily mean that a person has been born again. Jesus was betrayed by one of the twelve men who were closest to Him. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone! Are you sure of your salvation? From the perspective of the First Letter of John: do you love other believers? Read chapters 3-5 of that little letter. He says in 1 John 5:13, “These things I have written that you might know that you have eternal life.” In those three chapters the “fruit” that is most repeated as evidence of authentic faith is love for the brethren! Jesus had said the same thing in John 13:34,35, “By this, men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another…” I recall someone asking, “if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence for a conviction?” It is between you and God, and this is too important to neglect, make sure of your salvation! Judas fooled the other disciples. He may have been fooling himself, but He didn’t fool Jesus.

       3) Do you find yourself content and complacent in your Christian life? Or do you have a hunger for the Word? Do you pray? Can you say with the Psalmist, “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for You!”

       4) Also, let’s be reminded that we should never say, “not me, I could never deny Him!” Therefore, let Him who thinks He stands take heed, lest He fall!  Let’s not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Recognize we are vulnerable, and so endeavor to walk in the Spirit, asking God to convict us, to empower us, and to guide us, that we might live a life that brings Him glory. AMEN.