Mark 14, Part Two

Jesus in Gethsemane (vs. 32-42)—From my comments at Matthew 26:36-46: “Gethsemane was a beautiful garden just outside of Jerusalem. Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and then went off aways to pray. Three times the Lord prayed, in effect, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (vs. 39, 42, 44); the wording was a little different each time. The apostles, clueless as always as to what was going on, fell asleep while Jesus was praying. He mildly rebukes them, but no doubt is resigned now to His fate. It would have been nice if His friends had stood with Him, but He died alone and He knew it was going to happen.” Mark’s account is substantially the same as Matthew’s.

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss (vs. 42-52)—Mark has an interesting addition at the end of this section, but otherwise my comments at Matthew 26:47-56 are applicable: “The mob arrived, “a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people” (v. 47), just a bunch of rabble, no doubt, either stirred up or paid off by the religious leaders. For those who might not have known Jesus by sight, Judas said, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him" (v. 48). Jesus doesn’t resist. Peter does. He grabs a sword and chops off the right ear of a servant of the high priest named Malchus. Matthew doesn’t give us all of that information, but by reading the accounts in Mark, Luke, and John we get the full account. Jesus makes famous statement, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (v. 52). He didn’t really need Peter’s help: “Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (v. 53). He had to die, that’s what He came to this earth for. But despite repeated declarations of that over the past several months, His disciples still did not understand. Peter was at least willing to fight at the moment; no doubt, his confusion over the Lord’s attitude will help lead to his denial in a few hours.”

In Mark 24:51-52, we read, “Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.” Mark is the only gospel writer who records this. We have no idea who this young man was, but many Bible students have suggested that it might have been Mark himself. John Mark appears to have been a dear friend of Peter (I Peter 5:13, assuming this is the same Mark), and this is one reason why it is generally believed that Peter was Mark’s (human) source for much of his gospel.

Jesus before the high priest (vs. 53-65)—From Matthew 26:57-68—“Jesus actually was to undergo six trials before the night was over, although the number is a little unclear. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, is the one who had to condemn Jesus to death; the Jews didn’t have that authority, so in this first trial, they are trying to find some reason to accuse Him before Pilate. Even though blasphemy is the charge of which “He is deserving of death” (v. 66), they will eventually charge Jesus of claiming to be a king. That could be serious, because, of course, only Caesar (in this case Tiberius) could be king. But to the Jews, blasphemy was a serious enough crime to deserve capital punishment.” Interestingly, Mark doesn’t give the name of the high priest, who was Caiaphas. It was, as has been noted many times, the religious leaders who were at the forefront of this mockery—the high priest, chief priests, elders, and scribes (v. 53). It will all be at night, or very early in the morning, so that Jesus could be put on the cross before the people discovered what had happened. Political/religious leaders frequently know that their actions do not meet the approval of the masses, thus chicanery, trickery, and downright lying are necessary to complete their unpopular schemes. America is getting a pretty good dose of that right now (2010) with the current administration trying to ram through several unpopular programs, using all kinds of utterly deceptive and disingenuous methods. It’s not uncommon and it’s exactly what happened to Jesus.

Peter’s denials (vs. 66-72)—From Matthew 26:69-75—“Peter had followed Jesus “at a distance to the high priest's courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end” (v. 58). Yet, just as Jesus had predicted, Peter is confronted three times with his association with the Lord, and rebuffs the idea each time. On the last denial, Luke tells us, “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). Can you imagine how Peter felt? It is no wonder that “he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75).” That passage in Luke, as I have commented before, is one of the most gut-wrenching, to me, in all the Bible. I even wrote an article about it a few weeks back. You can read it, if you wish, on my main Bible blog: “The Most Agonizing Verse in the Bible.”