Companion to the Gospel of Mark Chapter 14

Chapter 14 contains Mark’s choice of the important events of the final two days leading to the arrest of Jesus.

Mark 14: 1 – 9  Jesus Anointed in Bethany

The Passover was the celebration of the night God released his people, Israel, from their 400 years of slavery in Egypt. It was the night that began the forging of the descendants of Abraham into a viable and settled nation. It was the night when the angel of death passed over the homes of the Israelites while inflicting death on the firstborn sons of all the other homes in Egypt. The result was that the Egyptians permitted their Israelite slaves to leave Egypt. This miraculous birth of the nation of Israel was forever remembered in the celebration of the Passover. The Passover was originally celebrated over one night. It began on the evening of the 14^th of Nissan and continued into the 15^th (which began after sunset). The selection of the animal for sacrifice and the preparation of the meal all occurred on the 14^th.

The Passover was immediately followed by seven days of celebration called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The feast was so named because God told the Israelites not to take with them leaven (or yeast) when they left Egypt. This symbolised the urgency and immediacy of their departure from Egypt. Over the next seven days of the celebration, Israelite homes traditionally removed all yeast from their homes and ate only unleavened bread. This reminded them their ancestors travelled in haste to escape Egypt. So, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are historically really important celebrations for all Israelites and Jews throughout the centuries. Day one of the Feast of Unleavened Bread soon became synonymous with the night of the Passover, while the word Passover has been extended to include the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 

The chief priests and scribes were now actively looking for a method of arresting Jesus without arousing the opposition of the crowds, and they wanted to get Jesus arrested before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. During the feast, the crowds are at their maximum. If Jesus was allowed to continue his teaching during this week of celebration, the probability of an uprising or rebellion against the establishment was intensified. Thus, Jesus needed to be taken out of the scene.

Jesus retired to Bethany, to the home of Simon the Leper. It is safe to assume that Simon is now not a leper; he’d probably been healed by Jesus. This was Jesus’ final night of freedom.  Tomorrow night he will be arrested and his physical torment will begin. While Jesus enjoyed the comforts of convivial fellowship, a woman entered the room of men and broke open a jar of pure nard, pouring the oil onto his head.  

Nard is an aromatic oil from plants grown in the lower regions of the Himalayas, and it was much valued by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It has a strong musk scent and when used in a closed room, its aromatic scent would fill the space and overflow into the rest of the house. Biblical society lived with body odours indoors and latrine odours outdoors. The use of strong-scented oils to anoint the rich was common.

The men with Jesus guessed the oil was worth about 300 denarii.  It’s difficult to translate this amount into today’s currency as our currencies fluctuate so much. A denarius was considered a day’s wage for a common field labourer – the poorest of workers.  It was not sufficient to provide his family with three meals a day.

The followers of Jesus were, on the whole, common men for whom the personal use of expensive oils was not appreciated.  Rather the oil was seen as superfluous and, therefore, could be sold to show the righteous deed of giving to the poor. Devout Jewish citizens gave to beggars and to the poor. So those with Jesus that night rebuked the woman, for they believed her actions were wasteful.

In today’s age of awareness against domestic violence and abuse against women, it is good to read of Jesus coming immediately to the defence of the woman, telling the men to leave her alone.  Jesus then affirmed the women’s actions. He described her act as beautiful and gave it a meaning the woman was probably unaware of. But Jesus was fully aware of the coming day and knew his death was imminent. He gave meaning to an action that was motivated by love. It was a beautiful action of devotion even when it stood just on its own, but with his coming death it took on an even greater meaning.

Jesus concluded his remarks on this woman’s love action with the prophetic words that her deed would be remembered for all time. Jesus knew the most important part of his life and ministry on earth was his death and resurrection. And everything to do with those events would form part of the repeated gospel forth-telling. So whenever preachers testified to the death of Jesus, the immediate events leading to the crucifixion would be recounted.

Mark 14: 10 – 11  Judas Betrays Jesus

It is not possible to know exactly why Judas chose to betray Jesus. Some have suggested it was greed.  Matthew wrote the betrayal was for 30 pieces of silver. On one hand, this was not a lot of money. It was the amount Moses taught (Ex 21:32) the owner of an ox should pay the owner a slave if the ox gored and killed the slave. On the other hand, when Judas regretted what he’d done and returned the silver to the chief priests, they used it to buy the Potter’s Field which became the burial place for foreigners. So was it a lot of money?  Was it greed?

Some have suggested Judas betrayed Jesus because he wanted to force Jesus’ hand to reveal himself as the militant messiah who would free Judea from the Romans. There is no evidence of this attitude being expressed anywhere in the gospels.

Then there are the comments made by Luke and John that Satan entered Judas. But that would not excuse Judas for what he did.  While it is true that what Judas did was the work of Satan, Judas would have needed to be already planning and wanting to betray Jesus. Judas’ disgust with himself and subsequent suicide lends strength to the suggestion that Satan—who is a liar and destroyer— had a significant part to play.

So what do we know from Mark’s account? Mark, and probably Peter, deliberately made very little comment. Peter was very aware of his own shortcomings with respect to the trial of Jesus and, therefore. was reluctant to point out another’s failings. Mark deliberately placed this account of Judas immediately after the woman who anointed Jesus. The contrast between the two is stark. The woman was completely selfless and humble.  Judas was thinking only of himself. She gave an expensive gift, while he sought a few coins. All that Mark was willing to say was that Judas was now covertly working for those who wanted to arrest and kill Jesus.

Mark 14: 12 – 26  Jesus Celebrates the Passover

It was now the day after the anointing in Bethany. It was the Passover or the first day of the Unleavened Bread festival. Note the comments about the Passover at the beginning of this chapter.

Mark wrote a detailed account of the preparations for the Passover meal. The annual Passover meal was a really big deal for Jewish people. (Perhaps like the excitement that attends our Christmas celebrations.) Thus, the disciples initiated the conversation about where Jesus would celebrate this annual meal. Their expectation was they would celebrate it with him.

The amazing miracle is detailed. He sent two disciples into the city (Jerusalem), where they found a man carrying a jar of water (usually a woman’s role). They followed him to a house. They asked the owner of the house for the guest room which was already furnished for the Passover. There those two disciples prepared the Passover meal.

Mark 14: 17 – 21  The Betrayer

When evening came on this Passover night, Jesus took his 12 apostles with him to the upper room that had been prepared earlier by the two apostles. While they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus made two astonishing statements. The first concerned his betrayal by one of the 12. Although Jesus had warned his apostles at least twice that he would be betrayed, the deliberate raising of the topic by Jesus deeply saddened those apostles. I don’t think the 12 thought the warnings Jesus gave of his coming betrayal implied it would be committed by one of them.

One by one the apostles asked Jesus if it was them. This is an interesting development in their spiritual maturity, as most carnal people would assume it wasn’t them and would want to know who the guilty person was.  

The answer Jesus gave was enigmatic.  He repeated, “It is one of the twelve.” Then he said, “It is one who is eating with me.” Still obviously one of the 12 but now he implied the person was in fellowship with him. Or maybe when Jesus talked about dipping the bread, while handing the bowl to Judas for him to dip his piece of bread into it, Jesus was implying it would be Judas. However, it seemed the apostles didn’t know who the betrayer was. Judas ,who’d already agreed to betray Jesus, must have felt under great stress, especially, I imagine, when Jesus looked directly at him while speaking.

But then Jesus went on to give further information about the future destiny of the betrayer. First though, Jesus stressed his destiny as the redeeming Messiah was not dependent upon being betrayed. And then Jesus warned the betrayer that such was his eternal spiritual end if he betrayed Jesus, it would have been better for him if he’d never been born! Yet Judas, hearing all this, was still not prepared to change his mind!

The second astonishing statement Jesus made while eating the meal concerned his impending death. Interestingly, there was no comment by the apostles or Mark on how they felt or thought when Jesus gave the instructions concerning the bread and the wine. It was as if Mark simply allowed the words and actions of Jesus concerning this spiritually significant event to stand without commentary.

Traditionally when the Passover meal was celebrated the chairman of the meal was the oldest male relative, usually the father. However, this Passover with the apostles was different. It wasn’t a family. But Jesus as the one who was asked where he wanted to celebrate the Passover, and also the one who’d organised it, and as the senior rabbi present, quite naturally took the role of the presiding figure. It probably wasn’t the first time he’d chaired the Passover. As the eldest son of his own family, he probably chaired the Passover with his family after the death of his earthly father, Joseph.

Of the many steps or parts to the traditional Passover meal, Jesus took two of them and invested them with new meaning for the apostles and all subsequent followers of Jesus.

He took the large loaf of unleavened bread, gave thanks to God for it, tore it apart and gave it to his apostles. As he did so he said, “Take it, this is my body.”

Then he took the cup of wine, gave thanks to God for it and gave it to his apostles for each to drink from. He said, “This is my blood of the (new) covenant, which is poured out for many.”

The last important words of Jesus from that Passover meal recorded by Mark are, “I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it anew in the Kingdom of God.”

With the singing of a hymn, the Passover evening was concluded.  So they left Jerusalem and walked down the zigzag pathway across the floor of the Kidron Valley and up the side of the Mount of Olives to rest, pray and sleep.

I have followed Mark’s example and resisted making interpretive or devotional comments on these words of Jesus. They have become the most central words of the Christian faith. Many books have been written to explain them. Sermons without number have been spoken on them. They are the cause of some church splits. They are the foundation of some denominations.  So, I simply let them stand without comment and encourage personal and patient meditation allowing the Spirit of Jesus to minister to you.

Mark 14: 27 – 31  Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

On their way to the Mount of Olives, Jesus continued to prepare his followers for the tension and crisis of the coming evening. He knew his arrest was going to happen and, as he thought of its effect upon his followers, he warned them by saying, “You will all fall away.” He knew this because he knew Scripture was always fulfilled.  

It is worth noting that many times during the Gospel narrative, Mark testified that Jesus viewed the Scriptures as having divine authority. He knew that even he was subject to the truths and authority of the revealed Word of God.

But Jesus continued to give hope to his followers by again asserting he would rise from the dead and, when he’d done so, they would meet up with him in Galilee. But Peter was still thinking back to the first statement Jesus said about falling away. Peter affirmed that while others might abandon Jesus, he would never do so. How Jesus must have warmed to the emotional response of Peter. But Jesus had confidence the Word of God would be fulfilled, so he told Peter that before the night was over, Peter would indeed deny him three times.  Again Peter contradicted Jesus. He still hadn’t learnt that Jesus was always right, so Peter emphatically denied what Jesus had foretold. The other apostles, over hearing the conversation, agreed with Peter; or to put it another way they, preferred Peter’s assertions to those Jesus had made!

Mark 14: 32 – 42  Jesus in Gethsemane

Jesus with his followers left the temple, walked down to the Kidron Valley, crossed it and climbed up around the base of the Mount of Olives to an olive garden called Gethsemane. As Judas Iscariot was able to locate the place later, it was a place in the olive grove where Jesus and his followers had spent the night on previous occasions. Jesus paused and told his followers to rest while he went on further with Peter, James and John to pray.

Again we note, these three apostles are privileged to spend personal time in very close proximity to Jesus. They were the first disciples (with Andrew) to be called to follow Jesus. They were given the promise they would become fishers of men.  When Jesus selected his apostles, these three were listed first, perhaps because they were chosen first. These were the only three to be given alternate names by Jesus. Simon, Jesus called Peter, and James and John he called Boanerges. None of the others in Mark’s list are given alternate (nick) names. These three were taken by Jesus to witness the raising to life of Jairus’ daughter. They were the only ones taken to witness the transfiguration of Jesus. And now they are separated from the other disciples to witness the prayerful agony of Jesus in the garden.

Why these three?  Jesus invested more time with these three apostles. He allowed them to experience himself at his more personal moments. While Jesus was spiritually dependent upon his heavenly Father, he also experienced the need for close human friendship which he found with these three. These three became the leaders of the early church immediately after Pentecost. While James was martyred early, Peter and John provided strong leadership—with the apostle Paul—for many decades.

With these three, Jesus shared his personal struggle with the upcoming events. His human self was deeply distressed at the upcoming physical suffering, while his spiritual self was overcome with dread at the approaching spiritual battle with the satanic forces of darkness.

In verse 34 the word “soul” should be understood as his total self, not in the tripartite sense of a soul distinct from his spirit and body.

So intense was his struggle, Jesus felt as if he would die; so he simply asked his close best friends to stay awake and be on guard while he went on just a little further. This practice of taking his apostles with him as company and then separating himself from them at the last moment was probably a practice he had done before, when he spent time alone at night with his heavenly Father in prayer.

Verses 35 – 36 show the intensity of the suffering of Jesus as he pleaded for his Father to change his plans. Jesus, on his face before his Father, took the position of a supplicant; but as should always be the case in these circumstances, the final word in our supplication is ultimately, “not what I want but what you want, O Lord”  And this was exactly the way Jesus showed us was the way to go. It matters not what the painful or unpleasant God-willed circumstances are; in the end we yield to the will of Almighty God who is our heavenly Father.

After about an hour, Jesus came back to the three and found them asleep. One of the most difficult ministries to do is to share in the sufferings of others. When friends are suffering in pain, but we are painless and tired; it is very difficult to stay awake.  This is because the one who is suffering experiences pain without end, while we, who are painless, feel helpless— for we can’t do anything to alleviate the suffering. We try to stay awake, but we nod off to sleep.  

Here Jesus addressed Peter with his birth name of Simon.  Simon had the meaning of stone whereas Peter meant rock. So in changing Simon’s name to Peter, Jesus was prophesying the role Peter would take in being the rock on which others would stand during the early difficult years of the church. But by addressing Peter here as Simon, Jesus is possibly reminding Peter that he was as weak and unstable as small stones. The coming arrest and trial will show Peter to be the weak person he really was. Here he couldn’t stay awake; in a few hours he will even deny Jesus.

Verse 38 was a specific word from Jesus to the three apostles and a general word for all Christendom. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” There is much that could be written on these words but sufficient for now is to encourage you to take time to consider how these words apply in your personal circumstances.

Two more times Jesus went off to continue interceding with his heavenly Father. On each occasion, he returned to find the three apostles asleep. They had no defence.  The desire for sleep is a powerful human need that overcomes spiritual need, unless we are spiritually invested in the outcome.

Three times they failed to fully obey Jesus. Three times Peter will deny Jesus. But three times Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness without yielding to Satan’s temptation.

Jesus sensed the scene had changed. He’d stop pleading with his Father. He embraced the outcome because it was his Father’s will. His betrayer was coming, and Jesus went forward determined to meet his approaching God-directed destiny.

Mark 14: 43 – 52  Jesus Betrayed and Arrested

Jesus noticed Judas Iscariot at the head of a noisy crowd approaching the place where he usually rested. The crowd came with the authority of the chief priests, scribes and elders— and they were armed. The identity of the crowd was not given by Mark, but John in his gospel identified them as soldiers. Most likely they are the temple police. Judas identified Jesus to the soldiers with a kiss of greeting, and the soldiers seized Jesus.  There was a defensive reaction from the disciples of Jesus and a sword was produced; and the servant of the high priest had his ear cut off. This servant may have been the one in charge of the arresting soldiers as he represented the high priest, who was the chairman of the Sanhedrin Council to which Jesus was being taken.

Jesus loudly pointed out the ludicrous situation of this night-time and violent arrest. He reminded them he was not leading a political or armed rebellion against Rome or against the Temple, but that every day he was in the temple courtyard teaching and, therefore, by implication, they could’ve arrested him then.  There was no need for this night-time secret forceful arrest.

Those with Jesus abandoned him and sought their own safety by running away. This included a young man who almost got caught but escaped by the “skin of his teeth.”

Mark 14: 53 – 65  Jesus Before Sanhedrin Council

Jesus was taken to the palace of the high priest. It was a building situated to the southwest of the temple. It was a large three-story palatial building with dungeons. It had a large room suitable for holding religious lawsuits. To this Jesus was taken.  Members of the Sanhedrin Council had been summoned. It was a hastily prepared trial.  

The Great Sanhedrin Council of Jerusalem was the supreme religious body and the final authority of Jewish law. It was composed of 71 persons from the elders, chief priests, and scribes: some were Pharisees and some were Sadducees. Large populations of Jews in other cities had their own Sanhedrin Councils but the Jerusalem Council was the most senior. This ancient court system had been established centuries earlier.

Peter followed the arresting officers and saw Jesus taken into the high priest’s palace. Peter waited in the open courtyard around a warming fire with the others who were not permitted to enter the building. 

While Peter waited, Jesus was subjected to an interrogation. The Council needed a minimum of two witnesses to agree in order for them to legally find Jesus guilty of a crime deserving capital punishment. Such was the ineptitude at this hastily convened trial, the prosecution couldn’t even arrange two witnesses to tell the same lie!

Eventually the high priest, tired of this incompetence, asks Jesus directly, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”(“Blessed One” is a reference to Yahweh. Devout Jews hesitated to utter the word “God” for fear that they might inadvertently break the third commandment that forbade misusing the name of God.)

Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” This response brought the mockery of a trial to an abrupt end.  The high priest tore his robe and exclaimed Jesus had just condemned himself with gross blasphemy which deserved death.

The way was now open for serious physical abuse to be heaped upon Jesus as those present vented their anger.

(This trial and outcome for Jesus may be compared with the consequences of deacon Stephen’s hastily arranged trial some months later. After Stephen was arrested and gave his historical defence of Israel, he concluded that address with these words, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).  Such was the reaction to this statement of Stephen’s, the crowd rushed him and stoned him. Thus, Stephen followed Jesus and became the first Christian martyr.)

Mark 14: 66 – 72  Peter Denies Jesus

When compared with the other Gospel writers, this account in Mark feels more personal. This is what would be expected if Mark’s gospel had its foundation in the gospel preaching of Peter. Such had the man’s character changed, he was able to give the details of his greatest failure. He did so without glorifying it or embellishing it. He recounted the denial as fact, even though it showed him at his weakest.

Mark recounted the details of Peter’s three-time denial of him knowing Jesus. It concluded with Peter at his lowest self, cursing and swearing. Then the rooster crowed again and Peter’s memory was jogged; and he recalled the words of Jesus that before the Passover night was over, Peter would deny Jesus three times.  And the big man, Peter, wept.