The Passion Week of Christ: A Study from the Book of Mark
Week 5: The Servant Suffers - He Is Betrayed
Mark 14:10-21
I. Introduction
A. We're continuing in our Passion Week series, exploring the greatest week in all of human history during which God's Suffering Servant "came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." To recap: Saturday = Day of Anointing, Sunday = Triumphal Entry, Monday = Temple Cleansing, Tuesday = Day of Teaching. And so we come to Wednesday, the Day of Betrayal, and Thursday, the Day of the Last Supper. On Tuesday, April 8th, 7pm, we all will get an amazing opportunity to experience firsthand what occurred that Thursday in the Upper Room when Stephen Katz with Jews for Jesus will present "Christ in the Passover" here at Crossway. So what I want us to focus on this AM is that Day of Betrayal.
B. Now when I say betrayal or traitor, who or what pops into your mind? Marcus Brutus? Julius Caesar's nephew who led assassination attempt, "Et tu, Brutus?" Benedict Arnold? American general shifted allegiance to British, "turncoat." The Rosenbergs? American couple convicted and executed for selling atomic secrets to Soviets during The Cold War? Mir Jafar? Nawab of Bengal, helped British defeat the Army of Bengal in Battle of Plassey, key step to eventual British domination in India? From obscure to well-known, from religious to secular circles, THE greatest act of betrayal in all of human history? Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' 12 Disciples, he betrayed the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver and with the infamous "Judas kiss."
C. 2000 years later, Judas betrayal of our Lord and Savior has much to teach us. In it we see an Unholy Partnering...on an...Unforgettable Passover...which fulfilled an...Unbelievable Prophecy...that teaches us...Unchanging Principles.
II. Scripture Reading & Prayer
A. Stand with me to honor the reading of God's Word. Read Mark 14:10-21.
B. Pray - Father, we affirm that All Scripture is God breathed and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. Bless the preaching of YOUR Word to accomplish just that. We love you.
III. An Unholy Partnering (Mark 14:10-11)
A. Jesus' betrayal came about through an Unholy Partnering, what I call an Unholy Trinity. Let's look at that unholy trinity's members, mission and motivation.
Judas Iscariot - Judas, "Judah," as a name obviously has noble OT associations. It was a common name in Jesus' day - the famous Judas Macabbees who led Jewish revolt in 165 BC, Jesus' own brother and author of Jude, and a second disciple, Judas son of James. It's an honorable name, until Judas Iscariot comes along. 20x his name appears in the Gospels and 20x he is identified as Jesus' betrayer. In each listing of The Twelve, Judas Iscariot is always LAST. And with good reason, for he was unlike any of the other disciples! Iscariot means "man of Kerioth," which was a small town in Judea about 23 miles south of Jerusalem. Thus, Judas is not a Galilean like the other disciples. Scripture tells us a lot more about him that was unlike the other disciples as well. Read John 12:4-6. He was the treasurer, in charge of the moneybag, and a thief, he used to help himself to what was put into it. He was hypocritical, he said this not because he cared about the poor. He is the original Insidious - causing harm in a way that is gradual or not easily noticed. All four evangelists refer to him as one of the twelve. Even to the last, they did not know Judas true nature - read John 13:27-30. Which leads us to a great question - why did Jesus select Judas? Did Jesus have foreknowledge that Judas would betray Him when he selected him to be an apostle? It seems so - read John 6:64-65, 70-71. Add unbeliever and devil to Judas' list of qualities! So, why would Jesus choose him. Scripture doesn't tell us why but from Luke 6:12-16 we know that Jesus selected him after much prayer and consultation with His Father. Scripture is clear that on this fateful Wednesday, Judas is a man on a mission - to betray the Lord. So, what was Judas' s motive? Let me just say trying to guess someone else's motive puts us on some pretty thin ice! Only God knows the heart. Many speculations have been floated around through the centuries: MONEY (almighty dollar!), DISULLUSIONMENT (with Jesus' ministry and cause), HATE, PRIDE, JEALOUSY (not in the inner circle), ZEALOT (invoking Roman intervention would force Jesus' hand to take action as Messiah and lead the nation to political and military victory). Of all of these, only one has Biblical evidence - MONEY. Mark and Luke tell us generically that Judas was given money. Matthew records the exact amount - 30 pieces of silver - the OT price for a slave accidentally gored to death by an ox (cf. Exodus 21:32), which fulfilled the prophecy of Zech. 11:12-13.
The chief priests - From the very beginning of Jesus' ministry the mission of the religious leaders of the day was to destroy him (cf. Mark 3:6). The Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, and Sanhedrin couldn't agree on much other than they all wanted Jesus dead. And now this week, their thirst for Jesus' blood has reached a feverish pitch! Read Mark 14:1-2, Matt. 26:1-5. Sunday, He rode in as Messiah and allowed Himself to be worshiped as God. Monday, He threatened their bank accounts - the temple cleansing. Tuesday, He threatened their authority as He taught in the temple - their interpretations of Scripture. Rebuked and threatened, they want Jesus dead. There was one tiny problem. Millions of pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Passover who as Luke points out were hanging on his (Jesus) words. Arrest Jesus during the day in the midst of a crowd that loved Him and a riot would break out. Rome would intervene and the religious leaders deposed. Position of authority gone!!! Cash cow gone!!! And yet with millions of people in Jerusalem and no modern lighting systems, finding and identifying Jesus at night would be virtually impossible. Judas has what they need - inside of knowledge of where Jesus can be found at night away from the crowds - and the chief priests have what Judas wants - money. Read verse 11:a. Glad = "chairo," to be "cheer"ful; root = to experience God's grace or favor. They thought they were doing a good deed for God and that He was shining down on their murderous treachery!
Satan - This is not just a wicked human conspiracy, there is a cosmic dimension. Read Luke 22:3-6. From Genesis 3:15 we have known of this cosmic battle between Jesus and Satan. His mission? Usurp God. His motive? Pride. Satan worked through Herod to slaughter the Bethlehem babies. He tried himself to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. And now he works through Judas. Little did he know that it would simply be a temporary bruising of Jesus' heel that would secure the greatest victory ever won - that over sin and death! Does this fact that Satan entered Judas absolve Judas of wrongdoing and guilt - he had no choice, just a pawn in a cosmic battle? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
An Unholy Partnering...on an...
IV. An Unforgettable Passover (Mark 14:12-16)
A. We now have moved from Wednesday to Thursday in the Passion Week. It is Passover. This was the 4th Passover the disciples had celebrated with Jesus. Discuss Jewish calendar - Passover on Nisan 14, our April; Feast of Unleavened Bread, Nisan 14-22. Passover commemerated the 10th and final plague sent upon Pharoah and Egypt when the death angel passed over the homes of the Jewish people in Egypt who had placed the lamb's blood on their doorposts thus sparing their firstborn males and beasts. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a 8 day long festival which commemerated God's deliverance of Israel at the time of the exodus, Passover being the first day.
B. Mark tells us that on this Passover, April 6 30AD it has now reached the time when they sacrificed the Passover lamb. Lambs were killed on Nisan 14 at twilight. After the lamb was slaughtered and some of its blood sprinkled on the altar, the lamb was taken home, roasted whole, and eaten in the evening meal with unleavened bread, bitter herbs, charoseth, and wine. The Passover lamb was to be eaten within the walls of Jerusalem so his disciples said "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
C. And so Jesus sends two of his disciples to prepare the Passover. Only two people were allowed to accompany a lamb to sacrifice. Luke identifies them as Peter and John. Jesus gives them very explicit instructions. He says - read Mark 14:13-15. How would you like that task? Find one dude out of millions, follow him into a house and say to the owner of the house, Hey Jesus wants to know where His guest room is at so He can eat the Passover!? Jesus gives one small detail on how to identify him - carrying a jar of water. This made him stand out - to carry a water pot was a woman's duty; a thing no man ever did. Jesus says the owner of the house will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us. Larger Jewish homes had upper rooms - looked like a small box on top of a bigger box. Upper rooms were accessed by an outside stair and had many uses. In particular it was where a Rabbi taught his chosen disciples. As with the colt, we wonder if this was foreknowledge or pre-arrangement?! We can analyze and exegete this all day long and never know. But three things we do know - read Mark 14:16. Act each of these points out from disciples' perspective. #1 The disciples obeyed. They set out and went to the city. God isn't interested in us having all the answers and everything being worked out to the nth degree before we obey Him! Discuss Africa, 2013 waiting on God to act and lead Vicky and I. #2 They found it just as he had told them. We can obey Him and trust Him with even the smallest of details in our lives...why? Because He is trustworthy! Vicky - R.A., possible M.S., Africa? Been many uncertain moments, but through it all we have trusted and He has proved Himself trustworthy. #3 The smallest of acts in the Kingdom are sometimes the greatest. Peter and John as they prepared the Passover - all the small details and seemingly insignificance of that, putting out the salt water, the bitter herbs, arranging the cups and plates. Little did they know Jesus would soon transform it into an Unforgettable Passover by instituting the Lord's Supper with the very bread they had laid out and the very wine they had poured.
An Unholy Partnering...on an...An Unforgettable Passover...fulfilled an...
V. An Unbelievable Prophecy (Mark 14:17-21)
A. Peter and John have prepared the Passover just as Jesus instructed. And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. The Passover meal was to be eaten at night after sunset, but had to be completed before midnight. And so Peter and John have likely rejoined Jesus and the other disciples and led them to the upper room or perhaps Jesus met Peter and John with the other 10 having knowledge Himself of the location and it now, being night, was safe to travel there.
B. Mark now tells us - read verse 18. Recall from last week - they did not eat like we do. Reclined on a couch with three series of low tables in a horseshoe shape stretched around the room. The host took the center seat with the most honored guests on either side. And while they're enjoying this wonderful meal and time of fellowship, Jesus drops a bombshell! One of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. Imagine me on a Wednesday night meal standing up and saying "Last Sunday was my last Sunday - I'm quitting the ministry. But this bombshell was a million fold worse! Mark says the disciples began to be sorrowful - Greek "lupeo," meaning "deep grief," to experience deep, emotional pain, severe sorrow. In the LXX, it's used in Gen. 3:16 of the pain of childbirth. In that day, to break bread with someone meant to enter into a pact of friendship and mutual trust. It would be the vilest, most despicable act of treachery to break bread with and then betray your host. And so one by one, they begin to ask Jesus "Is it I?" Want to know how conniving and deceitful of a snake Judas was? Matt. 26:25 records that even he asks "Is it I, Rabbi?"
C. Try to imagine the scene - the murmuring of who is it, the pained expressions on their faces, the heaviness of suspense in the room so thick you could cut it with a knife. And so Jesus goes on. Read 14:20. The custom was to take a piece of bread or piece of meat in bread and dip it into a common bowl of sauce on the table. Each of the 12 had done so, so at this point the betrayer could have been any of the twelve. No one suspected Judas even to the last - look back at John 13:27-30. Luke 22:38 tells us that the disciples had 2 swords in the Upper Room. It's been said that had Peter known it was Judas he would have TRIED to kill him right there in the Upper Room!!! Why try?
D. Because even with the Unholy Trinity scheming, God was at work behind the scenes and in His timing to carry out his plan, predetermined from the foundation of the earth, to provide salvation through His Passover Lamb. Read Daniel 9:25-26. Christ's death didn't occur one second out of God's timing. Read Acts 2:22-23. Christ's death unfolded EXACTLY according to God's plan and knowledge! And part of that plan was for Christ to be betrayed by one of his companions, a familiar friend. Read Psalm 55:12-14.
E. Yet, Judas was not absolved of guilt. No the devil made me do it. No I'm a product of my environment. No it was peer pressure. No somebody had to do it! Judas is fully responsible for his own evil deed. For even though the Son of Man goes as it is written and according to God's plan, Jesus says BUT WOE to that man. This is one of many Scriptures that simultaneously affirm God's sovereign ordering of events and human responsibility for those events. Jesus says it would have been better for Judas if he had never been born. Why? Thanks to the great terror Judas will experience in hell for all eternity. Scripture is clear that there will be degrees of punishment in hell. The severest is reserved for Judas and others like him (cf. Hebrews 10:29).
An Unholy Partnering...on an...
An Unforgettable Passover...fulfilled an...
An Unbelievable Prophecy...which teaches us...
VI. Some Unchanging Principles
A. We can draw some very important lessons from this story of Judas' betrayal. In fact, there are 7 that I want us to look at this AM:
#1 Outward religion doesn't equal inward reality. Judas was one of the twelve. He prayed, gave alms to the poor, went on mission trips, worshiped with Jesus and the other disciples, celebrated religious festivals, offered sacrifices to God. And was as lost as a goose in a snowstorm!! And he was lost for the same reason millions are lost today - sin of unbelief. But they put on a good show, many thinking those good works and acts are going to earn them salvation. Matt. 7:21-23. Examine yourself - give yourself a spiritual check-up (2 Cor. 13:5). Are you saved
#2 We battle our own Unholy Trinity. Scripture says as Christians, we fight against three enemies of our own. The world - the flesh - Satan. Are we giving them footholds in our lives like Judas? Unholy partnership? If we do, like Judas, we can expect shipwrecks in our lives and of those around us!
#3 The dangers of the love of money. 1 Timothy 6:10 says, "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils." Judas serves as the classic example. How about us? How obsessed with money are we? Idolatry= god > God. How large of a god is it in our lives? Does money fight with God for first place in our hearts?
#4 The purposes, promises and prophecies of God stand sure. Jesus' betrayal prophesied hundreds of years before, happened perfectly in God's timing and exactly according to God's plan. Just as the disciples found it just as he had told them, we can 1 bazillion% trust God and His Word - it's promises and purposes for our lives. Jesus' 2nd Coming? It's a fact Jack! How are you doing at standing on the promises of God? Trusting Him & His Word?
#5 Each of us is fully responsible for our own decisions. Did Judas have any freedom of choice? Depends on whether you're a Calvinist or an Arminian. Discuss Jordan's FB post. We need to stop arguing over things too deep for us to fathom and comprehend and as the Charger locker room says "Take FULL Responsibility." Why? Because our decisions and actions have consequences that affect not only ourselves but others. Discus suicides on Friday the 21st. How might our actions & decisions be hurting ourselves and those around us?
#6 We ALL have betrayed our Lord! Share the following examples: not share the Gospel when had opportunity, sorrowful over sin and repeat over and over, lack of faith in my walk with God, conduct and lost witness, service/giving with wrong motivation, prayer (where do I start! infrequent, lack of faith, distracted), idolatry (hunting, Vicky), partnering with the Unholy Trinity, delayed obedience = disobedience). I could go on and on. But, Oh not me Dr. B you say? All sin is a betrayal of Christ and 1 John 1:8 says if we say we have no sin...the truth is not in us. We ALL are guilty of betrayal. But what does 1 John 1:9 say?
#7 Jesus loves us to the end! Look again at John 13...verses 26-27. Recall what I said about the tables and seating arrangement...host in the center and most honored guests on each side. Judas was in one of those spots given that Jesus passed this morsel so easily to him. Jesus was demonstrating a final gesture of His love for Judas despite his impending betrayal. "Judas! I know what you're about to do. You don't have to do this Judas. Even if you follow through, in three days when I rise again I'll still love you - I'll still offer you forgiveness and restoration just like I will to Peter. Judas, I love you!" During Sunday School, I had ya'll taste charoseth for a reason. It was sweet wasn't it? All the way to the end, having betrayed God in the flesh, even as he took his own life, Judas could still taste the sweet love that Jesus Christ had for him. Read Romans 8:35, 38-39. Do we believe and then live out the truths of those verses that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus? No matter how we may betray our Lord, Jesus never stops loving us and wooing us to, with godly grief, repent and come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.
VII. Conclusion
A. Judas' Betrayal: An Unholy Partnering...on an...Unforgettable Passover...which fulfilled an...Unbelievable Prophecy...that teaches us...some Unchanging Principles. What is God trying to teach you from the Day of Betrayal?
VII. Invitation and Benediction
A. Are you here today and you've never tasted the love of Jesus Christ? I don't care how many bad things you've done, nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. He loves you so much that if you don't accept Him in this life, He'll honor your choice and allow you to spend an eternity apart from Him in hell. Come this AM, taste and see that the Lord is good. How sweet the eternal life He offers truly is.
B. Are you here today and you've tasted the sweetness of salvation but...you've fallen out of fellowship with Him? Rededicate your life to Him this AM! Have you betrayed Him and need to come to the altar to publicly and quietly confess your sin to Him this AM? Maybe you need to experience the sweetness of Christ's love by following Him in baptism, joining Crossway Baptist Church?
