Mark 14:10-16 The end of the beginning

Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church

From: The Holy Bible and J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text, No Hijacking

Pray

Review

The last week of Jesus earthly ministry

Preaching, teaching, performing miracles for three years

Now He is in Jerusalem, to finish His work on the Cross.

In Chapter 13, we saw how the Lord taught His followers what to expect after His death. In this Chapter, we see how the Lord’s death was vital to His mission of redemption for His people

In the previous passage, Judas became upset with the Lord when a woman came and poured expensive perfume on Him. We’ll discuss that passage in detail in the next lesson

Mark 14:10–16 NASB95

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent 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; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ “And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

Introduction

In this passage, Mark tells us how the Lord was delivered into the hands of His enemies

It was Judas Iscariot, the false apostle, one of the twelve disciples that betrayed Him

A man may go to great lengths to show a false profession of faith

Its very important for us to understand the extreme lengths someone may go to to convince others they are a Christian

The history of Judas Iscariot is a striking proof of this painful truth.

If ever there was a man who, at one time, looked like a true disciple of the Christ, and seemed certain to be bound for heaven, it was Judas

He was chosen by the Lord Himself to be an apostle

He was a friend and close follower of the Lord throughout His ministry - an eye -witness to His mighty miracles

He was a friend and associate of Peter, James, John

The Lord sent him out to preach about the kingdom of God and to work miracles in His name

The other eleven apostles considered him part of their group - he was so like them that they had no idea he was a traitor

Nevertheless, this man turned out to be a false hearted child of Satan - he turned his back completely on the faith

He joins with our Lord’s deadliest enemies and ends up with a worse reputation than even Cain, of OT times

There has never been a greater fall from the faith, a miserable end to a good beginning - a total reversal in the soul

How can Judas shocking betrayal be explained? One answer - the love of money. This was the cause of his ruin

The OT is full of such examples - Balaam, the false prophet of Balak is one example. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha is another

There are no other explanations in Scripture that explain Judas’ atrocious conduct

His was an act of covetousness, of jealousy, there is no good justification for it

John 12:6 “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.”

1 Tim. 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

The sad history of Judas should teach us that we need to be “clothed with humility and to be happy with the grace of the Holy Spirit in our hearts

Knowledge, spiritual gifts, professions of faith, church membership, preaching ability, praying, talking about faith are all useless, if we have not turned to Christ and been converted

All this stuff is useless, if we have not put off the old man of sin, and become a new creation - been born again

They certainly will not keep us out of hell

Luke 12:15 “Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.””

Covetousness is a sin that works like a cancer - once it gets into our hearts - it opens the door to all kinds of other sins and wickedness

Hebrews 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,””

Having money is not the one thing needful - riches are dangerous to anyone who has them

The true Christian should be much more afraid of being rich than poor

Secondly, the relationship between the Jewish passover and Christ’s death

Its very important for us to understand God’s intentional connection between the time of the Jewish passover and the time of Christ’s death. Read Exodus 11

Christ’s enemies wanted to try and execute Him after the passover festival, so that it would be done quietly and would not anger his many followers

When Judas came forward to them, it thwarted their plans and moved forward the timetable of His trial, so that thousands who were in town to celebrate the Passover, would be witnesses

We cannot doubt for a moment that this was not at all by chance, but by God’s providence, that the Lord was crucified during passover week, on the very day that all Jewish families sacrificed their passover lamb

The Lord intended this to show all the Jewish people that Jesus was the true Lamb of God

He designed it to show the people the true purpose of His death

In fact, all sacrifices were intended to point the Jewish people to the great sacrifice for sin, which the Son of God offered

There was certainly no foreshadowing of our Lord’s sacrifice as meaningful as the slaughter of the passover lamb

Gal 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

Of all the Jewish ceremonies, none was as full of meaning as the sacrifice of the passover

Did the passover remind the Jews of the salvation of their ancestors from Egypt, when God killed all the firstborn of Egypt? Certainly

But it was also to be a sign to them of the salvation from sin that would be brought by the Lord Jesus Christ

Did the passover remind the Jews that by the death of an innocent lamb, the families of the first-born of their ancestors were permitted to live? Certainly

It was intended to teach them a much more important truth - that the death of Christ on the cross was to be to give life of the world

Did the passover remind the Jews that the sprinkling of the blood on their ancestor’s door posts kept them safe from the sword of the destroying angel? Certainly

But it also showed that when Christ’s blood was sprinkled on someone’s conscience, it cleaned it from the stain all guilt, and makes him safe from the wrath to come.

Did the passover remind the Jews that none of their ancestors were safe from the destroying angel, unless they actually ate of the sacrificed lamb? Certainly

But this also was intended for a much more important lesson, that all who would benefit from Christ’s salvation, must actually feed on Him by faith and receive Him into their hearts

Bringing it home

As we leave this passage, we need to keep all these things in mind and study them

There is real beauty and elegance in God’s timing for the death of His Son, Jesus, on the cross

It happened at the exact time of year when the minds of all Jews were being pointed to their deliverance from Egypt and to the miraculous events of that first passover

The sacrificed lamb, eaten by every member of the family - the destroying angel - the safety inside the blood sprinkled door - all would have been talked over in every family - the very week that the Lord’s blood was spilled on a Roman cross

It would be strange if His remarkable death, at that time, did not get people thinking and open many eyes

We need to make it a rule for ourselves, that we study carefully and pray over the types and ceremonies of the laws of Moses

They are full of Christ

The altar of the tabernacle and temple, the scape goat, the daily burnt offerings - the day of atonement are all sign-posts pointing to the great sacrifice offered by the Lord Jesus at Calvary

If you avoid studying the Jewish ordinances and ceremonies because the reading is dull and uninteresting, you contribute to your own ignorance and miss great opportunities for understanding

We study these knowing that Christ is the key to their meaning, we will see them full of Gospel light and wonderful truths

The Gospel

Hebrews 10:31 NASB95

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (NASB95)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Romans 10:9 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Prayer requests