Mark 14:43-72
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
C.S. Lewis once said: “There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.”This week we get to hit an incredible theme of the bible
That is the story of the bible
It is the story of new creation where the old was shattered by evil
It is the story that there is no neutral ground
It is the story of 2 kingdoms at war
The theme of the kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man is one of the great themes of the bible …maybe the most important
And we get to see that war today
The war of the only 2 kingdoms…the kingdom of man, and the kingdom of God
Gordon Fee says: You cannot know anything about Jesus, anything, if you miss the kingdom of God.… You are zero on Jesus if you don’t understand this term. I’m sorry to say it that strongly, but this is the great failure of evangelical Christianity. We have had Jesus without the kingdom of God, and therefore have literally done Jesus in.
Today we get to see a couple of amazing things about the revolution that changes the world hidden in this action
The war of 2 Kingdoms, The Power of the King, and What Will You Witness Too
The War of 2 Kingdoms 14:43-52
The War of 2 Kingdoms 14:43-52
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.” So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. They took hold of him and arrested him. One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.
Three times in this short passage the word sward is used
Mark means too
What he is making black and white is that this is the war of 2 kingdoms that has been building since christmas
Christmas is not about a sweet 6 pound 8 ounce tiny baby jesus
It was an invasion
And the time has come for the final war
the story of Jesus’s birth is more than a narrative of Israel’s story coming true. It’s about two kingdoms colliding, two irrepressible forces clashing. The kingdom of heaven invading earth. The reign of God versus the rule of men. This is about who is running the show, who has the power to make it happen, who will win in the end, who is the legitimate king.
The sword is the language of war
I mean Judas and everyone with him knew who Jesus was
Why doesn’t Judas just walk up to Jesus and say, “There he is, arrest him”? What’s the kiss for? Why all the suspense ?
He expecting that Jesus would be armed with swords and clubs too
After all, Jesus talked about the kingdom of God, and any new kingdom had always used money, politics, military might, or some combination of these to get into power
All through the book of Mark—and all through Matthew, Luke, and John, too—Jesus is constantly talking about “the kingdom of heaven,” “the kingdom of God,” and also about “the kingdom of this world.”
They only had one category for a kingdom
So do we
Tim Keller referenced a New York Times article on the rapid growth of Pentacostalism in New York
Deliverance from addiction, restored families, hearts changed were all covered
But the shock of the article was the end
The reporter ended by asking if the pentacostal leaders thought they would vote republican or democrat
That is our idea of a movement
To take worldly power
To make sure our version of the good life is in charge
Down to our day to day that is us
That was Judas
Jesus responds, “Am I leading a rebellion that you’d have to come with firepower and deception to capture me?” The word translated rebellion means a guerrilla movement that is using violent tactics (the sword) to overthrow the existing order of things and bring in a new order—a revolution. Jesus is saying, “If you come at me with swords, because you think I will retaliate with the sword, it shows you don’t understand me at all. The kingdom of God is different from the kingdom of this world.”
And i love the language of this
Jesus isn’t saying I am a pacafist so I don’t have swords
Jesus is emphatically saying a sword cannot stop what I am bringing
one of the images that the Scriptures regularly associate with the kingdom: a tree.
All the way to the kingdom of God in Eden where the rule of God was shown in our obedience to not eat from a tree
We asserted our own kingdom against God and the war was launched by God to take back what sin stole that day
the time has come to restore the kingdom
What is the kingdom of God?
It is the story of reality lived out
It is life in the right order of how things are supposed to be
It has a way to the flourishing we long for
The worlds kingdom has an order
Assert self , take, define your own truth, and all we know that is broken
The kingdom of God has an order
Then looking up at his disciples, he said:
Blessed are you who are poor,
because the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
because you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
because you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you, insult you,
and slander your name as evil
because of the Son of Man.
That word blessed actually means happy it means flourishing
That is life in the kingdom that wins
But it took a sword and a tree for His Kingdom to win
What blocked the way back into the garden for adam and eve?
He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.
sin has kept us from the beautiful joy of the kingdom
We are all rebels against His kingdom rule
And here is the sword…
The only way back to Eden where there is no more brokenness we know was for someone to walk into that sword strong enough to break it
That is where he is going
And a tree will be what defines the kings kingdom
He will be nailed to a tree to take his throne
He came to fight sin and death for us not to make Israel Great again
He tells Judas a sword cannot stop him
That is the real Jesus
The kingdom of heaven is invading earth to kill what haunts us and makes is afraid and makes us cry
Only he has the power to do it and praise God he did
He looked at us in our sin and mistakes and regrets and cancer and said for you I will take the sword on the tree to get you back to how things are supposed to be
Even when we all fail Him
Mark has wrote himself into the story for the only time in his gospel
Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.
Why this note about his own failing
Because He wants everyone to know we all fail HIm…including those closest to Him
he’s saying, “I was there and I was as bad as everybody else.” Everyone has failed Jesus.
But listen to Tim Keller again: By recounting this young man’s naked flight from the garden, Mark may be reminding us of another garden. In the Garden of Eden, too, there were people who were given a test, and they failed. They were exposed as naked and fled in shame. Centuries later, another garden and another test, and everybody fails in one way or another. They’re either waving swords around or fleeing in naked shame.
But wait a minute—something is different. In the middle of this garden there’s someone who is passing a test
The hero of the revolution we long for has come
That is the power of the King
The Power of the King Mark 14:53-65
The Power of the King Mark 14:53-65
53 They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes assembled. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the servants,, warming himself by the fire…..60 Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don’t you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you?” 61 But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”,
63 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy. What is your decision?” They all condemned him as deserving death.
WE have to understand what is happening to understand the war Jesus takes to these men
This is an emergency call for the supreme court of the jews to meet and try jesus
They want him dead
So they have all of these false witnesses come in and say they heard Jesus say he was going to destroy the temple
If they could convict him of that they could convict him of terrorism and leading an uprising agaisnt rome
Of course Jesus never said that
He predicted it would happen and it was by the Romans a few years after this
SO the witnesses all tell different things and it should be thrown out
But they won’t stop so they put Jesus on the stand
And they ask him verse 61 Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One
Who are they asking he is
They aren’t asking are you god they are asking if he is the one all their expectations are pointing too
They were in this hero fever for one to come who would be like David, someone close to God, who would finally kick Rome out and make Israel Great Again
Are you the one to lead the revolution we long for
And what does Jesus say…verse 62 62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Jesus just said I am the one to lead the revolution you long for but the one you don’t even know you need
And then he drops the bomb shell that gets himself killed
He says I am the Son of Man
Now he just claimed to be god
You can tell he just said he is god by the judges reaction
Verse 63 63 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy
This is no longer a trial they go insane when he claims to be god the judge come to earth
verse 65 Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to beat him, saying, “Prophesy!” The temple servants also took him and slapped him
Jesus just shook the room with this bombshell
and now the supreme court has come off the bench to beat him…chaos picture that in a courtroom
Who is the son of Man capital S capital M
In Daniel 7 the son of man comes from the throne of God to earth in the clouds of heaven to judge the world
The clouds of heaven doesn’t mean like our clouds it means the blinding glory of God himself
Jesus just said I am that one …i will come and put all of evil down forever
thats the messiah I am
You want someone to make you have more power and an easier life
I am here to kill what kills you and keeps you from God
Realize how awesome and fearless he is
He just said no matter what you do to me in here or out there I will be back to judge you
Imagine seeing that go down on courtroom t.v. back in AD33
I say this often in here but this confronts our American idea of who Jesus is
Is he just a life hack make your life better ted talk Mr Rodgers
Or is he king you owe all to because he fought hell itself to save you
Jesus is confronting us all
He doesn't claim to be a just a good teacher or moral idea or someone to help us live our best life now
He is saying I am the judge the question is not who is in control the question is are you with me or against me?
Will you crown me for who I really am and what I really came to do or will you reject me and look to someone else or something else or some version of the good life to save you
It changes everything for us today
Who is the real Jesus to you today
What will you do with him
The one thing you can’t do is dismiss him as just a good moral teacher
C.S. Lewis again famously says this: I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
What will you do with the real Jesus
Crown him or reject him
And what you choose to do is what you witness too in all you do
What Will You Witness Too Mark 14:66-72
What Will You Witness Too Mark 14:66-72
Mark has consistantly interwoven the journey of Peter along with Jesus
Here is how it has played out while Jesus is on trial and Peter is too
Mark 14:29-31, 53-54, 66-72
While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest’s maidservants came. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
But he denied it: “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about.” Then he went out to the entryway, and a rooster crowed.
When the maidservant saw him again, she began to tell those standing nearby, “This man is one of them.”
But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, “You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean.”
Then he started to curse and swear, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”
Immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
As Jesus is the faithful us when he had every right to abort the mission we see Peter
And we see ourselves
You dont have to be in court for your faith to be on trial
Every regular day with its specific trials and struggles is a trial where you will either witness to jesus as king or reject his rule and reign
Sounds kind of lofty doesn’t it
Sounds kind of impossible doesnt it
Thats the point you and I fail miserably at this just like Peter
Thats the point
There is so much here we could spend a week on this by itself
But the point is made in Peters life
You cannot perform to be saved
You cannot pull yourslef up from your boot straps and clean up the mess then come and say look Jesus i cleaned it up can you save me now
The point of Mark telling Peters story is to show christ is the author and perfecter of our faith
When we fail we respond like Peter in verse 72
He had the same options that Judas did
Judas thought he could never be saved after what he had done to he hung himself
Peter admits later what he did
Runs to Jesus from a boat
And how does Jesus respond to this broken man?
With forgiveness and a place as the founders of the church
Christ is the hero of the story not you
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Paul wrote that
Paul was a mess
He killed Christians before he was saved
The heros of the faith are all a mess
but the one thing they have in common is what they did with the mess
They never stopped returning to crown Christ King of there lives when they rejected him
What will we do
trying to save yourself is exhausting
Believing the lie that its on you to define what brings life is exhausting
You fail and fall
Thats why the cross is so amazing
That is why the song amazing grace was written by a trainwreck of a man who got it wrong most of his life until he stopped running
In 1772 John Newton wrote that amazing song
Newton became a believer after years of being a captain of a slave ship in the Atlantic Ocean Slave Trade
Newton, Peter, Paul, Me all fail so bad
But the cross says I love you
You can never out sin my love
One song says: Where sin ran deep grace ran deeper
Maybe you think you have done too much to truly follow him
Maybe you hear this and think sure he can forgive some of my mess but theres things i regret and theres no way he can forgive those things
His response to Peter says there is nothing you can do to keep him from you
The true witness of the christian life is not look how good I am doing
The true witness of the christian life is look at what an amazing savior I have
As John Newton wrote Amazing grace! how sweet the sound That saved a wretch; like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
That is the witness Peter will end this book with
That is the witness of all who follow the real Jesus
Lets pray
