The Sufficient Savior Mark 14:26-52

Esra Gurkan, for MAILONLINE, writes:

Job interviews are an unpleasant chore that we all need to go through to get the role of our dreams. It's easy enough to talk about why you want the job and why you're the best person to do it.  But there is one question that everyone dreads and is most likely to trip us all up: What's your biggest weakness? 

... A job-hunter known as humansof took to Reddit to pose the horrible question to see how other people had answered and was soon inundated with responses.  Among the 1,600 comments were people's own solutions ...

One Redditer answered the dreaded question by saying that they take failure a bit too hard sometimes. Another user, Bumpkinsworth, expanded on that, writing, "You can elaborate as to how that pushes you to work harder so that you won't make the same mistake twice."

Someone else advised using humor, suggesting you could remain silent and then pull a card from your pocket that reads, "I over prepare."  And yet another Redditer sarcastically suggested the following reply: “People say I can be condescending. That's when you 'talk down' to people.” 

Gurkan continues:

Sefromans replied to the thread with some useful advice: 'Saying something behavioral based like "I don't work well with people" or "I'm soft spoken" is like shooting yourself.

'Give a skills based "weakness" that you can take action to improve upon in the near future.

'Something like "I'm not too familiar with excel at the moment, but I'm planning on taking classes this coming month.”  Make sure you provide a remedy to the weakness.'

-Jesus is able to save sinners by fulfilling obedience

I. Jesus Understands the Cost of Obedience vv. 26-31

As we continue our look at the last days of Jesus’s life, we pick up with His departure from the last supper.

Jesus takes the disciples to the Mount of Olives and makes a stunning declaration:

They will all fall away from Him when the critical moment comes

This is consistent with the report of prophecy and fulfills what the Scripture has foretold

This is also consistent with their relationships: Whenever the Shepherd falls, the sheep will scatter

This is not particularly a word of condemnation against the disciples; it is a simple statement of fact

However, it carries with it a note of promise. Jesus will gather them together again in Galilee

Peter can’t believe it and denies what Jesus is saying:

He declares that he will never fall away from Jesus, even if it means death

Before we give Peter too much grief, all of the disciples agree with him

Jesus, however, has the wisdom here:

He knows what is in the hearts of men

Knowing what He knows, He shows us incredible mercy

Hebrews 4:14–16

[14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (ESV)

II. Jesus Prays While We Sleep vv. 32-42

Jesus invites the disciples to join Him in Gethsemane to pray

Jesus is greatly distressed and the scene is honestly a little troubling

There is a side to Jesus that we don’t normally get to see: Jesus is filled with sorrow and falls on His face in prayer

For most of the book, we have seen the great divinity of Jesus. Now, we get a glimpse of His great humanity

I think that we need to pay attention to how Jesus prays here:

Jesus prays with a raw honesty; it is filled with emotion and expresses exactly how He feels

Jesus prays with an open request. If there is any way possible to fulfill God’s mission apart from His path to the Cross, He wants to take it

Jesus prays with committed obedience: He is ready to do the will of His Father

Philippians 2:5–8

[5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (ESV)

Jesus rises and finds that the disciples have fallen asleep:

He confronts their slumber, but I don’t think it is with anger.

Jesus forces them to reflect on their weakness: They cannot even stay awake to pray.

They cannot face the discomfort of obedience, much less face the danger of obedience

Their spirits are willing, but their flesh is weak

We would do well to honestly evaluate ourselves in this instance. What does our slumber say about our spirituality?

How clean is your fence? Recently, we had a new privacy fence installed at our house and its quite a revelation. Part of our fence didn’t need replaced, so I’ve got a few spots where the new fence stands alongside the old fence. Honestly, it looks terrible! If you would have asked me before the new fence was built, I would have told you that the old fence sections that we saved “look great”! In comparison with the new, things aren’t so good. How does our obedience look when we compare it to the righteousness of Christ?

III. Jesus is Faithful While We Fight or Flee vv. 43-52

The critical moment comes and Jesus faces His arrest at the hands of an angry mob.

In this moment, we see three responses from the disciples:

Judas is a fraud. He is instrumental in betraying Jesus

Peter wants to fight. He will not let the Shepherd be struck and tries to stand against what is taking place here

Mark and the others flee. Mark ran to Jesus to try to warn Him of all that would take place. Now, he runs in fear from the danger when it comes

There is only One who remains faithful: Jesus

Unfortunately, too many times in our life we are left like Mark: exposed

We are exposed in our faithlessness and fear

We were unable to face the challenge when it comes

We either rebel against the purposes of God or we miss the high mark of obedience

But, there is good news! Someone was obedient in our place

Back in 2022, as there was a lot of conversation going on about the student loan debt crisis in our country, a poster on Twitter came up with a great idea: “They should give all the college debt to one guy. Everyone else is clear, one guy is 2 trillion dollars in the hole. But, no loophole for the guy. His punishments should be real and meaningful.” Another poster saw the statement and remarked: “This person just accidentally preached the Gospel”. That is the good news! Someone was obedient in our place and someone else took on the punishment for our sin. He received our punishment and we share in His rewards!