The Kiss Of Death That Brought Life Everlasting. Mark 14:43-52

The Bible is, by far, the most influential piece of literature ever written. In fact nothing even approaches it. To prove that point, did you know there are at least 85 popular sayings in the world today that come directly from the pages of Scripture? Let me give you 5:

Scapegoat. Definition: A person who takes the blame for another's mistakes. It got its start in Leviticus 16:10, where we read “But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.”

Put your house in order. Definition: To resolve personal problems or organize business affairs. It got its start in 2 Kings 20:1 (NIV) "In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."

By the skin of your teeth. Definition: Very narrow margin (i.e. time, efficiency or competency) of completion. It was first used in Job 19:20 (NIV) "I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth."

Weighed in the balance. Definition: Equal consideration of two opposing views. This one is used twice in the Old Testament, but the most popular use is in Daniel 5:25-27. Interestingly, this popular saying comes right after another popular saying, which is #5 on our list; “The handwriting on the wall”. Here is the story behind these 2 popular sayings. In Daniel chapter 5, there was a new king in the Babylonian Empire. His name was Belshazzar. King Belshazzar turned his back on the God of Daniel, the God his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar turned to midway through his reign. Well early on in his reign as king, Belshazzar decided he wanted to have a party, and in that party, he chose to show disdain for the God his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had worshipped in his last days. During the party, he had his servants bring the golden vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem, when he over-threw the southern kingdom of Israel, which took place before he turned to the God of Israel. Belshazzar and his fellow party goers then began to drink from these vessels, while they worshipped other false gods. All of the sudden, fingers from an invisible a hand appeared out of no where, and begin to write on the plaster wall. The Bible tells us his face turned white, his knees began to shake and he was filled with fear. Eventually, he had Daniel, the good friend of his grandfather, brought to him to interpret the “handwriting on the wall”. He told Daniel he would give him great wealth and place him as number 3 in all of the kingdom, if he would interpret the handwriting on the wall. Daniel told him he could keep his treasures and the promised position. He then proceeded to interpret the what was written, which said; “Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin” which interpreted meant; “you have been weighed in the balance, and found wanting...", which by the way is yet another popular saying!. Well, not much later that very night, he was weighed in the balance and found wanting, when his life was cut short.

Well this morning, we will see 2 more of today’s popular sayings, that come from the passage we are about to read.

With that as an introduction, would you please stand, in honor of the reading of God’s Word? Next Slide

Mark 14:43–52 ESV

43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled. 51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

May the Lord as His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

We begin with the first popular saying, that comes from this morning’s passage; Next Slide

The Kiss of Death. Mark 14:44-45; Mt. 26:48-49; Lk. 22:47-48

“44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The One I will kiss is the Man. Seize Him and lead Him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to Him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed Him.”

Did you ever wonder, why a kiss? There’s something very special about a kiss. In our culture it is reserved for the most special of relationships, it is reserved for those for whom you have deep feelings. A loved one or family member or a “special someone.” That holds true in this morning’s passage as well. Only in this instance, it was the Rabbi/disciple relationship. In the rabbi/disciple relationship, it was used as a token of deep respect, and in this instance, it was one that carried with it a picture of deep devotion and love. In fact, the Greek word for kiss used in the parallel account in Luke 22, was “an intensified verb meaning to show continual affection or kiss fervently” (John MacArthur). In other words, this was not a quick kiss on the cheek, it was prolonged and gave the picture of deep devotion. Surely Judas could have come up with some other signal. “The One on Whom I put my hand on His shoulder.” Or how about “The One Whom I call rabbi.” Judas could have used 100 other signals instead of a kiss, yet he chose a kiss. I just wonder why? To add to my dismay, when you combine the four Gospels together, you find out that it did not take long before Jesus simply identified Himself to the crowd, so it really wasn’t necessary for Judas to come over and kiss Him. Oh, how far Judas had Fallen! From a close follower of Jesus, to one who would stop at nothing and stoop to the lowest of lows to betray Him. While it is likely that Judas was evil from the very beginning, he had all the disciples fooled. Look at what took place at the Last Supper. When Jesus mentioned that one of them would betray Him, none of them thought of Judas. You would have thought that at least one of them would have immediately pointed to Judas. Maybe one of the guys who went out on the short-term missionary journey Jesus sent them on two by two. Surely Judas’ did something to give away the wickedness of his heart on that journey! Evidently not, because each one of the disciples went to Jesus individually and said, “Is it I?” Oh, how far Judas had fallen!

Something just dawned on me, if this could happen to one who walked with Jesus, one who talked with Jesus, one who knew Him personally, lived with Him 24/7 for 3 ½ years, who saw Him feed the 5,000, who was there when He calmed the wind and waves by speaking “Peace, be still!” One who watched incredible love flowing from Jesus, when He didn’t cleanse the leper from a safe distance, but who walked right up to a man who likely hadn’t been touched by anyone, other than another leper in, who knows how long. Yet Jesus walks right up to him and touches him, with a cleansing healing touch. If this could happen to one who was present when a woman was healed simply by touching the hem of his garment, one who with his own ears heard Jesus’ shout “Lazarus come forth!”, then watched with his own eyes as a man who had been dead for four days walked on his own out of a tomb, still wrapped in the burial cloth. If this could happen to this man, then can we be so bold as to say that it couldn’t happen to us? That brings me back to Jesus challenge to Peter, James and John from; Next Slide

Mark 14:38 ESV

38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

This is truly one of the first and most important lessons for us this morning. Our enemy, the devil is relentless in his attacks, and the Word of God is clear, he doesn’t just want to defeat us, he wants to destroy us, and our only hope of victory in those attacks, is a complete dependance upon God. We must be vigilant in keeping watch and in prayer. Much of the time our keeping watch comes from our devotion to the truth’s of Scripture, where God opens our eyes to His plan for our lives. Jesus challenge to Peter, James & John, is His challenge to us, as well. Watch and pray.

The next thing we see in this morning’s passage is:

Next Slide

Fear In The Darkness of Night. vs. 43, 48 & 49; Mt. 26:47, 55 & 56; Lk. 22:4752 & 53; Jn. 18:3, 6

It is really kind of amazing, the fear the chief priests and teachers of the law had of Jesus. Here it was in the dark of the night, and they send a crowd of people and a detachment of soldiers to capture Him. It wasn’t like He had a host of great military minds with Him. As far as I can tell, there were 11, maybe 12 others there with Him. He had the disciples, minus Judas the betrayer, and perhaps John Mark, who many believe was the streaker at the end of this passage in verse 51 and 52. Then there was the military prowess of these men, skilled men with unparalleled knowledge of, of,… well fishing, and collecting taxes, stuff like that. Put a fishnet or a money bag in their hands, and you might have a reason to fear. Put a sword in their hands, and it’s a different story altogether. Look at verse 47 for proof: “But one of those ( The gospel of John identifies him as Peter) who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.”

Now let’s think about this instance for a minute. Do you think Peter was aiming for this man’s ear? I doubt that very much. Chances are Peter wanted to part his hair so to speak. So, what happened? He missed, from point Blank Range. I want you to notice something else here as well. Who did Peter go after? The servant of the high priest. It wasn’t exactly customary for servants to carry swords. It appears as if Peter went after an unarmed man, and he didn’t even get that right! Soon, Peter and these mighty man of valor, were making tracks in the opposite direction. Not exactly men to be feared! Yet still, the chief priests and teachers sent a crowd, armed with swords and clubs. And the gospel of John indicates that there were some Roman soldiers present. Did I say some? Actually, one translation describes it as a Roman cohort. A Roman cohort was usually somewhere between 600-1000 soldiers. So, Judas is here with between 600-1,000 armed Roman soldiers, plus men from the temple guard, clubs in hand, and a whole host of other men, all to arrest Jesus. So, why the fear? I’m not sure why. Perhaps they were afraid that even in the middle of the night there would be a large crowd with Jesus.

While we are not quite sure why they were afraid, we learn in John, that their fears were warranted. In John 14, starting at the end of verse 4, Jesus asks; “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I Am He.” Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” By the way, the “He” in the phrase “I am He”. Was added to make it easier for the English reader to understand. The proper translation is “I Am” and this was a declaration from Jesus that He was God in the flesh. And it was that declaration that sent a crowd as high as 1,000 stumbling backwards in fear! There was something so majestic and powerful, even in His words, that the large armed crowd drew back in fear and fell.

So, what do we see here? We see God in the flesh, Who could’ve easily defeated these men with nothing more than the sound of His Voice, lay aside His divine power, and yield to the fearful crowd. All this to pay a price for us we couldn’t pay. All this so that we may one day experience the powerful, cleansing touch of the Master’s Hand. Next Slide

A Weapon In The Wrong Hand. Vs. 47; Mt. 26:51-54; Lk. 22:50; Jn. 18:10-11

Let’s take a few minutes to look deeper into Peter’s attempt to defend Jesus. As I mentioned a moment ago, it is highly unlikely that Peter was aiming for this man’s ear. In John’s account we find his name was Malchus. Now, perhaps you might be thinking, “Finally, someone with courage!” We don’t exactly know the exact order of all of the events that night, but let me draw a picture for you of how I think this may have taken place.

Still ringing in Peter’s ears was Jesus proclamation that he would deny Him. His desire was to prove Him wrong. Now, I am not saying that this is exactly how this happened, but I along with several other speculate things taking place in this order. Judas and his small army comes forward seeking Jesus. Jesus speaks, they all fall backwards in fear, Peter watched what Jesus did with just the sound of His voice, and strikes at the opportune moment. Not one of the armed soldiers, but the unarmed servant of the high priest. And missed what he was aiming for!

By the way, it was at this point where we see the next popular phrase we use regularly that comes from the pages of Scripture. We see from all 4 Gospel accounts, that the next thing Jesus does is pick up Malchus ear, miraculously put it back where it belongs.....I am assuming right side up! And then say to Peter; Peter, put your sword back in it’s place, For those who live by the sword, will die by the sword.

This is an example of a child of God acting in the flesh! Peter wasn’t placing his trust in the Sovereign Savior, Who had made it very clear that He was to be crucified! He was putting trust in self, operating in his own strength. And the result could have been tragic, had not Jesus intervened.

That brings a question to my mind. How many times have you or I, while operating in our own fleshly desires, self-righteously chopped off a sinners ear and closed any door for them to hear from God! We read multiple times in Scripture the words; “Let him who has ears hear.” God forbid that any of us, in a moment of fleshly selfish desire, do something to remove the spiritual ear of someone who is lost, that they might ignore the life changing Words of the Gospel in the future.

Next Slide

I want to go back again to Jesus challenge in Mark 14:38;

Mark 14:38 ESV

38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I want to repeat what I said earlier, when we looked at this verse; “This is truly one of the first and most important lessons for us this morning. Our enemy, the devil is relentless in his attacks, and the Word of God is clear, he doesn’t just want to defeat us, he wants to destroy us, and our only hope of victory in those attacks, is a complete dependance upon God. We must be vigilant in keeping watch and in prayer.”

Moving forward;

Next Slide

The Sovereign Savior Is In Complete Control. Mt. 26:53-56; Jn. 18:5-6, 8-9, 11

I said this a few weeks ago, and it is worth repeating, If you learn nothing else in the pages of the Gospel of Mark, learn this, God is Sovereign and in complete control. Our job as His children, is to trust Him and obey all that He has given us to do. Even when it seems all hope is lost. That is certainly how things appeared that night. But Jesus was in complete control.

In Mt. 26:52, Jesus tells Peter; “Put your sword back in its place”. Then, in the very next verse He proclaims His absolute Sovereignty, when He states, emphatically; “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send Me twelve legions of angels?” By the way, 12 legions would be 72,000 angels. And in 2 Kings 19:35 we see an account where 1 angel, as in one single solitary angel, killed 185,000 soldiers in one night! If you combine that with what happened when all Jesus did was speak and this small army fell backwards in fear, I’d say Jesus didn’t need Peter and his piddly little sword.

Moving into John’s account in John 18, right after this small army was able to get back on their feet, Jesus spoke to them again. “Whom do you seek?” I imagine, maybe it happened this way....and maybe it didn’t. But I picture that this time, a few hesitant individuals spoke rather sheepishly ....maybe with almost a questioning tone..... “Ummmm, Jesus of Nazareth?” Then, Jesus took charge as only God in the flesh can. He replied; “I told you that I Am He (again, the word “He” is not in the original, so again He is claiming to be God in the flesh). I told you that I am....So, if you seek Me, let these men go.” By the way, as a further emphasis that Jesus was in complete control here, it was after this command that Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Yet still, this band of up to 1,000 soldiers, obeyed the directives of Jesus, and let the disciples go.

Then, in John 18:11, Jesus asserts the Sovereignty of God, when He tells Peter; “shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given Me?” In other words, Peter, this is all a part of God the Father’s Sovereign plan. Trust Him, I have! You heard me pray in the garden “Father, all things are possible with You, remove this cup. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” I trust His perfect will, and I WILL drink this cup.

On His Own, But Not Alone. Vs. 50; Mt. 26:56

Moments later, we see all of the disciples flee in fear. Here Jesus is, on His own, but never alone. God the Father, still in complete control, was right there with Him.

He does the same thing for us. When we obediently present ourselves to our Sovereign God. When we willingly drink whatever cup He may place before us. He is with us every step of the way.

I can’t speak for you this morning, but I am holding tightly to this lesson. God’s assurance that He is with me. That He will never leave me or forsake me. That He is sovereign and in complete control and I.......that WE can trust in Him and His perfect plan.

That is the lesson from this morning’s passage, when we see;

Jesus become our Scapegoat, when we see that He Put our house in order, when He obediently drank the cup God placed before Him. When we put our faith and trust in Him, we don’t escape hell “By the skin of our teeth”, but by the blood of the Ultimate Passover Lamb. And while we have been Weighed in the Balance and found wanting, Jesus tipped the scale in our favor, when He died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. And We don’t die by the sword, we live by the blood, because the Kiss of death that dark night, brought us live everlasting.

We rest, we trust, we lean on our Sovereign Savior, Who drank the cup of the wrath of God, so that we could drink of the cup of His blessing.

Let’s close our time in prayer.

O Sovereign Father, we trust in You. We thank You and praise You and place our lives into Your all powerful Hands. And Father, we are so grateful that Jesus obediently drank the cup of Your wrath, on our behalf, that we might drink for all eternity from the cup of Your blessing. And Father, may we obediently watch and pray, that you might give us victory over the temptations we are faced with. And may we trust so completely in You, that those times we operate in our own flesh, fade into the past, that we, through words and action, might proclaim Your truth’s, too all who have ears to hear. We pray these things in the blessed Name of Jesus our Savior,

Amen