Reflections on Mark 14

Mark 14 (Contemporary English Version)


1. It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were planning how they could sneak around and have Jesus arrested and put to death.
   
2. Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve disciples. He went to the chief priests and offered to help them arrest Jesus.
   
3. They were glad to hear this, and they promised to pay him. So Judas started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus.
   
4. It was the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, and the Passover lambs were being killed. Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?"
   
5. Jesus said to two of the disciples, "Go into the city, where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him,
   
6. and when he goes into a house, say to the owner, 'Our teacher wants to know if you have a room where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.'
   
7. The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room furnished and ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there."
   
8. The two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.
   
9. While Jesus and the twelve disciples were eating together that evening, he said, "The one who will betray me is now eating with me."
   
10. (SEE 14:17)
    
11. This made the disciples sad, and one after another they said to Jesus, "You surely don't mean me!"
    
12. They were saying, "We must not do it during the festival, because the people will riot."
    
13. He answered, "It is one of you twelve men who is eating from this dish with me.
    
14. The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But it is going to be terrible for the one who betrays me. That man would be better off if he had never been born."
    
15. During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, "Take this. It is my body."
    
16. Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He gave it to his disciples, and they all drank some.
    
17. Then he said, "This is my blood, which is poured out for many people, and with it God makes his agreement.
    
18. From now on I will not drink any wine, until I drink new wine in God's kingdom."
    
19. Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
    
20. Jesus said to his disciples, "All of you will reject me, as the Scriptures say, 'I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'
    
21. But after I am raised to life, I will go ahead of you to Galilee."
    
22. Peter spoke up, "Even if all the others reject you, I never will!"
    
23. Jesus was eating in Bethany at the home of Simon, who once had leprosy, when a woman came in with a very expensive bottle of sweet-smelling perfume. After breaking it open, she poured the perfume on Jesus' head.
    
24. Jesus replied, "This very night before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don't know me."
    
25. But Peter was so sure of himself that he said, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never say that I don't know you!" All the others said the same thing.
    
26. Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he told them, "Sit here while I pray."
    
27. Jesus took along Peter, James, and John. He was sad and troubled and
    
28. told them, "I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me."
    
29. Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt down on the ground and prayed, "Father, if it is possible, don't let this happen to me! Father, you can do anything. Don't make me suffer by having me drink from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want."
    
30. (SEE 14:35)
    
31. When Jesus came back and found the disciples sleeping, he said to Simon Peter, "Are you asleep? Can't you stay awake for just one hour?
    
32. Stay awake and pray that you won't be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak."
    
33. Jesus went back and prayed the same prayer.
    
34. This made some of the guests angry, and they complained, "Why such a waste?
    
35. But when he returned to the disciples, he found them sleeping again. They simply could not keep their eyes open, and they did not know what to say.
    
36. When Jesus returned to the disciples the third time, he said, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough of that! The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners.
    
37. Get up! Let's go. The one who will betray me is already here."
    
38. Jesus was still speaking, when Judas the betrayer came up. He was one of the twelve disciples, and a mob of men armed with swords and clubs were with him. They had been sent by the chief priests, the nation's leaders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses.
    
39. Judas had told them ahead of time, "Arrest the man I greet with a kiss. Tie him up tight and lead him away."
    
40. Judas walked right up to Jesus and said, "Teacher!" Then Judas kissed him,
    
41. and the men grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
    
42. Someone standing there pulled out a sword. He struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
    
43. Jesus said to the mob, "Why do you come with swords and clubs to arrest me like a criminal?
    
44. Day after day I was with you and taught in the temple, and you didn't arrest me. But what the Scriptures say must come true."
    
45. We could have sold this perfume for more than three hundred silver coins and given the money to the poor!" So they started saying cruel things to the woman.
    
46. All of Jesus' disciples ran off and left him.
    
47. One of them was a young man who was wearing only a linen cloth. And when the men grabbed him,
    
48. he left the cloth behind and ran away naked.
    
49. Jesus was led off to the high priest. Then the chief priests, the nation's leaders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses all met together.
    
50. Peter had followed at a distance. And when he reached the courtyard of the high priest's house, he sat down with the guards to warm himself beside a fire.
    
51. The chief priests and the whole council tried to find someone to accuse Jesus of a crime, so they could put him to death. But they could not find anyone to accuse him.
    
52. Many people did tell lies against Jesus, but they did not agree on what they said.
    
53. Finally, some men stood up and lied about him. They said,
    
54. "We heard him say he would tear down this temple that we built. He also claimed that in three days he would build another one without any help."
    
55. But even then they did not agree on what they said.
    
56. But Jesus said: Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me.
    
57. The high priest stood up in the council and asked Jesus, "Why don't you say something in your own defense? Don't you hear the charges they are making against you?"
    
58. But Jesus kept quiet and did not say a word. The high priest asked him another question, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the glorious God?"
    
59. "Yes, I am!" Jesus answered. "Soon you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of God All-Powerful, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
    
60. At once the high priest ripped his robe apart and shouted, "Why do we need more witnesses?
    
61. You heard him claim to be God! What is your decision?" They all agreed that he should be put to death.
    
62. Some of the people started spitting on Jesus. They blindfolded him, hit him with their fists, and said, "Tell us who hit you!" Then the guards took charge of Jesus and beat him.
    
63. While Peter was still in the courtyard, a servant girl of the high priest came up
    
64. and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, "You were with Jesus from Nazareth!"
    
65. Peter replied, "That isn't true! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any idea what you mean." He went out to the gate, and a rooster crowed.
    
66. The servant girl saw Peter again and said to the people standing there, "This man is one of them!"
    
67. You will always have the poor with you. And whenever you want to, you can give to them. But you won't always have me here with you.
    
68. "No, I'm not!" Peter replied. A little while later some of the people said to Peter, "You certainly are one of them. You're a Galilean!"
    
69. This time Peter began to curse and swear, "I don't even know the man you're talking about!"
    
70. Right away the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had told him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don't know me." So Peter started crying.
    
71. She has done all she could by pouring perfume on my body to prepare it for burial.
    
72. You may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done. And they will tell others.

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Chapter 14 describes the movement of events leading to the crucifixion, beginning with a statement about the determination on the part of the chief priests and scribes to seek a way to arrest and kill Jesus. This is followed by an account of Jesus being anointed for burial with an expensive oil in the home of Simon and then of Judas' conspiracy with the chief priests to betray Jesus. Next comes preparations for Jesus to observe the Passover meal with His disciples. During the meal, two significant events occurred: While the group was dipping bread in a bowl together, Jesus pointed out that one of the Twelve - one who was dipping bread with Him - would betray Him. The other event was Jesus' observance of the first communion, using the bread and the wine to signify His body and blood that would be sacrificed for all.

Following the meal Jesus took His disciples with Him to the Mount of Olives. There He told them of their desertion and denial of Him in the coming events. Then they moved on to Gethsemane where Jesus had the disciples sit while He took Peter, James, and John with Him to a place where He prayed. The disciples seemed not to grasp the urgency of the hour or of the anquish Jesus' was experiencing and slept through most of the time Jesus was in prayer with His heavenly Father. In His prayer, Jesus asked the Father if this "cup" might be taken from Him, but also submitted Himself to the will of the Father.

Then Judas arrived in the garden with a mob from the chief priest to betray Jesus and arrest Him. At this point the disciples ran as Jesus said they would. Through the night Jesus was questioned by a hurriedly convened Sanhedrin and eventually condemned to death by this group. Meanwhile, Peter had entered the courtyard and was waiting the outcome of this "trial" with the servants of the high priest. Repeatedly they identified Peter as a follower of Jesus, and repeatedly he denied it. Then the rooster crowed and Peter remembered what Jesus said about his denial and was suddenly very sorrowful.

Throughout these accounts it is made plain that God had a predetermined plan that would be fulfilled. Nothing would deter it. But what is also clear is that every player in these events had a choice as to their part in the plan. This includes the chief priests, scribes, and sanhedrin, Judas, the disciples, and even Jesus. Each made choices and each were given opportunity to change their choice before it was carried out. This truth should not be lost in the evident truth that God had a plan which none could alter but God Himself. In reality, God has always had a plan. He enacted creation with a plan and that plan has been in motion ever since and continues to move toward its fulfillment. And we all make choices as to how we fit in His plan. The fact that God has an unalterable plan does not diminish our responsibility for the choices we make. This is made clear with Judas' choice to betray Jesus. Concerning this, Jesus said, "the Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." (14:21) Judas did have a choice and he chose wrongly. Jesus also gave Him an opportunity, when He announced the betrayal to His disciples, to change his choice. And Judas paid dearly for his choice.

We are each faced with choices that have eternal consequences. But as with Judas and the others in this passion scenario, God offers us options from which to choose that lead to life rather than death. Past choices need not determine those choices we will make today and the days following. We are always given a chance to change our course. We will be wise to choose the course that leads to life.