Turn in your Bibles to Mark 14, and we are at verse 12 in Mark 14. Just a couple of comments, and then we'll have a word of prayer. As we come to Mark 14.12, we are on the day of the Passover, which is Thursday. And as we seek to go through this chapter, and my goal is to go through the entire chapter and maybe get into chapter 15, so it's a little bit of a challenge because Mark 14 is a long chapter. But as we do so, consider again Mark's purpose, and that is In the beginning of the book, he was relating who Jesus is, and in the latter portion of the book, he's relating what Jesus has come to do. Not only so, it's important for us to understand and grasp and know who Jesus is, and to grasp for ourselves personally what He has come to do, and to believe in Him and in His work. And as we've gone through the book, we've seen it's quite remarkable how there are a variety of those who believe in Christ, follow Him, and are listening to Him, but the disciples are full of themselves and don't truly grasp who He is and what He has come to do. And in the 14th chapter of the Gospel, we continue to see that the disciples are full of themselves. They are thinking more about themselves than they are listening to Christ and understanding why He's there in their midst. So that's one thing to notice. The other thing to notice is that as we've gone through the Gospel, We've been inexorably, inevitably coming to this place where we would see in very vivid fashion the crucifixion and all the events surrounding the crucifixion. As we began the Gospel, we were going quite rapidly through time and covering a lot of territory. A lot of things were transpiring. in the gospel, it's rather like a movie where the early scenes are, you're pulled back, you're getting the big picture, but as the movie progresses, you zoom in a little bit closer and you see things in a little bit more detail, and then you zoom in a little bit more closely and you get conversations, etc., etc. And time slows down. And as we've entered the second half of the book, we've seen time slow down immensely, because all of a sudden we've entered Passion Week, and we're not covering months and years, but all of a sudden we're looking at days. And now as we come to Thursday, we're not only looking at days, but we're zooming in more closely. considering hours in time. And this will increasingly be the case as we enter the 15th chapter. So keep this in mind. And it's about what Jesus is doing, what He came to do. And we note that He's in control. active in the pursuit of his purpose, and this is increasingly the case as we apply the pages of the gospel. OK, let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for this gospel and thank you for Mark and his understanding, thank you for the words that he's received from the Apostle Peter. And as he relates them to us, we pray that we might more and more understand what this Jesus has come to do and why he's come to do these things for the likes of us. So be pleased to bless us, strengthen us, and help us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Mark 14, beginning with verse 12. 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." A couple of things here. First, it's Peter and John that we learn from the other Gospels that Jesus sends specifically to prepare the Passover. Part of the ritual and the routine of their preparing the Passover would be to go to the temple, procure the lamb, and as the Passover lambs were sacrificed in the temple, to go into the temple and observe the priests slaughtering the Passover lamb and then themselves preparing the Passover lamb. So Peter and John do this. They go into the temple. And they have the Passover, they procure the Passover lamb and have the Passover lamb slaughtered. And part of what transpires as they are in the temple is that courses of priests or sections of priests stand and sing the Egyptian halal. And of course, part of this song is Psalm 118. And so Peter and John, as they're in the temple, hear the priests and the choirs there sing the Psalms, and again, among them, they hear Psalm 118. It's hard for us to comprehend that going through their minds as they watch the blood flow in the temple, that they do not think of the earlier ministry of Jesus and perhaps even the words of John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world, who gives his life for the sins of the world. It's hard for us to imagine that they don't remember even a few days earlier hearing the crowds greet Jesus with the words of Psalm 118. It's also hard to imagine that they don't Remember the response that Jesus gives to the Jews when they object to his telling the parable of the vineyard and directing it to them, that he quotes Psalm 118, the stone which the builders rejected. It's hard to imagine these things, all of these things coming together. And so Peter and John prepare the Passover. How do they know the place? Well, they need a man carrying a pitcher of water. Very unusual. Very unusual. It would usually be a woman carrying a pitcher of water. So they're able to recognize this right away. Verse 15, And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready prepared 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. Who's in control of all this? Jesus is. He is busy about the work which he came to do. When it was evening, okay, now they come to the time to actually celebrate the Passover. And they were reclining at table and eating. Jesus said, truly I say to you that one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. Now, it's very likely that the arrangement that was made was not in the famous pictures that we see of one table and everyone sitting behind the table. it's very likely that the arrangement was a U-shaped arrangement, and the disciples were reclining all around the outside of this U-shaped arrangement. And they would recline on the floor. Well, actually it would be on their left side, so they could use their right hand to eat and to drink. And so they'd be reclining around this table as it was arranged. And Jesus says, one of you is going to betray me. What? What? What? What? You can imagine how this comment breaks into the conversation. And they began to be grieved and to say, to him one by one, surely not me. Surely not me. Could be me. Well, it could be all of you. Because in the end, what do they do? They deny him. They run. They flee, you see. And he said to them, it is one of the twelve, one who dips with me in the bowl. So as they're reclined around the table, there are bowls and there are chunks of bread that they dip in the bowls. And so two or three would be together and they would dip in the same bowl. So it's pretty obvious that in close quarters, there's an identification being given here. Verse 21, for the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. God's curse is on you. Can you imagine the thoughts going through the mind of Judas as he hears those words? Dipping the bread in the same bowl with Jesus. Judas, it might as well have been that Jesus spoke to him directly in the face. Judas, it would be better if you had not been born considering what you're about to do. The jaws of hell are yawning and awaiting you. God's curse is on you." While they were eating. Now, this is quite striking because now we enter in verse 22 into the actual service of the Lord's Supper. and the institution of the Lord's Supper. There's no indication in the Gospel of Mark that Judas has departed. And it's my personal opinion, given what the Gospel of Luke says, that Judas is present at the Lord's Supper. Now, I know this is a disputed point, but the Gospel of Mark says, the hand of the one betraying me is with me on the table. And it was Luke's specific purpose to tell things in chronological order. This was his purpose. This was his stated purpose. So, I'm of a mind to say that Judas was in fact at the Lord's Supper. Now, why might this have been the case? This is a great lesson for us. What is the criteria for church membership? A credible profession of faith. Judas had been out preaching. Remember, they went out two by two and preached. They preached the gospel. They cast out demons, etc., etc. Judas had been out preaching. He was one of the twelve. The criteria for church membership is a credible profession of faith. The criteria for church membership is not the new birth. And the reason it's not the new birth is that no elder can look into the heart of another human being and determine infallibly if that person is actually born again. We all need to remember that this is the case. And having served as a pastor and having served on a session I know full well, and having been at many presbytery meetings and approved of the pastors preaching, I know full well, that sessions and presbyteries can make very grave mistakes with regard to who they admit into the pale of the visible church and who they ordain. And so keep this in mind, folks. And of course, this is part of the reason for church discipline, you see, which is a whole other issue. Okay, verse 22. While they were eating, he took some bread and after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to them and said, take it, this is my body. Now part of the Passover ritual was the taking of some bread early in the Passover meal and the leader of the supper, and in this case it would have been Jesus, the leader of the supper Let me give you another little interesting fact here. Although it appears that Jesus probably had observed the Passover in Jerusalem earlier with his family, This is the first and only time that we know of that Jesus acted as the head of the family or the head of the household when the Passover meal was being served. And so acting in this capacity, He takes the bread. And part of the ritual of the Passover was to take the unleavened cakes that were part of the meal and declare to the company present, this is the bread of suffering, the bread of tribulation. That's what the bread was called in the Passover meal. And it's this bread, which is the bread of tribulation, the bread of suffering, which relates to the suffering of the Jews in the wilderness, is to take this bread of suffering and say to the disciples, this bread is my body. And he displays this bread to them. And of course, this is a figure of speech, correct? It all determines what the definition of is, is. That's a whole other story, isn't it? But this is a figure of speech. And it's actually, you look this up, it's the figure of speech metonym or metonymy, where in the sacraments, the thing signified, or the bread which signifies something, his body is put in the place of the thing signified. This is a very specific use of the figure of speech. And if we just understood that Jesus is using a common figure of speech here, it would have saved hundreds of years of theological debate and confusion. This is what I tell my class in biblical interpretation. Learn the figures of speech. They will help you in the understanding of Scripture and save immense difficulties. And this is one case where this is true. And when he had taken the cup and given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. Okay, now let me give you a little bit more information with regard to what takes place in the supper. Earlier in the supper, I hadn't mentioned this, but the bread had been already broken into various pieces. And so the disciples, the bread is passed and they take the pieces. Quite similar to, uh-oh, the clock has returned. Is this a good omen or a bad omen? Yes. So what we do is, you know, after the pattern of the disciples in the Lord's Supper. The other thing that takes place, and you can check this out as far as the modern celebration of the Passover. Each of the individuals at the Passover meal had cups. So there was a plate, and their place was set, and they had cups. And there were four different cups in the Passover meal. And so what would happen is that they would fill the cup, and each one of them would drink from their cup, and they would fill the cup again, and each one would drink from their cup, and they would fill their cup again, and each one would drink from their cup. Understanding this a little bit would save some controversy too in the modern celebration of communion. And at any rate, it's widely recognized that it's the third cup that Jesus takes and blesses, which was called the cup of blessing. And this is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, the cup of blessing which we bless. And so it's this cup, the cup of blessing, And so they each take the cup, and it's the third round of drinking, would be the idea. So each of them takes their cup, and they drink together. This cup, as they drink together, is the new covenant in my blood, which is quite similar again to what we do in the Lord's Supper. Okay, let's see. Verse 24, and he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. And so he connects the blood or the fruit of the vine, the wine with the blood. Now here's another controversy that I think actually we should avoid. That's not necessary for us. Is it the fruit of the vine, unfermented wine or fermented wine? It doesn't matter. In the end, actually, friends, it does not matter. Because it's the symbolism of the content of the cup that matters. That's really what matters. This cup, see, here's another figure of speech. This cup. And what is Jesus talking about? He's talking about the contents of the cup. This cup, the contents of this cup is the new covenant in my blood. And the idea of the cup, the cup of wrath, the whole idea of the cup as it unfolds in the Bible, what that means. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, which we'll look at here shortly. Is it possible for this cup to pass from me? You see, the cup of wrath. And this is the idea. And of course, it goes back to Mount Sinai, the blood of the covenant that connects God's people with the great God of heaven. And this is what Jesus is doing. Truly, truly, I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. He doesn't define what the fruit of the vine is here, except that it's the fruit of grapes. We know that this is the case. And he says, I'll not drink it. I'll not drink it again. He says, you will drink it again. You will drink it many times again. and remember what I do. But I will not drink it again until I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom at the great wedding feast of the Lamb. I will drink it again with you." And after singing a hymn, now they sing, Psalms 113-118. Psalm 118 again. How could Peter miss this? How could he miss this? And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Now they go across the book he'd drawn and they go up to the Mount of Olives again. and overlooking Jerusalem. And now it's night. It's night. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered. All this is in accordance with God's plan. Jesus knows it. He knows what's going to happen. He's orchestrating what's taking place. You will all fall away. The prophecy of Zechariah 13.7 I think it is. You see. But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. I will be raised again. And I'll meet you in Galilee. The prediction, once again, of the resurrection. Do they hear Him? Do they hear Him? But Peter said, even though all may fall away, I will not! I will not! And Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you that this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times." Who is Peter concerned with? Where is his focus? On Jesus? On the words of Jesus? Or on Himself? But Peter kept saying, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And you can hear him saying with some vehemence, If I have to die with you, Jesus, I'll not turn my back on you." And they were saying the same thing also. All of them. And they came to the place named Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here until I have prayed. Time is passing. It's getting later in the evening now. And He took with Him Peter and James and John and began to be very distressed and troubled. And you can sense the emotion of the scene, the confrontation that has already taken place. Stay here. Come Peter, James and John. I need to pray. You stay here for a while. And Jesus goes further into the garden and He's troubled, it says. Deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here. and keep watch. And he went a little beyond them and fell on the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass him by. And he was saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from me, and yet not what I will, but what You will. Think about Peter now. I'll take care of it, Jesus. I'll be with you. I'll not fall away. And our Lord, falling on the ground, crying out to the Father, is it possible for this cup to pass from my lips? Do I have to drink it? I will. I will. And we cannot comprehend what Jesus was thinking or feeling. Jonathan Edwards, I keep going back to this because it seems to me so striking. Jonathan Edwards says that at this time, Jesus our Savior looks into the blast furnace of the wrath of God and shudders at the prospect of what is about to take place. And he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch, keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. You say that you'll stand with me. Pray, pray that you won't fall into temptation. There's a weakness here. Verse 39, Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Is it not enough? The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. How much time has now elapsed? We don't know. late at night, perhaps close to midnight at this point. Get up, let us be going. Behold, the one who betrays me is at hand. At some point, Judas had left them, and now he is coming back. Verse 43, immediately, While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now, he who was betraying him had given them a signal saying, Whomever you kiss, he is the one. Seize him and lead him away. And so here comes Judas with the temple guards. and others in the crowd. And the signal was that he'd go up and greet Jesus, grab Him. You've seen this on television many times. He'd go up and kiss one cheek and the other. The one whom I will kiss, He's the one. 45, after coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, Rabbi, and kissed Him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. Here at Temple Guardsdale, they arrest him. What's he done? What's he done? But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Peter, the servant of the high priest Malthus, And Jesus said to them, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would against a robber? Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures, and they all left him and fled. They all fled. And the young man was following him wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body and they seized him, but he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked. Probably Mark. What was Mark doing there? Well, here's a possible explanation that the house in which the disciples and Jesus celebrated the Passover was the house of the father of Mark. And Mark was at home asleep. And when Judas led the temple guards to arrest Jesus, The place they would probably go first would be the place where they celebrated the Passover. And when the temple guard with Judas arrived at the house and the disciples were gone, Mark is aroused from sleep and he wraps himself in a sheet and suspecting that they've gone over to Gethsemane, he runs over to warn them. Now, we're speculating a little bit, but this is a possible scenario. And so he gets there having been aroused from sleep and sees what's taking place and they all flee and he flees with them and they try to capture him, too, but he gets away. Verse 53. They led Jesus away to the high priest and all the chief priests and all the elders and the scribes gathered together. Peter had followed Him at a distance right to the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the officers and warming himself from the fire. Now, it's late at night, maybe past midnight, early, very early in the morning. Now the chief priests and the whole council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. Actually, they shouldn't have been meeting at this time. It was not proper for them to be carrying out these trials at this time. And so they were violating their own law in the middle of the night. And many were giving false testimony against him, and false testimony was not consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy the temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands. Of course, Jesus was talking about the resurrection and the temple of his body. They don't understand that. They just want to impute evil to Jesus. He's a blasphemer. He's against Moses. He wants to destroy the temple. And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, do you not answer? Now, here's this peasant from Nazareth. who all along the line has claimed to be the very Son of God, who is the priest typified by the high priest in the Jewish economy. And now they are standing toe to toe. The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you? Who's going to accuse whom? Jesus said, I am. OK, I skipped verse 61. But he kept silent and did not answer. Again, the high priest was questioning him and saying to him, Are you the Christ? The Son of the Blessed One? Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Daniel 7. Blasphemy! Tearing his clothes. No small feat in and of itself, if you understand anything about the robes that these fellows wore. Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, what further do we need of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. How does it seem to you? And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. He's a blasphemer. He's made himself equal with God. Some began to spit at him. Imagine. Imagine. And to blindfold him and to beat him with their fists. Yesterday on the basketball court, Xavier and Cincinnati, there was a fistfight. Blood flowing. Imagine now. Blindfolded, defenseless man beating them with their fists. Do you think they were doing this lightly? I doubt it. him with their fists and to say to him, prophesy. And the officers received him with slaps in the face. And I imagine they used all their bodily force to slap him in the face. And Peter was below in the courtyard. One of the servant girls of the high priest came and seeing Peter warming himself, he looked at him and said, you were with Jesus the Nazarene. But he denied it. He denied it. I neither know nor understand what you are talking about. And he went out onto the porch and a rooster crowed. It's getting very early in the morning now, folks. close to three o'clock in the morning. The servant girl saw him and began once more to say to the bystander, this is one of them, this is one of them. But again, he denied it. And after a while, a little while, the bystanders were again saying to Peter, surely you are one of them. You are a Galilean too. We recognize your accent. We recognize your tongue. You're a Galilean. You're one of them. Immediately, the rooster crowed a second time. Three o'clock in the morning. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And he began to weep. And the other Gospels say he went out and he wept bitterly. Just as Jesus said, He knows my heart. He knows what I'll do. And He knows what He's doing. Okay, just a couple of verses more. Early in the morning, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes and the whole council immediately held consultation, and binding Jesus, they led him away and delivered him to Pilate. So now, three o'clock in the morning, the cock crows. We have no information until later in the morning, probably very early, 6 o'clock, 5.30, 6 o'clock. What happens in the next three hours after the cock crows? Jesus is held perhaps in the palace, under guard in the palace of the chief priests. And then they meet again very early in the morning. and take him off the pilot. Jesus, friends, had been, do we dare say, looking forward to, looking ahead to this time all during His ministry. And slowly he began to tell the disciples what was going to take place. They didn't get it. They didn't understand. And now they flee. And Peter weeps, still without the requisite understanding. But he knows he's been caught. It takes something dramatic often, doesn't it? For God to get our attention. And then to really show us what he's up to in our lives. And of course, that time will come for the disciples. We pray together, do we not, that the time has come for you and me to know this Jesus, to understand Him, to follow Him, to love Him. Not to make pretentious declarations about what we will do and what we will not do, but to simply, humbly, lovingly follow the Savior. That's our calling. And more and more in the Gospel, we see this as the case. Let's pray. Lord, thanks for your grace. Forgive us for our sins. Great they are. Unworthy we are of your love and of your grace. Thank you for the forgiveness that you do give us through your Son, Jesus Christ. in your grace and providence next week have an opportunity to look at his work on the cross more particularly. We pray that you'll drive home to our hearts the great love that you have for us. And with that understanding, Father, we pray that we might be, by your grace, energized to live for Jesus Christ, we pray in His good and gracious name, Amen.