Mark 14:43-52
(No video recorded this week due to technical difficulties)
The message this morning has the potential of bringing up past hurts, and re-opening wounds that may be hidden deep down. And I want to be really sensitive to what you might have experienced personally, but also offer hope and forgiveness through Jesus. See, this morning’s message is out of a passage on betrayal. So let me ask you this question right up front. Have you ever been betrayed? Has someone you trusted and loved turned their back on you, or done something to wound you deeply? Have you ever found yourself on the other side, standing staring at the knife that you put into someone’s back?
While I have never experienced betrayal in this way, I do know people who have. And I know that decades later the wounds still run deep. In our short passage this morning, we see Jesus deal with both sides of the coin. Whether we have been betrayed or have become the betrayer, there is hope and forgiveness given by Jesus.
Big Idea: Jesus is not conquered by betrayal.
Read Mark 14:43-52
Remember last week we talked about Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane for the Lord to remove the cup that was before Him. Jesus was deeply troubled at the thought of what was to come, yet, we also saw a willingness and desire to do the will of the Father, even if it meant something different than what He was wanting. 3 times Jesus approached Peter, James and John to find them sleeping, and on the 3rd time He told them to get up, because the time had come. The worst and most significant betrayal in history was at hand.
Immediately, while Jesus was speaking to His disciples, Judas showed up, and he wasn’t alone. We see in Mark that he was accompanied by a band of religious leaders carrying clubs. This was basically the temple police, the “enforcers” if you will. It’s also mentioned that some were carrying swords, but this wasn’t typical of the religious leaders. We’ll have to use some correlating gospel accounts to fill in some holes, and in John 18 we see that Judas had also brought some Roman soldiers, who would have been carrying the small swords. Sounds like these men were expecting Jesus and His disciples to put up a fight!
We get to the moment now that is the great betrayal. Judas had given the leaders a sign, “the one whom I kiss, that’s the one you want.” And this specific choice of action makes the betrayal even more heinous. For a kiss was a common greeting given from a disciple to his master, a sign of love and affection, a sign of respect and honor, and it’s with this kiss that Judas betrays the Son of God. Judas sees Jesus, calls Him Rabbi, and kisses his cheek.
1.. Jesus showed compassion in the midst of betrayal
This is simply unbelievable.
In Luke we see that right before Judas kissed Jesus, Jesus asked him this question: “Judas! Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” I mean talk about a question of conviction. It’s almost as if Jesus is pleading with Him one last time. We even see in Matthew’s gospel, in chapter 26, that Jesus calls Judas his friend! I mean is Jesus Christ not amazing?! He is in the midst of being betrayed, handed over to the Roman authorities, and instead of fighting back, releasing all the power He had as God, He is speaking gently to the conscience of His betrayer. And listen, Jesus had the power.
In John 18, in another detail that Mark leaves out, John shows us this miraculous power. Right after Judas betrayed Jesus, right before they arrested Him, listen to this:
“Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” (A transliteration of I AM!) Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” Jesus spoke with the authority of God, and in this brief moment we see that power as the soldiers and religious leaders fall to the ground. I mean wouldn’t they all look around at this point and go, “ummm, count me out.” All of this happens, and they come to detain Jesus.
This is really important for us this morning. Jesus’ response is really important for us this morning. You want to talk about hurtful betrayal? Everything about this reality is awful, but Jesus was not conquered by it. He did not give in to anger. He did not find a grudge to hold. Quite the contrary. As Jesus is being betrayed, He STILL offers Judas forgiveness by calling him “friend.” But isn’t this the way of Jesus?
Application:
Matthew 5:38-39 - “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
“Wait, so you mean to tell me that the wounds that have been inflicted on me in my past because of the betrayal of a friend or family member, I’m not entitled to hate that person?” No. That is not the way of Jesus. And listen, I know how difficult this can be. Wounds in our lives can cut deep. Pain and trauma can be an intense reality.
And while I don’t believe that we are called to restore fellowship with everyone who has wounded us, I do believe that we are called to forgive. I also believe that when we can come to a place of forgiving the wrong that someone has inflicted upon us, we are relieved of the temptation towards hating them. Can we hate the sin that has been committed? Absolutely, God does. But we don’t have room for hate in our hearts. Jesus, in a moment of betrayal, chose to love, and don’t forget that when He BECAME sin on the cross, He took the sin of betrayal with Him, offering even a path towards forgiveness for the betrayer.
2.. Jesus healed the wounds of the injured
As Jesus is being arrested, one of the disciples who is nameless in Mark, but we know from other texts is Peter, draws his sword and cuts off a piece of the ear of the servant of the high priest. We don’t know if it’s because Peter has horrible aim, if the servant was wearing a helmet that the sword bounced off of and nicked the ear, we don’t know. But what we do know is that there was most definitely a collective gasp of shock, and probably a really tense moment in which things could have turned violent very quickly. We don’t see this in Mark, but Luke tells us that Jesus, with his undeniable authority says “enough!” In Matthew we actually see Jesus rebuke Peter:
“Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
Jesus could have called down 12 legions, which would have been about 60,000 angels, but He didn’t. Why? Because that’s not how it was supposed to happen. Jesus had to fulfill his mission of going to the cross, and along the way the prophecy would be fulfilled. Jesus walks up to Malchus, the servant, and touches his ear, fully restoring it. Again, all of these soldiers and religious leaders are witnessing these things, but they still continue with the plan of arrest.
Finally we get near the end of our passage, and see Jesus’ final statement to these men. Re-read vs. 48-49.
Pastor John McArthur brings good insight into this statement:
“His statement exposed their hypocrisy and cowardice. If He truly was the dangerous threat to Rome they accused Him of being, why had they not arrested Him in the temple earlier that week? His question exposed their fear that the people, enamored with Jesus, would turn against them.”
“But,” Jesus says, “let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” The Scriptures He’s referring to are found in Isaiah 53:12: “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Application:
Maybe like Peter, you have irrationally but self-righteously wounded someone. Peter thought he was doing right by Jesus! He was protecting him, but in doing so, he wounded Malchus. And the beauty in this story is that we see, again, that Jesus heals those wounds!
And while Peter’s strike was a very specific physical wound, we can be rash in our response to certain situations and can very easily wound other people. We can wound them mentally, emotionally, and unfortunately spiritually as well. And we can do it in the name of righteousness! Just this week I was talking with one of my children about her behavior. And in trying to teach her the error of her ways, I went too far in my correction, verbally. I said some things that tore her down, and it was wrong. My intention was right, but in my frustration I said things that I had to circle back with her and correct. I had to apologize and seek forgiveness, from my 9 year old! But the beauty of the cross is that Jesus forgives us when we wound others!
Praise God that He is a God of healing and restoration of spirits, of hearts and minds. Praise God that He promises to heal all wounds. Praise God that He forgives us when we wrong others. Praise God that He allows us to forgive those who have wronged us.
Now, we don’t want to overlook the last few verses of our text. Mark has them in there for a reason.
Re-read 14:51-52
Most scholars believe that this man was John-Mark, the writer of the gospel that we are reading. Many also believe that the home in which the Last Supper took place was Mark’s mother’s home. Mark had tagged along with the disciples to the garden, and had been there when the soldiers showed up. Why would he include this embarrassing story about himself?
It is most likely that he did so to express the speed at which the followers of Jesus scattered. It reminds me of Joseph running from Potiphar’s wife. He ran so quickly that he left his cloak in her hands. And while this might be the case in Mark, I think the larger point he is trying to make is that Jesus was in fact abandoned and left alone that night in the garden. The sheep have scattered, and the Good Shepherd will soon become the sacrificial lamb, led to the slaughter, willingly, for all of us.
