Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus Mark 14:41-50

GOSPEL MEDITATION #231

Mark 14:41-50

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

  1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. In Gethsemane, late at night, so Friday, the Sabbath.
  8. Peter, James, and John still with Jesus when Judas arrives with what was probably the temple guard, a detachment of Roman soldiers assigned to the Temple and under the authority of the high priest.
  9. Present with the soldiers are members of the family of the high priest, scribes (mostly belonging to the party of the Pharisees), and elders (tribal leaders of whatever religious party), thus the leaders of the Sanhedrin.
  10. Judas had given the contingent a sign — a kiss. A kiss would not have been unusual but customary when meeting a leader. (Such is still done today and widely.) Judas, what a bum!
  11. “Why the need for a sign?” is a legitimate question. An answer may be that Jesus did not look different from other men, not different from Peter, James, John, or any of the other disciples. An ordinary looking man. (The image on the Shroud of Turin, which I think is Jesus, is that of an ordinary looking middle eastern man.)
  12. After the kiss, Jesus is seized, to prevent escape. It was likely rough handling.
  13. Someone, and John (18:10) tells us it was Peter, draws a sword and cuts the ear off the slave of the high priest. Was the devil busy here as such an aggressive, murderous attempt, might have resulted in the slaughter of the four right then and there — thus no cross?
  14. Luke (22:51) informs us that Jesus heals the ear injury.
  15. Jesus’ question in verse 48 may be variously understood. Is it an accusation, sarcasm, a seeking actual information, a rebuke to the religious leaders, or something else?
  16. Perhaps it is that Jesus lets them know He is not a victim, surprised like a criminal would be. No, He is ready and He is in control.
  17. Scripture will be fulfilled. Now the disciples flee.

 

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane, Mark 14:32-42

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 230

Mark 14:32-42

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

  1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. Late Thursday evening, following the Passover meal, Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley and winds His way up the slopes of The Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane, or the Garden of the olive press.
  8. Leaving 8 of the disciples, Jesus brings Peter, James, and John a little further on and asks that they wait while He prays. And Jesus does not hide the fact that He is very disturbed.
  9. Perhaps due to too much of the dinner in them and the lateness of the hour, the 3 cannot stay awake.
  10. The disciples had likely never seen their Master so troubled and may not have known how to comfort Him.
  11. Jesus’ prayer is not like anything He had ever prayed before. How the 3 knew what He was praying is a mystery. Some say one of them, maybe John, overheard. But however it was, we can only guess.
  12. Jesus is truly grieved, which the language in all the Gospels makes abundantly clear. Here is a man in pain.
  13. Perhaps never before have we seen a reminder of the compete humanness of Jesus, the Word become flesh.
  14. His prayer begins with, “Abba, Father.” “Abba” from the Aramaic and means something close to “Daddy.” “Father,” and is pater in the Greek. (Some commentators suggest pater is added for Mark’s Greek reader. Neither Matthew nor Luke have Abba.)
  15. Jesus prays the same prayer each time, essentially that if it be possible may the hour pass and the cup removed from Him.
  16. The “if” as to the hour passing is a first class condition meaning that Jesus knew the Father could do that—let it pass. But He knew that was not the Father’s will as the whole of salvation would collapse.
  17. Taking our sin upon Himself, that separation from the Father, was the crux of the agony in the garden. This is very far beyond our comprehension. We can only read of it and catch a glimpse only of what full fellowship with the Triune God will be like.

 

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial & Peter Denies Jesus – Mark 14:26-31, 66-72

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 229

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial & Peter Denies Jesus

Mark 14:26-31, 66-72

  1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. The hymn sung, perhaps from Psalm chapters 115 to 118, the Hallel Pslams. Like to have recorded that one.
  8. Thursday evening, Jesus would be in the tomb in a. 20 hours.
  9. The last ‘full disclosure’ from Jesus to His disciples.
  10. “All” would fall away! How does Jesus know this?
  11. Peter underestimates his friends and overestimates himself.
  12. The “rooster” – a real critter or a watch in the night, it will come twice before Peter denies Jesus three times. Very shocking.
  13. Peter strongly rejects Jesus’ statement and insists that he is above it all. The others have little course but to assert the same.
  14. Peter apparently was known to Caiaphas, the high priest, (see John 18:15-18), and once inside the grounds of the high priest is recognized by a maid who accuses Peter of being a companion of Jesus. Here is the first denial. Peter blatantly lies.
  15. In verse 68, the words, “and the rooster crowed” are not in the best manuscripts and should be ignored.
  16. The same servant girl once again, but this time more vigorously points Peter out as being one of Jesus’ followers. Peter, for the second time, lies about knowing Jesus.
  17. “Bystanders” are certain Peter was a part of Jesus’ party and are assured of this by Peter’s being a Galilean. Now to more than a servant girl, but before a group of people, Peter places a curse upon himself if he is not telling the truth and swears, maybe upon the temple or the altar, or some other sacred place, that he does not know Jesus. This, the third and final denial.
  18. At that moment the rooster crowed a second time, just as Jesus had stated would be the case.
  19. Peter now can only fall on his face and cry.