Welcome to Truth for Life where today we're starting a series to help us prepare our hearts for Easter by focusing on the account of Jesus' crucifixion in the Gospels. We'll begin as Jesus is being betrayed and is abandoned by his disciples in the shadows of the Garden of Gethsemane.
It's a well-known story for many, but Alistair Begg warns us not to let the familiarity dull its impact. I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Mark and to chapter 14, and we'll read from verse 41. And in a moment or two, as we turn to this study, I actually want us to begin just by looking in Acts chapter 8. We're going to read Mark 14. We're going to begin in Acts 8. We're going to turn back quickly to Mark 14 again.
And if that's too much information, just don't worry about it at all. Mark chapter 14, verse 41. And he came, that is, Jesus came, the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
It is enough. The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. 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. 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. And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, Rabbi, and he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled. And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his body, and they seized him.
But he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. Amen. A brief prayer as we turn to the Bible. So, gracious Father, what we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us. What we are not, make us. For your Son's sake.
Amen. I want you just to notice a question and answer that takes place there that Luke records for us, an encounter between Philip, who's directed by the Spirit of God, to go to this particular roadway. And it is there that he encounters this Ethiopian gentleman, who is making his way from Jerusalem back to Gaza. And as he rides in his chariot, he's reading from the scroll of Isaiah, the prophet. And in Acts chapter 8, Philip ran up to this man, heard him reading the prophecy of Isaiah, and he asked, Do you understand what you are reading? A very good question.
This is what our schoolteachers would ask us routinely. I can see you're reading it, beg, but do you understand what you're reading? And then the response, which is equally straightforward, in verse 31.
And he said, How can I unless someone guides me? And then we're told that Philip, beginning with that passage of Scripture, told him the good news about Jesus. Now, we begin there this morning for a couple of reasons. One is to remind us of the fact that of the many gifts that God has given to us as his children, there are two that stand out. One, that he has given as the gift of the Bible so that we're not left clueless, his Word is inscripturated for us so that we might pay attention to it. He has given as the gift of the Bible, and he has also given as the gift of teachers to open up and to explain, to expound and to apply what the Bible says. Paul takes this so seriously that when he writes to the Galatians, he says, almost in an aside, one who is taught the Word must share all good things with the one who teaches.
In other words, there is a reciprocal relationship. The teacher teaches, and the pupils are thankful. When Paul writes to Timothy, he reminds him that he wants him to continue in the things that he has learned, and he underscores that by saying to him, And if you will pay attention to those from whom you have learned it. Recognizing the role that God had given to these individuals in the developing understanding of Timothy as an assistant to the apostle Paul. Now, on a personal level, because my mind was going along these lines this week—not only because of this but partly because of this—I called a friend in England, a man who is some years ahead of me, in his middle 80s, and I called him to express my gratitude to him for the way in which he, both in person and in print, continues to teach me the Bible. I wanted him to know, because I was thinking of him, that it was important for me to express my gratitude to him.
Because there's hardly a week that passes without I don't scan his photograph or I don't have reference to something that I have learned from him, either in person or in print. Now, beginning in that way is purposeful in relationship to our passage as well. Because as I read Mark chapter 14 over and over this week, in prospect of our study, it occurred to me that for many of us this is familiar material.
The narrative describing the events leading up to the death of Jesus of Nazareth is, for not a few of us, fairly routine stuff. But then I paused, and I said, I wonder, do I understand what I'm reading? I wonder, do they understand what they're reading? Because it is distinctly possible, isn't it, that the very familiarity with a passage dulls its impact, or that our assumption is that we have already grappled with this, grasped it, we get it, and therefore there's really no point in spending any further time at all. Some of us on the other side of the spectrum, of course, may be unfamiliar with the passage in its entirety.
This may be the first time we've ever actually sat down and listened as somebody read this portion of the Bible. And so the question is a valid question. Do you understand what you're reading? And the answer may be, how can I? Unless someone explains it to me.
Well, here I am, with the responsibility and privilege of trying to do that. Now, I read the passage, and it only took quite a minute, a minute and a half to read it, and it is obvious that there is nothing complex about the storyline. We might summarize it. If somebody said, Summarize these verses for us in just a sentence, we would simply tell them, Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, and the soldiers take him into custody.
Pretty accurate, isn't it, wouldn't you say? So then let's move on. Let's have the benediction and head for lunch immediately. We know what it says. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss, the soldiers arrest him, he goes into custody, and that's it for Sunday morning.
We're done. No. Do you understand? Do you understand what is written here? Do you understand why it is written here? Do you understand the purpose that Mark has in describing things in the way in which he does? Or is it simply that when we turn to the Bible, the Bible is a trampoline upon which we bounce? We simply bounce ideas off it.
Sometimes we seek to press ideas into it. And you, along with me, will have listened to sermons from passages like this, where immediately the person in the role of the teacher begins to throw out speculative questions for the listeners. They may say, this morning, in relationship to the verses that we've just read, I want to pose this question, how do you think you would have felt if you had been in the garden with Jesus? Well, who in the world cares? I frankly don't really care how you would have felt if you'd been in the garden with Jesus.
Say, you were a very unfeeling person. Well, maybe that's true, but that is not of significance to me this morning. Somebody else has said, well, you know, we're going to look at this and consider the question, have you ever been deserted by your friends? Well, that's a good question.
If you have, it's painful, I know. I remember that at school. But is that really what we ought to be doing with Mark 14? Or somebody in the present climate may actually be even more agenda-driven and say, you will notice in here there's a number of references to swords, and we're going to think this morning about what this passage has to teach us about gun control.
No, no, no, it's true. You've heard these kind of sermons, haven't you? And so it's pretty obvious that the person either hasn't got a clue what the passage means, or he comes to it with an agenda that he wants, then, to infiltrate the passage with and steer the listeners in that direction. Now, that's why we say to you from this pulpit again and again, you are sensible people. You must read the Scriptures to see what the Bible says, so that as you read the Bible and consider what it says, then you can listen to what is being taught, and you can look at the page, and you can say, well, that hasn't got nothing to do with what he just said. And then you can write me notes, as you do. And that's fine.
I'm glad to be kept on track. No, those kind of approaches are about speculation, they're about invention, they're not about biblical interpretation. So, that is why in our principles of interpretation, in studying a passage like this, it is important that we don't come to it and study it in isolation. But in other words, we make sure that what is described as happening to Jesus is then viewed in light of what we have already seen and heard of Jesus, and also is viewed in light of all that is about to be explained later on in the Bible. That's why we often say to one another in Sunday School terms, the Bible is a book about Jesus, in the Old Testament he is predicted, in the Gospels he is revealed, in the Acts he is preached, in the Epistles he is explained, and in the book of Revelation he is expected. So we have every legitimate right to expect that although the disciples did not get it here in Mark chapter 14, post-Pentecost, they would get it clearly, as Jesus had promised them they would when the Spirit of God will lead them into all truth—the truth that they then would be able to write down for us so that we ourselves would not be clueless in relationship to these things. So, let us consider, first of all, the narration, as it is given to us.
The storyline, it's pretty straightforward, and you can see it before you. Judas, who is a central character in this still, who had been present in the upper room, we learned, had gone out into the night, and he's used these intervening hours to assemble the crowd which has now appeared with him in the garden. Mark is careful to point out that he was one of the twelve—that is, verse 43.
The strange ignominy of that is represented in that phrase itself. Here was somebody who had enjoyed the privilege of the company of Jesus for three years, and now he appears in the garden to betray his rabbi, to betray his teacher. He should then be sharing all good things with he who has taught him.
He gives him a profusion of kisses, thereby betraying him. In the dim light of the garden, in the shadows, only somebody who knew him well would be able to identify him, hence his role. It was really quite unnecessary, as John tells us, that Jesus was ready for them. He was ready to step forward and introduce himself to him, but Judas did his business. While he was the treasurer of the disciples, he was a secret thief. Now, in the darkness, he's out in the open as a traitor. It's all there in the text. What about this crowd that is here in the narrative as well, made up of soldiers and scribes, appearing in the darkness with their torches and with their lanterns, as John tells us?
In other words, there is some material that is an open flame, there is some that is clearly enclosed. And by means of this illumination, their implements of destruction—namely, their swords and their clubs—are visible for all to see. Now, one of the things that would strike us, I think, if we were just thinking about this, is it not quite remarkable that they would put together such a motley crew in order to arrest such a gentle man? Judas has given them instructions that you must seize him and keep him under guard and take him away. What, this one who dendled children on his knee? This one who was so tender to the woman of the well? This one who was so gracious to Zacchaeus the little thief? This one who said, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, because I'm gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls?
You really need to come out against this man with all these implements of destruction? Well, there's something in this, though. Isn't it in Hamlet? Is it Hamlet who says, But conscience doth make cowards of us all? The sneaking suspicion that what they were engaged in was illegitimate? That there was no real basis for their approach to this Jesus of Nazareth in this way? And when you feel uncertain of yourself, if you can get a few to come along with you, you may feel that there is safety in numbers.
Actually, they had real reason to be concerned. The Johannine record tells us—and incidentally, when I say something this morning and you say, But it wasn't in the text, the answer is, It wasn't in this text, but you will find it in the Matthew record or the Luke record or the John record. If you don't find it in any of those records when you check, then you must come and tell me, because obviously I'm making up my own record. All right? But if you read John's record in John chapter 18, John tells us that when Jesus stepped forward, then the crowd that came, apparently to intimidate him, fell to the ground.
And there is actually a whole drama in that that you can follow up for homework on your own. And when you read it there, you will discover that three times Jesus says, Ego, I me. Ego, I me. I am. I am. I am, he says. Are you Jesus of Nazareth? I am. Are you? I am. I am.
And it is surely not insignificant. You remember when Moses goes to Pharaoh, and he has the responsibility of saying to Pharaoh, Let my people go. He is diffident about it. He says to God, What will I say? Who will I say has sent me? And God says, Tell him that I am has sent you. And these people suddenly realize that what they encounter in this garden scene is none other than majesty itself, because the corruption of Judas in all of his treacherous approach is more than matched by the composure of Jesus, which comes across clearly in this event. He asks them, You know, I was always teaching in the temple. You had access to me then. Why didn't you seize me then?
You don't have to come here like this. You don't get the impression of him being chased and harried, do you? If there's any agitation in the garden, it's not agitation in Jesus. Now let the camera settle on these disciples.
Judas is a character here, Jesus is a character here, the crowd is a character here, and here we have the credits running now for the disciple band. They're about to collapse like a pack of cards. Peter is about to go down like a broken deck chair.
It's tragic, isn't it? Luke records the fact that they asked this question almost in unison, Shall we strike with the sword? And before Jesus apparently has a chance to answer, Peter decides the answer is yes, and so he takes his sword and he lops off the ear of Malchus, who is the servant of the high priest. The first time I remember somebody preaching on this passage, I remember because it made me laugh when the preacher said, Peter was either really good with the sword or really bad with the sword. And it just made me laugh, and I've never forgotten that.
He was either so good that he could take an ear off, or he was so bad that he could miss a head. And there they go, under cover of darkness, their sorry departure recorded for us in a phrase. Verse 50, And they all left him and fled. They all left him and fled. Actually, again, John tells us that Jesus said to his captors, It's me you've come for.
Let them go. Which made me think again of Moses, who stepped forward to say, Let my people go. And he who is the great prophet, who out-prophets all the prophets, steps forward in the garden, and he says, Let my people go. He has come to deliver, to succor, to save. So, from narration then to interpretation, the narration is straightforward. The storyline is understandable, isn't it?
It's the story of treachery, it's the story of betrayal, it's the story of an arrest, it's the story of the composure of Jesus. All of this is there, and Mark is recording it for us. Now, how are we then to interpret it? What is Mark doing with this material?
Why is Mark writing as he writes? What is the intentionality of the author, the ultimate author being, of course, God the Holy Spirit? So how do we interpret this? Well, again, you need to interpret it in light of context—the context of the entire gospel, the context of the immediate surrounding text. And so we immediately have a hint of things in verse 41, where Jesus says, The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. That may not mean very much to us until we go back to Daniel chapter 7 and realize that the Son of Man, about whom we sang as our closing song last Sunday morning, and he will reign forever and ever. The Son of Man is the depiction of the one who is there in eternity with the Ancient of Days. And this Son of Man is an enigmatic figure in the Old Testament, and interestingly, as Jesus engages in ministry, his favorite self-designation is as Son of Man. And actually, if you want just to fast-forward in your thinking to verses 61 and 62 in the passage here, to which we will come in a few weeks, he's being interrogated by the high priest.
He doesn't give him an answer. The high priest asks him—this is verse 61—"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus says, I am, ego, I me. And you will see, he says, the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. So it is as the Son of Man that he steps out from the experience that he's had in the garden. It is, remember, in the perfection of his humanity that he has recoiled from the prospect of Calvary. But that issue has now been settled in prayer. It's not about my will or my design, Father, but it is about yours.
And once that is settled, then he steps forward. You get the immediacy of it in verse 42—"Rise, let us be going. My betrayer is at hand." Now, what you need to notice, and what Mark is showing us here, is that Jesus proceeds to this event not as a helpless victim held in the grip of dark forces, but he emerges into this encounter in Psalm 19 terminology as a champion or as a strong man ready to run his course with joy.
So, any temptation that we have to paint Jesus as somehow or another trapped by circumstances or disabled by this intimidating crowd or reluctantly moving in the direction of Calvary cannot be substantiated from a careful reading of the text. You're listening to Truth for Life. That is, Alistair Begg with a message titled They All Left Him will hear the conclusion on Monday. Now, if you listen regularly to Truth for Life, you've no doubt heard me talk about the importance of our truth partners. These are listeners just like you who give a monthly gift to make Truth for Life possible. This giving is from a relatively small group of regular listeners who help care for the cost of producing and distributing our daily program globally and making Alistair's online sermon library completely free to access. Truth partners are really important, not only to us as we endeavor to spread the gospel, but to you as you benefit from the teaching and as you are able to freely share it with others.
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