COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON NUMBER 151
“ Mark 14:17And in the evening He cometh with the twelve. 18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with Me shall betray Me. 19And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto Him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? 20 And He answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with Me in the dish. 21The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of Him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.”
(Mark 14:17-21; Matt 26:19-25; Luke 22:13-14; John 13:1,21-26)
JESUS REVEALS THAT HE WILL BE BETRAYED
INTRODUCTION
Throughout His life, Jesus was doing His Father’s will – speaking what He had been “taught by” and “seen with” the Father (John 8:28,38), and doing what He had been given to do (John 5:36). He lived out what it means to obey God, going beyond the keeping of the Law to the carrying out of an ordained commission. There is a difference between maintaining a pure life, as ordinarily perceived, and the carrying out of a commission, or fulfilling a work. Jesus’ obedience was “unto death” – i.e., to the accomplishing of a death (Lk 9:31). He was not merely faithful “unto death,” as we are admonished to be(Rev 2:10), but faithful in death itself, laying down His life (John 10:17). In this text we are being exposed to the obedience of Jesus unto death, “even the death of the cross” (Phil 2:8). His obedience is with determination and composure. He does not buck and bolt like an unbroken horse, nor does He require a bit and a bridle to force him to go in the right direction. Although He is headed into an experience that would be bitter and hard beyond comprehension, yet he enters into it with a peace that transcends all natural aptitude. This is the very peace that He gives to His followers – a peace that moves one to go about doing the will of God with a calmness and serenity that arrests our attention. There will come an hour when a burden will be borne, and great grief will be experienced. But until that time, the Savior will not fret about what is coming, but will proceed with calmness and profound thoughtfulness. We do well to take note of the manner in which He conducts Himself, for He is our example.
IN THE EVENING HE CAME WITH THE TWELVE
“ Mark 14:17 And in the evening He cometh with the twelve.”
Peter and John have prepared the room for the observance of the Passover feast, just as the Lord had commanded them. Matthew says they “did as Jesus had appointed them” (Matt 26:19).
IN THE EVENING. Through the Law, the time of the Passover was designated as the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month: “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's Passover” (Lev 23:5). There is a precision in Divine appointments that is strange to the modern-day Christian. Through the Jewish people, however, God taught men about exactness, timeliness, and precision. All of this was reflected in the preparations for the Passover meal, as well as in the meal itself.
It is good to seek liberation from all forms of religious generality and casualness. There is a dulling effect in such approaches. Further, this is something that must be seen. In Christ, it is not legislated by Law – although that is what God did under the Old Covenant. Part of the Law being written on the heart is the sensitivity to timeliness and precision. This will be lived out in our text.
HE COMES WITH THE TWELVE. Peter and John had apparently completed the preparations and returned to Jesus and the other ten disciples. This is also a depiction of the nature of obedience. As soon as the commission and or appointment is carried out, the individual returns to the Lord who directed them. This is also the nature of the angelic hosts, as confirmed in Jacob’s vision of them ascending and descending upon a ladder “set up lo earth” (Gen 28:12). They did their work, then returned to the Lord.
Luke says, “And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him” (Luke 22:14). This was not emphasizing “the hour” of the time of the Passover, but the “hour” in which He would begin to complete His mission to lay down His life and take it up again. Jesus frequently referred to the time of His imminent death as “the hour” (Matt 26:45; Mk 14:35,41; John 12:23; ; 16:32; 17:1). This was not a sixty-minute “hour,” but a fixed window of time during which His work was to be brought to its culmination.
HE EXPRESSES HIS DESIRE. Luke reports that after Jesus had arrived with His disciples, and sat down, He spoke tenderly to them. “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15). Other versions accent the strength of the expression: “with fervent desire,” NKJV “earnestly desired,” NASB “eagerly desired,” NIV and “ardently longed.” NJB Prior to entering His greatest trial, he had a profound longing to be with His disciples – the twelve apostles – not to be alone, but to be with those He had chosen. Those who glibly speak about the ones with whom Jesus preferred to be, do well to take note of this text. He placed the emphasis on the people who were the closest to Him, not the farthest! This is still His manner. If you have ever pondered where Jesus is, or where He can be found, consider what He Himself said: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). This should not surprise us, for the saints are built together “for a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:22). Paul spoke of one unlearned in the ways of the Lord coming into a assembly where the Lord was truly working among the people. When the secrets of his heart were revealed, he would confess, “God is truly among you!” NKJV (1 Cor 14:25). The presence of the Lord is owing to His manner! There is a people among whom, He is certain to be found. Our text shows that this is because of HIS preference.
This too is the manner of the Kingdom. On his way to Rome, where Paul would eventually be martyred, he was blessed to spend a week with certain brethren in Puteoli (Acts 28:13-14). After that, more brethren met him at the Forum of Appius, and brought strength and courage to Paul (Acts 28:15).
HE KNEW HIS HOUR HAD COME. John reports that at this time “ Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father.” What a marvelous summation! It accents the hope in which Jesus lived. At this point, He does not think of the grief that would attend His death, but of His departure from the world, and return to the Father. He was even now considering “the joy that was set before Him” (Heb 12:2). Such a consideration carried Him through His trial, and it will carry you through yours. Satan will attempt to move you to consider your time in the world. The Spirit will move you to consider the time when you will leave it. When received and pondered, this recollection will move you to submit to God and resist the devil. It will neutralize the power of the wicked one.
HE LOVED THEM UNTO THE END. Jesus’ preference for His disciples did not wax and wane, or blow hot and cold. John says of this very evening, “having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). His love for them was not a mere emotion, but a preference to actually be with them. Later in the evening, Jesus will tell His disciples to love one another in the same way He loved them: “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). That love is also to be “unto the end.”
JESUS REVEALS ONE OF THE DISCIPLES WILL BETRAY HIM
“ 18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. 19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?”
Keep in mind, the disciples have no idea concerning the events that will transpire this night – even though in the last part of His ministry, Jesus repeatedly spoke to them about it – particularly His betrayal (Matt 17:22; 20:18; 26:2). Truth had been declared to them by Him whose words were “spirit” and “life” (John 6:63) – yet they had neither understood nor recalled. From this we see that Christ’s words do not work like magic, or impact automatically upon the hearts of men. There are other factors that enter in, and they must be addressed before His Word has any lasting effect upon men. Some of them include, (1) The obtuseness of the flesh, (2) The hardness of the heart apart from grace, (3) The requirement for illumination, and (4)The working of the Holy Spirit. However, Jesus does not wait until all of these matters have been satisfactorily resolved. He speaks anyway, knowing that in due time the Spirit will bring these words to their remembrance. It seems to me that it is comely for us to also learn to speak appropriate words with such an expectation.
AS THEY SAT AND DID EAT. Jesus speaks to His disciples as they were eating the Passover meal – as they were remembering the great deliverance of Israel from Egypt. He speaks when their hearts could have been at their most sensitive moment. Further, we will find that they were all alert and listening at this time, even though their understanding had not yet matured.
This was no ordinary meal, but was a Divinely ordained occasion: “the Passover.” Therefore, it was in the midst of obediently observing something ordained by God that Jesus spoke to His disciples. This is still the manner of the King – to speak to us while we are, so to speak, sitting and eating with Him.
ONE OF YOU SHALL BETRAY ME. Jesus reveals to His disciples that someone who is presently eating with Him will betray Him – one of His own disciples. He had known “from the beginning . . . who should betray Him” (John 6:64). During the first part of His ministry He had said to His disciples, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil” (John 6:70). Yet, although this had been known all along, Jesus is not unaffected by this knowledge. Sometimes it appears to me that men think that knowing something removes any adverse effect of it upon the soul. How often I have heard people comment about the grievous times in which we are living, “This should not trouble or surprise us. Jesus said this was going to happen” – as though understanding neutered one’s sensitivity and feeling.
The record of Jesus will confirm that nothing could be further from the truth. Here is Truth incarnate, who knew all things, and had a perfect understanding of Divine appointments as well as what was in man (John 2:25). Yet, here is what John says of this very occasion: “He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me” (John 13:21). Do not think for one moment that the Divine nature is indifferent toward sin, or can gloss it because the reason for it is known.
THEY WERE SORROWFUL. The impact of Christ’s revelation had an immediate effect upon the disciples. Midway in His ministry, when Jesus revealed that He must suffer many things, be killed, and rise again the third day, Peter remonstrated saying, “Lord: this shall not be unto Thee” (Matt 16:22). However, no such response takes place at this time. They had been with Jesus for a little over three years, and their thinking had improved. I know people who have been in the presence of the Lord far longer, and are still objecting in the same way they did many years ago.
IS IT I? The thought of one of His own disciples betraying Jesus brought sorrow among them. But it was not mere melancholy. Each one pondered the possibility of it being one of them. John records, “Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spake” (John 13:22). The word “doubting” means they were perplexed, or at a loss to know what He meant. They could not imagine that one of them would be guilty of such a thing – but Jesus knew, and they seemed to sense it. That is why each one asked if it was him.
FULFILLING THE SCRIPTURE. John tells us that before Jesus said one of them would betray Him, He washed their feet (John 13:4-10). He than told them they were clean – but not all of them, “For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean”(John 13:11). He then added “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me” (John 13:18). This was a fulfillment of Psalm 41:8. He also referred to Judas treacherous act as the fulfillment of Scripture in John 17:12. At this point, Satan has put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2). Yet, he is remains with them, even having His feet washed by the Savior, and hearing of His fervent desire to be with them. Behold how hard sin makes a person! Every sin is potentially damning. That is why it must be confessed and abandoned.
WOE TO THAT MAN!
“ 20 And He answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of Him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.”
IT IS ONE OF THE TWELVE. Jesus had already said that one of them would betray Him (v 21). Yet He accents it again, declaring that it was one “that dippeth with Me in the dish.” Another version reads, “dips bread with Me into the bowl.” NIV The Jews hold a tradition concerning what was in this dish. Maimonides, a renown Jew, born in 1135 B.C., and the author of a commentary on Esther, says this dish was called Cheroseth, and says of it, “the ‘Cheroseth’ is a precept from the words of the Scribes, in remembrance of the clay in which they served in Egypt; and how did they make it? They took dates, or berries, or raisins, and the like, and stamped them, and put vinegar into them, and seasoned them with spices, as clay in straw, and brought it upon the table, in the night of the Passover.” This custom was not part of the Law, and yet Jesus honored it. It was a way of the Israelites remembering their “hard bondage” in Egypt, in which their lives were “made bitter” (Ex 1:14; Deut 26:6). Before coming out of Egypt, the Jews were told, “Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten” (Ex 13:3). How ironic that in the midst of such a recollection, Judas would join with Jesus in a sacred ceremony. Matthew writes that Judas personally asked Jesus if the betrayer was him. “Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said” (Matt 26:25).
AS IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM. Was the Scripture written because God foresaw Judas would betray Jesus, or did he commit his deed because the Scripture said so? If the Scripture was nothing more than a commentary on something God knew would happen, the deed would not be a fulfilling of Scripture, but the Scripture would be a fulfilling of the deed. It was what was determined in heaven that drove the circumstance now under consideration. Luke’s record of this very event reads, “And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed!” (Luke 22:22). Jesus also said in His prayer in Gethsemane, the deed of Judas was done “that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12).
It might be countered that this means Judas had no choice in the matter – and, indeed, this is the case. After Jesus had ascended into heaven, and before the day of Pentecost, Peter said of Judas (his betrayal of Jesus, his own death, and his replacement): “Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus” (Acts 1:16).
A slave to sin. Judas certainly did have a choice – but not in this matter. His choice was involved in pilfering from the treasury throughout the ministry of Jesus (John 12:6), and no doubt other matters that took place when he was with the Lord. His choice was involved in the criticism of Mary, who had poured her precious ointment upon the Savior (John 12:4-6). It is a principle enunciated by Jesus and confirmed by Paul, that committing sin enslaves one to it. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34). “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom 6:16). By the time of our text, Judas had made choices that led to his enslavement to the devil. Now, he would be used to fulfill what God has determined. His life had shaped him for this dastardly deed.
WOE TO THAT MAN! However, the fact of Judas’ enslavement to the devil did not diminish his deed one iota. God will not excuse sin – even if a person has come to the place where he is a bondslave to it. The word “woe” means “rejection . . . calling for retributive pain on someone,” FRIBERG “how horrible it will be.” UBS Judas would be eternally punished for what he did, and there was no way to avoid the punishment. He had crossed a moral line from which no recovery was possible. Those were glibly say that God can forgive any sin, and that men cannot stoop too low for God to lift them up, need to ponder Judas. He is a living contradiction of their theology. Sin gains strength over the person each time it is committed.
IT WERE BETTER THAT HE WAS NEVER BORN. Matthew also records this arresting saying: “it had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matt 26:24). Other versions read “better for him.” Judas lost his soul over this incident, exchanging it for thirty pieces of silver. Peter said Judas “by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:25). Another version reads, “to go where he belongs.” NIV Those who foolishly speak of going around only once, and getting all you can in the process, betray their abysmal ignorance of reality. One moment in the lake of fire will confirm that what Jesus said was true: it would have better for Judas never to have been born, than to taste of the second death! If an individual is finally separated from the Lord, there will not be no much as a second of satisfaction or enjoyment realized. The recollection of worldly advantages and pleasures will only add to their sorrow – just as it did to the rich man of Lazarus fame (Lk 16:25).