COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON NUMBER 157
Mark 14:46 “And they laid their hands on Him, and took Him. 47 And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take He? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took He not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled. 50 And they all forsook Him, and fled. 51 And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.” (Mark 14:46-52; Matt 26:51-54; Luke 22:49-53; John 18:4-7,10-11)
THE CONFRONTATION AND THE RESPONSE
INTRODUCTION
The hour has come for Jesus to lay down His life as He was commanded. He first offers Himself to God, making His will subordinate to the will of His Father. He has now resigned Himself to do something that has never been done before, and will never be done again – make “one sacrifice for sins forever” (Heb 10:12). He will not do this while in possession of great strength, but while in a state of “weakness” (2 Cor 13:4). However, when the men from the high priest came to arrest Him, He was not in a state of weakness. In fact, He is in charge of the situation. His strength, however, is not exhibited in overcoming the enemy, but in submitting to them. It is seen in His meekness and humility, which, when one has the power to plunder his enemies, are remarkable displays of strength. None of this will be apparent to the disciples of Jesus, and even His enemies will be blinded to the strength of the One they are arresting. His strength will not be taken from Him until He is crucified. There, He will not be permitted to rely on heavenly strength, for He must tread the winepress of the wrath of God alone – while God turns His face from Him as the sins of the world are laid upon Him. However, in our text, it will become apparent that Jesus is in charge of the situation. Knowing that this is an time allotted to the power of darkness, Jesus sheathes His spiritual sword, choosing to do the will of God. Had Jesus not done this, His death would not have been a sacrifice. There came this occasion when, for the first time in His life, sinful and hostile men would put their hands on Him. Furthermore, following His death on the cross, they will never do it again. This was their hour, and the Lord knew it.
THEY LAID THEIR HANDS ON HIM
“ Mark 14:46 And they laid their hands on Him, and took Him. 47 And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.”
THE SOLDIERS FALL TO THE GROUND. John tells us that Jesus first asked the soldiers whom they were seeking. When they said “Jesus of Nazareth,” He said “I am He,” and they all “went backward and fell to the ground.” The Lord made no threat. He did not raise his hand to strike them. He merely told them who He was, and they staggered backward, falling to the ground. After asking them the second time whom they were seeking, He declared He was Jesus, and told them to let His disciples go, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled (John 18:4-7). He spoke as the Lord, even though His enemies did not know it.
THEY LAID THEIR HANDS ON HIM. It is at this point that they “laid their hands on Him,” no doubt to bind Him tightly as Judas had told them to do (Matt 26:48). We see here the hardness of the unregenerate heart. Even when faced with the Truth incarnate, and while experiencing the impact of the words of His mouth, they still proceeded with their mission – even though they had to get off of the ground to do so. Prior to this, His enemies had “sought to lay hands on Him,” but were not able to do so because they feared the people (Matt 21:46; Mk 12:12). John also tells us that earlier in His ministry, His enemies “sought to take Him, but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour had not come” (John 7:30). Later they “sought again to take Him,” but could not (John 10:39). Now, however, they will be given leave from heaven to lay their hands on Jesus, even though they will have to overcome fear to do so.
THE DISCIPLES ASK IF THEY SHOULD ATTACK. At this point, Luke tells us the disciples saw what was going to happen and asked Jesus, “Lord, shall we smite with the sword?” Luke also tells us that when Jesus had entered into the Garden with His disciples He told them, “the things concerning Me have an end.” In response, the disciples, ready to defend Jesus, said, “Lord, behold here are two swords.” Knowing they did not know the gravity of the hour, the Lord replied, “It is enough” (Lk 22:38). Now, it becomes apparent that they took this as justification to launch an initiative against a group of men that greatly outnumbered them.
ONE CUTS OFF THE EAR OF THE HIGH PRIEST’S SERVANT. Mark says that one of the disciples launched the initiative, drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of one of the high priest’s servant. You may be sure, he meant to do more than that. Luke tells us the man cut off the servant’s “right ear” (Lk 22:50). John tells us the man wielding the sword was Peter, and the high priest’s servant was named Malchus (John 18:10). I take it that Malchus was one of the men who laid their hands on Jesus. Peter, therefore, rushes fearlessly to defend his Lord.
IF DELIVERANCE WAS RIGHT, THERE WAS ANOTHER WAY. Matthew tells us Jesus told Peter, “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matt 26:52). Luke tells us that Jesus replied, “Stop, no more of this!,” NASB and healed the ear of Malchus (Lk 22:51).Jesus then said to him, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matt 26:53-54). In a sense, Jesus was speaking hypothetically, because He had already resigned His will to fully embrace the will of the Father. The fulfilling of the Scriptures was more important to Jesus than saving His own life – an attitude that those who walk in fellowship with Jesus will also possess. Notice, that the reason for Jesus’ refusal to seek His own deliverance was in order that the Scriptures might “be fulfilled.” When an angel appeared to Jesus in Gethsemane, it was not to fight, but to strengthen Him to lay down His life, thereby fulfilling the Word of God..
JESUS SAYS HE WILL DRINK THE CUP. John says that Jesus said to Peter, “Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11). What possible reason could be adduced for refusing to drink a cup that the Father had given Him to drink? Even though Peter’s action made perfect sense to him, it was totally unreasonable to Jesus. He would not yield to the thought of not doing what He had been commanded to do. Just as He fulfilled “all righteousness” when He was baptized (Matt 3:15), so will He do on this dark night. He will throw down this imagination, and take captive His thoughts “unto obedience” (2 Cor 10:5). In this He is a pattern for all of us to follow.
Thus Jesus cites several reasons why His disciples must not engage in a military initiative against His captors. All who live by the sword will die by it (Matt 26:52). If deliverance was possible, it would come from heaven, not from earth (Matt 26:53). The Scripture must be fulfilled (Matt 26:54).Jesus was determined to drink the cup that had been given to Him by God the Father (John 18:11). In these answers we catch a glimpse of what is involved in gaining the victory over the world. Among other things, there is a reasoning process that accents the utter foolishness of choosing one’s own will over the will of God. This also shows what is involved in taking up our cross every day, refusing to back away from the repercussions that come to us because of our faith.
THE RESPONSE OF JESUS TO HIS CAPTORS
“ 48 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take Me? 48 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took Me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.”
ARE YOU COMING FOR A THIEF? Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention this statement (Matt 26:55; Mk 14:48; Lk 22:52). First Jesus rebuked His disciples for taking the initiative against those coming to arrest Him (Matt 26:52-54; Lk 22:51; John 18:11). Now He rebukes the militia coming to take Him captive. The point Jesus is making is that they had come out to get Him as though He was going to resist them, refusing to be taken. They thought that Jesus, like a robber, would do everything in His power to avoid being captured. If he could not flee, he would fight – at least, that is what they thought.
They came to arrest Jesus as though He had been doing evil in the land. Really, however, He had went about “doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38). The only time anyone had seen Jesus angry was when the name of the Lord, or the Temple, had been defiled. He castigated the Pharisees publically for their hypocrisy (Matt 23:13-39), and twice cleansed the Temple of defiling influences (John 2:13-16; Mark 11:15-17). In all three of these occasions, Jesus was not seeking His own. He was not taking for Himself, or promoting His own name. He was rather exhibiting the Divine revulsion at the sight of hypocrisy or religious defilement. Even when He cleansed the Temple, the scribes and chief priests sought how they might destroy Him, for “they feared Him.” The people were also “astonished at His doctrine” (Mk 11:18). They could tell that Jesus was not a rabble-rouser or insurrectionist like Barabbas (Mk 11:7). Yet now, they come after Him as though He was a common criminal – which they knew He was not. He had once challenged them, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46). None could substantiate such a charge then, and neither could they now.
I WAS DAILY WITH YOU. Jesus reminds them of His public ministry. Substantiating that the soldiers were from the Temple authorities and not the Romans, Jesus says “I was daily with you in the temple teaching.” Matthew reads, “I sat daily with you teaching in the Temple” (Matt 26:55). Luke also reports that Jesus said “I was daily with you in the Temple” (Lk 22:53). Particularly during the last phase of Jesus’ ministry, it is written, “And in the day time He was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives” (Luke 21:37). Throughout His ministry, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, He was always found in the Temple (John 2:14; 7:28; 8:2,20; 10:23).
When Jesus traveled throughout the land, He was always found in the synagogues, where the people gathered to pray and hear the Word of the Lord (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 12:9; 13:54; ; Mk 1:21,39; 3:1; 6:2; Lk 4:13,16; 6:6; John 6:59).
Jesus’ ministry was public, not private. Speaking of Jesus, Paul told Agrippa, “this thing was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). If anyone wanted to find Jesus, they knew where He could be found – where devout people were prone to gather. Even when He withdrew Himself from the multitude, word would get out where He was, and the people would gather to Him (Mk 6:33; 9:35; 10:1; Lk 4:42; John 8:2).
Perhaps you have heard people say Jesus preferred to be around publicans and sinners, and that you could find Him in public places, where sinners were prone to gather. This, however, is not what the Scriptures say. In fact, Jesus went on record concerning where He would be: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). This proneness of Jesus to be in a religious surrounding is what made Him accessible – and that is the point that He is making here. It is as though He said, “Everyday you could have found me. You knew where I would be, and could have inquired at any time, and people could have told you where I was.
YOU DID NOT TAKE ME. Matthew says, “ye laid no hold on Me” (Matt 26:54). Luke says, “ye stretched forth no hands against Me,” adding “but this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Lk 22:53). It was not that Satan’s forces had overcome, but that God had raised the bar, allotting them a period of time to do their worst. Of course, in all of this, it was really the “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” that was being carried out (Acts 2:23; 4:28). Satan’s plans would come short of what He really desired. His seeming triumph would only last three days. Christ’s victory would be forever!
THE SCRIPTURES MUST BE FULFILLED. What was really taking place was the fulfillment of Scripture – “But all of this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Matt 26:56). Later, Peter would refer to this fulfillment when he said to the Jews, “But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled” (Acts 3:18). He mentioned this also in his first epistle (1 Pet 1:11). Notice that Jesus says, “The Scriptures must be fulfilled.” That is another way of saying, “the Scripture cannot be broken,” or “cannot be set aside, or cancelled, or broken, or annulled” AMPLIFIED(John 10:35).
THEY ALL FORSAKE JESUS
“ 50 And they all forsook Him, and fled. 51 And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on Him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.”
THEY ALL FORSOOK HIM. Matthew reads, “Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled” (Matt 26:56). Earlier, Jesus had told them that this was going to happen on this very night: “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32). Matthew and Mark say they would be “offended” (Matt 26:31; Mk 14:27). Jesus said this would be done in fulfillment of the Scriptures: “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad” (Matt 26:31). When the sword of the wrath of God was awakened against the Shepherd, there would be “none to help” Him (Psa 22:11; Isa 63:5). Circumstances would be so structured that no possible credit for the ultimate triumph of Jesus could be traced to men – even chosen men!
From the standpoint of the disciples themselves, they no doubt fled because they were afraid. However, they were afraid because boldness and strength were withdrawn from them in this awful hour. If God would have enabled them, they could have stood against this multitude and utterly defeated them. However, redemption was the objective being fulfilled here, not a display of raw power. There were times where the enemy was publically and in great humiliation overthrown – as in the cases of Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Belshazzar, and others. There are triumphs that are intended to be more open – triumphs in which the power and glory of God can be witnessed by men.
Here, however, a more formidable foe was bring faced – one that would be allowed to use his final and most potent weapon. The witnesses of this conflict were not upon earth, but were in the heavenly realms. A member of the angelic host had already been sent to strengthen Jesus. There is no doubt but that the holy angels peered over the ramparts of heaven at this remarkable spectacle. Now the very hosts who had been dismissed with Jesus’ word, releasing their hold on their victims, converge upon Him. You may be sure, the holy angels are not watching the disciples, but the Son, for this is not only the hour given to “the power of darkness,” but it is also the hour in which Jesus will carry out the command of God in exacting detail. Therefore, no power will be given to the disciples to fight – they will only receive strength to flee. They did not flee because they were cowards, for they were going to battle the multitude with two swords! They fled because they had no strength. They will be gathered in due time. Now, however, their presence is no longer required.
Also, they were able to flee because the word of Jesus was with power, and was therefore honored: “let these go their way” (John 18:8). None of the soldiers pursued the disciples as they withdrew themselves from the immediate circumstance. Actually, it was the Father Himself who was behind this, answering the petition Jesus raised earlier: “ . . . I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me . . . I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:11,15). Were it not for the keeping power of God, the soldiers would have pursued and captured the disciples.
A CERTAIN YOUNG MAN FOLLOWED HIM. Only Mark includes the account of this “certain young man.” The word “naked” in this narrative does not mean stark naked, or nude, but rather refers to having only the undergarments on. Although not identified, some think this to be John. However, that cannot be so, for the disciples had all fled. Others think it was the gardener, who probably lived in the garden, and was awakened by the sounds. However, it is not likely that such a responsible position would be held by a “young man,” or “youth,” for so the word means (Thayer). Others believe it was John Mark, who is understood to have penned this Gospel at the dictation of Peter. However reasonable such explanations may appear, and even though I confess I am inclined to the opinion that it was John Mark, the fact of the matter is that we do not know the identity of this person. It is possible that he is mentioned to confirm the danger that was imminent for the disciples had they not fled.
HE LEFT THE LINEN CLOTH AND FLED. Even though these soldiers had went backward and fallen on the ground at the word of Jesus, yet they remained brash and insolent. They saw what they probably perceived to be a sympathizer, and took hold of him, confident that they were in charge. However, even though the young man was scantily clothed, he did not consider the linen cloak he had thrown around him to be worthy of contending for it. He therefore “left the linen sheet behind and escaped” NASB wearing only his undergarments.
It is possible for men to fall into circumstances that demand a quick evaluation of what they possess. Is it worth fighting for, or maintaining at all cost? Or, does the circumstance require abandoning it? In this case, as in the incident with Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, the best thing to do was to leave the garment and run. Blessed is the person who knows when this is what ought to be done.