Mark 14:1-26 The Christ!

Mark 14:1-26

Have you ever watched a marathon (running race)? It’s a long race, over a number of hours – but the most exciting part is often the very, very end, when there’s one or two amazing runners using the absolute last bit of their energy, gasping for air, pushing their bodies towards the prize. After hours of running, the race comes down to milliseconds! And that’s where we are in Mark’s Gospel – we’re in the home straight, running for the finish, and the action is hotting up! So Mark goes into slow motion so we can capture all the detail of these last couple of days of Jesus’ life here on earth. From his anointing for burial to his last meal with his disciples, to his sham trials, and his display of Kingly service on the cross as he dies for sinners like us, to his resurrection. This is what it’s all about. This is what Mark wants us to hear, to understand, to believe, and in believing, have life. Remember how he began: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Previously in Mark’s Gospel....

The disciples have been fed with heavenly food (feeding of 5000) and their eyes have been opened (2 stage blind man miracle and blind Bartimeus who sees the King) to who Jesus is. They know that he is the Christ. They were called in chapter 3:13-19 in a way that reminds us of the calling of the twelve tribes of Israel. It seemed, then, that Jesus was founding a new Israel.

That is confirmed now. In chapter 12 we saw that Israel, represented by chief priests, scribes, elders, have rejected Jesus, their Christ (or Messiah) and King. And so Jesus has pronounced the consequences upon them. Last week we saw that not one stone will stand. The old Temple will be cleared away for the new Temple: Jesus, and his church. The church is founded on its cornerstone, Jesus, the Christ.

But why did Israel reject Jesus? What’s the issue? Remember Mark 7? Jesus reveals why people reject him. It’s a heart problem. Mk 7:20–23 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile (make unclean) a person.”

Sin drives the religious leaders to kill God. We all want God to be dead, so that we can take his place. We all want to decide for ourselves. We hear people say after tragedies, a loved one dies, they fall sick, they’re hit by a massive storm which destroys their house, “I can’t believe in a God who allows such things to happen”.
That’s ironic because it’s only because of God that they expect things to be any different! Why would you expect the world to be kind and loving when it absolutely isn’t –unless that’s how God made the world in the first place, reflecting his good character!

What they’re really saying is I can do a better job as God than God. “I wish you were dead God, so I can take over”. It’s the child’s equivalent of putting their hands over their ears so they can’t hear you (the Dad!).

And so v1 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

But what they don’t know is that this is exactly what Jesus came to do. He has been preparing for his death for many years. He is the Christ.

1. Jesus is the Christ (anointed one)

Christ means simply “anointed one” (to anoint something means to pour oil on it to set it apart for special or holy use). Three types of people were anointed in the OT: Kings (2 Sam 2:4), Priests (Ex 28:41), and Prophets (1 Kings 19:16). The anointing symbolised being equipped for service by the Holy Spirit. King, priests and prophets were anointed, set apart to serve God in the power of the Spirit.

Now we’ve already seen Jesus being anointed as King, at his baptism. 1:9-11 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus is anointed not by oil but directly by the Holy Spirit, and the Father’s voice from Heaven declares him to be God the Son, the beloved second person of the Trinity; the Son of God, the name given to Israel – he will do what Israel could not and fulfil the covenant with Abraham to be a blessing to all nations; the Son of God, the name given to Israel’s king, who represented the nation before God, and therefore when anointed king also called the Son of God – and so Jesus too is recognised as the anointed King of God’s people.
Jesus of Nazareth, fully human, identifying with us in baptism, declared to be the King, the new Israel, and the divine Son.

So Jesus is the true King. But not just that, he is also true Priest and true Prophet. The role of the Priest was to offer sacrifices to God, to mediate (make clear the way) between sinful man and holy God. Jesus is preparing himself to be the sacrifice, and open the way for sinful men to meet a holy God. More than that, he will not just be the Priest but the Temple itself! The stone Temple will fall because Jesus is now the true meeting place between man and God.

The Prophet spoke the very words of God “thus says the Lord” – Jesus says “I say to you” (further indicating that he, at least, saw himself as divine, equal to the Father).

3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard (a type of perfume), very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.

Now, three day before his death, he is publically anointed before his followers, reminding them that here is the King, our champion, our representative. For just as Jesus was baptised, something only sinners need to do - for baptism is a washing away of sin, dying to sin under the water and rising again to new life out of the water – just as Jesus identified with our sin in his baptism, so now he completes that work of baptism by taking the penalty of our sin upon himself. His body will be broken, his blood shed, to break the power of sin over us, to set us free, to achieve the real Exodus: bringing his people from slavery to sin under the power of Satan to a new freedom in (ultimately) a new earth under his good kingly rule.

Jesus understood this: 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.

His burial will be gospel (good news) proclaimed to the world. Because don’t forget that although he’s anointed for burial, he is no sinner – he is our representative, bearing our sin, dying in our place, but he himself has committed no sin; death has no claim on him. So, as he himself has reminded us three times: he will be handed over, he will be killed, he will rise again (8:31, 9:31, 10:34) .

Christus Victorious! The Risen Christ! Jesus, enthroned upon the seat of Heaven, his great work of redemption complete. That is yet to come. For the path of the Christ, the Promised Rescuer, eternal King, means he must become as nothing, a pitiable slave, a willing sacrifice, a lamb lead to the slaughter. First he must be the Passover Lamb, driven by his deep self-sacrificial love for rebel sinners like you and me.

So Jesus the Christ is also

2. Jesus, the Passover Lamb

10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. 12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

Mark reminds us of the PASSOVER in v1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And in v12 on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb.

The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread was a feast to celebrate the Exodus, the great rescue of God’s people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land, under God’s good rule through his word. The Unleavened Bread was flat bread, bread without yeast, which is bread you can make in a hurry, if you have to leave quickly. They were to make flat bread in preparation of the sudden call to leave Egypt, that very night. Judgment would fall on the Egyptians, and the Israelites would be set free.

We’ll be reminded of Exodus again and again through the coming weeks as we look at these final chapters of Mark. The Exodus, the great miraculous rescue of a million people from slavery to a new home, was a mere shadow compared to what Jesus is achieving here. This is the real Exodus. Throughout time and history Jesus’ blood powers his mercy. Each time God relents from judgement: Jesus’ blood is there. Each time we see God meeting with sinful people: Jesus’ blood is there. Even the Exodus itself is only possible because of the blood of Jesus. The blood of lambs could not take away the guilt of the people! No, it was the blood of the true Passover Lamb, Jesus, shed 1500 years later, that washed away their guilt and spared them from the judgement on the Egyptians. God had told them what they needed to do to be rescued, and they placed their faith in his word, acting accordingly, sacrificing the lambs – and God saw their faith, and counted it to them as righteousness, covering their sins through the blood of the Son.

So the disciples meet to celebrate the Passover, while the real Passover is taking place at that moment. Interestingly, the Passover meal consists of bread, wine…and a lamb. But there is no lamb mentioned here. For the sacrificial lamb who will be slain is seated in front of them. And to ensure they understand this he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

Jesus is about to be sacrificed in order to fulfil the covenant (promise) God has made with mankind. First with Adam, then Noah, then Abraham, Moses, and David. Here is the second Adam, the perfect son of God, righteous, sinless human. Here is the Ark of rescue from the judgement flood to come. Here is the descendant of Abraham come to bless all nations. Just look around! We’re from many nations. Here is the perfect Law-keeper, and the righteous eternal King.

And please note that Jesus knew that his death was not the end. Listen to verse 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Jesus was not some poor victim of circumstances outside of his control! He himself had planned this, with his Father and Spirit, united in purpose and love to rescue sinful humanity, and bring glory to the Godhead. All praise be to God! Such love that drives Jesus willingly to the cross. Did you notice verse 16? 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

All is prepared beforehand. This must be so. God is sovereign over all things, all events – even Judas, acting out of greed or frustration, we don’t know. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him God is sovereign but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born but we are responsible for the decisions we make. Our decisions are real decisions, with real consequences; and God is fully sovereign, knowing our thoughts before we think them, preparing the way of the Son before the dawn of time.
Be comforted. Evil cannot thwart God’s plans. You cannot jump out of his hands. They found it just as he had told them. And Jesus moved deliberately towards his great work on the Cross and completed that great work. And now history moves deliberately toward the Return of the King, the great day when the veil over our eyes will be torn away, and we will see reality as it truly is, the great King Jesus upon the eternal glorious throne.

So make the right decision. Your decisions have eternal consequences. Do not be like Judas, rejecting the King, for you too will hear “woe to you, it would be better if you were never born”. Instead, fall at his feet like this woman 2000 years ago, worshipping him with costly worship. And worship is the right response, because we have been rescued, set free, by him. Jesus bore our sin on the cross. It is gone.

There are two impossible applications, one for non-Christians, the other for Christians

One is to reject Jesus. To say that’s fine, Jesus did all that, but I’ll take my chances by myself. That’s the impossible application from this passage. This should drive you to repent, not to follow Judas. It ended badly for him – he hanged himself, and his insides burst open. Not a great end – but the spiritual end is even worse. Be warned.

The other impossible application – for Christians - is to live like I am the Passover Lamb. To live like I bear my sin. To live in guilt and fear. To believe that I can fall out of God’s hands at any moment, that his sacrifice was not sufficient to bring me to glory. That’s the impossible application.

Instead, let us rejoice and sing. Let us thank God. Let us shout aloud to the God of our salvation! Let us praise him in our hearts and minds every minute of every day. We are set free! He has rescued us! All praise to the Christ, King!

All praise to our Passover Lamb, Jesus, the Christ of God!