Mark 14:43-52

And turn to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. Page 851. Lord, we pray for God's help. Lord, be with us tonight and speak to us.

Mark 14 · chapter mention Mark 14 · chapter mention

! Help us to see Jesus more clearly. We pray this in his name. Amen.

What happens on the inside of something can be seen in what happens on the outside of something.

So if you have a poorly tummy on the inside, it starts to show on the outside, doesn't it?

Your face can become pale. Your eyes droop. You just don't look right.

So if you saw someone like that, you would think, oh, something's not right inside of them.

Something's going on there. Their tummy probably isn't right.

What happens on the outside shows us something happens on the inside.

And tonight, we're seeing some big and important moments in Jesus' life.

And on the outside of it, as we sit in the Garden of Gethsemane and watch all of this unfold,

on the outside of it, yes, it seems wrong what we're about to see.

Something distressing.

Something distressing.

Unfair.

Something isn't right on the outside.

and that is because something isn't right on the inside.

There is a deeper spiritual reality of events going on here.

There is something spiritually going on here.

God is doing something here in the garden,

something to do with his plan of redemption.

In this garden, God is saving us.

So on the outside, we will see Jesus being betrayed and hurt,

treated as a criminal, abandoned.

And all of this is happening because these outside events

are the symptoms of an inner spiritual saving reality

bubbling up and being seen on the outside.

So these events aren't just random or just coincidence

of how Jesus got to the cross.

No, in God's providence, these events unfold

to show us how exactly Jesus saves us.

They're outside symptoms of a deeper reality.

And so let's see the first outside symptom.

And it's this.

Jesus was betrayed.

Jesus was betrayed.

Still, in the quiet of Gethsemane,

Jesus has just been praying in agony to his father.

And then he's been speaking to his disciples.

But the quiet of the garden, it's disappearing.

Footsteps and voices approach.

And a familiar face begins to appear to Jesus.

Verse 43.

And immediately, while he was still speaking,

Judas came, one of the twelve.

And with him a crowd of swords and clubs

from the chief priests and scribes and the elders.

A crowd appears in this garden,

but they're holding swords and clubs.

You look closely.

This isn't just a normal crowd.

This is a mob.

It's a mob with, you can imagine,

pitchforks and torches.

This is a mob out for blood.

And who's leading the crowd?

It's Jesus' close friend, Judas.

Did you see what Mark calls him?

He calls him one of the twelve.

It's like saying, yeah, it's Judas.

And don't forget, he's one of the twelve disciples,

remember that?

One of Jesus' closest friends.

In school, I had a close group of friends.

It was the three of us.

It was me, Finn, and Will.

You could say, we were the three.

It was us three.

I was one of the three.

And we were best friends.

And we still are.

Well, this is how Judas is named.

Judas, one of the twelve.

One of the best friends.

Twelve friends who have been there

by Jesus' side from thick and thin.

And these words really sting

because Judas wasn't by his side that night.

Instead, he was rallying a mob

and he was plotting something against his friend.

Look at verse 44.

Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying,

The one I will kiss is the man.

Seize him and lead him away under God.

This mob from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders

have been after Jesus.

They don't like Jesus.

They don't like his teaching, his miracles.

He's come on the scene saying that he's the Messiah

and they hate it.

And so Judas joins with them and helps them.

And he plots with them.

He goes to them and says,

Hey, guys, I know where Jesus is going to be.

I know you want him.

I know where he's going to be.

He goes to this garden.

I can take you there.

And there will be a few other guys with him.

And you can imagine the mob,

the scribes and the priests,

like rubbing their hands.

Perfect.

Perfect.

But just a question, Judas.

How do we know which one is Jesus?

We really just want Jesus.

We need the right guy.

And Judas says,

Don't worry.

I'll show you.

The one I will kiss is the man.

Seize him and lead him away under God.

And that's exactly what happened.

Verse 45.

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.

Can you imagine the heartbreak

Jesus must have felt?

That's his friend.

When you see one of your close friends,

I'm sure you all have a close friend you can think of,

what feeling do you get inside of you

when you see them?

Getting off the bus,

getting off the train,

and knocking on the door.

When you see them,

there's a warmth inside of you,

isn't there?

There's kind of a trust.

You kind of feel like,

I'm in good company with you.

I'm safe with you.

Things are okay when I'm with you.

But when Jesus sees Judas coming,

he should have had that feeling.

But it just gets twisted

and shattered.

That feeling of warmth

gets turned into a stabbing pain in his back.

I thought you were my friend, Judas.

If any of you have been betrayed,

you might know how that feels.

You might think,

it hurts for me to even look at you.

Well, this hurts.

It really hurts.

And yes,

Jesus knew this was going to happen.

He said in verse 18 of this chapter,

one of you will betray you.

He knows it's Judas.

But it's one thing to know your loved one

will betray you,

and it's another to actually experience it

as they stare at you,

doing it right in front of you,

and kissing you on the cheek.

Judas has turned a loving greeting

to an act of treachery.

And as you look at this scene unfold,

you just want to cry out,

what are you doing, Judas?

Look how Jesus has loved you.

Look how wonderful Jesus is.

How could you do that, Judas?

What are you doing?

This is so ugly, isn't it?

And this scene,

it's a real warning for us.

If we walk away from Christ,

this is what we're doing.

We're stabbing Christ in the back

and siding with the enemy.

And it's really ugly.

And so,

if you're thinking about doing the same,

if you're here thinking about

walking away from the faith,

this is your warning.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

It's not a better option.

Look at the friend you have in Jesus.

Look how good he's been to you.

Don't do it.

Did you see what Mark

calls Judas in verse 44?

He stops calling him Judas

and he's called the betrayer.

The betrayer.

Judas

is defined by his sin here.

When you walk away forever,

you are defined by your sin forever.

Judas,

we know,

had never repented,

never sought forgiveness.

We know that

he just killed himself.

And so,

he is forever

written on these pages

in front of us

and labeled in God's eyes

the betrayer.

Judas is forever

the betrayer.

On the last day,

Judas' sins

will not be covered

by Judas.

God will look on him

and see

the betrayer.

And Judas

will be judged

accordingly.

And that's because

he never repented.

And that will be

the case for anyone

who doesn't repent.

They will be forever

defined by their sin.

But,

we need to know

that Judas,

he could have repented.

If Judas

came to Christ

after this

and sought forgiveness,

do you know

what would happen?

Christ would have

forgiven him.

Even with this sin.

This is quite possibly

one of the worst sins

ever recorded.

Betraying the

Son of God.

And Jesus

would have

forgiven him.

And that goes

for you too.

You can come

to Christ

and he will

forgive even

the most heinous,

despicable sins.

It doesn't matter

what you've done.

Christ can

forgive it.

And when you

come to Christ,

he completely

redefines who you are.

He takes

your sin

so you're

no longer

the betrayer

or the adulterer

or the murderer

or the liar,

he takes

that label

away from you,

throws it away

and then he

calls you friend.

But Judas

didn't do that.

He betrayed

Jesus,

stout him in the back

and then

never returned.

Jesus was

left there

forsaken

and crushed

by his friend.

the pain

and agony

that Jesus

felt on the cross.

It wasn't just

exclusive to the cross.

His suffering

didn't just happen

when he was nailed

to the cross.

He reached his

climax

on the cross

but he suffered

before that too

and it's happening

right here with Judas.

This moment

of betrayal,

it's an outside

symptom

and a picture

of what's going on

in the deeper

spiritual reality.

on the cross

Jesus felt

the pain

of being forsaken.

All warmth

and comfort

in him

was turned

to pain

and agony

and it was

so severe

on the cross

that it's appearing

in the events

of his life now.

It's like a stomach

bug

that's so bad

that you can see

it in your face

and in your skin.

This pain

he's feeling

now,

it's an outside

picture

of the inner

spiritual reality

that he will feel

on the cross.

Jesus being

stabbed

in the back

here

is a foretaste

of him being

stabbed

in his hands

and his feet.

Him being

forsaken

by his friend

here

is a picture

of him being

forsaken

on the cross.

But it doesn't

stop there

because he wasn't

just betrayed

but he was also

treated as a criminal.

That's my second point.

Jesus was treated

as a criminal.

Jesus was treated

as a criminal.

After this

Jesus faces up

to this mob

and he speaks up

which is pretty

striking.

He actually faces

up to them.

Imagine a bunch

of football

hooligans

and what's the

scary club?

Millwall.

Imagine a bunch

of Millwall

football

hooligans

coming up to you

with knuckle

dusters

and bats

and they're

stalking

straight at you

and imagine

you just said

hey,

what do you think

you're doing?

What do you think

you're trying to do

with me here?

Can you imagine

that scene?

Well that's what's

going on with Jesus

here.

Look at verse 48.

And Jesus said

to them

have you come out

as against

a robber

with swords

and clubs

to capture me?

Jesus looks

at this crowd

and says

why have you

come out

by this?

This is how

you treat

a criminal.

This is what

you do

when you're

on the hunt

for a fugitive

on the run.

And on top

of that

Jesus says

in verse 49

day after day

I was with you

in the temple

teaching

and you did

not see to me.

He says

I was in public

the whole time.

I've been open

to you

and you've had

your opportunity

this whole time.

I was even

just teaching

in the temple.

You've all come

from the chief

priests

and the scribes

and the elders.

You and your

bosses

have all seen me

yet you come

to me

and get me

like a mob

for a criminal.

Now we can

ask here

why didn't

they get him

before?

They did

see him

why didn't

they get him

before?

Why are they

coming out

like this?

Well we hear

a lot in

the gospels

that the

Jewish authorities

hated Jesus

but the people

the crowds

they loved

Jesus.

He drew

crowds to

himself

and showed

compassion

on them

that they

followed him

and they

couldn't wait

to hear his

teaching.

And so

even though the

Jewish authorities

hated Jesus

they were also

scared of the

people.

They knew

that if they

arrested Jesus

in public

while he's

teaching

while he's

standing up

they knew

that there'd be

an uproar

if that happened.

They knew

the people

would be crying

what are you

doing?

Get your hands

on him.

Have you not

seen his

miracles?

Have you

not heard

him teach

with authority?

Get your

hands off

him.

He hasn't

done anything.

What are you

doing?

And so

the authorities

this mob

they couldn't

do it in

public.

They had to

do it under

the cloak of

darkness.

There's another

reason.

Because

by coming to

Jesus with

swords and

clubs like

they are now

Jesus is

right in what

he says.

it makes

him out to

look like a

criminal.

He says

have you

come out

as against

a robber

with swords

and clubs

to capture

me?

This doesn't

make Jesus

look good

does it?

This is a

crafty way

of making

Jesus look

bad.

I love

watching

police TV

shows like

Road Wars.

Have you seen

Road Wars?

That's one of

my favourites.

I love

especially the

scenes where

they do

police raids

in someone's

house.

Like drug

dealers'

house.

or whoever.

And they'll

burst into

the house

with batons

and shields

and sometimes

guns, if it's

a good episode.

And you

always see

in those

police raids,

you always see

glimpses of

the neighbours

coming out of

their houses

and standing

outside watching.

And you know

that they're

all thinking

they've definitely

been up to

no good.

That must have

been drugs

or something

really bad.

You know,

just the

police raid

makes that

person look

guilty already,

doesn't it?

Well, this

crowd is like

that police raid.

It doesn't

matter what

Jesus has done.

It doesn't

matter that

Jesus is

sinless and

he's entirely

innocent.

This mob

just makes

him look bad.

It makes

people think,

oh well,

he must have

done something

bad.

They knew

they had

nothing to

hold against

him and

so they had

to misrepresent

him.

They had to

lie about

him.

But

interestingly,

Jesus doesn't

protest.

He doesn't

try to stop

them.

One of his

disciples tries

to stop him

in verse 47.

He swipes at

them with a

sword.

But Jesus

doesn't try

any of that.

He doesn't

let that

sword swing

play out.

Jesus simply

says at the

end of verse

49,

but let the

scriptures be

fulfilled.

He says,

you want to

label me as

a robber and

treat me as

a criminal.

Fine.

Let the

scriptures be

fulfilled.

And what

are the

scriptures being

fulfilled here?

Well,

Luke's gospel

gives us an

answer.

It's

Isaiah 53,

which is a

passage all

about a

suffering

servant who

saves us

from our

sins.

It says

this,

and he

was numbered

with the

transgressors.

He was

numbered with

the transgressors.

Scripture

says that the

saviour of

sinners must be

numbered with

the transgressors.

This is

Jesus becoming

the suffering

servant of

Isaiah 53.

So just let

me read out

that verse.

he poured

out his

son to

death and

was numbered

with the

transgressors,

yet he

bore the

sin of

many.

This scene

is Jesus

fulfilling

that prophecy.

This is

Jesus being

treated as a

criminal and

a sinner instead

of the real

sinners and

criminals.

This is

Jesus bearing

the sin of

many.

This is an

outward symptom

of the deeper

spiritual reality.

Christ being

treated as a

robber and

a criminal,

it shows how

he was treated

on the cross

under God's

wrath.

He was

cursed and

punished as a

criminal.

The sinless

Lord of

Glory,

the spotless

Lamb,

the perfect

King of

Kings,

that man

hung on a

cross as a

robber.

How awful.

And he

stands in

front of

this mob

and says,

okay,

treat me

like that.

Handcuff

me and

lead me

away.

I must

fulfill the

scriptures.

And why

did he

just take

it?

Why did

he just

take the

handcuffs?

Well, he

took them

so that

we would

never have

to work

them.

in this

scene, we

should be

crying out,

hold on,

I'm the

criminal.

I'm the

robber.

What's

going on

here?

And Jesus

says, yes,

you were,

but not

anymore.

Jesus was

numbered with

the transgressors

so that on

judgment day,

when God

looks at those

people defined

by their sin,

people like

Judas, the

transgressors,

the unrepentant

sinners,

when he

looks at

them to

put judgment

on them,

he did

this so

that you

won't be

there, so

that you

won't be a

part of

those

transgressors.

You

won't be

numbered with

the transgressors

because Jesus

was right

here.

On the

cross, God

declared on

Jesus in

his wrath,

criminal,

so that he

could say to

us today,

innocent.

Jesus was

truly

numbered with

the transgressors.

He was

treated as

a criminal.

But there's

a final thing

to see about

this fateful

evening, and

it's this,

Jesus was

abandoned.

Jesus was

abandoned.

So first,

he was

betrayed by

his friend,

then his

name was

smeared and

was labeled

as a criminal,

and to top

it all off,

look at verse

50.

And they

all left

him and

fled.

They all

left him

and fled.

Can you

believe that?

All of

his friends,

his disciples,

they just

abandoned

him.

The first

whiff of

danger,

they just

packed up

and turned

their backs

on Jesus.

He was

arrested,

barred,

and led

away to

the cross,

all alone.

He was

all alone.

No comfort,

no support,

no love.

Instead,

a taste of

betrayal and

abandonment in

his mouth.

And then

after that,

we hear a bit

of an unusual

account of one

of his followers

running away.

Did you notice

that in verse

51?

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.

And it

sounds a bit

funny,

this ending,

doesn't it?

It's a bit

of a weird

add-on.

Some people

over the

centuries have

thought that

this young

man here is

Mark, the

writer of this

gospel.

But we don't

know that,

we can't really

say that,

it's just a

guess,

and so I

don't put too

much confidence

in that.

But I

think the

point of

this character

here is to

show how

shameful it

was to

abandon

Jesus.

It says

they all

left him,

and then we

zoom in on

this one

person, a

young man

who followed

Jesus.

And he was

one of his

followers who

walked miles

with him,

it says he

followed him.

But as

soon as the

authorities

tried to

seize this

man,

perhaps they

kind of

grabbed his

clothing to

arrest him

to, this

young man

pulled away

lightly, and

his clothing

came off

with them,

and then he

became naked

and ran

away.

I think

we're told

this because

it's a shameful

thing to

abandon Jesus.

He was

abandoning

Jesus naked

and exposed

and shameful.

His nakedness

here is

showing a

shame in the

action.

All while

Jesus remains

bound and

made out to

be a criminal.

Yet Jesus,

he remains

there dignified

and heroic,

doesn't he?

As this man

shamefully runs

away from him.

This unusual

moment, this

unusual ending,

is highlighting

that sinners

shamefully fled

from the cross

while Jesus

heads straight

to it,

all on his

own.

only he

can do it,

and he

did it

alone.

It was not

an easy road

to the cross

for Jesus.

We have

thought about

that.

He was

betrayed,

despised,

mobbed,

misrepresented,

abandoned.

He wasn't

cheered on

his way to

Calvary.

He didn't

have friends

to comfort

him on the

way there.

He wasn't

surrounded by

people to

support him

and encourage

him and say,

keep on going,

come on,

you can do

it.

The road

was horrible

for Jesus.

There's a

question to

ask.

Why did it

have to be

so horrible?

Could not

Jesus have

come and

died quickly?

To put it

bluntly,

could Jesus

not have

come,

got shot,

died,

and boom,

done?

Why did

he have to

go through

such anguish

before the

cross?

this suffering

is not

just coincidental,

this suffering

is important

and necessary

because Jesus

had to be

plunged into

sin and

anguish,

into the

very depths

of it,

so that he

could save

us from the

depths of

sin and

anguish.

He had to

plumb the

depths of

our sin

to save

us from

it.

He had

to become

the lowest

of the

low and

experience

the worst

of the

worst to

save the

lowest of

the low

and the

worst of

the worst.

A few

years ago,

I was

helping someone

clear out

their pond.

Don't ask me

how I got

ripped into

that,

but we

were clearing

their pond

and we

had to

clear out

all the

bottom

filled with

dirt and

geese

poo and

bacteria and

it absolutely

stank.

We had to

clear it

all out to

cleanse the

pool.

And to

clear it

out, I

had to

plunge my

hand to

the very

bottom of

the pond

and hit

the top

and drag

everything up

and then

clear it

out.

I had to

plunge my

hand all

the way

down into

that, so

I couldn't

just briefly

skim the

surface and

be like,

okay, done,

it's clean

now.

The muck

would still be

there,

wouldn't it?

No, I

had to

get to

the lowest

point and

clear out

everything from

there.

Well, that

is what

Jesus is

doing here.

He's

plunging down

into the

very depths

of sin

and misery

and suffering

to the

lowest of

lows.

His

betrayal

is him

being thrown

into the

mud.

His arrest

is him

being driven

further down

to the

bottom.

His

abandonment

is him

being plunged

into new

lows.

all so

that he

can drag

us out

of the

depths

and bring

us into

fresh air

and raise

us to

new life.

This

wasn't easy

for Jesus.

The road

to the

cross was

not easy,

it was

horrible.

But brothers

and sisters,

he did

it for

you.

He was

forsaken

so we

would be

loved.

He was

called a

criminal

so that we

could go

free.

He was

abandoned

so that he

would never

leave us.

Let me pray.

He was