Rejected

And if you would open up your Bibles to Mark chapter 14, I will actually be preaching from

Mark 14 · chapter mention

43 all the way to 72, but it's in page 10, 11, and 1011, 1012 of your pew Bibles.

Let me ask you, have you ever been rejected?

Have you ever been abandoned?

Falsely accused.

Have you ever been mocked?

Denied?

Has someone actually denied knowing you?

We can come at this at another angle.

Have you rejected anybody?

Have you abandoned someone?

Have you falsely accused someone else?

Have you mocked someone?

Have you denied someone?

In Mark 14, Jesus is rejected.

And what we're going to see, it's all according to God's plan to save us.

Starting in chapter 8 of Mark, Jesus began telling his disciples that he would be rejected and that he'd be killed and that he'd be raised.

And what unfolds in chapters 14, 15, and 16 of Mark is the climax of this gospel.

So chapter 14, Jesus is rejected.

Chapter 15, Jesus is killed.

Chapter 16, Jesus is raised.

And it's all good news.

It's all good news.

It's all good news.

Because in his rejection, in his death, and in his resurrection, Jesus is revealed for who he truly is and what he's done for sinners like you and me.

Today, it's good news.

Today, what we're going to see is that Jesus is betrayed and he's betrayed out of greed.

We're going to see that Jesus is abandoned and he's abandoned because people fear what other people think more than they treasure Jesus.

And we're going to see Jesus condemned out of unbelief.

People don't believe who he is.

People are unwilling to submit to him.

Greed, fear of man, unbelief, it's all in Mark 14.

But do you know where it also is?

It's all in our sanctuary.

We deal with greed.

We deal with fear of man.

We have moments of unbelief.

So these sinful heart postures, well, you know what happens.

They're the cause for falling away from Jesus.

People fall away from Jesus out of greed.

People are ashamed of Jesus out of fear of man.

And people will not follow Jesus because they don't believe who he is.

If I were to ask you this morning, of all those three, greed, fear of man, unbelief,

if you had to pick one as the chief suspect for your falling away of Jesus, which one would it be?

The good news of Mark 14 is that in the midst of all this human failure,

all this rejection, abandonment, betrayal, false accusation, condemnation, and denial,

there is this unbelievable divine revelation.

It's in the midst of his rejection that he's truly revealed.

It's a climactic confession of the Christ.

And it will keep you from falling away.

Mark 14 begins with the chief priest two days prior to Passover plotting the death of Jesus.

And then Jesus is, in his own words, anointed for burial.

Following that, Judas approaches the chief priests in order to betray Jesus for money.

And then the disciples are in the upper room during the Passover.

And Jesus tells them that one of them will betray them as the scriptures are written.

Following that, they're out on the Mount of Olives.

And Jesus goes on to say, they're all going to be scattered according to Zechariah 13.

More it is written.

Then there's Gethsemane, those hours where Jesus in his turmoil is praying,

and Peter, James, and John are sleeping.

And that brings us to 43.

And what we're going to see unfold are several scenes.

Betrayal.

Abandonment.

False accusation.

Condemnation and mocking.

Even denial.

And in the middle of it all is a revelation.

Despite all this human failure,

Jesus remains faithful.

And it's lovely.

So let me pick up in verse 43.

And we're just going to walk through each of these scenes.

And then we're eventually going to bring it to bear in our lives.

Starting in verse 43.

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.

We know that's Peter from the other Gospels.

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.

What we see in verses 43-49 is an intentional betrayal.

Judas didn't betray Jesus by accident.

It wasn't a crime of passion in the moment.

This was premeditated betrayal.

Started days earlier.

And what Mark points out is that greed

played a significant role in Judas' betrayal of Jesus.

Have you ever been thrown under the bus?

Have you ever been thrown under the bus

by someone who wants to gain from it?

It's a taste.

Do you know what's amazing

about what we're reading here

of Judas' betrayal of Jesus?

It's all according to plan.

In 1421,

at the Passover,

Jesus is telling His disciples

that one of them will betray Him.

And in verse 21, He says,

For the Son of Man goes

as it is written of Him,

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.

According to plan.

If you look at verse 49,

after Jesus has been delivered

by the betrayer,

Jesus says,

but let the Scriptures be fulfilled

according to plan.

I think there's a good chance

that part of those Scriptures

being fulfilled is

Psalm 55, 12 through 15.

the betrayal of a close friend.

What's amazing about this

is God is sovereignly

orchestrating these events.

And yet,

Judas is fully responsible

for his actions.

For the Son of Man

goes as it is written,

but woe to the man

by whom the Son of Man

is betrayed.

What I want you to see here

is that Judas valued money

more than he treasured Jesus.

It was an intentional betrayal.

And it was according to plan.

We move from 43 to 49,

and now,

in verses 50 through 52,

we read of a shameful

abandoning of Jesus.

In verse 50,

we read,

and they all left him and fled.

And a young man,

verse 51,

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.

In verse 50,

and they all left him.

Do you know who they're talking about?

Mark's talking about the disciples

who just hours before

were,

they were in the Mount of Olives,

and they all said,

we will never deny you,

Jesus,

even if we must die.

Look at verse 31.

And here,

just hours later,

they all leave him.

They fled.

They abandoned him.

And in verses 51 through 52,

the writer of this gospel,

Mark,

makes a cameo.

Scholars think that this is

actually Mark,

and who was intentionally

following Jesus,

but is then seized,

and then they grab

his linen garment,

and then he runs away naked.

When the Bible talks

about nakedness,

it's often talking about

nakedness in terms

of humiliation,

exposure,

and shame.

We're not talking about

a guy who for his

30 seconds of fame

is running naked

on a football field.

Not that.

Not trying to get glory.

This is shame.

Why would the disciples

abandon Jesus?

They've been walking

with him for three years.

Why would they abandon him?

They were afraid.

Here's this crowd

with swords and clubs.

They fear their association

with Jesus,

and so they bail on Jesus.

They're unwilling to suffer

for Jesus.

They shrink away

in their shame.

I don't know what I would have done.

What would you have done?

Ashamed of Jesus,

afraid of the crowds.

They shrink away

in cowardice.

And what we see happening here,

this rejection of Jesus,

at the heart of it,

is a fear of man.

Looking out for yourself.

And you know what?

It was all according to plan.

If you look up at verse 27,

and Jesus said to his disciples

of the Mount of Olives,

you will all fall away,

for it is written,

I will strike the shepherd

and the sheep will be scattered.

Zechariah 13, 7.

Just let you guys know,

you're all going to bail on me.

And then it happens.

In verse 49,

we see that scripture,

but let the scriptures

be fulfilled.

It's Judas delivering up Jesus,

but it's also what follows.

And they all left him and fled.

It all fulfills.

This is according to plan.

Betrayed,

abandoned,

and then falsely accused.

In 53 and 54,

they've laid hands on Jesus,

and he's brought to the house

of the high priest for a trial.

It's sketchy.

But in verse 54,

Peter also followed at a distance.

And he just wants to blend in.

So he sits next to some guards

and warms himself by the fire.

The next time we're going to see Peter

is in verse 66.

After Jesus is condemned.

But in verses 55 through 61,

Jesus is falsely accused.

Look at verse 55.

Now the chief priests

and the whole council

were seeking testimony

against Jesus

to put him to death,

but they found none.

Does anybody else see

the miscarriage of justice

going on there?

Do you see what they're doing?

That the most powerful men

in Israel

have already decided

that Jesus

should be killed.

And so what they're doing now

is they're taking auditions

for potential witnesses

to give testimony

that in fact

he's worthy to be killed.

It's backwards.

This is a miscarriage of justice.

In verses 55 through 59,

there's this comedy of errors.

There's this,

these testimonies

of these witnesses

that they're saying,

hey, we did this,

he did this,

and did this,

and whatever.

But none of them can agree.

And so even in verse 58,

look it,

some stood up

and bore false witness

against them saying,

we heard him say,

I will destroy this temple

that is made with hands,

and in three days

I will build another

not made with hands.

Jesus,

what they're referring to

is Jesus talking about

his death and resurrection.

But they don't see it.

And even this,

verse 59,

their testimony did not agree.

Do you know what that means?

Jesus is innocent.

Jesus is innocent.

He's being railroaded.

In verse 60,

the high priest

takes matters

into his own hands.

He's like,

great.

All right,

let me try another tact.

In verse 60,

the chief priest,

the high priest,

says to Jesus,

have you no answer to make?

What is it

that these men

testify against you?

What are they talking about?

this temple being destroyed

and being built back

without human hands?

What's striking

is what happens next

in verse 61.

The high priest

asked Jesus a question

and in verse 61,

but he remained silent

and made no answer.

That,

brothers and sisters,

is an illusion

back to Isaiah 53,

Isaiah 53:7

verse 7.

Let me turn there with you.

Turn there with me.

It's on page 729

of your pew Bible.

If you're familiar

with Isaiah 53,

it is a prophecy

of the suffering servant.

This one who would come

and die

for his people.

Verse 7,

He was oppressed

and he was afflicted,

yet he opened

not his mouth.

Like a lamb

that is led

to the slaughter

and like a sheep

that before its shears

is silent,

so he opened

not his mouth.

But he remained silent

and made no answer.

It's all

according

to plan.

Jesus had

to be falsely accused.

He had to be abandoned.

He had

to be betrayed.

This is all

according to plan.

And now we get

to the climax

of this passage.

It's in verses 61

and 62.

The high priest,

seeing that Jesus

will not answer him,

he goes like

point blank,

direct question.

Are you the Christ?

The son of the blessed?

Now that might sound

a little strange in your ear,

son of the blessed.

And what it is

is a Jewish euphemism.

What that means is

instead of the high priest

actually saying

the name of God,

he's using

a different word

in order to honor God.

What he's actually saying

is,

are you the Christ,

the son of God?

If you would flip back

in the gospel of Mark

to chapter 1,

verse 1.

Do you remember

where this gospel started?

This is Mark

and this is like

the purpose statement

of the book.

He wants

the reader

to believe this.

in the beginning

of the gospel,

the good news of Jesus,

the Christ,

the son of God.

And here we have

the high priest

questioning that

to Jesus.

Are you the Christ?

Are you the son of God?

Now mind you,

Jesus has been very careful

all throughout

the gospel here,

all of what Mark

has recorded,

as to be very careful

of what gets shared

about him.

Remember,

like demons would say,

I know who you are

and Jesus is like,

you be quiet.

Do you remember

in Jairus' house,

Peter, James, and John

are with Jairus

and his wife.

Jesus raises

Jairus' daughter

and he tells them,

don't tell anybody this.

Coming down

from the mountain

which he was transfigured,

he tells Peter,

James, and John,

don't tell anybody this

until after I'm

raised from the dead.

Jesus has been

tapping down

what gets said

about him

and it raises

why?

For this moment,

this moment,

he's been waiting

to go public.

He knew this

was going to happen

and at this

very moment

when the high priest

who's representative

of all of Israel

said,

are you the Christ,

the son of the blessed?

What does Jesus say?

He said,

I am.

And you will see

the son of man

at the right hand of power,

another euphemism for God,

and coming with the clouds

of heaven.

Coming with the clouds

of heaven

is a reference

to Daniel chapter 7,

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

the son of man

who would be given

dominion

and be given

a kingdom

that is eternal

and indestructible

and he's given it

by the ancient of days

and he's going to

establish this kingdom

from people

from all the nations.

So Jesus goes public

with who he is

in the midst

of all this rejection.

This passage

is actually about

who Jesus is.

Jesus is

what's more spectacular

than claiming

to be the son of man.

If there's anything,

can there be anything

more spectacular

than that?

Are those two words

I am?

The high priest,

point blank,

are you the Christ?

Are you the son

of the blessed?

Initially,

you take this

I am

as kind of like

yes.

Well, yes,

I am the Christ.

Yes,

I am the son of God.

Yes,

I am the son of man.

But,

but those two words

are more than agreement.

Those two words

are claim.

Claiming

of who he is,

of his identity.

He's claiming

to be the great I am

as in Exodus chapter 3,

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

as in the burning bush,

as in God speaking

to Moses,

sending him to Pharaoh

and say,

tell that guy,

let my people go.

And then Moses was like,

well,

I'll go,

but who do I tell them

sent me?

And then God responds,

I am who I am.

Tell them,

I am sent you.

The deliverer.

Exodus.

What Jesus is doing here

is saying,

I'm the great I am.

I'm the deliverer.

I'm bringing about

a new Exodus

and a new people.

This is a clear

and climactic claim

of the Christ.

He goes public.

And we've been waiting

for this to happen.

This is the moment

in the midst

of his rejection.

He says,

I am the Christ.

I'm the son of God.

I am the son of man.

I am the I am.

And so Christ the King

Church,

behold your king

rejected

and revealed.

It's all according

to plan.

He's been waiting

for this moment.

And what happens next

is his condemnation

and mockery.

Verses 63 through 65.

63,

the high priest

responds by saying,

we don't need

any more witnesses.

We've heard his blasphemy.

What's your decision?

That blasphemy charge

should ring a bell

to Mark chapter 2

Mark 2 · chapter mention

where Jesus,

instead of healing

the paralytic,

tells him,

your sins are forgiven.

And then the scribes

in the room

say to themselves,

what?

That's blasphemous.

Only God can forgive sins.

Which is the point.

He is the great I am.

And the high priest

completely understood

his claim.

He tore his garments,

which is a gesture

of terrible grief

and the Sanhedrin,

the most powerful men

in Israel,

the elders

and the scribes

and the chief priests,

they reject him

and contend him

to death.

They reject the Christ.

They reject

the Son of God.

They reject

the Son of Man.

They reject

the great I am

who is there

to deliver

his people.

They rejected him.

And it's all out

of unbelief.

They don't see him

for who he is.

They choose not

to believe him.

And so,

if they don't believe him,

they're not going to

give him full reign

of their lives.

this Jesus,

well,

he's not going to be

killed,

executed by the Jews.

They don't have authority

to do that.

But Pilate does.

And we'll see that

next week

in chapter 15.

What I want you

to look at

is verse 65.

And some began

to spit on him

and to cover his face

and to strike him

saying to him,

prophesy.

It was a game.

Here's what was happening.

They would take

some kind of fabric

and put it over

Jesus' head

and punch him

in the face

and say,

which one of us

did that?

Prophesy.

Prophesy,

son of man.

Prophesy,

son of God.

Prophesy,

Christ.

Tell us,

who's going to

punch you next

in the face?

Do you see

the mockery?

This too

is according to plan.

Jesus said so.

In chapter 10,

verse 33 and 34,

they're on their way,

he and his disciples,

into Jerusalem.

And Jesus says,

see,

we are going up

to Jerusalem

and the son of man

will be delivered

over to the chief priests

and the scribes.

That's happened.

And they will condemn

him to death.

It happened.

And deliver him

over to the Gentiles.

It's about to happen.

And they will mock him,

prophesy,

and spit on him.

We just saw it.

And flog him

and kill him.

And after three days,

he will rise.

Do you see?

See,

this is all

according to plan.

Remarkably,

all according to plan.

And then in verses

66 through 72,

we move from

this condemnation

and mockery

to

Peter's denial.

And not just once,

three times.

The last time we saw

Peter was in 54.

He was warming himself

by the fire,

just blending in

with some of the guards.

And then what follows

is three denials.

Denial one is 67 and 68.

This slave girl,

she's like,

says to Peter,

hey,

hey,

hey,

I know you.

You're with that

Nazarene Jesus.

Yes.

To which he plays

like the dumb card.

I neither know

nor understand

what you mean.

And then he leaves

the scene.

He's like,

I have no knowledge

of him.

I don't know

what you're talking about.

There's a contrast

being developed here.

Jesus is faithful

before the most powerful

men in Israel.

Peter folds

like a cheap suit

before a lowly

servant girl.

The second denial

happens in 69 and 70.

That same servant girl

starts talking

to some bystanders.

There,

this man is one of them.

So now word is getting out.

It's incrementally

getting a little bit

more tense.

Peter,

in his Galilean accent,

denies it.

And then in verse 70

and 71,

now the bystanders

bystanders

who were there,

they say to him,

certainly you are

one of them

for you are a Galilean.

We hear your accent.

But he began

to invoke a curse

on himself

and to swear,

I do not know

this man of whom

you speak.

You've got to understand

the forcefulness

of that third denial.

He invokes

a curse.

He swears.

He's like saying this,

I swear

by all things

holy,

I do not know

this man of whom

you speak.

That's the force.

He's being contrasted

to Jesus.

His denial

contrasted to Jesus'

true confession.

And he's being likened

to the false witnesses

who are trying

to make a testimony

stick,

but he was innocent,

Peter's more like

the false witnesses.

And what you need

to understand

is this denial

is paramount

to lying.

It's a lie.

He knows Jesus.

Imagine all that Peter

has seen

and heard

over the last

three years.

He was in the boat

when Jesus

stilled the waters.

He saw that

man possessed

by a legion

of demons

made calm.

He saw the woman.

He was there

when she was healed

of her 12 years

of bleeding.

And he was in the room

when Jairus' daughter

was,

what do you mean

you don't know him?

He saw the 5,000 fed

and the 4,000 fed.

What do you mean?

And he said,

what do you mean?

Judas didn't go this far.

He denied him.

In his shame,

in his fear,

he denied him.

And it was all

according to plan.

Verse 72.

Cockadoodledoo!

A rooster

announces fulfillment.

If you look back

at verse 30,

Jesus says to Peter,

truly I tell you,

this very night

before the rooster

crows twice,

you will deny me

three times.

Verse 72.

And Peter remembered.

Cockadoodledoo!

Peter remembers!

Before the rooster

crows twice,

you will deny me

three times.

It's verbatim.

And he breaks down

and weeps.

He's cut to the quick.

Betrayed.

Abandoned.

Falsely accused.

Condemned and mocked.

And denied.

What is this passage

all about?

This passage

is actually about

who Jesus is.

this passage

is about rejection,

yes,

but above and beyond

that,

it's about revelation.

There's a striking contrast

between the false

accusers

and Jesus'

truthfulness.

There's a contrast

between the high priest

representing the people

and rejecting Jesus,

but Jesus

staying true,

being rejected

for his people.

and there's the contrast

between Peter

who folds like a cheap suit

before a lowly

slave girl

to save his skin

and Jesus

who boldly reveals himself

before the most powerful men

in the land

to save us.

There's this striking contrast

and it's all

according to plan.

His betrayal

was according to plan.

Psalm 55.

His abandonment

was according to plan.

Zechariah 13.

His falsely being accused

was according to plan.

Isaiah 53.

His condemnation

and mockery

was according to plan.

Jesus himself,

Matthew 10.

And his denial by Peter

all according to plan.

The climax of this passage,

what is to get your attention,

is that pile up of titles

in 61 and 62.

He's the Christ.

He's the Son of the Blessed.

He is the Son of Man.

And he is the great I Am.

Behold your King,

Christ the King Church.

In rejection,

he's revealed

as God.

God.

In fact,

if you were to ask,

well,

why is this

according to God's plan?

Why this way?

Well,

this ends up being

good news for us

because it's because

of his rejection

it resulted in our salvation.

He had

to go through this

so that he could

and would

save us.

So what?

What do we do with this?

Well,

I have three things

written down here.

I'm going to hit two.

So what?

First thing is this.

There's a warning.

There's a warning

against greed,

against the fear of man,

against unbelief

that's unwilling

to yield control

of your life to Jesus.

It's a warning

about rejecting Jesus.

It's a warning

of going wayward

from Jesus.

Either from greed

or from fear of man

or from unbelief.

So this morning,

you know what I was doing?

I was praying.

I was,

Lord,

Lord,

Lord,

is there

one of these three,

is there something

in me right now

that is displeasing

in you

that would result

in my waywardness

from Jesus?

And as I was praying,

do you know what happened?

I'm like,

man,

I need to text my mom

because she asked me

what did I want

for my birthday

and I mean,

there's those cool pants

and then there are

these like,

this like tailgate pad

for my bike

and you know,

you know,

maybe some cool handlebars

and some great,

I literally hit four things.

I asked God,

God,

which one of these

would get in the way?

And then,

I went materialistic.

God showed me.

He exposed my heart

right there.

He shows me

for the greedy man I am.

It was a joy to confess it.

I was so grateful.

It is,

I can actually see

a number of these things

leading to my falling away.

But thanks be to God.

His grace is greater.

fear.

So there's a warning here,

brothers and sisters.

So if,

if you were to ask

these three,

greed,

fear of man,

unbelief of Jesus,

who he is,

if you were to say,

what would be the chief suspect

of these three

that would lead me away?

Which one would it be?

How's it showing up now?

Second,

there's a warning,

but there is a way forward.

How does a Christian

not fall away from greed?

How does a Christian

not shrink back

in the fear of man?

How does a Christian

or someone who's considering

becoming a Christian

not,

not give Jesus

full sway of their life

because they don't believe

who he is?

How do you,

how do you keep that

from happening?

You fight waywardness

from Jesus

with the worship

of Jesus.

That's how you fight.

You fight waywardness

from Jesus,

what would lead you astray

from worshiping Jesus

for who he is.

And,

and the material for that

is right here

in this passage.

In verses 61 through 62,

there's this pile up

of,

of,

of these titles.

The Christ,

the Son of God,

the Son of Man,

the I Am.

And you know how you fight?

You speak these

to Jesus

in a prayer of adoration.

Go something like this.

Jesus,

you are the Christ.

Jesus,

you,

you are

the Psalm 2

Son of God.

Jesus,

you are

the Daniel 7

Son of Man.

And Jesus,

you are

the Exodus 3

I Am.

You are

these things.

You,

you speak that

to him.

And when you do that,

you give your heart,

you,

you give the

captain's chair

of your heart

to the great I Am.

And out of that,

of,

of who Jesus is,

you deny yourself.

You take up your cross

and you follow him

out of joy.

You,

and so,

what I'm suggesting is,

the way forward

is Jesus.

Make Jesus

climactic confession

to the Sanhedrin,

your daily confession

of worship

to him.

And when you do,

you'll find yourself

treasuring Jesus

more than greed,

more than cool pants,

more than the fear

of man.

And it shrinks

unbelief.

I was going to tell you

there's a third

application.

Wonder.

Anybody else

shocked

by how God

can remain

sovereign over

all things

and yet hold

every person

responsible

for their

actions.

It is a wonder.

A wonder.

And he

did all these things.

He orchestrated

all this

to save

you and me.

It's beautiful.

people.

This morning

we've seen

Jesus

in the midst

of all this

rejection

make an

unbelievably

believable

revelation.

revelation.

That he is

the Christ.

The son of God.

The son of man.

The great I am.

And we see him

for who he is.

The suffering

Messiah.

Behold your king.

Rejected and revealed.

And next week

you will behold

your king

killed

and confessed

as the son of God.

It's all good news.

Let's pray.

God in heaven

we so

need to be

reminded of ourselves

and our

our postures of heart

that can lead us

astray

but it's

seeing you

Lord Jesus

hearing you

say who you

are

that puts

in our

hearts

a joy

and a

treasuring of you

that

that crowds

out greed

and crowds

out the fear

of man

and crowds

out unbelief.

Lord Jesus

thank you for being

rejected for us

and thank you

for revealing

yourself to us

and giving us

eyes to see

and hearts to believe

in Jesus name

Amen.