Is it I, Lord? | Mark 14:10-21 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Me meeting in Mark chapter 14, please, as we begin together,

Mark 14 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 10 of this chapter.

It's always a joy to hear your voices in song and now it's a

time to hear God's voice in his Word.

As you're aware, on more than one occasion the Lord Jesus told

his disciples that there was a time coming where he would die,

that he would be buried, that he would be resurrected.

But there's an important detail in those predictions, which

total number of three in the Gospel of Mark that he would be

handed over, He'd be delivered to the chief priests and the

scribes, and they would be the agents that would judge him and

condemn him to death. And what you and I have before

us in this text is the entry point of the realization of that

prediction. This is going to serve as the

beginning of the drama of Christ's atoning death and

resurrection. We are now going to unfold the

anticipated sacrifice that will serve as the provision for

humanity's redemption. And as we journey on this path

of discovering, rediscovering, reinforcing the story of our

salvation, there are wonderful inspirations and insights and

instructions that await to be harvested.

And that is the case with this particular portrait of Jesus's

life, where he is now ready to celebrate a unique Passover with

the 12. And there are indeed spiritual

pearls that await to be stringed together so that these truths

can be bound on our hearts and that they can be tied around our

necks like Proverbs speaks about.

And the way we're going to see these things is by considering

three important observations about this particular Passover

feast. The first thing is the

preparation for this Passover. The second thing will be the

proclamation during this Passover.

And lastly, we will look at the prophecies about this Passover.

And so I want us to read from verse 10.

Down to verse 21 in one sitting to get an idea of what we're

going to examine more carefully. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one

of the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray him

to them. And when they heard it, they

were glad and promised to give him money, and he sought an

opportunity to betray him. 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?

And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the

city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.

Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the

house. The teacher says, Where's my

guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready.

There, prepare for us. And the disciples set out and

went to the city, and found it just as he had told them, And

they prepared the Passover. And when it was evening he came

with the 12th. And as they were reclining a

table and eating, Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, One of you

will betray me, one who is eating with me.

They began to be sorrowful and to say to him, one after

another, Is it I? He said to them, it is one of

the 12 one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

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. Father, I admit my weakness.

We all admit our frailty. We ask that the word would work

in. US and Lord, as this word is

shared, that you would work through it.

We desperately need you to change us and it cannot happen

unless we depend on you in prayer.

So Lord, we do not assume that just because we have this room

that we sang some songs and that we have Bibles before us that

things will occur. We ask Lord, that you would

bless this time and that we would sense your blessing.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen. If you and I meditate on verse

12 alone, there are two sparks that will surely kindle our

hearts toward Christ. Let us consider firstly the

preparation for this Passover. We see here that Jesus is

approached by his disciples. Jesus is approached by this

whole group, and they are the ones who inquired about

preparing for this feast. It wasn't Jesus who initiated

it, it was in Jesus who brought them in and commanded them.

It was the 12 who are mindful and vocal about their

willingness to volunteer to meet this requirement.

And this already is truly admirable.

It's something that is worth seeing as inspiration.

You know, it's one thing as disciples of Jesus Christ to be

willing to serve the Lord. It's another thing to look for

opportunities to serve. As these men did, there's an

interesting place in one of the the short epistles.

It's it's a book of Titus and you don't have to turn there.

But Titus speaks about good works, good works, good works.

And they're in Titus three. He actually tells Titus to tell

his people to be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Later he actually says to learn to devote themselves to good

works. But before in Titus 214, he says

that Jesus Christ died for a peculiar people.

That they might be. Zealous for good works, zealous

for good works. So not just to devote yourself

to good works, but to be passionate about it.

If you're if you're zealous about anything, you're going to

pursue it with conviction, with excitement, with discipline.

And this is what the Spirit is saying to his people, be zealous

for good works. And that's modeled here, I

believe it with these disciples. There's a lot of things about

the disciples that disappoint us, But right here in this

snapshot, we should be moved that they approach the Lord and

they say, Lord, what do you want us to do now?

What is it that what? What's the next?

Mission. What's the next task?

You know, somebody made a very humbling observation about the

church at large. The church, he said, is often

like a soccer stadium. Where you have 11 people on the

field who are in desperate need of rest and thousands of people

in the stands who are in desperate need of exercise.

How true it is that that is the tempo.

That is kind of the environment of many local churches.

Maybe a handful of people who are excited to serve God, not

just attend, but serve God. And they're doing a lot, they're

caring a lot. And a lot of people are like at

a game watching. Who are in desperate need of

spiritual exercise may not be so of Maranatha Bible church in

Jesus name but at the same time though these.

Disciples came to the Lord and they volunteered their hearts

and their hands. You see Christ responding by

commissioning only two of them. Isn't that what we see in verse

13? And he sent two of his

disciples. Now the two are actually named

when you look at Luke's account, which you don't have to turn to.

But in Luke 22, verse eight, it was Peter and John.

He sent Peter and John to prepare this feast.

And there's application even in this.

You see, although we might all want to be willing and even

eager and seek opportunity to serve, at the same time we have

to accept that the Lord will delegate and distribute

different opportunities to serve.

And we have to trust in His wisdom.

So as much as you might be excited, also know that you must

be trusting in his leading. Because I know that there are

other people who want to serve, who are looking for

opportunities to serve, but are also frustrated.

Frustrated perhaps because they want to serve in a particular

way. They want to exercise certain

gifts that they may not even have.

But I see also the submission of these disciples who though they

came collectively to the Lord Christ says, OK, I'm going to

select two of you now you go. And so be willing to serve and

be willing to even wait at times for the Lord to call you when he

needs to call you and providentially open the door for

you when He wants to. All you have to do is be like a

servant on your feet ready to be commissioned when the master

commissions. And that's one simple truth, but

the second truth from verse 12 alone.

Again, we are warming ourselves at the fire of meditation.

It's not from the disciples necessarily, but from Jesus

himself. When the disciples approach

Christ and asking to do what is necessary to prepare for the

feast, they're implying, and obviously it's implying to us

that they're going to eat this feast with who Jesus, that

they're going to observe and commemorate this Passover

together. Now you might miss this unless

you have an understanding of the Old Testament, because in the

Old Testament where this Passover was instituted, we're

not only told there when the Passover is supposed to be

observed. We're not only told how the

Passover is supposed to be recognized, we're also even

instructed with whom you're supposed to celebrate this feast

with. I want you to see it with your

own eyes in Exodus chapter 12 beginning in verse one, and see

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

how this reflects upon the heart of Jesus for His followers.

Exodus 12 beginning in verse one.

Remember that this was a feast created by the Lord Himself in

order to remember the. Exodus, and at the very time of

the original exodus out of. Egypt into the promised land.

This is what the Lord says in verse one of this text.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt.

This month shall be for you the beginning of months.

It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of

this month every man shall take a lamb according to their

father's houses, a lamb for a household.

And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and

his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of

persons, according to what each can eat.

You shall make your count for the lamb.

So you see here that the institution calls for the feast

to be honored by each household. And that's confirmed by verse

four that if that household was too small, then they can extend

the invitation to the nearest neighbor to eat of the lamb

together. And there are.

Awesome practical truths. Even in this, though, this feast

is not binding on us as Christians in the New Covenant.

There are principles here, surely, about family worship,

how to honor the Lord as a unit that share the same blood.

But more than that, I want us just to see how this points to

what Jesus is saying about his own. 12 Did Jesus have an

earthly family? He did have an earthly family.

But is there any indication at this point in Mark that Jesus

celebrated the the Passover with his earthly family?

No, Who is he celebrating it with the 12th?

What does that mean? I believe the explanation is

given to us in a different part of the Gospel of Matthew.

In Matthew we read here in chapter 12 verse 15.

You don't have to turn there, but listen to the words of Jesus

in Matthew 1250. For whoever does the will of my

Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

Do you see this? What is Christ saying about his

own, even in the way he's celebrating the Passover?

These 12 are my family because they're doing the will of the

Father. See, when you give your life to

Christ, you are not becoming a subject to His Kingdom.

Merely Jesus Christ goes a step further than that and He adopts

you into his family. He makes you one of his own.

He brings you to himself and I wonder how many people in this

room view their relationship with Christ in such a way.

It's very easy and understanding the sovereignty of God, yes,

even God and his sovereignty coming as a Savior,

understanding his love, but it's very.

Easy to see how the appropriate response would be to say I'm

your servant, you're my Lord. Whatever you asked me to do, I

will do. My life belongs to you.

That's, that's quite simple. What's more difficult to grasp

is that he calls you his son, his daughter, his friend.

That's what people wrestle with. That's what people find

hesitation to leap into and to enjoy and experience in their

Christian journey. And yet Christ in direct ways

and indirect ways, wants us to believe that, that you have that

kind of relationship with the living God.

And we have to understand it. And I'll tell you why I believe

that this is so important to the heart of Christ because he he

dispels something. In one of the first statements

he makes after his resurrection, Christ says something so

profound that is applicable to you and I and understanding, OK,

I'm studying who Jesus is, but who's Jesus now?

He's resurrected, he's ascended. Is there any indication of what

he's like now? And the Bible gives us plenty of

evidence. Mary.

Mary who went to the tomb and wanting to find Christ, bumps

into what she perceives to be the gardener, and it's in fact

Jesus. And she realizes that, and Jesus

says something to her. Jesus commissions her to go to

the disciples and to reveal that he is in fact alive.

And what does Jesus say to Mary? And John?

Chapter 20, verse 17, Let me read the words of Jesus to you.

He said here, Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have

not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my who brothers, Not

my servants, not my subjects, not my ministers, not my

apostles. Go to my brothers, go to my

brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father, and your

father to my God and your God. Now it's moving enough to see

that Christ would use such familial language to mere

creatures. But what's more?

Moving is when you. Consider the timing of him

identifying the disciples as such.

Where? Were the disciples when he sent

Mary to fetch for them where? They were cowering in fear.

They denied him not too long ago, they distanced themselves.

They were in doubt, they were in unbelief.

And yet Jesus and understanding their current condition still.

Calls them my brothers. You know what that means for you

and I failing, stumbling Christian, listen to this.

Christ is committed to you. He's committed to you.

I know that might be hard to believe, but that's why you need

to get to the word and see the heart of Jesus.

He calls them my brothers, even though they have failed him

after 24/7 attendance before Christ, they they come to this

point we're even on the night of his betrayal, they boasted we're

willing to die with you. Oh really?

And so he sends a woman as a witness.

She's going to tell him, Jesus said, tell my brothers that.

That's the grace of Christ. That's what you have to put your

hope and day in and day out, not just when you you feel good in

your walk with the Lord, but even like these disciples, when

your head is down and your heart is sinking and you're wondering,

where did I go wrong? Tell my brothers.

And the Lord gives Peter and John back in Mark 14 somewhat

strange instructions. Let's go back to our text and

read it again in verse 13 down. And he sent two of his disciples

and said to them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar

of water will meet you. Follow him and wherever he

enters, say to the master of the house, The teacher says, where's

my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

This seems to be intentionally vague.

So he recruits these two, He launches them out and he gives

them a set of instructions. And it seems to be like this

undercover mission. And one of the first things that

he tells them to do is, is to go and look for this man with a jar

of water. And he's going to lead you and

you're going to find this place, and that's the place where it's

going to be. But why is Christ being so

cryptic? Like many of Jesus's

instructions, he does not provide much explanation, right?

Because he wants faith from you and I.

But if you want to know answers to what seems to be a mysterious

thing in one of your readings of the text, always do this.

This is what you always have to do, and you always come to a

closer place of finding an answer.

Look at the context. Look at the context.

That's the key. What happened right before Jesus

was approached by the disciples and Jesus sent two of them in

this way? Go back to verse 10.

What do we read? Judas Iscariot, who was one of

the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray them,

to betray him to them. So what we see here is that

Judas, we learn now Judas is ready to at any moment report

where Christ is at the right opportunity and have the

authorities arrest the Lord. And you know who was aware?

Of that the Lord. Jesus knew what Judas was up to.

And, and Jesus here at this time and giving these instructions in

this way was to conceal the details of his next location in

order to blind Judas and to prevent him from doing this evil

thing. It wasn't time.

Do you understand that Jesus was not only in control of His

passion, He was absolutely sovereign over every single

second of it? He would be betrayed later that

night, but not at that time of the night.

Why? Because Christ had to do a few

things, share a few things, teach a few things to his own

before he would be betrayed. Christ, as we're going to learn

in the weeks to come, is going to institute the Lord's Supper

at this Passover feast. Christ, according to John 13 to

John 17, is going to pour out precious and powerful truths for

the 12 and for disciples to come.

And so when he gives these instructions, surely Judas was

in attendance and was listening very carefully.

But what Christ did was leave out the necessary details, to

leave him in the dark, all the wisdom of Jesus.

All the brilliance of the mind of Christ, you and I just a

moment ago didn't understand why he only sent two and not all of

them. Now you know.

We didn't understand, perhaps at first why he's, he's giving

these mysterious plans. Now we know.

Can I tell you something, please?

Would you trust Christ? Always, Always.

If you're in the dark at any point, don't you dare fall into

the temptation of criticizing his wisdom or doubting his

heart. He knows.

He always knows. Cling to him, obey him, worship

him and watch him lead you perfectly, perfectly.

And so he says, go enter into the city and you're going to

find a man with a jar of water. You have to remember that this

was what, during the Passover, hundreds of thousands of people.

Were cramming the streets. The hustle and the bustle, the

noise, the purchasing, the planning, the last second

arrangements. You can imagine how crazy it

was. How is identifying a man with a

jar of water going to be significant evidence to identify

the person who's supposed to lead them?

Unless you understand that it was not common for a man in the

public to carry a jar of water. Because that's what the

Scriptures tell us, that this task was designated exclusively

generally for woman. And you get hints of that in the

scriptures. You see it in Genesis 2411 with

Rebecca, that when Abraham's servant is looking for a wife

for his son, he goes to the well at the time where the woman come

out and draw water. You see it in the New Testament

with the woman at the well in John chapter four.

It was a custom for a woman to go fetch, deliver water.

Men did not do that chore. And so now it makes a little bit

more sense. This man will stand out surely

to the disciples. But before we move on too

quickly, what does that say about this man?

Because evidently Christ and giving this plan to these two

disciples pre arranged these things.

He pre arranged them the, the man with the the room had it

ready. So whether he did so naturally

or supernaturally, we're not told.

But he did pre arrange these things.

And so here's what I learned about this man with a jar of

water. He was willing to obey Christ no

matter how it made him look in public, that he was willing to

play even a small part in this greater drama of redemption.

And what was his part? To carry A jar of water so that

two of the 12 disciples can say. That's the guy.

Let's follow him. And so I see something about

humility. I see something about

inspiration from this unnamed soul who loved Christ enough to

do his bidding, as small as it may have been.

But the inspiration doesn't stop there.

Never mind the man with the jar, that's one thing.

What about the man who owned the house?

No name given. And again, this is intentional.

Judas didn't need to hear names. He didn't need to hear addresses

or street names. He didn't need any of that.

But this man who owned the house, this man with the jar

would lead him to this specific abode.

Now if this man had a family. And I'd like to think he did.

Then he obviously in wanting to honor the law had to what,

prepare for his own Passover feast.

And you know what it's like in festive days, right?

In festive seasons, they're running around the last second

things and Christ selected his home and he says I would like to

have my disciples and myself celebrate in one of your guest

rooms. And what does the man do?

He. Complies, he complies.

Was it convenient timing wise? Probably not.

But you know what this man teaches me?

Nah. He wasn't too busy to serve

Jesus. He wasn't too preoccupied with

other things, even good things, to serve the Lord.

Are you too busy to serve Jesus? Are you too dizzy by everything

around you? I see a man here who says, come

yes, Lord, come to my home. And timing wasn't the only

potential excuse for this man to step away from accepting Christ

inviting himself into his home. Do you remember what happened

right before John chapter 12 where Mary of Bethany anoints

John 12 · chapter mention

Jesus? I want to remind you what

happened in John Chapter 11, verse 57.

John 11:57

Listen to these words. Now the chief priest in John

1157 and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where

he was being Jesus, He should let them know so they they might

arrest him. So there was this public call.

If anybody knows where this Jesus of Nazareth is, let us

know, because we're looking for Him.

So timing wasn't the only issue here.

Trouble was, it's not just inconvenience for the master of

this house, but serious danger hosting Jesus at this time where

the most powerful people apart from Rome were looking for him.

And yet this anonymous individual says, you're having

it in my home. Christ is worthy.

Christ is worthy of our time. Christ is worthy of any risk.

And what do you read? Look at verse 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.

Don't you love that phrase? They had found it just as he had

told them. When you obey the Lord.

Even if His instructions may seem to be difficult to grasp or

understand, or even dangerous to pursue, you will, if you honor

His wishes, walk into a fascinating realization of His

faithfulness. Exactly the way Christ said it

would happen, happen exactly what He said would would come to

transfer it to transpire exactly what He said.

It is a greater risk not to obey the Lord than to obey the Lord.

Remember that no matter what fears you face as you stand at

the threshold of trusting Jesus Christ, always remember that it

is a greater risk to step away and disobey than to thrust

yourself and to obey Him always. They found it exactly as He said

they would find it. But we come now from the

preparation to the proclamation, the proclamation at this

Passover. And what do we discover?

Verse 17 And when it was evening, he came with the 12 and

as they were reclining a table and eating, Jesus said, truly, I

say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating

with me. They began to be sorrowful and

say to him one after another, is it I So at some point in the

celebration, they're all reclining.

They're honoring the feasts and the traditions surrounding it.

And the Lord uttered this heart sinking statement.

You can just imagine how tension filled that room in that very

moment. You can imagine the silence.

You can imagine the heartbeats of these disciples that were

pounding against their chest when Jesus, who has never been

wrong about anything that he had said, made this claim.

One of you is going to betray me.

And you have to recall that Christ on more than one occasion

told the very same 12 I'm going to die, I'm going to be buried,

I am going to raise from the dead.

And two out of those three times he said I will be delivered up.

And at this point, now he is closing in on the culprit, the

one who is actually going to commit this inconceivable crime

of giving the Son of God over to vicious, evil, wicked men.

And as Jesus says this, you might be wondering why.

Why is the Lord sharing this publicly?

Why is he telling the disciples? And I believe the main reason is

so that he can reveal his omniscience yet again.

He's done it on different occasions, and he's doing it

once more here, providing further evidence that Jesus.

Christ did not get surprised at any point of him surrendering

his life. Not once.

What is Christ showing here? I know exactly the horrific

plans that are made against me, and I willfully am walking into

them. I'm not.

I'm not here unwilling to be apprehended.

I'm here laying down my life and I'm telling you now I know which

one of you is actually going to betray me.

Now think about this. If for whatever reason, you've

been given divine inspiration that one person in your friend

group is going to betray you to people who want to murder you,

what would you do with that knowledge?

Run, escape, not have dinner with the guy And what, what does

Christ do? He is conveying to the I know

which one of you are going to do and I'm still here because this

is this is a part of a greater thing.

And so that the disciples would know and that the disciples like

us would know for generations to come that Christ came into this

world and embraced his mission. He didn't cower from it.

He didn't flee from it. He didn't second guess it.

He would joy chest out, walked into it.

But what I find amazing here is how this announcement disturbed

the consciousness of all these disciples.

Did you catch? It it says here that they were

sorrowful. In verse 19 they began to be.

So this is talking about deep grief, significant pain.

They began to be sorrowful and one after the next began to say

is it I, is it me, is it me? Notice I didn't say I think it's

him, not once. And it makes you wonder also, is

this self examination something to be praised or concerned

about? And I think the self examination

taking place at this moment is honorable.

It's honorable because hearing the words of Christ concerning

the capability of our sin should always encourage reflection.

And no matter how strong you think you perceive yourself to

be, it is a dangerous thing to be in a place where you feel

like you will never fall. Paul warns about that in First

Corinthians 10. And So what you see with these

disciples is that they're doing some soul searching, not to the

point of condemnation, and that should never be the case for

you, but this soul searching when you hear a strong word,

when you come to the word of God for yourself, when you begin to

feel conviction in your conscience, or when you hear of

a failure of another. And it causes you in a holy way

to be like Lord. May it never be of me.

That's exactly what it should produce, not condemnation, but

clinging to the Lord with a greater grip.

Lord, I don't want to fail you. Lord, I don't want to deny you.

I, I pray that it would never be true of me.

So you can applaud the fact that these disciples are asking about

themselves and they're not scrutinizing one another.

But I'm also convinced here because what's so interesting is

that they didn't suspect Judas. In fact, I, I believe that the

disciples, if they had to make a list of who is most likely to

betray Christ, Judas would be on the bottom, at least the lower

tier. Do you know why?

Because he was trusted enough to be made the manager of the, the

ministry finances. That's John chapter 12, verse

John 12 · chapter mention

six. You have to trust somebody to

deal with the ministry finances and funds.

And, and Judas was selected and he held that position for that

three-year tenure. So there was something about him

that was winsome disarming. There was no suspicion about him

necessarily, but I'm convinced that if the disciples paid a

little bit more attention as each one began to ask the Lord,

is it I, they might have suspected something of Judas.

I don't want to prove that to you because you don't see it

here in Mark, but you do see it in Matthew.

So go to Matthew with me in chapter 26 and I want you to

look at how Matthew depicts this very same scene in Matthew 26

and verse 22. And they were very sorrowful and

began to say to him, one after another, Is it I, Lord?

What does Matthew add? Lord?

They said, Lord, each of these disciples said, Is it I, Lord?

He answered, He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me

will betray me. 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.

Now look at verse 25. Judas, who would betray him,

answered, Is it I Rabbi? Is it I Rabbi?

He said to him, You have said so.

Ha, so the 11 said, Is it I Lord?

When it came down to Judas, he didn't call him Lord.

Judas was making an attempt, right?

Because Christ here is being ambiguous on purpose.

And like the past three years, Judas is trying to camouflage

himself at this critical moment. And so as these disciples are

saying, one after the other, is it I Lord?

Is it I Lord comes down to Judas turn?

He wants to try to blend in, but even in his attempt to try to

blend in, he can't help but cough up the word rabbi, which

means teacher. Why didn't he echo the

disciples? Why didn't he say, Is it I,

Lord, I'm persuaded because he could not.

He could not. His heart had determined to

betray him, and to even. Use the word Lord was too heavy

on his lips. It was a weighty thing.

And so he says, Rabbi, you know what's interesting?

In the Gospel of Matthew, you have two instances where you

have the recorded words of Judas.

You have it here, and then you have it in the same chapter in

verse 45. Look at verse 45, when Judas

finally brings the band of murderers behind him to find

Christ in the garden. Notice what Judas says here in

verse 49. And he came up to Jesus at once

and said, greetings. What rabbi?

Greetings, Rabbi. And he kissed him.

Never called him Lord. At least at this point, he

couldn't listen very carefully. Judas serves as a sobering

reminder for those who think that they can live successfully

in compromise. No matter how clever you think

you are, no matter how successful you've been over the

years, Judas proofs to us that exposure is bound to come.

You might reveal it yourself, others might discover it about

you, or the Lord of Glory himself will unmask it.

Judas did pretty good up to this point, but upon close and

careful investigation, he wasn't who he said he was and he even

stood out from the true disciples.

Why? Why did Judas betray Jesus?

The general answer that people tend to give is because he loved

money. He did love money.

He stole from the ministry funds.

He did love money, but he loved money all along.

Why at this point did he betray Christ?

Again, when you look at the context, you have the best key

of unlocking Revelation. What happened right before Judas

chose to collaborate with the Pharisees and the chief priest?

What took place that triggered that moment?

Go back to Mark 14 and you'll see it for yourself.

We read it in verse three of Mark 14, that while he was at

Bethany in the House of Simon the Leper, as he was reclining a

table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of

pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it

over his head. Who was in attendance?

Judas. In fact, he was the one who

began the criticism and the disciples followed.

You could have sold this for 300 denari.

We could have given this to the poor.

He was offended by this ultimately because he thought I

could have stuffed my pockets. More if we we sold this, this

was a donation I would have I would have made more money for

myself. But something happens.

Jesus in defending Mary says she did this for what?

My burial. She's paying tribute to my

death. And I am convinced that at that

moment it dawned on Judas, he, he's not here to establish a

Kingdom. He's, he's going to die.

He's he's saying it. And I wonder if all the past

times where Jesus said I'm going to die, I'm going to be buried,

I'm going to raise, I wonder if that crashed into his thinking

right there and then as well. Whether it did or not doesn't

matter at this moment. Judas understood that this Jesus

of Nazareth is not going to be establishing a government.

He's talking about his death. I didn't sign up for this.

I signed up when I realized that I was chosen, among others, a

band of men who are going to have the most prominent

positions in this Kingdom. And now he's talking about

dying. And now this woman's anointing

him because he's going to be dying, evidently very soon.

I'm jumping this ship because it's the sinking one.

But you know what? I'm not going to leave here

without something in my hands. So I'll sell him.

If he's going to die, let me make something out of it.

Do you see what Judas is thinking?

So he goes to the chief priest and he says, what's the price?

I'll give him over to you. I realized that this man has a

tendency to whatever he says about himself or events or

people is always right. 100% he's talking about dying.

I'm abandoning this cause, but I'm not leaving here empty

handed. So what's the price?

30 pieces of silver. Perfect.

So it's the timing. It dawned on him that things are

going to change. Things are not what I thought

they would be. And so he's going to betray the

Master. But this isn't catch Christ by

surprise because now we come to the prophecies about this

Passover. We talked about the preparation

for it, the proclamation during it.

But now we come to the prophecies about this Passover.

What does Jesus say in verse 20 of Mark 14?

He said to them, It is one of the 12, one who is dipping bread

into the dish with me. 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.

Notice again in verse 21. For the Son of Man goes as it is

written. Christ didn't know about Judas

merely because of His omniscience.

Christ also knew about Judas because it was declared hundreds

of years ago, thousands of years ago, Not just about Christ's

death, burial, and resurrection, but even his betrayal has been

foretold by the prophets. And one of the clearest passages

as we come to a close in this message is found from the lips,

or the pen rather, of the psalmist of Israel.

David, look at this with your own eyes in Psalm 41.

And I want you to see how even this moment has been told, and

we've been prepared for it by the Spirit of God.

Psalm 41 beginning in verse 9, Jesus alludes to the words of

David in his own experience of treachery, and it's found here

in this verse of Psalm 41, verse 9, David writes, Even my close

Psalms 41:9

friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread has lifted his heel

against me. You know what it means to lift

your heel against someone? It's to lift up your foot and to

deliver a crushing blow. And David says, a friend of mine

whom I trusted, who ate with me. You know, that's it's even more

painful when you've had some meals with a person and you

enjoy that experience with someone and yet that person

turns around to kick you in the face.

Where did David had that experience with his own son

Absalom, with one of his most trusted advisors, a heathful

this was fulfilled in David's experience with the Holy Spirit

uses this to show a greater fulfillment in the greater son

of David with Judas and Christ. But the prophecy doesn't end

there. We continue in verse 11:50 and

we realize that there's more to it.

But you, David says. But you, O Lord, be gracious to

me and raise me up that I may repay them.

By this I know that you delighted me.

My enemy will not shout in triumph over me, but you have

upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your

presence forever. That's David speaking.

Yes, that's David. By the Spirit disclosing to us

the reality of eternity and resurrection, I'm going to be in

your presence forever. But what is David speaking about

here? Vindication.

Yes, my closest friend would betray me, but I'm asking you, O

Lord, to not let him have the triumph over me.

Vindicate me, O God. And God did vindicate David.

But again, we have to connect us to Christ and the unthinkable

loyal disloyalty of Judas that God vindicate the Son of God

absolutely. It did not end with Judas's

betrayal. He was brought forth and raised

up into the presence of the Almighty.

Forever and ever and he sits at his right hand to this day.

So if there is anyone to be pitied in this, in this scene,

this sombering scene here, it wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ,

it's Judas. Because Judas is not coming out

victorious. He's not even to come out

prosperous, even temporarily. He's going to end his own life,

unfortunately. And that's why Jesus pronounces

a woe against them. He says, what?

Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

And this is how he ends. It would have been better for

that man if he had not been born.

Can I tell you what that means? Here's what it means.

Judas's non existence would have been better than his eternal

existence in torment. Judas so horrific will the

punishment and the divine wrath be against Judas for what he did

against the Son of God. That would have been better if

he was not born. This might be a little bit of an

awkward way to end a message like this, but maybe somebody

needs to hear it. Hell is a real place.

You don't hear the word often unless it's used as a cuss word

or derogatory in a derogatory way.

And I think that's Satan's tactic of making hell seem like

a joke. It's not a joke, it's real, and

there will be people going there and they're not going to have a

second chance. The only chance you have of

making sure that you have eternal life is if with the

breath you still have in your lungs, you admit that you've

sinned against a holy God, but you also receive this holy God's

love in the person of Jesus Christ who wants to rescue you

from the wrath of God. So what is it in your mind

that's causing you to delay and accepting that?

Is it money? There will be many people in

hell because they served money in their 7080 years of life.

Many people, you know, some people, it's a disappointment, a

misunderstanding of who God is, like Judas.

And that was enough to deter them and to cause them to live

in rebellion against him. You know, Judas would realize he

would experience a deep sorrow. He never experienced true

repentance. And I am among those who believe

that if Judas repented, God would have forgiven him.

He didn't repent. He was, he was broken, but he

didn't confess. He didn't flee to Christ.

He killed himself in the shadow of despair.

Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you have the guarantee that

you have eternal life is Christ Lord, was there a moment that

you remember where you said save me Lord Jesus, save me, forgive

me for my foolishness, forgive me for my waywardness.

I now stop and realize that you've done all that you could.

The unimaginable you came and you died in my place so that I

would have a place with you forever.

Has that has that thought ever dawned on you to the degree that

it caused you to bend your knee and to say, I want to live for

this Christ? I want to let you know that your

woe can turn into a win. And all that is required of you

is to realize that He is the Lord and He is your Savior.

So why delay a moment? Why delay another second?

Why not at this very second you forget everything around you.

You realize that in this past 50 minutes you have tasted

something of the beauty of Jesus and He can become your Savior.

And here's here's where I'm ending.

This will result more than just you going from hell to heaven.

That's wonderful, that's glorious.

I love that. But I'll tell you why it's

better than that. He takes you from enemy to a

son, from a rebel to a daughter, from a foe to a companion.

And you don't experience that only way when you pass on from

this life, the moment you are justified, you are brought into

his heart and you walk with him day by day by day, and he does

things in you and he just does things through you.

And you accumulate these testimonies until it it climaxes

where you meet him face to face. That's what the Christian life

looks like. Do you want that?

What do you have that's that's better than that?

Please meet me at the door and tell me.

I'm very curious. Oh, your business.

Oh, your properties. Oh, you chasing one girl that's

satisfying you. That's why you keep running

around. You know down deep inside that

what you're doing in your own efforts, in your own

imagination, with your own lust is only temporary and it always

fails you. So why'd you keep going back to

it? Why don't you just bring your

sin to the foot of the cross, let Christ deal with the record

of debt, and then give you a new heart so that you can live out

the way you were created to live.

And that's for Him. So I, I end this message about

Jesus celebrating the Passover with an invitation for you to be

saved. Believe you if you're saved,

just praise him more today. Give him thanks that you belong

to him and that he has a purpose for you.

Can we pray? Let's pray.

I want you to think about maybe one or more than one thing that

touched your heart and then translate that into prayer.

Respond to the word of God with your own words and and commune

with the Lord. And if you're a person here who

doesn't know the Lord, the Bible tells us that if you confess

with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in

your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be

saved. Confess with your mouth and

believe in your heart not just that Christ died, but that he

rose and that he's living and he beckons you to come to him.

And as you're praying there silently, I'll ask the priest

team to come and join us and prepare for us to respond in

song. But just there's so much noise

today just in, in a. Brief moment of silence.

Let each of us just seek the Lord and then we will sing to

him together, shall we? Well, we ask that these words

would in fact live in us. We want to be changed.

We want to know you, live for you, glorify you for the rest of

our days. We thank you for what you've

said to us. Now we respond to you with these

words of love in Jesus name, Amen.

I had an interesting time studying the Word yesterday, as

I usually do for Sunday, as you know, studying about the Last

Supper. And I'm sure most of us in here

received a text or stumbled upon a clip on the Internet of how

the opening ceremony of the Olympics in France included a

blasphemous display of drag Queens who were mocking that

very scene that we uphold and Revere and adore Christ for.

And as obscene as devilish as that was, late last night, I

pulled out my phone and had trouble sleeping.

But I watched Living Waters Ray Conference Ministry because

they're out there in Paris now doing some evangelism work.

And they responded quickly to that, that whole ordeal.

And they began to interview people about what they thought,

did anybody see this, what they thought about what happened at

the opening ceremony? And I don't know what broke my

heart more, what that thing was or how the people responded to

it. Things along the line of, yeah,

it's art or why, you know, And I mean, any other religion, Paris

would be on fire, right? I don't remember the last time.

A lot of things that made me feel different ways in the past

few years, but this this one made me emotional after seeing

that that interview with different people and though it

made me broken and grieved. I felt something I don't know if

you sense that to this holy boldness, this boldness in what

sense if the world is only intensifying in their blasphemy.

My prayers since last night was, Lord, amplify my life to be

unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Unashamed. No crack in your voice, no

hesitation to say it. No, no, no set back on calling

sin sin. If there was a time to be bold,

it's today. It was.

If there's a time to be vocal and to to share the good news of

Jesus Christ, it's now. It's now.

We don't respond to wickedness and even blasphemy by protesting

or threatening. Or rampaging or looting.

We don't do that. But the way we do it is we go

out and we give more light. More truth in the power of the

Holy Spirit. And so I just thought it was

interesting timing, at least for me, studying about the Last

Supper, and this blasphemous thing shows up on my phone.

So don't allow your righteous indignation to just remain as a

motion or to cause you to act carnal.

Ask the Lord to give you the wisdom to protest with the truth

of Jesus Christ. And if they're going to shove

this in people's faces, they may we, by the wisdom of God, give

this gospel to as many people as possible.

To allow these things every event it just seems like the

birth pains are getting more intense so let's be more intense

by the spirit as he energizes us and I just if anything, I.

Want to see the church explode in revival in these days?

That's been my prayer and I hope it's your prayers.

Well, why don't we pray together?

But we thank you. You told us, Lord, that if they

call the master of the House Belzebul, how much more that

servants, so that we are not completely shocked at the evil

around us and the evil that will come our way, not just for your

name, but even for those who bear your name.

Make us bold, Lord. Fill us with faith, Lord.

Fill us with the knowledge of your words, that we can give an

appropriate defense for the hope that we have.

We pray, Lord, that what we're seeing around us would only

cause the Church to be more alive than ever.

May the Holy Spirit not be grieved among his people.

May He be pleased. May you be pleased by what you

see here with every ministry represented here.

Lord, we, we want to walk out of this place with a strategic

mindset, a missional mindset that the gates of hell will not

prevail. We will succeed, we will win in

the end. And we want to be part of that

plan to see people come to the Kingdom of God.

So we do ask that you go before us.

Keep your hand on our minds and our hearts and may we Lord be

your vessels for your glory. In Jesus name we pray, Amen and

Amen.