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MARK: WORKING MESSIAH SIXTH DIVISION: HOW WILL THE MESSIAH ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM? 14:1-16:8 SECOND SECTION: CELEBRATION 14:17-42
(The corresponding PowerPoint® presentation is Mark 6th Division 2nd Section CELEBRATION or click on Mark Sixth Division Celebration PP or on the same title on the Mark studies home page.)
Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples, 14:17-42
The Outline:
I. The Betrayer Was One Of The 12; He Would Never, Celebrate The New Covenant 14:17-21
II. Jesus Begins The Celebration With The New Covenant 14:22-26
III. Warnings And Encouragement On The Mount Of Olives, No End Of Celebration 14:27-31
IV. Prayer And Celebration In The Spirit 14:32-42
Let’s Review Questions To Aid In The Study Of This Section Mark 14:17-42
Celebration Is Worldwide The main theme of these four scenes that follow is the Celebration of the Passover. Celebration is an important part of the faith. God commanded every male in Israel to go up three times a year, to celebrate certain feasts at the house of God (Exodus 23:14-17).
People everywhere celebrate with feasts and solemn processions, some less and some more religious or solemn than others. From the carnivals of Rio, Brazil, and Cadiz, Spain; to the beer fests of Germany in October; the feasts of the Hindus such as that of Diwali, the celebration of the new year; the night of power, at the close of Ramadan of the Muslims; everyone celebrates in his or her culture or religion.
Thanksgiving Day is a festival in the United States with roots that date back to the first years of the European colonists. After surviving the first year in Jamestown, Virginia, as well as in Plymouth, Massachusetts, they wanted to commemorate that time of difficulty, where in Jamestown two thirds died in the first year, and in Plymouth half of them died. They gave thanks to God for helping them survive.
The Passover was a joyful and solemn feast that was celebrated within the family. It was like this when the Israelites left Egypt centuries before. Each family had to eat the Passover quickly and prepare for the trip, because that night they left Egypt, a nightmare of slavery. Leaving behind the furnace of slavery was certainly something to celebrate!
I. The Betrayer Was One Of The 12; He Would Never Celebrate The New Covenant, 14:17-21
Rejection By A Friend That night of the Passover Jesus gathered with his disciples to celebrate that unique night. They were at the table when Jesus said that he who dipped the bread with him in the bowl was the one who would betray him. It was going to be one of his friends, one that belonged to the intimate circular of the twelve. He was Judas. He had spent the best part of 3 years with the Master. He saw and he listened to what Jesus had taught and done.
Have you ever suffered the deceit and rejection of a friend? Yes I have, but I had to admit that it was my fault because I had treated them badly first. I had not considered them. They took their revenge on me later. But Jesus never did anything wrong to Judas. Maybe Judas expected another type of messiah, one who would make them important, rich and free of the Romans, or of any other domineering people. When two of the disciples asked to be seated at his side in his glory, Judas will have thought that it was what he wanted, but here, now, and on the earth. He was among the 10 when they got angry with the two disciples who asked to be seated at his side in his kingdom.
Never Celebrate! Woe to that man who betrays …! Jesus said that it were better that he had never been born. These, yes, are very strong words! He who betrayed was rejected. He would never CELEBRATE again.
But let's stop to think a moment about a great number of people who know Jesus just as Judas knew him. They know about Jesus. They have been with others who love Jesus but they never take him seriously, or they expect other things of the Lord. Maybe they expected fame, possessions, and more here, now, in this life. They want a great deal more now, as well as later in the life to come. They have no roots and when persecution comes they don't survive.
II. Jesus Began The Celebration With The New Covenant, 14:22-26
A New Agreement (New Covenant) That night during the supper Jesus took bread and wine and said that they were symbols of his body and of his blood of the New Covenant. There was an Old Covenant that all his followers knew. They had lived under that Old Covenant all their lives. It was the law given to Moses. And not just this, but they had lived under the spiritual state that submitted to rules and rituals that were concocted by men. That Old Covenant was a covenant sealed with blood and this New Covenant would be sealed with the same! But the Old Covenant was sealed by the blood of animals that could never remove the sins of the people; therefore the new one had to be sealed with better sacrifices as the author of the letter to the Hebrews teaches us. The New Covenant was celebrated and sealed by the precious blood of Christ. The Old Covenant was only a figure or shadow of this New Covenant. At last the real thing, better yet, the real person had arrived!
A Huge Celebration Jesus said that his body was to be broken and his blood was to be shed for many. Many besides the twelve would be received and would celebrate that New Covenant. When we begin to think about all the peoples that have been reached with this message we realize just how large the celebration will be in heaven at an incredible day in the future. But, what of the peoples not yet reached, where no church yet exists?
Breaking The Old Agreement (Old Covenant) That Old Covenant had another problem. It depended in part on people. If the Israelites obeyed that law the Lord was going to bless them. If they broke it, that law would curse them. They failed and broke that law, again and again, to such a degree that God had to punish them and remove them from their land. This covenant that Jesus made is more like the covenant that God made with Abraham in chapter 15 of Genesis. There we see that God promised a son to Abraham. He and his wife Sarah did not have children. God took Abraham outside one night and he told him to count the stars if he were able. And he said it that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heaven. God made the covenant with Abraham by sending him to bring animals that had been divided in two and the two parts placed opposite each other. In a vision God was represented by a flaming, smoking torch that passed between the pieces. This was how some peoples made formal agreements or covenants long ago, but in the case of people, each member who participated in the pact had to pass back and forth between the pieces of the carcasses. In that covenant between God and Abraham, only God passed between the pieces. Abraham did not pass back and forth between the pieces laid out that night. This means that that covenant depended on God alone, not on Abraham. It was a sure pact because it did not depend on a man but on God, who is powerful to fulfill his word.
Besides all this, God told Abraham his descendants would descend into Egypt for four generations, and later would come back up to the land of Canaan and that he would give them the land as an inheritance. When the iniquity of the Amorites reached its peak God would give their land to the children of Abraham. That covenant depended on God and not on man. God would accomplish those things that he promised.
The New Agreement (New Covenant) Depends on God The New Covenant that Jesus made with his disciples was like that. This New Covenant did not depend on them nor on any person, but on the Lord. In order to enjoy this New Covenant we should trust in him who made the covenant and not in ourselves. It does not depend on us. It depends on him. It is the covenant of salvation. That salvation is of God, not of us. The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2 and verses 8 and 9, tell us that salvation is by grace and is a gift of God so that nobody boasts. Neither any man nor any woman will be able to say, "I saved myself", neither entirely nor in part.
Some people believe that by our own works we are saved. Others believe that the sacrifice of Christ removes original sin, but that we have to do good works to complete our salvation. But that same portion in the Letter to the Ephesians tells us that salvation is not by works.
What About Works? Someone will ask, but works, aren't they important? Yes, clearly they are important. That very same portion in the Letter to the Ephesians says in verse 10 that we are a new creation, and that God has prepared good works before hand for us to walk in them. Our justification was made a reality because Jesus died for us. It is his work. And sanctification, that is to say, a life of obedience to God is also of him because in him, and only in him, are we a new creation, and he has prepared works for us to walk in.
Where does the idea of salvation come from? From God. Where does salvation itself come from? From God. From where does the new creation come? From God. Where do the works come from? From God. We would not even know what works to do if God had not told us. Someone will say, "But it is my conscience that tells me what I should do." Yes, but where does your conscience come from? God gave it to you when you were created. And let's keep in mind that the conscience can be twisted by our way of living, and there are times when we won't listen to our conscience.
We should understand that an important part of true salvation is the desire to give the credit to God for it, and not to think that we are doing the work, saving ourselves.
We Are Not The Passover Lamb Jesus never told them, on that night of the Passover, that the cup and the bread represented their blood and bodies. In other words, returning to the case of Abraham, the Lord alone was he who strolled among the pieces of animals, and in the person of Jesus would actually become the Lamb of God, the sacrifice itself.
But this celebration is also like the celebration of a birth, because it was the beginning of the New Covenant. And each year during Easter we celebrate the birthday of this New Covenant.
They CELEBRATED with Jesus that night but he said that one day in the kingdom we would again CELEBRATE with Jesus. He gave them the hope of seeing him in the future and of remembering once again that stressful night, when the Son of God was delivered up to so cruel a death, to finish the purification of our sins.
What does Belshazzer Have To Do With Jesus? They celebrated the Passover under terrible pressure. It reminds me of another celebration described in chapter five of the prophet Daniel. There the Babylonian king, Belshazzer, gave a great supper for all his court, rulers, officers and their wives. It was a spiritual celebration because they praised the gods of gold, silver and wood. They used the vessels taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem. That same night the Medes and Persians entered the city and took it, and Belshazzer was killed. That night of the Passover Jesus, another king, went to be condemned to death on a cross the following day. One of the greatest differences between Belshazzer and Jesus was that Belshazzer died for his own sins, but Jesus died for the sins of others. The other great difference was that Belshazzer died and remains dead, but Jesus rose from among the dead.
Kingdoms And Kingdoms Every kingdom except one, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus, will fail one day. When we say "kingdom", we speak not only of political kingdoms, but also our private kingdoms, where we ourselves are the kings, on the thrones of our own lives. What many do not understand is that he who maintains them, individuals as well as political kingdoms, is the Son of God. He alone maintains order in the universe. He sustains everything by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3).
And when his kingdom seemed to stagger at that moment, when he was delivered up to death, we should understand that it was all in the plan of God. In the plan of God he completed the purification of our sins (Hebrews 1:3). Why celebrate his death if there were no purpose in it? And how much more celebrate, knowing that it would lead to his resurrection! Besides, only a week before and on several occasions, he had said to his disciples that he was going to rise from the dead.
III. Warnings And Encouragement On The Mount Of Olives, No End Of Celebration 14:27-31
Failure Standing on the Mount of Olives Jesus warned his disciples of some things difficult to accept. They were going to fail him. All the disciples would be offended by Jesus. In a matter of hours they would leave him alone, with no support from them. The Shepherd would be killed and the sheep scattered.
But he added that after rising he would go before them to Galilee.
They began arguing with Jesus. But Jesus spoke very clearly to Peter. He told him that that very night he would deny him three times. In the midst of those hard things that he had to say to them, we see that Jesus assured the disciples that they would return to Jesus and that they would be received.
Celebrate Again! They would CELEBRATE again. The celebration of the New Covenant carried out that night was not going to be the last one. They would CELEBRATE the New Covenant again. After the resurrection of Jesus they understood many things that he had said, and sensed a deep relief knowing that even when they did not understand what was happening, Jesus understood everything.
When we pass through extremely difficult moments in our lives, we can leave things in his kind hands. We know that he understands even when to us all seems to be upside down!
IV. Prayer And Celebration In The Spirit 14:32-42
What Do We Do In A Crisis? They arrived at Gethsemane and Jesus began to pray. Before crisis in our lives what can we do? We can pray just as Jesus prayed? Sometimes the crises that we suffer are crises of our own making. We sin and we suffer the consequences. Here Jesus faced an enormous crisis, but it was not his fault, it was ours, of our sin. The good thing is to know that, even when we suffer the consequences of our guilt, we can ask forgiveness, return to the Lord, and ask his help. Even when the crises are not of our making, they overtake us, but we can call on the Lord in prayer.
I hope every celebration, or at least many celebrations, of the Lord's Supper be followed by times of prayer! I am not talking about forcing anyone to pray but of providing opportunities to pray. Sometimes churches celebrate the Lord's Supper by beginning with worship, and that is very good. Some have preaching before the supper. In others the preaching comes later. But thinking about what the Lord did that night, it would be very interesting to provide a time of prayer before or after the supper. Maybe a 'break' of five minutes between meetings, could be organized to allow those to leave who must, and others to stay to pray.
The times of prayer would be fantastic opportunities to present to the Lord, the sick, the needy, plans of growth for the church, the evangelization of the city or of the county, the country and the world. It could be a time of motivation and full of vision! We could pray with those passing through great crises in their lives. The disciples did not know how to pray with and for their Master, the Lord Jesus. He had to pray alone. They slept. More than once he came to ask them if they could pray with him and found them asleep. Jesus prayed in the middle of the greatest crisis of his life on earth. He prayed for them. He prayed that if it were possible, that the cup of suffering and death on the cross pass from him. But most of all he wanted to accomplish the will of his Father. In the Letter to the Ephesians we feel the burden of Paul's prayer: 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 ¶ And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6:17-20 AV/KJV).
What Do We Do In Temptations? Jesus told his disciples to pray so they would not enter into temptation. Here we have part of the answer to the question, “How can I overcome temptations?” Here, Jesus tells us very clearly to pray.
Jesus told them that the flesh fails and will fail, but the Spirit is willing. Maybe this why Paul said, … praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… (Ephesians 6:18 AV/KJV). This is a very different way of living life on the face of this earth. It is a life in contact with the Creator, and in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. In fact every truly spiritual celebration has to be done in the Spirit, not in the flesh. But the flesh can get mixed into the worship because we are not all perfect, which is impossible, and not all mature, which takes time.
The disciples would learn in the coming days, to CELEBRATE in the Spirit. We find them at the beginning of the book of the Acts praying together (Acts 1:14).
So Much To Celebrate! There are many things in life to celebrate:
Celebrate birthdays Celebrate anniversaries Celebrate a victory Celebrate a graduation Celebrate good grades Celebrate retirement Celebrate a getting well Celebrate a conversion - the angels in heaven Celebrate the completion of a project Celebrate an agreement or covenant - Examples: God with Abraham in Genesis 15
For the disciples of Jesus, the greatest thing to celebrate is our life with the Lord. We CELEBRATE that in the Spirit.
Let’s review!
1. Some will never celebrate with Christ 2. Jesus began the celebration 3. We who believe will celebrate many times 4. We celebrate in the spirit
Questions To Aid In The Study Of Mark 14:17-42 1. How can Jesus’ dealings with Judas help you when facing rejection and betrayal by a “friend”? 14:17-21 2. In the new agreement (New Covenant) what part did Jesus play? What is not required of us? 14:22-26 3. Jesus explained to his disciples that they would fail him, but how does Jesus’ attitude towards his disciples encourage us when we fail Jesus? 14:27-31 4. Crisis can lead to terrible temptations. How should we face these two “giants” according to Jesus? 14:32-42 5. List the four points made in these stories about CELEBRATING the new agreement (New Covenant). 6. This was a time of celebration. Is there anything you would like to celebrate right now? Who or what is it? When you think of Jesus and all he is and has done for you what would you like to celebrate about him?
©Copyright 2006-2046 John (Jack) W Rendel. All rights reserved.
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