Sunday School Session 17

Mark’s Passion Narrative and the Sovereign Death of Jesus

Hey everybody, once again I want to welcome you to our study of the Gospel of Mark, hoping of course that you have read chapter 14, verse 1, through chapter 15, verse 15. Here we find, this is within the section of the Gospel where Mark is describing and interpreting for us the death of Jesus, the event of his death.

And so that is where we are this morning, or this afternoon, or this evening, whenever you are watching this. If you will look at your notes, we are in lecture 8, and we're beginning in chapter 14, verse 43, which would be Roman numeral number 6 in your notes.

Now before we look at the Gospel, let's pray. Father, help us now to understand and to accept this description and interpretation of the death of Jesus and what it means. We're thankful for your word.

Give us insight, not just into this word, but into ourselves as well. Help us to place ourselves before the light of the scripture, not just for conviction, but for hope in what Jesus is and what he has done.

Thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. As we pick up the narrative, if we pick up the story where we left off last week, we come to that section where Jesus is finally handed over to the authorities in order to be killed, to be put to death, to be crucified.

And here we find that Jesus willingly, sovereignly gives his life. Jesus here is betrayed and abandoned, and yet, even in that betrayal and abandonment, he is still sovereign. He is the one giving his life.

Judas’s Betrayal and the Disciples’ Flight

Now, as we begin this story, as we look at this section, as we enter into the narrative this week, you find Jesus betrayed by one of his own, Judas. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. He could have identified him in any other way, but for some reason, and I think with great irony, this one betrays Jesus with a sign of friendship, of love.

And it's interesting to see that because Jesus had loved him. You know, in that great passage in John chapter 13, where Jesus washes the disciples' feet, never forget that he washed the feet of the one who then walked away and betrayed him.

And so, here is Judas betraying the one who loved him with the sign of friendship and love. He marked out Jesus with a kiss. Now, unlike Judas, those who belong to Jesus will never ultimately betray him.

If you belong to the Lord Jesus, he will keep his sheep. He will make sure that they continue in the path that leads to glory. And yet, I can't help but think, are we guilty of maybe many betrayals during the day when we sin?

When we sin? I guess I ask that question every time I read this passage. Now, you remember, though, that Judas is not the ultimate factor in Jesus dying because Jesus is still sovereign. He is still in control.

Now, not only is Jesus betrayed, but we see that the rest of the disciples abandon him. And yet, even then, he remains sovereign over his own death. Now, the disciples abandon Jesus because he looks weak.

And in the eyes of those disciples, he surrenders without a fight. But you notice in this text that Peter starts swinging the sword. Now, Mark does not identify Peter as the one who is swinging that sword.

Matthew does. Matthew identifies this as Jesus. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, as Peter. Peter is swinging a sword and he hacks off the high priest servant's ear. Now, you can be sure Peter was not aiming for his ear.

Peter was certainly aiming to split that man's skull. And Peter was serious here. I will never abandon you, Jesus. There's no way I'll ever abandon you. And so he starts fighting for his master. And then in verses 48 and 49, here's what we see Jesus say.

But 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.

And they all left him and fled. Jesus essentially says, you never needed an armed guard to arrest me. Why are you bringing one now? I've never led any kind of rebellion. I've never led any kind of rebellion against you.

You could have taken me anytime. You don't need to come after me with clubs and swords and such. The implication of that statement is that he has always been a peaceable man and they could take him at any time.

Right after Jesus says this, his disciples run away. They could see that he was not going to defend himself. And this is why I believe they ran. They were ready for a remember the animal moment. They were ready to fight to the death.

They were ready to stand by their man. But what happens? Their leader surrenders. And so they desert. Now, hear me out. Jesus is not a coward. He's a sovereign. He is not afraid, but he will lay down his life for the sheep.

He must die for his people. And the time had come for him to redeem those that the father had given him. He went freely to the suffering he endured. He went alone to the suffering he endured. And he went misunderstood to the suffering he endured.

Now, if you've read the text, and I hope you have, you come to verses 51 and 52, where a young man is watching all this and they grab, he's only wrapped in some kind of a blanket or something, and they grab it and he's naked.

Now, I don't know what to do with that. I can't figure at this point, at least how in the world would I preach that, or for that matter, teach it. Some believe that this young man who loses his covering is probably John Mark, the writer of this book, the one who is writing down, if you will, Peter's story.

And it's kind of like saying, I was there and I saw it all. Now, why he included those embarrassing details, I don't know, but there it is. Now, we come now in the narrative to the trial of Jesus. And actually, it's not just the trial of Jesus.

What you find in this text is a trial of two people, the trial of Jesus and the trial of Peter. And here you find Mark contrasting glory and shame. It seems that this passage intends to contrast the two trials of these two men.

And the two different responses they gave in the face of the pressure that they faced, both are under pressure. How do they respond? How do they respond to that which is closing in on them? Both Jesus and Peter, the two men, the two men who are on trial here, both Jesus and Peter are subjected to questioning, yet there are two different outcomes.

And I believe the contrast is intended because of how this part of the narrative is introduced. If you look at verses 53 and 54, it says, and they led Jesus to the high priest and all the chief priests and the elders and scribes came together.

And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. And so the narrative opens up with two men. And as you read through the story, the Mark depicts the questioning of each two men on trial.

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin and the Glory of His Confession

See first the glory of Jesus. You see the glory of Messiah who does not stumble into death. He is not caught in a trap or some legal technicality, but he openly asserts who he is for he is determined to die for his people.

Now, as you read this, you see that the Sanhedrin is looking for evidence to convict him. And what's interesting is that they have already arrived at a verdict. We must kill this man. We saw that earlier in this book.

They now began their plans to kill Jesus. They had already arrived at a verdict, but in order to make it legal, what they needed to do was to get two witnesses to agree on about Jesus, because that's what the law required.

You don't put anyone to death unless you get two witnesses to agree. And they brought the witnesses, but no one could agree, even concerning the testimony about the very center of their religious life, the temple.

Now, in all of this, Jesus remains silent in the face of these accusations. However, when the high priest asks him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed one? Jesus responds with, I am, and thus seals his fate.

You will note that Jesus says, I am, and you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. This is a reference to Daniel chapter seven. When you read that phrase, son of man, it doesn't always mean that Jesus is the son of a human mother.

It means that Jesus is a divine figure, because when you go back to Daniel chapter seven, you will read of this divine figure in the clouds of glory, ruling over all the earth, and God gives him the sovereignty over all the earth.

This is identified. He's identified. There's the son of man, and there he is, this incredible being who has the attributes of God. And so this is a divine claim. I am the son of the blessed one, and I am the son of man, and you will see me coming in clouds of power.

This is enough for them. They say he's condemned himself. They tear their robes. Jesus was going to die on his terms, not theirs. He was going to die, claiming to be the very son of the blessed one, claiming to be the predicted divine figure of Daniel chapter seven.

And the glory of the cross can be seen in Jesus' determination to die for us. This was no accident. His accusers did not catch him, but he gave himself up. Peter himself talks about this when he writes his epistle, first Peter, and he writes in first Peter chapter two, verse 23, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. And here you find Jesus, Jesus entrusting himself to God. Here is the glory of Jesus. He determined to die, and he entrusted himself to God, even in the face of injustice, even in the face of terrible pressure.

Peter’s Denial and the Shame of Cowardice

But now we come to the trial of Peter, and here we see the shame of Peter in his denial. He would not identify himself with his master, but denied him three times, even under less pressure than the pressure that Jesus faced.

He calls down curses on himself. Now I want to be careful here, but I think you need to understand the severity of that. When Peter calls down curses, he is saying, may God damn me if I know that man.

That's the sort of denial that he put up. He remembers Jesus' prediction, and he weeps. And you see, there is no glory in Peter's cowardice. Saving his life, Peter reaped shame. He did not entrust himself to God.

Isn't it fascinating that this is the man who writes about suffering later in his life, and he writes about how Jesus, in the midst of suffering, entrusted himself to him who judges justly, and how he concludes his own letter in 1 Peter 4, verse 19.

Now those who suffer according to God's will should entrust themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good. This is the man here, that we read here, who wrote that later in his life. He learned the lesson.

He learned the lesson. So in this story of suffering, Jesus reaped glory through suffering, but Peter reaped shame by avoiding it. The glory of Jesus' faith is that he went on to save a people, because he openly admitted who he believed himself to be, and he entrusted himself to God.

And on the basis of that faith, on the basis of trusting his father, he went to the cross and saved a people. The lack of faith in Peter brought him shame. Glory and shame contrasted in the trials of these two men.

Jesus Before Pilate and the Saving Power of the Cross

And then we come to chapter 15, and here we see the purpose of Jesus' death. At the trial before Pilate, Jesus remains silent. Now, the Sanhedrin is the religious council that has authority over all of Israel.

You recall in the law of the Old Testament, town councils would be called of the elders, and they had the power in their villages to condemn people to death. By the time of Jesus, in all that the nation had been through, the Sanhedrin had evolved.

It was composed of priests and Pharisees and scholars. And the Sanhedrin had now become the ultimate ruling council among the people of God. But because the Romans had conquered that land, and that now the Jews were no longer an independent nation, but subject, submissive to another empire, they could not, as the law demanded, put someone to death for blasphemy.

Because in their eyes, Jesus had committed blasphemy by claiming to be the son of the blessed one, by claiming to be the son of man. Now, because they were part of the Roman empire, the Romans would not allow them to execute anyone.

And so they could not execute Jesus for blasphemy, as they saw that the law required. If Jesus was blaspheming, then they needed to put him to death. But they couldn't do it. They did not have that authority as such.

Only the Romans have the authority to take a life. And so they bring him before Pilate, and they accuse him of claiming to be a king, to which Jesus admits, right? He admits that he is a king. It's interesting that they're looking for a king, but when the one who arrives claiming to be king upsets their traditions, upsets all their comfort and their religion, they use the very thing they want, a king.

They use it against Jesus and claim he's a rival to Caesar, the emperor. And so they use that as a means of getting Jesus put to death. Now, as he comes before Pilate, as he comes before Pilate, Pilate asks him, are you the king of the Jews?

And he answered him, you have said so. And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you. But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

You see, Jesus does answer that first question. Yeah, I'm the king, right? Again, again, putting himself in danger, but claiming what is true of himself. And then in the face of all the other accusations they make against him, he remains silent.

And with that, Pilate is amazed. He cannot believe that Jesus remains silent. You see, in Roman trials, the magistrate heard the accusations. He would question the defendant. He would listen to his defense.

He would listen to the prosecutor's case. He would have a series of exchanges, okay? And there was no, really, there was no attorney for the prosecution, attorney for the defense. There was just the magistrate who would hear the accusations and question the people involved.

And so he's questioning Jesus. And what was supposed to happen is he questioned these people. Then when he was done, he would retire with his advisors, arrive at a verdict, and that verdict then was promptly executed.

There was no waiting. Once the magistrate, the governor, the counsel, whoever was running the trial, once he arrived at a verdict, the sentence was immediately executed if he found the person guilty. And Pilate is amazed that Jesus does not make any kind of defense.

And if he doesn't, Pilate's going to be forced to condemn him. And so Pilate's amazed. Doesn't Jesus hear? Is he on another planet? Is he in another world? Doesn't he realize that his life is at stake in this meeting?

Isn't it instinctive to fight for your life, especially when the charges are unfounded? Why don't you say anything? And Pilate stands amazed at this eloquent teacher whose life is in the balance and who does not say anything.

But he remained silent in order that the scripture would be fulfilled. In Isaiah 53, verse 7, we read, he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

John Calvin would later write, Christ kept silence to be our spokesman now. So he remained silent and he died for us, and now he's our spokesman in heaven. And here you see, in a very real and tangible way, you see the power of the gospel set against the power of the kingdoms of this age.

Here you have a king bound before the representative of the greatest, most mighty power on earth at the time, standing there on trial. You have a king judged to be powerless as he faces the powers of this age.

The greater power of Jesus, the greater power of Jesus is hidden as it stands face to face with the obvious power of the mightiest empire in the world. But in this king, you find saving power. Jesus came not to use his power to overthrow the kingdoms of this world, not to blast them away.

Jesus uses his power to save his people from their sins, and he will not fail in that endeavor. In Matthew chapter one, verse 21 is, the angel talks to Joseph about Jesus. He says, you will give him the name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.

This one who's coming, you will call Jesus because he will save his people. In Galatians chapter one, verses three and four, Galatians chapter one, verses three and four, grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and father, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. Jesus came to deliver us from this present age, not meaning to whisk us away, but to deliver us from the powers of this age, that we can live free of the pressures and the philosophies of the age in which we live.

This is the saving power of our king. A week ago, as I'm recording this now, we are a week away from our national presidential elections and as well as other offices, and we see that there are men a week ago striving to grasp the reins of power of the government, and they're trying to get that power in order to make a difference, but that power is so limited.

That power is so limited because it may force men to do certain things, but it does not have the power to deliver them from the bondage of their sin. It does not have the power to free them from their slavery to wickedness.

You see, in this king, judged powerless by the world, you find the greatest power in the world. And then it ends up with the story of Barabbas, not merely a robber, but an insurrectionist, a rebel, one who did try to fight the government of the Roman Empire.

All the gospels record this, that Pilate has a custom of releasing a prisoner, but they don't want Jesus to be released. We'll take that rebel Barabbas. We'll take him. And it's as if the gospel writers make the point that at the very beginning, Jesus takes the place of sinners.

He took the place of Barabbas, one of the worst. Jesus takes the place of sinners from the very start of our faith. Even at the moment of his death, before the writers explain the significance and the meaning of that death, Jesus takes the place of the guilty.

So then in the gospels, you see Jesus disclosing his identity and his purpose through his words and his actions and the words and actions of others as well. And so we see that Jesus, this object of devotion, the new Passover, a minister of hope and grace, is the sovereign and glorious savior.

May God help us to love the Lord Jesus even more as we serve him. This one, willingly, sovereignly, entrusting himself to God, gave himself up for sinners. God, thank you now for this glorious message, the story of our savior.

Now, because of his grace, help us to live for him. We thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.