Preparations for the Passion

Mark 14:1-26

Introduction

One day I was coming home from Bible School in Winkler in my black Volkswagen beetle. I was just driving into Oak Bluff when a car coming toward me in the other lane, suddenly began to drift into my lane. He tried to steer and I braked, but it was too late and we collided head on. No one was hurt but as we exchanged information, we wondered “how did this happen?” The answer was not difficult to find. There were high banks on either side of the road so I couldn't hit the ditch to avoid a collision. The highway was slippery and we were on a banked curve and the other car was unable to keep from sliding into my lane.

             In this season of Lent we are on a journey to the cross and one of the questions which we might be asking is, “how did this happen?” Jesus was popular and was doing good things. People were being healed. He was being revealed as the one whom all the Jews were waiting for. How was it that such a good man was on the road to the cross? Mark 14:1-26 helps us understand.

I.                The Set Up For His Death

A.              The Intent To Kill Him 14:1, 2

Even though Jesus was popular, we know from Mark 3:6 that the religious leaders intended to kill him. There we read, "The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him." Their determination only intensified and in Mark 11:18 we read that, "… the chief priests and the scribes … kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching." Now in Mark 14:1 this intent is once again expressed.

But notice that they wanted to find a sly way to do it. The annual feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread were on at that time. People came from all over the place to celebrate this festival. Some estimates suggest that Jerusalem swelled to five times its usual population during the celebrations. Many of those who had come would have been from Galilee and would have known Jesus because he had had such a long and successful ministry there. The religious leaders knew that Jesus was popular and feared that if they arrested Him while such a large crowd was in Jerusalem they would have a riot on their hands. They did not want that, but their intent to kill him was firm, so they had to find a deceptive way to arrest Him.

B.              Preparation for Burial 14:3-9

What a contrasting story is provided in the next section while Jesus was in Bethany at a dinner. He was surrounded by his disciples, other followers and it is interesting that he was also in the company of those who, in other settings, would not have been invited – Simon the leper and a woman.

This woman, who is not identified in Mark, broke open an expensive jar of ointment and poured it on Jesus' head. Talk about a socially awkward moment! Some of those at the meal immediately pounced on her verbally. They accused her of wasting this expensive perfume. Nard was a product imported from India. The text says that it was worth more than a year’s wages. If we assume that it was a year’s wages for a day laborer and if we calculate using Manitoba’s minimum wage, which is $10.25 an hour that would make it worth about $20,500. The most expensive perfume in the world today is worth $2,150/oz. Depending on the size of her jar, it is not hard to imagine that she had something worth as much or more than the most expensive perfume you can get today. They complained that her act was wasteful. Their declared concern was for the poor, which is a noble thought. It was customary to care for the poor during Passover, and perhaps that was in their minds. Jesus had taught much about caring for the poor and perhaps His teaching was in their minds. Such an extravagant act would clearly be out of step with everything Jesus had taught, so "they scolded her.”

But Jesus surprised them and told them to “let her alone.” He went on to explain that the extravagant gift was not inappropriate at all.

            He said “She has performed a good service for me.” What she did was not in violation of the principles of Jesus, but was an act of great love and devotion. I don't know if it was even possible for her to open the bottle and pour out only a little bit, but she didn't do that. She broke the bottle and therefore had to use it all and so she poured it all on his head. You don’t give such an extravagant gift unless you truly love someone and she evidently loved Jesus a great deal. Her act of extravagant love raised the question for the other followers of Jesus and raises the question for us, “Do we love Jesus that much?” To love Him is a beautiful thing and to act on that love in extravagant ways is a good thing. How have we expressed our love for Jesus in extravagant ways?

            But we see that there was more to it when Jesus indicated that by her act she had prepared his body for burial. Once again we see that things are pointing towards his death, but what Jesus said shows that this act was doing more than pointing to his death, it was actually preparing for his burial. The anointing of a body for burial was a common practice. It would have been their way of expressing honor for the deceased person much the same way we honor and treat a deceased person’s body with dignity. It is interesting, however, that when Jesus was buried, in Mark at least, there is no indication that he was anointed for burial. Perhaps because he died on Sabbath or perhaps because He died as a criminal the anointing didn’t happen. The intent of the women who went to the grave after the Sabbath was to anoint his body for burial. But when the women got to the tomb, he wasn’t there anymore, so this anointing was the only anointing for burial that Jesus received. It is interesting to think that throughout his arrest, trial, crucifixion and burial the smell of the perfume probably lingered with him.

            By anointing His body for burial she was acting in accord with the announcements of his death. Three times Jesus had told the disciples that he was about to die and three times they seemed to be in denial. By her act she acknowledged His death and prepared Him for it.

C.              The Betrayer 14:10, 11

As we consider these stories, we see a very interesting sequence. In the first story we have an account of people who wanted to kill Jesus. Then we have an account of one who loved Jesus and sacrificed for Him. Then we have the third account of one who was prepared to sacrifice Jesus in order to gain money. This sequence causes the reader to ask, “Where do I stand? Am I for Jesus and willing to sacrifice for Him or am I against Jesus?”

When Judas went to the religious leaders and offered to betray Jesus to them, he played into their hands. This was the “stealthy way" in which they would be able to carry out their plot. But in another way it did not quite play into their hands. They didn't want to do it during the festival, but Judas provided them an opportunity and they went ahead anyway. This shift in their plan is a hint that things are not entirely going the way the religious leaders are plotting, but rather in the way that God is planning. Jesus was killed in connection with the Passover to point out that He was the Passover lamb bringing the New Covenant relationship with God. The Jewish leaders did not plan that, but God did and so in spite of the horror of human evil which is present in the story, we continue to see God’s hand overruling and bringing about His purposes.

So in these stories we have various incidents related to the preparation for the death of Jesus. We understand that it came about by the evil purposes of the religious leaders and by the cooperation of one of the disciples of Jesus. We see all the worst in humankind in the way things played out and we begin to understand how such a thing could have happened from the human point of view. But we also see that God had a plan in this. We begin to understand that Jesus was preparing for death because it was a divine necessity.

II.             The Meaning of His Death

In the next section these purposes of God are further explained.

A.              Passover Preparation 14:12-16

From all that is written in Mark 14:12ff, it seems that the meal spoken of was a Passover meal. As they prepare for the Passover, in the background is the knowledge of the plot to kill Jesus. If this was a movie, throughout this section the scary music would be playing. We need to understand that this was an intense time because Jesus knew that his death was only a short time away, the Jews had their plan in place and Judas was looking for an opportunity to enact it.

The intensity seems to be present in the preparations for the Passover meal. Did Jesus deliberately do these things in order to maintain secrecy about where he was. The Passover meal had to be held in Jerusalem, which was enemy territory for Him. The two who prepared for the Passover were sent to find a man carrying a water jug and to follow him. A man did not usually carry a water jug - that was woman’s work. Was this a secret signal which Jesus had pre-arranged to keep things quiet so that He would not be arrested before the right time?

            In the midst of these intense realities, the two disciples went about the ordinary job of preparing all things for the meal and then Jesus and his disciples gathered to eat what was probably their last meal together.

B.              A Broken Covenant 14:17-21

In the Passover meal there was a customary way of observing the remembrance of what happened when they came out of Egypt. But that isn’t what was emphasized as Jesus and the disciples began this meal. What is described emphasizes that what is happening is moving towards the death of Jesus.

            At this special family event, much like we would experience Christmas dinner, Jesus shocked the disciples by announcing that one of them would betray Him. In Mark 14:18, we read, "And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.'” Then all the disciples, one by one, with grief asked Jesus “not I!?” As they all said this, we wonder if they were uncertain about their own loyalty to Jesus. Without actually identifying Judas, Jesus said again in Mark 14:20, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me.” Because Jesus said twice that one of the twelve would betray Him the importance of this phrase cannot be missed. It is a reminder of Psalm 41:9 where we read, "Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me."

            By focusing on the betrayal in this way, Jesus was doing more than making an announcement. He was emphasizing the broken covenant. Judas had been a disciple and by eating with Jesus, He was implying, “I am with you.” Repeating twice that the betrayal would be by one who was eating with Him, Jesus emphasized that Judas was breaking covenant. He was saying to Jesus in the most horrible way possible, “I am not with you.” Eating with someone and then betraying them was one of the worst things anyone could do in that culture.

            Yet Jesus had another perspective when he said, “For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him.” As He did so, we are reminded once again that the death of Jesus was God’s plan. He was heading to the cross not only because Judas betrayed Him, but because it was written in Scripture that it must happen in this way. Even though this is true, Judas was doomed because of his part in it. The plan of God would move to its conclusion, but that did not remove responsibility from Judas for his evil part in it. Is it possible that this was a warning to Judas that he should not do what he planned to do? Was Jesus offering him a way out? God’s plan would not be prevented if Judas did not betray Jesus and perhaps Judas could be spared. But it was not to be that way and Judas went ahead with the betrayal.

C.              A New Covenant 14:22-26

As we mentioned earlier, this meal was a Passover meal. Once again, however, the meal did not progress according to traditional custom. Instead of explaining the meaning of the lamb and the herbs and spices, Jesus reinterpreted the Passover to reflect what was about to happen to Him by His death on the cross. In so doing, He opened their eyes to the reason for His death.

            First of all, Jesus took bread and broke it and said to them, “Take; this is my body.” In the Passover meal, the unleavened bread would have symbolized the haste with which they had to leave Egypt. Now Jesus was pointing to a new meaning. With the bread, they were to remember His body, which was broken for them. The picture of breaking bread was intended to point to His broken body. The offer of bread given to all of them was to remind them that His body had been offered to give life. His life was sacrificed to break the power of sin and death once for all.

            As He poured out the cup, He once again re-interpreted the meaning of the red wine. In Mark 14:24 we read, “This is my blood of the covenant.” The language of covenant would have reminded them of what happened when God made a covenant with the people of Israel. Exodus 24:8 says, "Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, 'See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.'” When Moses sprinkled the blood on the people he established a covenant by the blood of an animal. What Jesus was doing was establishing a new covenant, also by blood. Finally we have a clear explanation of the meaning of what Jesus had been hinting at and pointing to. It would take later Biblical writers to explain this more clearly. For example, Hebrews 9:15 says, "For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant." No longer would animal sacrifices be required because Jesus' death on the cross provided a once for all sacrifice for the sin of many. Geddert writes, “Drinking blood would have been a horrible thing for any Jew…some horror should remain in the symbolic act, for the horror of Jesus’ death can never be fully erased. Those who identify with it, identify both with its horror and with its victory.”

            And so a new meal was enacted. The Old Covenant was set aside because Jesus provided a better sacrifice and thus brought in a New Covenant. This was God's plan and Jesus accomplished it. Each time we partake of this meal, we are reminded of the sacrifice of Jesus which has given us a new relationship with God.

            But Jesus would not eat that meal with His disciples again. He told them “Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Earlier in this text he had said, “…you will not always have me” by which he pointed to His coming death. As Jesus enacted the new covenant meal He indicated that he would “drink it new in the kingdom” and so gave hope for what was yet to come. The necessity of His death was not the end of the story, but leads to a new story.

Conclusion

This whole passage is about the preparation for Jesus' death and it is good for us to spend time meditating on His death.

In this story we see, plot and betrayal but also that in the right place, at the right time, on the right day God’s will was carried out. We see the humanly planned events which led to His death, but we also see the divine necessity which accomplished God's plan. Therefore, we rejoice that God is sovereign and we give thanks for the divine necessity which has established the new covenant by which we live and in which we are comforted with eternal hope.

Since this is what God has done for us, we must respond to it. The different stories provide us with examples of how different people responded to what God has done. How will we respond? Will we be like the Jewish leaders, who were against Jesus and wanted Him out of their life? Will we respond like Judas who portrayed support at first, but then in the most terrible way possible broke covenant with Jesus? Will we be like the disciples who followed Jesus, but struggled to truly understand and believe what He was saying? Will we be like the woman, who deeply loved Jesus and made a great sacrifice in order to express love for Him?

As we draw near to Easter which takes place in four weeks, let us take the time to meditate on and think deeply about the death of Jesus and carefully consider our response.