Do you like tests? Some people
enjoy tests and see them as a challenge and gladly take up the challenge. Other
people fear tests and even if they know their stuff, they are afraid that they
will forget what they have learned. Trials in life can be tests which reveal
what is within us. If we have learned the lessons of life well, we can usually
succeed in these trials. That is how it was with Jesus.
We have
been talking about Jesus' journey to the cross. We know that the Jewish leaders
were plotting to kill Jesus. We know that Judas agreed to facilitate the arrest
of Jesus. Arrest must be followed by a trial. Officials don’t just murder
someone but must do things in a legal way, or at least appear to be legal. In Mark 14:27-15:15 , we read
about the trials of Jesus which bring us from Mark 14 :21where we read, “For the Son of Man goes as it
is written of Him…” to Mark 15:15
where we read that Pilate “handed him over to be crucified.” How did Jesus do
in these trials?
While Jesus was on trial, however, the
disciples were also on trial. How did they do? Interestingly, the trials of
Jesus and the trials of the disciples are bound together in a very unusual way.
If Jesus had failed in His trials, the disciples would have failed completely.
If Jesus succeeded in His trials, even the failures of the disciples would not
be the end. That is good news!
I. The Trials of Jesus
A. The Trial in His Soul
The first trial of Jesus is not his
trial before the Jewish leaders or the Roman leader. The first trial which
Jesus went through was the trial within his own soul.
After the time he had spent with
his disciples at the meal in Jerusalem , he went
out with his disciples to the garden
of Gethsemane which is near the foot
of the Mount of Olives . All the disciples were
there except Judas, and Jesus took three of his disciples, Peter, James and
John and went a little further and invited them to accompany Him while he
prayed.
The language of Mark 14:33-36 reveals to us
the great depth of horror which Jesus faced on His journey to the cross. When
we read the announcements of his death which he had given to the disciples,
they may perhaps seem somewhat “matter of fact.” He seemed to be simply and
coolly saying, “This is what is going to happen” and we don’t sense that it was
difficult. In Hebrews 12:2 ,
we read “…who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross…”
The emphasis in that passage seems to be focused on joy and victory and we are
inclined to deemphasize that he endured the cross. But in Mark 14:33-36 , we cannot
escape how difficulty it was for Him to go to the cross.
First of all we read, “He…began to
be distressed and agitated.” There was a powerful agony in the depth of his
soul. In the next verse we sense the anguish when we hear Jesus say, “My soul
is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.(NIV)” It is hard to know what
to say about such a thing, but we need to allow these expressions to speak for
all they are worth. We see even more of his deep grief when we read in verse
35, “…he threw himself on the ground.” What is happening in your heart and mind
when you are driven to throw yourself to the ground? This was crisis time for
Jesus, it was a severe trial. We understand that when we read His prayer in
which he asks, “Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from
me.” Jesus had agreed to leave heaven and come to earth. Jesus had lived as a
human child, worked as a human man and now for three years He had proclaimed
the kingdom of God
In the very next line we read, “Yet
not what I want, but what you want.” Jesus succeeded in the trial within His
soul when, in spite of the deep anguish, he agreed to follow the Father’s plan.
B. The Arrest and Trial before the Sanhedrin
The second trial happened before
the Jewish leaders.
After Jesus finished praying, we
read that Judas came with a whole mob of people with swords and clubs to arrest
Jesus. How horrible when we read that Judas identified Jesus with a kiss. The
Greek word used for friendship love is “phileo” and the word for kiss which is
used here is the same word. A kiss implies love and Judas used a sign of
friendship love to betray Jesus. How awful!
Jesus highlighted the injustice of
the arrest when he commented in verses 48, 49 that they could have arrested him
any day. But he knew that they were looking for a sly way and this was it. He
was arrested at night, in a secluded garden. He was arrested unjustly, as the
Scriptures say.
Then they took Jesus to the house
of the high priest and all those who wanted to get rid of him, who from Mark 3:6 on had plotted to kill
him, gathered to find a “legal” way to justify their action. Jesus was on trial
before the court of the Jewish leaders. What would the trial reveal?
They found some who were prepared
to accuse him of saying that he would “…destroy this temple that is made with
hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.” Jesus
never said that. He never said that “he” would destroy the temple, rather He
said “destroy this temple” meaning if others would destroy it. However, there was
an element of truth to the accusation. He had said that if the temple was
destroyed He would build another. When He said this He was pointing to the
temple of His own body and implying that the physical temple would no longer be
the place where God dwelt. He was stating that His body would be the
manifestation of God’s presence. Yet as He was accused of these things, He
never defended himself but remained silent.
Other false accusations were made
but none of them were sufficient to find cause to put him to death. Finally the
high priest asked him directly in Mark
14:61 , 62 ,
“Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” and Jesus replied "“I
am; and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power, and
coming with the clouds of heaven.” Now the whole Sanhedrin thought they had
their cause to judge him worthy of death. In their eyes He had blasphemed.
In actual fact He had not. What
Jesus said was not technically blasphemy because He did not claim to be God nor
did He use God's name in vain. Furthermore, what Jesus said was actually true.
He was the Christ, the Son of the Power. He would sit at the right hand of God
and He would come on the clouds of heaven. But the Jewish leaders did not
accept that. They understood what Jesus was saying, but did not accept it and
so sentenced Him to death.
Did Jesus succeed in this trial or
not? When he was sentenced as worthy of death by them, we might think that He
did not succeed, but in fact He did. Jesus was successful in this trial because
in it, His true identity was clearly explained. He succeeded because He died as
God, which is exactly what God’s plan was. This was the divine necessity of
which Jesus had spoken.
C. The Trial before Pilate
Having achieved a verdict that
Jesus was worthy of death, they brought Him to Pilate in order to achieve a
sentence of death. But a strange thing happened in the next trial of Jesus. The
accusation changed. The Jewish leaders had charged him with blasphemy. Now,
before Pilate, they charged him with being the “king of the Jews.” Ironically,
once again, they got it exactly right.
When confronted by this charge
before Pilate, Jesus answered and the NIV translates his answer as, “Yes, it is
as you say.” The Greek is not that clear. In Greek it simply says, “you say.” NRSV
captures this well when it translates, “You say so.” We need to keep the answer
Jesus gave as an evasive answer. Is Jesus king of the Jews? Most certainly He
is. But what did Pilate understand about such a statement? It was what the
Jewish leaders wanted him to understand. He would have thought that Jesus was
king in the sense that he was a threat to Roman rule and would try to establish
a kingdom on earth to rival the Roman Empire .
Jesus had already revealed in the rest of Mark that His kingdom was a secret
kingdom. It was a kingdom that comes in a completely different way. It was an
eternal kingdom and although a threat to the Roman Empire
and every other kingdom on earth, it was not a threat in the sense that Pilate
and the Jewish leaders were thinking. Jesus' answer was evasive because He did
not want to affirm a wrong understanding of what it meant that He was king of
the Jews.
While this conversation was taking
place, a crowd was gathering before the palace. Pilate lived in Caesarea, but
had come to Jerusalem Rome
It is interesting to see the
political maneuvering that was going on here. Pilate knew that Jesus was
innocent and that the Jewish leaders had requested that He be sentenced because
of envy. So Pilate thought that perhaps he could get this crowd, which did not
know about all that the Jewish leaders were intending, to agree to the release
of Jesus. The crowd, which had gathered, did not fully grasp what was going on.
They had only one goal in mind – to get Barabbas released and so when the offer
was made by Pilate, they were prompted by the Jewish leaders to reject it and
stick with their original plan. They chose Barabbas not because they had
anything against Jesus, but because they wanted Barabbas set free. Three men
were supposed to be crucified that day – all three were criminals and rebels.
But when the crowd chose Barabbas instead of Jesus, the three who were
crucified were two rebels and one innocent man.
Once again we ask, “Was Jesus
successful in his trial?” He was sentenced to be crucified and so we would
think that He was not, but that would be to misunderstand what was
happening. Jesus was successful in his
trial. He was successful because He died as an innocent man in place of one who
was guilty. When Jesus took the place of Barabbas on the cross, we understand that
the death of Jesus was substitutionary. He took not only the place of the
guilty Barabbas, but also the place of each one of us. He died for us – the
innocent in place of the guilty. Jesus succeeded in this trial because He died
in our place for our sins.
II. The Trials of the Disciples
But as I have said, the trial of
Jesus was not the only trial that was going on that day. The disciples were
also on trial.
A. Warning!
Going back to the beginning of the
text, we see how Jesus had the compassion to warn the disciples that they were
not as ready for the trials they would face as they thought.
Jesus warned them, “You will all
fall away.” Falling away had been predicted in Zech 13:7 and Jesus reminded
them of that.
But they were pretty sure that they
would not fall away. They had seen all that Jesus had done. Perhaps they were
beginning to get it. Jesus had demonstrated his power by healing and feeding
the people. When they were in the boat, terrified by the wind and the waves,
they had seen him still the water. At that time they were frightened, but with
all they had experienced, perhaps they were beginning to understand that Jesus
could do anything. Perhaps they believed that nothing bad would happen to Jesus
because He would triumph in His great power. Every time Jesus had told them
that He would be rejected and killed, they had denied such a possibility. So
now again, they were very bold and confirmed that they would stand firm. Peter
was the most vocal of all. He almost seemed to say that even though it was
likely that others would fall, he would not. But Jesus warned him that not only
would he fall, but he would be the most vocal in his fall. He would deny Jesus
three times before the rooster crowed twice.
When they arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane Mark 14:38 , “Watch and pray so
that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is
weak.(NIV)” He knew the trial that was about to come to them and He gave them
the only possible strategy for victory in the coming trial. He encouraged them
to watch and pray and so pointed the way for them to succeed in their trial.
B. The Failure of All
When Jesus was arrested, the trial
of the disciples began. They had been warned and they had been given the means
of victory, but now the trial came. How did they do?
1. All Desert
The disciples had been bold because
they believed in the power of Jesus and in the victory He had come to bring.
But when the hour of trial came, when Jesus was arrested, their courage disappeared
and they became afraid that perhaps the power of Jesus was not enough to
overcome this danger.
The text tells us “All of them
deserted him and fled.” A disciple is one who follows Jesus. At this moment
they failed in their obligation as disciples and deserted Him. Judas had
already fallen when he chose to betray Jesus. He was the first to desert Jesus,
but now another ten also left.
2. The Young Man Flees
Next we read about a young man who
fled away naked. Why, at such a serious time when the most horrible thing in the
universe was happening, would Mark talk about a young man running away naked.
There have been many suggestions, but the most acceptable and also the oldest
explanation is that the young man who fled was Mark himself.
Why would he talk about something
that must have been a painful memory? Probably the best explanation is that he
was identifying with all the rest and, in fact, letting us all know, “I ran
away too.” He acknowledges his failure together with all the rest.
3. Peter Denies
Eleven have fallen. Judas betrayed
Jesus. Ten abandoned Jesus, but Peter was still in the picture. We read in Mark 14:54 that “Peter followed
Him at a distance.” Inside the high priests house the trial of Jesus was going
on. In the courtyard outside, the trial of Peter began.
Three times he was given the test
question and asked if he was connected with Jesus. The first time he denied
knowing Jesus. Then the rooster crowed. I wonder if the crow of the rooster
gave Peter pause to think about his denial and about what Jesus had said? It
didn’t help though because both the second and the third times, when he was
asked if he knew Jesus, he denied it. The third time he actually began to swear
and call down curses upon himself to strongly affirm that he did not know
Jesus. Then the rooster crowed again and this time Peter remembered and broke
down and wept.
All deserted Jesus. All fell away
from Him. The disciples failed miserably in their trials. Jesus had warned them
that these trials were coming and that they should watch and pray. But they did
not prepare. Three times Peter slept and then, three times he denied Jesus.
Because they did not prepare, as they had been warned, they failed.
III. The Promise of Hope
We identify with the disciples. We
also fail. When we have an opportunity to make Jesus known, we are silent. When
we have a chance to trust Jesus to see us through a crisis, we worry. When we
are wronged and have an opportunity to follow the Jesus way, we indulge in self
pity. In spite of the fact that we are called to be holy as He is holy, we walk
in impurity. Is there any hope in this long history of failure which each of us
as disciples shares?
Hope comes not because we have
succeeded, because the truth is we have not. Hope comes because Jesus
succeeded.
Already in Mark 14:28 Jesus offered the
disciples hope beyond failure. After telling them that they would all fall away
he said to them, “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee .”
Jesus succeeded in all of his
trials and because He did, His death became the atonement for our sin. Because
He succeeded, God raised Him from the dead and received Him. Because He
succeeded, the offer of restoration for the failure of His disciples is now
gladly extended.
The mention of Galilee
is important. After the resurrection, this same invitation was given again in Mark 16:7 and it included a
special invitation to Peter. Galilee was the
starting point of the ministry of Jesus. It was also the starting point of the
discipleship journey for those who followed Jesus. When Jesus said that they
would all return to Galilee , He was inviting
them to return to the starting point. He was indicating that forgiveness and
renewal were possible.
This was why the young man who fled
naked, Mark, could speak of this embarrassing moment. He knew that he had been
restored and included the incident to say that even though he had failed, he
had also been restored. But it is not only a testimony of his experience. It is
also included so that all of us who have failed can know that restoration is
possible. Even though all the disciples had failed in their discipleship
journey, Jesus had not failed and so opened up the way to find restoration and
to begin the journey again. And so we are invited to follow the one who was
successful.
Conclusion
Jesus was
successful in the most profound trials of His life. Because He was, He
accomplished God's purposes. Our trials continue. Sometimes they are very
difficult and sometimes we don't do very well in our trials. However, because
Jesus was successful in His trials, there is a tremendous promise. Jesus
succeeded because He died on the cross and, because He did, our deepest sins,
our most awful failures can be forgiven. Because Jesus passed His trials, it is
possible for us to go to Him, find forgiveness and begin again. The good news
is that our Savior's victory assures renewal.
If you are
suffering because of failure – failure to be obedient, failure to be faithful,
failure to love, failure to live in holiness - I invite you to go to Jesus,
find forgiveness and begin again.
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