Mark 14:12-26

50:53

Passion Week Calendar and Map of Israel

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Jesus, Judas, Passover, eat, meal, Passover meal, lambs, betray, Jerusalem, disciples, God, table, upper room, celebrate, Unleavened Bread, Mark, verse, sin, Passover lamb, prepare

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

1. The Preparations for the Passover. - 3 -

Two Different Systems were necessary to handle the volume of people and sacrifices. - 7 -

2. The Prediction during the Passover. - 10 -

The Gospel - 13 -

Conclusion.. - 14 -

 

Introduction

This morning, we are back in Mark, Mark 14. And we're going to be talking about the final Passover, as we come to Mark 14, verses 12 through 26. Every year on the fourth Thursday in November, we all celebrate Thanksgiving. The tradition has been to invite family and friends over while everyone enjoys each other's company and has, hopefully a good time with one another. And if you were to drive by a house that was hosting Thanksgiving, you'd see a bunch of cars that are parked out in front of there, possibly even seeing people through the windows there in that house. And on that Thanksgiving Day, if you drove by someone's house, and you saw that, you know that they would be celebrating a meal together in that home. In fact, it would be public knowledge, as all of these cars are gathered there, and all of these people are gathered there in this home.

 

With our passage here this morning, while Jesus and the disciples are going to be celebrating a meal together, this is not something that is made public. It's not a public meal. In fact, they have to eat this in secret. This meal cannot be public knowledge, because if you look over at Mark 14 and verse 1, it says this. "Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him” (Jesus) “by stealth and” (do what?) “kill Him; (Mark 14:1)

 

They're seeking how to seize Him, and to kill Him. So, in order for them to eat this meal together, they had to do some planning. And they had to do all of this and make sure that it was all done in secret. Because Jesus knows that the scribes and the chief priests are wanting Him, they want to arrest Him, and they want to kill Him. So, Jesus makes some plans for Himself, and for the twelve as they begin this process of preparing this meal called the Passover.

 

In our text this morning, we're going to take a look at this Passover meal, and we're going to see what took place at this Passover meal with Jesus and His disciples. And we're going to be looking through verses 12 through 26. As these verses tell us all that happened from Mark's perspective, at the Passover meal.  And I'll just tell you up front here that we're not going to finish this entire passage here this morning. And so, we're going to break this up into two sections. We'll come back next week, and we'll finish it up.

 

But what I want to do here is I want to give you an outline so that you can follow along and see what we're going to be looking at in our passage here this morning. We're going to break this passage up into three different sections.

1. First, we're going to see the preparations for the Passover found in verses 12 through 16.
2. Second, we'll see the predictions during the Passover, in verses 17 through 21.
3. And then third, we'll see the prescription at the Passover, found in verses 22 through 26.

And so follow along as I read our passage for us here this morning, Mark chapter 14, beginning in verse 12.

 

“On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 13 And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; 14 and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 15 And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” 16 The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
    17 When it was evening He came with the twelve. 18 As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me--one who is eating with Me.” 19 They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” 20 And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl. 21 For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
    22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to 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.”
    26 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Mark 14:12-26)

 

This is the Passover meal with Jesus and the twelve. And now Passover was a big deal for the Jews. This was a big deal was the most important Hebrew feast, the most important Hebrew celebration is right here, this Passover. It's the first of three annual festivals for the Jews. If you remember how God had instituted the Passover, all the way back in Exodus 12, when the Israelites were there, enslaved by the Egyptians, and God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. And God then instituted the Passover and commemorated the final plague on Egypt as the angel of death came through and killed all of the firstborn in the house, except for those who had blood on the doorposts.

 

If you remember from Exodus, God told the Israelites take the blood from the lamb and put it on the doorposts. When the angel comes by, if there is blood on the doorposts, the angel will pass over that home. The firstborn in that home then is saved, they will not die. So, it was any house that had the blood on it, on the doorposts, those who were in that home were all safe.

 

Now, as we saw a few weeks ago, in Mark 14, one another name for Passover was also the name, Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And they called it that because only Unleavened Bread was to be eaten during the seven days following the Passover, even at the Passover meal, as we'll see here this morning, even at the Passover meal, they were only to eat Unleavened Bread. And then for seven days after that, that entire 8-day festival, that entire 8-day celebration, all they were allowed to eat was Unleavened Bread. That Unleavened Bread that they ate, it reflected the fact that the Israelites had no time to put leaven in their bread before their quick departure from Egypt. As God brought them out of Egypt quickly, they couldn't even put leaven in their bread. And so, it's a reminder to the Israelites, as they eat this Unleavened Bread. God took them out of the land of Egypt, in which they were enslaved. And so, these days here, essentially, they get blended together, Passover, and Unleavened Bread became synonymous.

 

Now, during the New Testament period, there would be large crowds that would gather together in Jerusalem, as people (pilgrims) would travel from all over to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover there in the city. Jerusalem would be packed with people, there'd be people everywhere. But if you remember Jesus and the twelve, did not stay in Jerusalem during that Passion Week, during that week leading up to the Passover. They didn't stay in Jerusalem, where did they stay? Out in Bethany. Every night, they would go back out to Bethany. In the morning, they would come into Jerusalem; at nighttime they would leave, and they would go out to Bethany, and they would stay there, most likely in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They stayed there with them.

 

But the Passover meal had to be eaten in the city of Jerusalem. You couldn't eat it outside of the city. The guys could not celebrate the Passover in Bethany, they had to go to Jerusalem. In fact that's established in Deuteronomy 16:5-6 it says "You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the LORD your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, (Deut 16:5-6) And where has He chosen to establish His name? In Jerusalem. There in Jerusalem, he says, “you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.” (Deut 16:6)

 

So, these guys could not stay out in Bethany and celebrate the Passover, they had to do it within the city walls of Jerusalem. They have to make their way over to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. But in order for them to do this, there had to be some planning that takes place.

 

1.     The Preparations for the Passover

 

Which leads to our first point here, the Preparations for the Passover. Preparations for the Passover. Look at verse 12. And what it says there, “On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” (Mark 14:12)

 

Mark gives us some details here that help us to understand what's going on. Notice it's the first day of Unleavened Bread, as they just said, it's synonymous with Passover. It's the first day of Passover. This would be on the calendar, the 14th of Nisan. It's the 14th day of Nisan, this here would be Thursday of the Passion Week. It's Thursday of the Passion Week. Remember, Unleavened Bread is synonymous with the Passover. And so, you have this first day here of the Passover. And Mark then tells us when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed.

 

Now we have to understand how this all worked back then. This is fascinating. I hope you can follow along with me as I try to explain this to you. Back then there were two different systems that worked-- two different systems. You had the Galilean system and the Judean system. In the Galilean system they viewed a day as beginning at sunrise and then ending the next sunrise. Sunrise to sunrise was a day for them.

 

See above for Galilee area and Judea area

See below for day details (sunrise, sunset)

 

 

 

But in the Judean system, a day went from sunset to sunset. So, there's different timings that are going on here, depending on the system that you're a part of. And so, Nisan 14, the 14th day of Nisan started for the Galileans at sunrise. It starts at sunrise, which would be Thursday of the Passion Week. This would be the day that they would then slaughter the Passover lambs on the 14th day of Nisan. And this would take place between 3-5pm. Towards the evening time -- between 3-5pm -- the Galilean Jews would go to the temple, and there was a line of just slaughter after slaughter after slaughter of the lambs as they would bring their lambs there, and the priest’s /job was just to slaughter lambs.

 

Then on Nisan 15, which would be Friday (from a Galilean perspective) you would have a second slaughtering of lambs between 3-5pm. This was for the Judean Jews -- those who lived in the regions of Judea. They would then come and slaughter their lambs at 3 (between 3 and 5pm) on that Friday from a Galilean perspective. But for the Judeans, this is still Nisan 14, because they viewed a day from sunset to sunset. Then the Judeans would eat their meal on Friday evening (after sunset), which for them had then become Nisan 15. So, there's two different systems that are working here.

 

Two Different Systems were necessary to handle the volume of people and sacrifices.

Here's what this looks like, I'll try and simplify it for you, in order for there to be enough time to slaughter all of the lambs for the participants who come for Passover, there has to be two systems that are going on. Two different times to slaughter the lambs. You couldn't have all of the Galileans there and all of the Judeans there and get through this time of slaughtering all the lambs and allow everybody to eat that meal, the meal of the Passover. So there had to be two different systems there...two different times. On Thursday, Nisan 14 between 3-5pm, that's when the Galileans did it. And then on Friday, Nisan15, between 3-5pm, that's when the Judeans did it. Hopefully that makes sense to you.

 

One time was for the Galileans; one time was for the Judeans. So basically, you have Nisan 14, beginning at sunrise on Thursday, and then ending at sunset on Friday (because there would be Nisan 14 for the Galileans -- and then Nisan 14 as well for the Judeans there (Nisan 14 would extend longer though).

 

So, it has to be Nisan 14. And why does it have to be Nisan 14? The 14th day of Nisan? Because in Exodus 12, God said, that's when you are to slaughter the lamb. You are to do it on this day. This is important here to note, it's very important for us to know -- because the lamb had to be slaughtered on Nisan 14. And it's also very important -- listen to this -- because this was how Jesus was able to celebrate the Passover on Thursday, and yet, at the same time, be the sacrificial Passover Lamb who would die on Friday.

 

While the Judeans are slaughtering their lamb, God is slaughtering His lamb. But at the same time, Jesus is still able to celebrate the Passover on that Thursday under the Galilean system. But under the Judean system, He is the Passover lamb being slaughtered while they are slaughtering their lambs.

 

All of this, all of this was working out in God's perfect timing and God's perfect plan. All of it was. But before Jesus would go to be the final Passover lamb, He had to celebrate the final Passover. So, what happens? Look at verse 12 again, "His disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" (Mark 14:12)

 

This is Thursday morning, now, Thursday morning, and they're going to celebrate the Passover on Thursday evening, they're out in Bethany. And they know they've got to get to Jerusalem, to go over there, make preparations and do all of this in order to celebrate this meal together. The disciples know this. They know that this has to happen. They're all Jews. That's what Jews did. They would go to Jerusalem to go and celebrate the Passover. And so, they asked Him where they need to go and prepare to eat this meal. What does Jesus do? Look at verse 13 “And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him;” (Mark 14:13)

 

Now, who are the two disciples that Jesus sends to make preparations? Well, Luke tells us who they are. In Luke 22:8 it tells us that He sent Peter and John, His two closest disciples. These guys in whom He loved, and in whom He trusted. These two closest guys, He sends Peter and John into Jerusalem to go prepare the meal for them.

 

Now, why would Jesus not send the accountant? Why wouldn't He send the guy with the money bag? I mean, they're going to go and prepare this meal, they got to buy stuff and purchase things and all of this, right? You would think, send the accountant, he's got all the money...but it's Judas. He can't send the accountant because the accountant is about to betray Him.

 

Judas at this point, Judas has already planned to betray Jesus. It's already a done deal for Judas. But Christ's time has not come yet. His time hasn't come. And so, Jesus needs to celebrate this final Passover meal... but if Judas knew where they were going to be eating this meal, what would happen? What would Judas do? He would go and tell the chief priests, the Sanhedrin, he would tell them, "get the guards and meet us at this house. And you'll arrest Him as He's walking in the door. You can take Him then." And what would happen then? Would Jesus be able to celebrate the Passover? He wouldn't.

 

So, Jesus doesn't send Judas and He has to keep all of this a secret; even within the twelve. It's a secret gathering. So, this meal here that they gathered together for is to be eaten in secret. Jesus didn't want anyone to know where they were. The location was a total secret to all of them. Jesus was the only One who knew where they were going to go to celebrate this Passover. 

 

And watch how Jesus keeps this a secret This is fascinating. This is amazing. What does He say? He says, "Go into the city". What is the city?  Jerusalem. Go into Jerusalem, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water, follow him. Now you would think, Alright... a lot of people walking around there... find a random guy carrying a pitcher of water. How do we know who this guy is? Well, as they go into the city there, Jesus gives them this detail, that a man will be carrying a pitcher of water because -- as they walk into the city, to see a man carrying a pitcher of water did not happen. Only women carried pitchers of water. Men didn't carry pitchers of water, men carried bags of water, or wineskins, that were filled with water.

 

And so, you have a lot of people there in Jerusalem. And as you walk into the city, you're going to see a man who's carrying a pitcher of water. That would essentially as one commentator says, "it would be like a man carrying a purse." You don't do that. And the men don't do that -- they don't carry pitchers of water. So, for this man to be carrying a pitcher of water was for those two disciples to identify --"That's him." And what do we do? What does Jesus say? Follow him. Follow him. Jesus is doing all of this in secret.

 

Notice, how He is keeping this, all of this, a secret. Look what He says in verse 14, “and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ (Mark 14:14)

 

Notice this, Jesus has obviously set this up prior to this encounter. He set it all up for these guys. At some point during this week, He set this up with this owner. Notice the guys are to walk into the house, and what are they to say? "The Teacher says." The Teacher says this. Now imagine that... think about that. There's rabbis everywhere. There's teachers everywhere in Jerusalem, and He says "The Teacher." That owner knows who that is. Right? That one Teacher, you know who it is, Jesus has already met this man, this man believes in Jesus. And He's pre-arranged for all of this to happen. And so, Jesus has pre-arranged for the use of this man's guest room.

 

Notice the question they are to ask, "Where is My guest room."? Jesus is saying it's mine. I have already purchased it. I've given the guy some money, maybe some rent that was due to him. They worked out something so that Jesus could go there and take over this upper room in this man's house, so that He could celebrate the Passover meal. The disciples are just to go and find it and prepare the meal there.

 

Now, who is the owner of this house? We don't know. They didn't know. It was all a secret. Who's the man carrying the pitcher of water? We don't know. Other than that, he was most likely a slave of the owner, a servant, a slave of him. But notice how Jesus is keeping all of this a secret, and yet working out His perfect plan.

 

Why does He do this? Because Judas was not going to find out where they were going to be eating. Because Jesus needs to eat the Passover meal with them. This was all a part of God's perfect plan for this final Passover.

 

Well, Jesus tells them what this owner will do once Peter and John arrived. Look at verse 15. "And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there." (Mark 14:15)

 

As the guys walk into this house...they follow this man carrying a pitcher of water, which was unusual, so they know it's him. They walk into this house and the owner then shows them where this upper room is. And notice how it's described. It's described as a what? A large upper room. Why did it have to be large? Because you got 13 grown men that are going to be there eating a meal together. It has to be large.

 

This room would have been built up above the ceiling of the house. And this owner then had it furnished for the guys. The owner prepared a table for them, there would have been a table that was laid out, and then they would have had reclining couches, that would have been all around the table there. Because that's how you ate back then; you didn't go and sit at a table like we sit today, you recline at a table, on a couch. And so, there were couches that were all around this table, and the men would then lie down on their left-hand side, there would be a cushion for each one of them, so that they could put their arm on it, and then eat with their right hand. And they would all be lined up around this table. As these guys ... their heads are facing the table, and they're eating together.

 

And this owner has prepared all of this for these men. So, it's all set up. It's ready for Jesus to have his final supper with His disciples. Look at verse 16, “The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.” (Mark 14:16)

 

Everything happened exactly as Jesus had said. They obviously found this unusual slave carrying a pitcher of water. They went to the owner, the owner then showed them the upper room, and they then prepare the Passover for all of them to eat. And most likely this owner helped them prepare this Passover as well.

 

Now what was this meal that they were to eat together? What's what was going on? What what was encompassed in this meal here? Well, this meal consisted of a lamb, Unleavened Bread, they had four cups of wine, they had bitter herbs, a sauce made from apples, nuts, wine and spices. They had a vegetable that would be there on the table, usually parsley, and they had a hard boiled egg. That's what the meal consisted of.

 

And every one of these is, is symbolic. If you were to, we had time, we could go through and study all of these, they're all symbolic. There was a reason why God told them to put all of this there. But in order for them to gather up all of this stuff, it took time, right? It's going to take some time to prepare this meal. It's like on Thanksgiving Day, you wake up, you turn the oven on, there's a lot of preparation that goes into making that meal so that all the guests can come over and enjoy this meal together. And it was the same thing with Passover. This took time for them to prepare this.

 

But it's what Peter and John were sent to do -- to go and prepare for Jesus and the twelve to eat this meal together. Now, this meal that they ate together was not a short meal. They didn't just "everybody here, get a bite of this...alright, everybody, you guys good...everybody full?  Alright, great, wonderful. Let's move on."  No, this took time, there was a lot that was going on during this meal. There were things that they had to recite-- there were Scriptures that they would recite, there were hymns that they would sing, there was a lot of things that were going on during this Passover meal.

 

In fact, we have what we call the Upper Room Discourse in John chapters 13-16, that tells us all of the things that Jesus taught these guys during this night at this meal. So, it wasn't just a meal for these guys. It was also a teaching time for Jesus. I wish we had time to go through John 13 through 16. There's a lot packed in there, and a lot of things that Jesus is teaching these men during this meal.

 

And so, from early evening time (when the meal started, after the lambs were sacrificed,) the lambs would be sacrificed, they would then come have everything prepared, they would begin the meal at evening time until midnight, they had to finish the meal by midnight. And all during this time, Jesus is there teaching these guys in the upper room. And one of the main things that He taught them was this. He taught them about the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. That's when He told them this. He promised them that the Holy Spirit would come, and He taught them about the Holy Spirit there in the upper room. But there was something specific that Jesus told them what happened during that meal that Mark tells us in the next section.

 

2.     The Prediction during the Passover

 

Which leads to our second point, point number 2, the Prediction during the Passover. Look at verse 17. "When it was evening He came with the twelve." (Mark 14:17)

 

This is now the first time that Judas finds out where they're eating the supper. This is the first time that Judas realizes, oh, this is where we're going to be meeting tonight. He had no idea where it was until they arrived in Jerusalem, because Jesus was not going to allow Judas to go and tell the guards so that He could go, come and be arrested. All of this was playing out in God's perfect timing. Everything was.

 

But they show up to the upper room, where it's all prepared for them to have this final meal. And look what it says in verse 18. "As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me--one who is eating with Me.” (Mark 14:18)

 

Jesus knew the plans of Judas. He knew the plans of Judas. Judas is now in the city. Judas now has the location, right? He's got the location. And Judas now has the guy sitting right there next to him, as we'll see at the table. Remember, Judas has already been paid at this point. So as Judas is lying there next to Jesus, around this table, enjoying this meal together -- in that money bag that he has -- is 30 pieces of silver, that he was paid to betray the man lying next to him. It's already a done deal.

 

There they are, laying there. Jesus looks at these guys, as they're enjoying this meal together, and Jesus makes a prediction. And He says, "One of you will betray Me." (Mark 14:18)

 

Now, this would have been shocking for these guys. For Jesus to say this and make a statement with these men all gathered around a table like this, this would have shocked them! One of you that is laying here around this table with Me is going to betray Me. It would have shocked them because this was unthinkable in Jewish culture. To eat with someone, meant that you were befriending them, and that you would be safe and secure in their presence. One commentator says, "To eat with a person and then betray him was the height of treachery."

 

And so, when Jesus says, "One of you is going to betray Me," this shocked these men. That was Judas. That was his heart. And Jesus knew it. How did Jesus know? Because Jesus knows what is in the heart of all men, right? He knows what's in his heart. Jesus knew that that night was the night. This was it. Remember, on Monday, when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem, and all the people were hailing Him as what? Messiah. He's the Messiah. He's the one who has come to save us. Here's the Messiah -- Hosanna, they lay the palm branches down. And Jesus came riding in on a donkey on that Monday. And all the people in Jerusalem on that Monday, they were selecting their lamb that was going to be sacrificed on that Thursday or Friday, depending upon what system they were a part of. But they selected their lamb on that Monday. And as Jesus came riding into Jerusalem, what was God doing? Selecting His Lamb.

 

And He comes riding into Jerusalem on that Monday. And all of it was leading up to this point. It was leading up to this night. This was the day. This was the moment. This was the time why Jesus came into Jerusalem. It's all led up to this one point, the time when He would be handed over to be crucified for our sins. And Jesus knows it. He knows that He's going to be betrayed. He knows that He's going to be handed over. But this was a shock to the disciples to hear that one of them was going to betray Him.

 

How do we know that? Look at verse 19. "They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” (Mark 14:19) They all went around the table, not I Lord, not I Lord, not I, Lord. And what did we study last time when we studied Judas? Did He say, Lord?  He said, "Not I Rabbi," he couldn't call him Lord, because Jesus wasn't his Lord. But it grieved these guys to think, "one of us is going to betray You?" One by one, they're going around the table, and they're trying to clear their name. Notice they even realize how wretched their heart can be. They're asking Jesus a question, "May it not be me, Lord?" Because I know how wretched my heart can be. May I not be the one who betrays you, Lord? Surely not I. They want to clear their name with Jesus. They want to be assured that it's not one of them.

 

But here's the thing. Listen, every single one of them would turn their back on Jesus, eventually.  Every one of them would. Peter would deny Jesus three times, right? And the other 10 -- they scattered when Jesus was arrested, they scattered. They would eventually all turn on Jesus. But here's the difference between Judas and the 11. The 11 all repented. But Judas did not. They repented. And the same offer was given to Judas. Judas could have repented, but he didn't, because his heart was hard, and his mind was made up. He wanted nothing to do with Jesus anymore, as he lies there around that table, Jesus and the other 11.

 

And as they're all clearing their name, they want to know who it is? Surely not I. But who is it? They want to know who this is. In fact, let me read this account to you from One Perfect Life, which is a harmony of all the gospels put together. A book called One Perfect Life, a harmonization if you were to take all four of the Gospels and blend them together. Here is how this would look at this time, at the Passover.

 

"When Jesus had said these things, as they sat and ate, He was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me. Behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about what He spoke, or whom He spoke. And they began to question among themselves, which of them it was, Who would do this thing? Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of His disciples whom Jesus loved." (And who was that? John --John, the apostle.) "Simon Peter, therefore motioned to Him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And they were exceedingly sorrowful. And each of them began to say to Him, one by one, Lord, is it I? And another said, is it I?" (One Perfect Life, MacArthur, pg. 405)

 

Here's what happens. They're all gathered around there. And as Jesus is laying there, on His right side is John, the one in whom Jesus loved. On His left side is Judas within arm's reach. There's Judas to His left. And so, as John is on His right side, John leans over, and he looks to Jesus and he says quietly, who is it? Lord, who is it? Look at verse 20 of our text. "And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl.” (Mark 14:20)

 

Now this is what is really shocking here. As I just read, John is there next to Jesus on His right-hand side closest to His chest, but Judas -- notice -- is not across the table from Him --Judas is right there to His left with a bag of money with 30 pieces of silver in it. Laying right next to the One in whom he has already and is going to betray. Judas is right there next to Him -- close enough for him to dip in the bowl with Him. They were in arm's reach of one another. And it was right after this, that Judas would have looked at Jesus, knowing that he was going to betray Jesus and says this. "Rabbi is it I?" To which Jesus says, You have said it. And then Jesus dipped the bread and He gave a piece to Judas, to identify that it was him.

 

This was a reminder and a fulfillment of Psalm 41:9 which says this, "even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me." (Psalm 41:9) David wrote that in Psalm 41, speaking about Ahithophel, who is his close friend who would betray him, and who would eventually hang himself.

 

But Jesus applies this here to Judas. It was fulfilled with Judas. And then Jesus says to Judas, "What you do, do quickly."  (John 13:27)

 

Do quickly. But still, at that point, the disciples who are there around this table with Jesus, they still don't know that it's Judas. Listen to John 13:28. "Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him." (John 13:28) They didn't know why Jesus said what you do, do quickly. They were thinking, Oh, he's got to go buy some more stuff. This is how good of a hypocrite Judas was. He was good.

 

Jesus then says in verse 21 of our text, “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” (Mark 14:21) This right here is where the sovereignty of God and man's responsibility are put on display. Jesus says here, Jesus says that He has to go, just as it is written of him, speaking of who? Judas. It was written of him. Which means this is all playing out in the sovereign Hand of God. Everything that is going on at this time is all a part of the divine plan of God.

 

But Judas was also fully responsible for his actions. Which is why Jesus says, “it would have been good for that man if he had not been born."(Mark 14:21) That right there is man's responsibility. It's going to be so bad for Judas, because of what he has done, and he is responsible for every action and every decision that he has made. It would have been good for Judas if he had just had never been born. And Judas will spend eternity in hell because he was fully responsible for his actions.

 

Speaking of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, Daniel Akin, one commentator says this, "Jesus will be betrayed and crucified according to God's pre-determined will. But this in no way relieved Judas of his responsibility and guilt. In a divine mystery we will never completely comprehend in this life. We embrace the truth and tension that divine sovereignty never cancels out human freedom and moral responsibility. Both are true. We affirm them both."

 

Yes, God is sovereign over all things. Yes, God's sovereign plan is always being worked out. But at the same time, every man is responsible for his own actions, and Judas was responsible for betraying Christ.  Jesus -- time after time after time -- think about this was offering repentance to Judas. Even in dipping the bread and giving it to him, was showing friendship with him to say, turn from your sin. But what did Judas do? He hardened his heart. And he was responsible for it.

 

The Gospel

Listen, some of you might be here this morning who are an enemy of Christ. You're in the same boat as Judas, because you have not repented of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. And if you continue in that, you will spend eternity in hell with Judas. But the good news is that Christ came to offer you eternal life. He offers you forgiveness from your sin, just as He offered it to Judas. And He says, Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. I came so that you might have eternal life. And what you must do is repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus, who was the sacrifice for sinners who could not pay for their sin on their own. Because none of us can pay for our sin. We need a perfect sacrifice. And Jesus is that perfect sacrifice. And that's what the Passover has all been pointing to. It's all been pointing to Christ. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And He says, Come to Me, and I'll give you life. REPENT of your sin and put your trust in Jesus Christ, and you will have your sins forgiven and have eternal life.

 

Conclusion

Well, this was the final Passover meal for Jesus. This is what He came to fulfill. He is the final Passover Lamb who was chosen by God. Now although they had to eat the meal in secrecy, it was not because Jesus was afraid to be arrested or afraid of going to the cross. But because it all had to line up with God's perfect timing.

 

Listen to me, Judas was not the ultimate one who put Jesus on the cross. Herod and Caiaphas were not the ones who put Jesus on the cross. The Romans were not the ones who put Jesus on the cross. It was God who put Jesus on that cross! God sent His only Son, and He put Him there on the cross -- to crush His own Son so that you and I could have eternal life. Because He loves us. And He said, I'll make the payment for you. A payment that you cannot pay. I'll do it for you. And we should thank Him and praise Him for what God did in sending His Son as the Passover Lamb who would go to a cross and die for us.

 

And that's what we celebrate every third Sunday of the month when we partake of communion, right? We celebrate that Christ was broken for us. And we're going to see what Christ did -- as Christ then instituted communion for us to celebrate, as we look at this, next week.

 

Will you bow with me?  Father, we thank You for Christ and His perfect sacrifice for us. We thank You that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We thank You that He was sent by You, that You were pleased to crush Him, so that He could make the payment for our iniquities -- as Isaiah 53 tells us.   Father, we thank You for the perfect and the final Passover Lamb, our Savior Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that as we leave here this morning, that this would change us, that we would be more in love with You. That we would desire to be more obedient to You. Realizing and understanding and knowing all the things that Jesus went through -- willingly -- in obedience to Your will, and He did it all to serve us so that we could be saved from our sins. Thank You for being such a glorious, gracious, loving and merciful God, and we thank You for Your perfect plan of salvation. We give you praise and glory in Christ's name, Amen.