It needs to be restated, that Mark is not writing a biography, but a gospel.  In other words, he is not attempting to record every little detail that occurred in the life of Jesus.  None of the four gospel writers do that.  Some may omit some things the others include, while including some things others omit.  And the reason for that is that they are writing a gospel, or a sermon if you will, which is presenting certain doctrines and principles that they want to emphasize. 

So as we consider this text before us today, it’s important that we resist the temptation to try to fill in all the blanks or gaps in Mark’s account, by bouncing around all the other gospels for the parts Mark seemingly left out.  We must remember that behind Mark is the authorship of the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit, speaking through Mark, certainly knows that He is omitting certain details.  So rather than focusing on what is not said, we need to focus on what is being said.  The important question then is what is being emphasized in this gospel account?  What is the message that Mark, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is trying to convey to us?  

Well, to start with, we are introduced to a couple of new characters in this passage.  The first being the governor of Judea, who is Pilate, and the other being Barabbas, a convicted robber, murderer, and insurrectionist.  These are the main players in this scene before the crucifixion. The other players who have side roles are the Sanhedrin, who are the governing religious body of the Jews, and the crowd, and the Roman soldiers. 

In vs1, we see the Sanhedrin, which is the whole Council that Mark mentions, made up of the chief priests and all the official religious leaders of the Jews, about 71 persons in all, having a quick trial now that it was daylight, in order that they might officially condemn Jesus to death.  Now they had already had a trial during the early morning hours, but it was an illegal proceeding since  it was against the law to condemn a man to death in a nighttime trial. So they convene again at dawn, condemn Jesus as worthy of death, and bind Him and send Him to Pilate.  Note that He was bound, that He might set men free.  He was rejected, that men might be accepted.  He was condemned, that we might be forgiven.  

And so the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus of blasphemy in their religious trial.  They say in the previous chapter that His claim to be the Son of God makes Him worthy of death. But they do not have the authority to take a person’s life. They don’t have the authority to put a person to death.  For that, they must get Roman approval.  The problem with Rome is that they are unlikely to care too much about blasphemy. They are much more concerned about crimes against the state. So the Jews are going to accuse Jesus in the civil trial before Pilate with the crime of treason; particularly forbidding to pay taxes and claiming to be King.

We have looked at the activities of the Sanhedrin in detail in previous messages, particularly in last week’s message, so today we will not spend much time on them.  Pilate is the officiator of the civil trial.  And Pilate seems to only be concerned about the  charge of Jesus claiming to be a King. Not only because of the possibility of insurrection, but perhaps because if he thought that was true, then Jesus would have outranked him.   He was only considered the governor of Judea, which includes Jerusalem. And first and foremost, Pilate is a petty politician.  He served under Caesar Tiberius.  He had in fact gotten in trouble in time past with the Jews, and had been censored by Caesar.  So he is very concerned to keep his position, to hopefully advance in Roman government, and to do so he must try to walk a line between pleasing Rome and not offending the Jews in his jurisdiction.

If we can say one thing about Pilate’s power though, it is that he has been given the authority over death.  He alone can administer the death sentence.  That is why the Jews have come to him. 

So he asks Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus answered him, “It is as you say.” Now Mark leaves it at that.  Luke and John’s gospel’s add considerable more to the dialogue.  And I would encourage you to read their accounts for yourself.  But what I think Mark is trying to emphasize here is the contrast between this petty, political ruler of Judea, and the King of the Jews.  Pilate is governor by the decree of Caesar, and so he has judicial rule over Judea, only a portion of Israel, but which does include the Jewish capital, which is Jerusalem. 

Jesus, on the other hand, is the King of the Jews.  In actuality, Jesus is King over the whole Earth, but since He specifically came to fulfill the purpose of the Messiah, it is to the Jews that He claims sovereignty.  He is sent to the Jews first.  He is of the royal line of David. So He is legitimately claiming sovereignty over the Jews. He has already told the high priest in the preceding chapter that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Now in response to this pagan politician, He adds the claim that He is King of the Jews.  

It’s interesting to note the contrast between Jesus and Pilate.  Pilate has the authority to condemn, but Jesus has the authority to forgive.  Pilate has the authority to put to death, but Jesus has the authority to give life.  Pilate has a limited, temporal rule, Jesus has a sovereign, eternal reign.  Jesus is recorded as saying to Pilate in John’s parallel account that His kingdom is not of this world.  It is a spiritual kingdom.  And thus it has no boundaries, it has no end, and no limitations.  Pilate’s rule will come to an end, a rather inglorious end at that as tradition tells us he commits suicide in his later years. 

Pilate represents the natural man, the material man, the temporal man, who claims his right to self rule, who thinks that he has the ability and authority to determine for himself what is right and what is wrong.  He thinks he has freedom, when in fact he is in servitude.  He thinks he is making his own decisions, but in fact he is cowering and caving in to popular opinion.

Jesus, in affirming that He is King, albeit of a spiritual kingdom, adds another dimension to what it means to believe in Him.  Faith in Jesus means acknowledging that He has the right to rule your life.  He has authority over life, and He has the power to give life.  But Pilate, as the quintessential natural man, though intrigued by Jesus’s claim,  will not believe in Him, will not acquiesce to Jesus’s sovereingty.  

Isaiah writing 700 years earlier prophesies concerning this failure to recognize Jesus as King in Isaiah 53:2-3,  “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

Then Mark tells us that the chief priests begin to accuse Jesus harshly.  I suppose we can piece together all that they were accusing Him of from the other gospels, but really it makes little difference.  The details do not concern Mark as much as the fact that they make all kinds of wild accusations, and yet He makes no answer.  Pilate, on the other hand, feels he must respond to their accusations.  Because Pilate is a politician.  He makes his career by acquiescing, or at  least appearing to acquiesce, to the demands of the Jews and to the demands of Rome.  Jesus answers to no man. This judge and jury think that they have authority over Him, but in fact, all authority in heaven and on earth belong to Jesus.  He has the authority to lay down HIs life.  And that I believe, is what is behind Jesus’s silence.  He is not going to play along with Pilate.  He is not going to try to defend Himself.  He has said, I am the Messiah the Son of God.  I am the King of the Jews.  And that is all He needs to say in HIs defense.   In fact, He makes no defense at all.  It may be argued that Jesus is on the offensive, not the defensive.  He is going to lay down His life, voluntarily.  He is resolutely headed for the cross, not the least interested in avoiding it.  And so He answers them not and Pilate is amazed at His silence.

But even His silence is confirmation of His claim to be the Messiah.Isaiah 53:7  “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”

Mark then tells us that it was the custom of the governor to release a prisoner at the feast of the Passover.  And so they come to Pilate and ask for him to do that, according to his custom.  So he asks them, “‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.” Pilate, ever the politician, is trying to walk both sides of the fence.  The other gospels tell us that Pilate had already announced that he found no fault in Jesus.  But rather than seeing that justice was done and releasing Jesus, he wants to please the crowd.  However, perhaps this was his half hearted attempt to release Jesus, or at least to be able to claim such, in offering to release Him to satisfy the custom.  But I think that Pilate knows that they will not want Jesus released.  The Jews have made it clear that they want Jesus dead.  I think Pilate is just trying to salve his conscience somewhat by being able to say he offered to release Jesus.  And Mark says that he knew that there was no evil that Jesus committed, it was just a matter of jealousy on the part of the priests.  So I think Pilate knew that they wouldn’t let Jesus be released, he is just trying to portray a semblance of innocence in the matter.  But Pilate already has given over in his heart to the will of the priests in condemning an innocent man.

And let me say by way of application that Pilate is a good example of the natural man who thinks that he is his own ruler, he is the king of his castle, but in reality, he is subservient to the peer pressure of  the world.  He claims to be autonomous, but actually he is a slave of popular opinion.  He caves in to the dominance of the world’s demands, whether it be from the media, or the entertainment industry, or his career, or from the influence of friends.  They reject the dominion of Christ as King, but become enslaved to the passions of sin and the world, which is ultimately orchestrated by the devil.  Like Bob Dylan once wrote, everyone is going to serve somebody.  It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody.  Pilate chooses to serve the world, which ultimately achieved the purposes of the devil.

Vs.11 “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.”  So Mark indicates that the crowd is induced by the priests to ask for the release of Barabbas instead.  And Pilate, wishing to accommodate the crowd, releases Barabbas, the condemned murderer, and keeps Jesus in bonds.

What Pilate and the Jews do not realize, is that by their actions they have demonstrated the gospel of Jesus Christ quite effectively.  Barabbas, the convicted robber, murderer and insurrectionist, is obviously guilty of his sins. He represents the sinner.  And in setting the sinner free, and putting to death the righteous, spotless Lamb of God, they have illustrated nothing less than the truth of the gospel.  That principle of the gospel especially that Jesus came to save sinners.  That principle that the innocent would die for the ungodly.  That principle that God would transfer our sins upon Jesus, who would be punished to die in our place, so that we might be set free from sin and death, and receive the transfer of Christ’s righteousness upon us.  That is the gospel, and though they hated it, yet by their actions in freeing the guilty and condemning the righteous they have given us a tremendous illustration of the gospel of God.

Once again Isaiah predicts this divine justice wrought by God upon our sins. Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Such an illustration of God’s grace towards sinners cannot help but make one wonder what happened to Barabbas.  Nothing more is said in scripture concerning him. But  I cannot help but wonder if the magnificence of this transaction, resulting in his freedom, while Christ went on to suffer and die, did not have a tremendous effect on this condemned man.  I cannot help but wonder if he did not follow the crowd to Calvary, and there watch as Jesus was crucified in his place.  I can’t help but wonder if he was converted by this divine act of the innocent dying for the guilty. I suppose we will find out in heaven.  Perhaps we will see Barabbas in heaven. 

But let’s not miss the point that all of us here today are Barabbas.  According to the gospel, we are all sinners, deserving of death, but Jesus took our place on that cross, so that we, by faith in Him, might be set free. I want to point out one more fact about Barabbas, before we move on.  The name Barabbas means “son of the father.”  Bar= son of, Abba, the Aramaic word for “father.”  And interestingly, there are also some manuscripts which  give the first name of Barabbas as Jesus.  So his name might actually have been Jesus, son of the father.  And of course, he was contrasted with Jesus, the Son of God the Father.  One being the sinner, being  the son of Adam, and the other being sinless, being the Son of God. What an irony, that the crowd chooses the son of the father Adam, the sinner, and rejects the Son of God.  And yet is that not what is at stake today?  Does the world choose to believe in  the Son of God, or do they choose to believe in  the son of man?  I would suggest that the world routinely chooses to believe in man, rather than to believe in Christ.  They choose to be ruled by man, instead of ruled by God, and as such, they choose the death of man, rather than the life of God. As it says in 1Cor. 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

The question of the ages for everyman is found in the next verse, 12, “Answering again, Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’”  What shall I do with Jesus?  That is the question for every man. That is the question for you today.  What will you do with Jesus?  Will you accept Him as your Savior from your sins?  Will you accept Him as your King?  Will you bow your will to Him?  Will you trade your sinful life for new life in Him?  What will you do with Jesus? Pilate wanted nothing to do with Him.  He tried to get out of making a decision concerning Jesus.  He tried to shunt Him off on Herod.  He tried to release Him.  He said repeatedly that He found no fault in Him.  But ultimately, Pilate did not recognize Jesus as King.  Ultimately, Pilate choose the favor of the world, and rejected the Savior of the world.

Some of you here today may not want to make a decision concerning Jesus.  You want to remain ambivalent about Jesus.  But if you put Him off today, if you shunt Him off until a more convenient time, then you are really doing exactly what Pilate did.  You are rejecting the Lord in favor of maintaining your own sovereignty.  And as such, you condemn yourself.  You are not guaranteed another opportunity tomorrow.  Tomorrow may be too late.  What will you do with Jesus?

Well, the crowd knew what they wanted to do, “Crucify Him!” they cried out.  They essentially want to murder the Son of God.  Their hatred for Christ has reached a fever pitch.  Pilate calls back, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”  They don’t have to have a reason to want to kill Christ.  Their hatred is all the reason that they need.  You know, Jesus was correct to equate hate as murder in the Sermon on the Mount.  Hatred is a scary thing.  I’ve personally seen hatred escalate to murderous intent.  I’ve seen hatred become so manifest in a person it was scary, it changed them into a monster.  And I will tell you something, rejection or rebellion leads to hatred.  Rejection of the truth is not an innocuous thing.  It’s not a harmless choice. It’s not as simple as you believe what you want, and I’ll believe what I want. Rejection of the truth leads to hatred of the truth, and that leads to murder of the truth. 

Notice what Mark says concerning Pilate in vs 15 “Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”  Wishing to satisfy the crowd.  I wonder how many people have crucified Jesus by wishing to satisfy the crowd?  Trying to satisfy the bloodlust of the world, we crucify Jesus Christ.  Trying to make people like us, to not lose face in public, trying to gain the fleeting approval of the world, we crucify the King of Glory. 

And Mark barely gives a mention in vs15 of the flogging that Pilate gave Jesus.  A cat of nine tails was commonly used to scourge a convicted person before heading to the cross.  It was meant to weaken them, so that they might not last too long on the cross.  It is said that such a flogging was stopped at 39 lashes, because it was determined that 40 would kill you.  Such a tremendous cost was our sin, that it required such a fierce punishment.  

Once again, consider Isaiah 53:5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” What a travesty of redemption when the modern day faith healers use this verse as some sort of mantra denoting the guarantee of our physical health. By His scourging, we are cleansed of our unrighteousness. That is what Isaiah says.  He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. Our physical health is not the issue, it’s our spiritual health that is spoken of.  The wrath of God against our sin was satisfied in the suffering of Jesus our Savior.

Now beaten to within an inch of His life, His back and legs ripped to shreds, there are still more indignities left to bear.  The soldiers now take part in the ridicule and mocking of Jesus.  Mark tells us more detail of the mocking than he does of the scourging.  Some wounds cut deeper than the flesh.  And the mocking of the soldiers is particularly cruel.  Perhaps they took out their pent up hatred for the Jews upon Jesus.  After all, He was said to be the King of the Jews.  It was common in those days to disrespect the fallen monarch of a defeated enemy.  Maybe that was it then, as the soldiers call all the Roman cohort from the Palace together to ridicule and scorn Jesus.  

The whole idea of Jesus being a King is obviously the point of their ridicule.  They dress Him in purple, a royal fabric, and crush a crown of plaited thorns upon His head, calling out “Hail, King of the Jews!”  Vs19 “They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.”

This is savage mockery.  This is hatred at it’s lowest form.  It’s easy to imagine that these soldiers were the lowest of the low.  That they were no better than savage animals.  But the fact is, that such savage mockery happens today on our concert stages and in our theaters and it is applauded by the world.  The fact is that sin is a savage beast.  Sin is an evil that turns men into the lowest of the low.  Thus we see God’s justification in dealing with divine wrath upon sin. The retribution that these low life soldiers deserved, God struck their blows upon Jesus. 2Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Once again God’s wrath against sin will be satisfied.  And God’s purpose is that in Jesus He would punish sin, put to death sin, and by His resurrection overcome sin.  If you remember in the Garden of Eden at the fall, God pronounced a curse upon the earth.  He said in Genesis 3:18 that part of the curse would be that the land would produce thorns and thistles.  Thorns then are a picture of the curse of the fall.  The coarse jesting of the soldiers in placing the crown of thorns upon HIs head, unwittingly played into the magnificent illustration of God, that He would put the curse of sin upon Jesus, that we might be free from sin.  

So as the soldiers hit Him and spit upon Him and revile Him, I can picture Jesus standing there in all of HIs bloody wounds, standing there bravely and purposefully bearing our reproach, that even those who were assaulting Him might go free.  

Isaiah 53:4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

Then Mark tells us in vs20 “After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.”  

The question that I want to leave with you today, is what will you do with Jesus?  You cannot avoid the question.  You cannot avoid making a decision.  If you try to avoid it, then you are really rejecting Him as your Savior and King.  I pray that no one here is like Pilate.  I pray that no one here is like the chief priests, or the soldiers who scorned Him, nor the crowd who hated Him without a cause.  I pray that you would be like Barabbas.  That you would recognize that your sin has condemned you to a just punishment, but that Jesus has taken your punishment upon Himself, that He might grant you life everlasting.  

If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and King, then today I urge you to accept His invitation to enter into His kingdom.  Jesus said in Revelation 22:17  “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”  Come to Jesus today.  He will save you.  Jesus said in[Matt.11:28-30  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus has taken the burden of our sin upon Himself, that we might be given the righteousness of God.  If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  He can forgive us, because He has paid our penalty.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Come to Jesus today as your Savior and King and receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ, resulting in salvation unto life.

In the passage of scripture we read today, we have seen a tragic picture of the fall of one of Christ’s greatest, most courageous disciples.  Peter, by all accounts, was the foremost of the disciples.  He was first to declare Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.  He was the one to jump in the water to walk on the waves with Christ in a storm.  If he had been a fireman, or a policeman or soldier, he would have always been first through the door.  Peter was a man to look up to.  He was a natural leader.  And yet we see him here falling, falling to the lowest level that anyone could have ever imagined.

It reminds me of the lament that David sang of Saul and Jonathan when they died on the battle field.  David said, “Oh, how have the mighty fallen!” Peter was the mightiest, the most courageous of all the disciples, and yet here he is pictured, denying the Lord three times while Jesus was being tried and beaten just a few yards away.  A tragic figure.  A terrible fall into sin. The old adage seems to be true that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

The question though, as we see Peter rushing out into the night, weeping bitter tearsl, casting himself to the ground in agony at his lack of faith, the question is, how did Peter get to this point? How did he go from being the foremost disciple, part of Jesus’s inner circle, the leader of the band of 12, how did he end up here lying on the ground in disgrace? 

Well, to understand Peter’s fall, we must go back in the gospel accounts to the first step to his declension.  No one goes from the heights of faith to the pit of despair in just a moment. It’s a progression, a downward slide that may be an almost indiscernible drift at first, but it ends up in shipwreck.  It’s like when I see a homeless person on the streets, caught up in addiction, living in poverty and filth, I have to remind myself not to judge him by the way he looks now.  But remember that once upon a time he was a young boy, running around the neighborhood.  Once he was an innocent child.  And I cannot help but wonder what happened in his life that caused him to end up there?  

So let’s retrace the steps of Peter’s denial.  Because I believe we can show that there was a progression which led him to deny Christ.  And perhaps Peter’s fall might serve as a warning to us, that when we think we stand, let us take heed lest we fall.  If Peter could fall, then we all could fall. And perhaps this lesson learned from Peter might even reveal our own fleshly attitudes and actions which are leading us towards a similar fate, and a similar destination.

The first step in the progression of Peter’s failure of faith is found in vs29.  There we see Peter boasting in himself.  Peter said to Jesus, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”  The key to what was wrong in Peter’s response to the Lord’s statement that all of them would fall away that night, was not necessarily in his determination not to fall, but in his superior attitude.  Proverbs says that “pride goes before a fall,”  and Peter shows that in his pride he considers himself superior to the other disciples.  They may fall, they may be weak, but I am not.  I’m better than the other disciples.  I don’t have the sinful issues that they might have. 

Paul warned the Corinthians not to compare themselves against one another. 2Cor. 10:12 “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”  As I have said before, when we see another person who is down and out, who is suffering the consequences of bad decisions, our attitude should be, “there, but for the grace of God, go I.”  We need to guard against pride.

The real problem that Peter’s answer reveals is that he is trusting in his flesh, in his courage, in his strength of will to accomplish what the others could not do.  But again, Paul writing the Romans tells us not to trust in the flesh.  Rom. 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”  We have to walk in the spirit, to keep from fulfilling the desires of the flesh.  Peter though is boasting in his flesh, in his strength. And that’s a dangerous first step in the wrong direction.

The second step in the progression to backsliding, was that Peter argued with the Lord and with the word of the Lord. Vs.31, “But Peter kept saying insistently, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And they all were saying the same thing also.”  Notice, he kept on

insisting even after Jesus corrected him.  Jesus said that they would all fall away, then Peter denied it.  Then the Lord specifically told Peter that before the cock crowed twice he would deny Him three times.  And Peter begins to argue with the Lord.  He keeps on insisting. 

It’s a dangerous thing to argue with the Lord. You may say, well I would never do such a thing.  But of course you do that very thing when you argue with God’s word.  When God says, leave something alone, do not touch, we want to argue that it won’t really be a bad thing for us.  We can do it and not be tempted, we can go there and not fall away.  It may happen to others, they may become alcoholics, but not me.  They may fall into sexual sin, but not me.  And so we find ourselves arguing with the Lord.  We think we know ourselves better than our Maker does. 

I’m reminded of what Jesus told Peter earlier; “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.”  It turns out that Satan didn’t have to use some great tool  to turn Peter.  He simply had to use the accusation of a little servant girl, and Peter ’s faith fell like a house of cards.  Because he was dependent upon his own strength. And Satan knows that though our spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.  To rely upon the Spirit, is to walk according to the word of God.  “Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)  And Isaiah 45:9 says, “Woe to him who strives with his Maker!”  If the Lord said it, don’t be foolish enough to go against His wisdom in lieu of your own.  Let God be true, and every man a liar.

The third step in the progression to Peter’s betrayal is that he was sleeping when he should have been praying. Vs.37.  “And Jesus came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”  There is a saying that prevention is worth a pound of cure. And I suggest that the prevention to falling away is prayer.  It’s hard to pray and fall into sin at the same time.

It’s interesting that Mark says that Jesus came to them three times to wake them up from their sleep.  You would think that they would have set themselves on fire in order to stay awake after the first time they fell asleep.  But instead, they seem to have become calloused.  They have no sense of urgency.  They forgot the admonition of Prov. 6:9-11 “How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?  “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”–  Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.”  Now in context, Solomon was talking about laziness in regards to work, but it certainly applies as well to spiritual poverty.  Phil.2;12 says we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Thus Peter writing many years later in his last letter says, “be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.”

There are really only two sources of spiritual strength, prayer and the word of God.  And notice that Jesus puts a great deal of emphasis on prayer as the means of overcoming or resisting temptation. That’s when we confess with our mouth our faith.  That’s when we call upon the Lord to help us to stand, to keep us from falling.  And finally, I can’t help myself on this one, notice that Jesus says, “could you not keep watch for one hour?”  I’m amazed at the excuses that people come up with in regards to coming to church.  One hour a week, and that is too much it seems.  And then we don’t understand why we are having such problems in our lives. Jesus said the church should be a house of prayer.  Peter could have possibly prevented a lifetime of heart ache if he would have just made prayer a priority.  

There is an old song, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.” The one line declares “O what needless pain we bare, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”  Prayer is not just declaring what we want, but submission to what God wants.  Jesus taught us to pray “your will be done.”

Another step in the progression to failure of Peter’s faith, is that in the garden he relies upon physical weapons to fight a spiritual battle. Vs.47, “But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.”  That was Peter, according to the gospel of John.  And we would have expected no less.  They only had two swords among 12 disciples, but you would have expected that Peter made sure he would wear one of them. 

Listen, what happens when we walk in the strength of our flesh, in the wisdom of our mind, rather than in the wisdom of God and the Spirit of God, is that we then find ourselves fighting spiritual battles with fleshly methods.  And not only does that not work, it’s counterproductive to spiritual things.  We may think it makes perfect sense.  We may think we have figured out a method for dealing with a problem, but in the long run, it accomplishes nothing for the faith, or even comes to outright disaster.  

Peter forgets that Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to defend Himself if He had wanted to do that.  This was a pretty large mob, it included not only the temple guards of the high priest, but also a group of Roman soldiers.  Peter’s efforts could have ended up getting him and the rest of the disciples killed.  And the sad part of that is, that it was not God’s will.  It was just the consequences of a headstrong, foolish will on Peter’s part to do things according to what he thought was right.  It’s one thing to suffer for the Lord, it’s another to suffer the consequences of unspiritual thinking.  Peter learned his lesson here though, because many years later he writes; in 1Peter 3:17 “For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”

The fact is that what seems natural and logical to us is often not the method of the Lord. Isaiah 55:8-9  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”  And Zechariah 4:6 speaks to that as well, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

The fifth step in Peter’s progression to denial is found in vs54, with says Peter followed the Lord at a  distance. “Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.”  After Jesus’s arrest in the garden, Peter fled with all the other disciples.  But then he sort of doubled back and followed the mob back to the high priest’s house.  But whereas in the garden, Peter was right beside the Lord, now he is following at what he thought to be a comfortable, safe distance. 

Listen, there is no safe distance to be from the Lord.  The further you are from the Lord, the more unsafe it is.  If you think you are in a comfortable place with the Lord, then you are about to get a lot more uncomfortable.  James said, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  But we often think that we don’t want to end up looking like a religious nut, so we find ourselves a comfortable distance from the Lord, where we think we are still close enough to hear Him and see Him, but not too close for comfort, and not so close as to bring undue scrutiny upon ourselves by the world.  We follow at a distance when our hearts are not fully given to the Lord.  We think we are ok being half way.  But that’s a dangerous place to be.

The truth is, we need to be as close as in the same yoke with the Lord if we are going to have any safety.  It’s much safer to be close to the Lord than close to the world.  The world is hostile towards you, if you are a Christian.  Satan is your mortal enemy and looking for an opportunity to strike you, to sift you like wheat.  And when you start hanging near the back of the herd, and then straggling a few dozen yards behind everyone else, the devil’s ears prick up and he begins to stalk you, looking for the right moment to pounce.  But poor old Peter has to learn the hard way.  His prideful confidence regarding his own resources is his downfall, and already he has started to pick up the pace in his descent.

The devil is always going to tempt you to think that you can go over there and still be ok.  You can do this and still be a Christian.  He uses the allure of the world to lure you further and further from being in communion with the Lord.  It reminds me of the story of a rich man that was hiring a new chauffeur to drive his limousine.  And so he came up with a test course to see how well each applicant could drive.  And the course near his mansion had a hairpin curve around a mountain, with a sharp cliff off the side of the road.  The first driver drove his car pretty fast around the curve, and got within a few feet of the guardrail without skidding out.  The second driver decided he needed to outdo the first, so he went even faster and got within a foot of the edge of the road, and he made it fine.  The third driver drove very slowly around the curve, and he stayed as far away as possible from the edge of the road.  Well, the rich man hired the last driver.  He had no interest in seeing how close he could come to running off the road.  He wanted a driver that would stay as far away as possible from danger.

Now that’s the attitude that we need to have.  When we want to see how close to the world we can get and not end up in trouble, then we are playing right into the devil’s hands.  Our desire should  not be to see how close we can live to this world, but how close we can live to Jesus.

Finally, we see Peter warming himself and sharing a fire with the Lord’s enemies. Psalms 1:1 tells us that there is a progression to falling away from the Lord.  It says, “Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”  Notice that he starts off walking in the counsel of the ungodly, then standing in the path of sinners, then finally sitting in the seat of the scornful.  Peter made the same mistakes.  He walked afar off.  He stood near the fire.  Then finally he is seated with and sharing the fire with the very men that are enemies the Lord.

Trying to find companionship and warmth in the things of the world is always a sign of having moved away from the warmth of His love.  And when we find ourselves sitting by the fire of the world, we find ourselves dangerously close to the denial of our Lord.  James 4:4 “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  

Peter found himself sitting by the fire of the enemies of Christ, the very servants of the high priests who would strike the Lord repeatedly as He was blindfolded, and without realizing it he had put himself in a position to readily deny the Lord, not just once, but three times.

Yet I am sure that none of us today would think that we would ever deny the Lord.  Oh, everyone else may deny the Lord, but I never will.  Yet we may already have denied the Lord either by our words or our actions.  We have denied HIs word, by not doing what He says.  We have denied Him by refusing to spend time with Him in prayer as He desires.  We deny Him by the way we talk, or the way we act when we are around the world.

Notice, that the more the enemies by the fire accused Peter of being with the Lord, the more incensed he became, until he finally begins to curse and swear.  Now cursing and swearing can be a sign of a heart that is far from the Lord, but I don’t think Peter was necessarily saying curse words.  The commentators tell us that Peter was swearing by God, and pronouncing a curse upon himself if he was not telling the truth, that he did not know the Lord.  That’s really a lot worse than saying a couple of swear words.  It’s hard to imagine Peter falling that far, that fast.  Yet as we saw, it really wasn’t an immediate thing.  It was a downhill slide that started some time before with an attitude of pride.

I think Mark is careful to point out the contrast between Jesus speaking under oath in the inner courtroom and Peter’s oath in the courtyard. Jesus said he was the Messiah, the Son of God, and Peter denied that he knew Jesus at all.  If there is anything good that comes out of this situation, it is that Peter’s pride was broken that night.  He realized when the cock crowed the second time that what Jesus had prophesied concerning him had come true.  His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak.  Luke tells us that when the cock crowed, Jesus looked at Peter.  And I’m sure that look broke his heart, because Mark tells us that he ran out and wept.  

Sometimes, God has to break us before He can use us.  I heard the story of a famous conductor who had written a beautiful song, and a  young woman was chosen to sing it in his presence at a rehearsal.  The woman was very talented, and she sang the song perfectly.  But when the friends of the conductor asked him what he thought of her rendition, he said, “She will be great when something happens to break her heart.”  

In the life of faith, whereby we walk by faith and not by sight, it is not enough to simply believe with your mind the facts of Jesus’s life.  But  a necessary component to faith is repentance, and that comes not simply from sorrow, but from brokenness over your sinfulness.  Recognizing as Paul said, that there is nothing good in you.  And yet the Lord still loves you, and has died for you, so that He might purchase you for His own.  Brokenness is the key to usefulness. Brokenness is realizing that the flesh is worthless.  Jesus said in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Even Peter’s professed love for the Lord was not able to sustain him in his time of trial because he was dependent upon his flesh, on human abilities and human resources, to carry him through. In the hour of crisis, even love was not really effective in keeping him close to the Lord. Love and loyalty and determination mean nothing when they rest on the shaky foundation of the  human will.  Our steadfastness is not dependent upon our will power, but on the power of the Holy Spirit, who works in us through prayer and the word of God. 

When I look at the lives of many Christians today, I am afraid for them because they depend upon the flesh.  They exhibit sentimentalism instead of sacrificial love. They evaluate spiritual things with worldly appraisals. They propose fleshly methods for dealing with spiritual problems. But God choses to work in the Spirit, which is contrary to the flesh.  Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”  

But we bring the flesh into the church, we bring the world into the church, and like Peter slashing with the sword, we try to fight spiritual battles with worldly weapons.  And like Peter, it leads to our spiritual destruction.  That’s why Paul could say, that he gloried in his weakness.  Notice he doesn’t say he gloried in his sinfulness.  He was not glad he was weak, but in recognition of his weakness he knew his dependency was in Christ.  And so he dared not stray from  closeness to Christ.

Paul goes on to say in 2Cor. 12:5, 9-10  “On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. … 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  The source to our spiritual strength is our utter dependence upon Christ dwelling in me and my fellowship with Him through prayer and through His word.

The late Paul Harvey used to end his popular radio broadcasts by saying, “And now you know the rest of the story…”  The chapter ends with Peter going out and weeping bitter tears at denying Christ.  But I want to just leave you with the rest of the story.  Jesus, after being resurrected, made a special  private visit to Peter in order to restore him to Himself again.  And then, one more time before His ascension, Jesus made another appearance as Peter and the disciples were fishing, and this time Jesus publicly restored Peter not only to fellowship with Him, but usefulness to the kingdom. Once Peter recognized his weakness, and repented of his pride and self sufficiency, then the Lord could use him.

The good news is, that if you have seen in yourself some parallel today in the life of Peter, you recognize that you have started slipping away from fellowship with the Lord, then there is the invitation of Christ to be renewed and restored to usefulness.  And that starts with repentance.  David, who also fell away and by his actions denied the Lord, prayed a prayer of repentance in Psalm 51, 10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. … 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. … 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

The Lord is willing to forgive and restore those who come to Him in faith and repentance.  

I suppose that the section of scripture we are looking at today is familiar territory for most of you.  I assume everyone here has at least a basic knowledge  of the trial of Jesus Christ.  It is doubtful that I could add much that would be new to you.  And to be honest, that really is not what the purpose of my message should be; to teach some new thing, some new nugget of knowledge that you can add to your spiritual knowledge bank.  Sometimes I think that we confuse that approach with expositional preaching.  My view of expositional preaching is taking a text of scripture, and deriving spiritual doctrine from it, that we can then apply to our lives.  And so I want to try to do that today, even though I realize that it may be difficult due to our familiarity with the subject, and also due to the fact that it is a historical narrative.

So I want to look at the historical context in a moment, and make sure we understand that correctly.  But ultimately, I want to apply the spiritual principles that I think are incorporated in the text.  However, since we have already read the text, I don’t think it will be unhelpful if we identify what the crux of this passage is teaching before launching into our exposition.

And I would suggest that the crux of this section deals with who Jesus Christ is.  To make that less theoretical and more applicable to each one of you here today, the question is who do you say that Jesus Christ is? In the juvenile section of a big bookstore, a small girl, one day, was found busying herself with a box of crayons, and the clerk uneasily asked the child what she was about. She said, “I am drawing a picture of God.” “But how do you know what God is like?” the clerk said. “That,” said the little girl succinctly, “is why I’m drawing him. I want to find out.” She was making up her own mind about what God should be like. And too often when we come to the testimony of Jesus Christ that is the kind of attitude that we have. We do not come seeking to learn, but we come seeking to substantiate some ideas that we have concerning him.

The question of who you say that Jesus is, is of ultimate importance, because the scriptures teach that believing in Christ is the basis for salvation. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him might have everlasting life.” So believing in Jesus constitutes faith, and faith is the means of salvation. 

Jesus Himself says that on several other occasions, one of which is John 11:26 “everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”  And Paul makes the same assertion in 1Tim. 1:16 “Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”  I could give you many more references to the fact that belief or faith is the basis for salvation, but I am sure you all are in agreement with this fact, and so I will not belabor it.  

However, the question could be legitimately asked, to what degree must belief be developed to be saving faith?  In other words, at what point does one believe unto salvation?  And what constitutes saving faith? Is it merely believing in a historical Jesus?  The fact He lived on earth 2000 years ago is supported by virtually irrefutable evidence.  Even many historians who are for the most part atheists are in agreement that the facts of history indicate that Jesus lived and died on earth.  So they believe that He lived, yet they are not Christians by their own admission.

In fact, even non Christian Jewish historians and scholars do not doubt that Jesus lived.  The Jews have nothing to gain from accepting that Jesus lived.  In fact, the New Testament’s record of their treatment of Jesus is sometimes used against them as a basis for anti-semitism.  But rather than try to deny His existence, the Jews simply try to deny that they contrived His death.  To quote Haim Cohn, an internationally famous expert in Jewish legal tradition, he said that Annas and Caiphas, the high priests mentioned in our text, “Did all that they possibly and humanly could to save Jesus, whom they dearly loved and cherished as one of their own.” (quoted by Hendricksen, NTC Mark)  So most Jewish scholars believe that Jesus lived, they just refute the gospel’s account of their actions concerning Him.

And of course, the other great international religion, Islam, believes that Jesus was a notable prophet of God.  They believe that He lived and taught the scriptures. And yet they are not Christians. So the three world religions, Judaism, Islam, and of course Christianity, are all in agreement that Jesus lived and existed as the Bible teaches.  Yet by no means can all claim to be saved.

So if we were to draw a diagram which has a horizontal line denoting belief, and at the left end we write the words Absolute agnostic, meaning as much of an agnostic as possible, and on the right end we write absolute saving faith, meaning saved beyond a doubt, at what point towards believing would you place a mark on the line to indicate when a person is saved?  Does one have to have full complete faith, full knowledge of all doctrines, full understanding of all  theology in order to be granted saving faith?  Or is it somewhere further down on the line?  Is is perhaps way down at the first dawning of belief?  I must confess that I often wrestle with that. The fact is that I cannot say with absolute certainty where exactly you should make a mark on that line.  I suppose that only God knows for sure where that mark is.  That doesn’t mean that you cannot be sure of your salvation, because I believe you have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit to assure you of that.  But I don’t think that you can necessarily determine with certainty others salvation based on their point on that line. Only God can do that because only God can judge the heart. 

However, I was able to come up with an illustration of what I think common belief vs saving faith might look like that hopefully may help you understand it. When I was a kid, I used to like to fish in some of the ponds near my home in NC.  And we were not very sophisticated fishermen, so we used a little Zebco spinning reel set up with a bobber and lead weight, which suspended a worm on a little hook.  And I loved watching that bobber bounce up and down in the water, signifying that a brim or bass was toying with my bait.  If the bobber ever disappeared, then I knew to pull back on the rod and hopefully catch a fish.

But as those of you who are fishermen know, the fact that the bobber is moving up and down doesn’t always mean that the fish swallowed the hook.  Lots of times, most of the time, in fact, the fish would come up and look at the bait, smell the bait, nibble at the bait, pull on the bait, but in the end it might spit it out and swim off.  Sometimes it would come back and go through the whole process again.  And you might never hook a fish, but you could get a lot of “bites”, as we used to call them.  

It kind of reminds me of the verse found in Heb. 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”  Now a lot of theologians have a field day offering various interpretations of this verse, but I think it’s talking about people who have come to the faith, looked it over, smelled it, nibbled on it, but ultimately, they don’t swallow it, they end up spitting it out.  They have been given enough light to believe, they have been given enough conviction of the Holy Spirit to repent, they have been given enough evidence of the transforming power of salvation, yet they end up spitting it out.

Now I think there are a lot of so called Christians like that out there.  And I say “so called Christians” because they show by their lives that they are not really saved.  Because if you truly accept who Jesus is and what He has done, if you truly believe in all that He is, if you truly have saving faith, it will result in a change of heart, a change of nature, a change in direction and a changed life.  The Bible makes that clear.  When one is truly saved, they are converted, changed, and they have a new life.

Now that was a long introduction, but perhaps we established the thesis of this section, and now we need to look at the historical context for a few minutes and then we will make application to us here today.  It helps to understand that there were actually two trials going on.  There was the ecumenical trial, which was the religious trial, and then the civic trial.  The high priests and the governing religious body of the Jews known as the Sanhedrin arrested Jesus, with the help of the temple police and also Roman soldiers.  The Jews could try a person for a religious crime, but they could not legally punish him.  They had to get the approval of the Roman governor to execute punishment, especially corporal punishment.

So they arrest Jesus sometime around midnight and they take him to a hearing with the father in law of the high priest named Annas.  Mark doesn’t include this fact, but John does. Then there is the trial before the Sanhedrin, which is the religious governing body made up of 70 persons, not all of whom were probably there since it was held before dawn.  Those were illegal trials, by the way.  It was illegal to try someone before dawn. So there was another trial after daybreak with the high priest Caiaphas. Then there were three stages in the civil trial, first before Pilate, then before Herod, and back to Pilate again.  

In the ecumenical trial, they focus on getting the verdict of blasphemy.  At the civil trial, they try to accuse Him of insurrection and treason against Caesar. But our passage only focuses on the ecumenical trial today.  We are told at the outset that Peter follows at a distance and ends up in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, sitting with the officers by the fire.

Now I am not a legal expert, even less a legal expert on Judaic law.  So I am not going to try to impress you by talking about things I don’t understand.  However, I will say that most experts in such things concur that this trial was a travesty of justice.  It was an illegal trial, the witnesses were made up of the judges, who were also the prosecuting attorneys, it was during the Feast, which was forbidden, and no conviction was allowed at night, but yet they proceed to do so.

Furthermore, they attempt to get Jesus to incriminate Himself. In vs 60 they try to get Him to tell them what the charges were that were being made against Him.  Again and again their testimonies do not match up.  They also misquote Jesus in vs58. They say, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” Actually, the words of Jesus according to John 2:19 were, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.”

Their hope was to accuse Him of defaming the temple.  After all, they were incensed that He had just cleaned out the temple of the money changers and vendors.  That was their own business enterprise that He had disrupted.

Then the high priest asked “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But He kept silent and did not answer.”  Jesus knows that they are not interested in truth, but in proving their falsehoods.  So He does not answer them.  By the way, that is a pretty good principle that we need to employ sometimes.  Jesus said elsewhere, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.”  Now that isn’t the insult that you might think it is.  Jesus isn’t advocating calling someone a pig.  What He is teaching is that it is profitless to speak truth to someone who is not interested in the truth.  Just as it would be pointless to dress up a pig in pearls, it is pointless to present truth to those interested in lies or arguments.  We could defang a few attackers sometimes if we would just refuse to engage.  Just don’t get into a tit for tat.  Especially over doctrinal issues.

The point that needs to be understood though, is that from the very beginning they have already made up their minds about Jesus.  Never was the trial an attempt to uncover the truth, but simply an attempt to justify their desire to kill Him.  They had already decided that they would not accept Him as the Messiah, they hated Him without a cause, and they wanted to kill Him. All the evidence in the world wasn’t going to change their minds.  And so in that respect, the religious leaders are an example of those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.  They rejected who He really was because they saw Him as a threat to their position of authority in the nation. That’s why apologetics is not necessarily a means of salvation.  Most unbelievers are so not because of a lack of facts, but because the facts don’t align with their desires.

So Caiaphas is irritated over the fact that Jesus does not answer these charges, but in fact Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7, which says, “He opened not His mouth.”  So in reality, their trial is really turning out to be a farce, until Caiaphas finally asks Him the key question.  This question was really the point of the whole trial and they finally come straight out with it; “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  How many times had they asked Him this during His ministry.  “Tell us plainly, if you are the Christ.” (John 10:24)  

According to Matthew’s account, the high priest emphasized the question with an oath, as if to say, “By the living God, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  Now up to this point, Jesus had not publicly come out with that declaration in no uncertain terms.  Others had declared this to be true, such as the disciples, and Jesus had confirmed that such a declaration came from God.  He had also defended those who called “Hosanna to the Son of David,” which was another title for the Messiah.  He had called Himself the “stone which the builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone” which was a key prophecy of the Messiah.  And He had told the woman in Samaria that He was the Messiah.  But in Jerusalem especially He had not made such an outright declaration of HIs Messiah-ship before to the religious leaders.

But now that HIs hour had come, now that events had transpired to bring Him to the cross as determined by the plan of God, it was the appropriate time to make that declaration. In fact, it was the opportunity that He was waiting for.  Other questions in the trials of the Jews and Romans were not of concern to Him.  Their minds were already made up.  But this question was one that He was ready to declare openly and plainly – that He was the Messiah, and all that title represented.

And notice something in their question before we move to Jesus’s answer.  We can see by their question that they considered the Messiah and the Son of God to be analogous. Therefore according to Jewish theology, they considered that the Messiah had to be the Son of God, therefore being equal with God.  Modern liberal theologians who try to make a distinction between being the Messiah or the Son of God do so at the expense of Jewish theology, which was the governing principle in this trial as well as in Christ’s declaration.

So notice Jesus’s answer.  In fact, He goes further than just answering their question.  He declares another prophecy concerning Himself and the nature of His Kingdom. Vs.62, And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

Now what Jesus says is important, but especially in regards to our thesis, especially in regards to what constitutes saving faith in Christ, this declaration of Jesus is crucial for defining our faith.  So let’s break it down.  First, in answering simply “I Am”, Jesus is speaking volumes.  He not only claims to be the Messiah, the Anointed One, but He also makes claim to the personal name of God that was given to Moses out of the burning bush, “I am that I am.”  Under the authority and power of that name, Moses performed great signs and wonders and led the children of Israel out of captivity, through the trials in the wilderness, and on to the Promised Land.

In like manner, when Jesus answered “I am”,  He fulfilled the prefigurement of the burning bush and the pillar of fire that would lead the Jews out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land. And shortly after Jesus says, I am,  the signs and wonders of His death and resurrection take place and the greatest of all the exoduses begins, because the Lord Jesus accomplishes the act of redemption on the cross of Calvary by which men who are in spiritual bondage to sin are led out into the freedom of eternal life.

Secondly, in the next part of His answer, Jesus quotes from two different scriptures.  One part of His answer refers to Psalm 110, verse 1.  “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Jesus has said you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power.  He is claiming the ultimate throne of His kingdom.  It is a spiritual kingdom of God through which the Messiah rules the world, in the hearts of His people.  It is the throne which is above every throne, above all rule and authority, and certainly above the rule and authority of these corrupt, evil religious rulers.  It is the throne to which those who believe in Him must bow.

And He is making the claim that not only is he the Messiah, but no matter what they may do to Him, they are going to see that He is going to come out of the trials and persecutions and death and crucifixion. He is going to come out triumphant, and he is going to sit on the right hand of the majesty on high. In other words, he is going to be vindicated and triumphant in the events that follow, even through the cross.  And when He comes with the clouds, refers not only to His second coming, but coming in judgment upon the world.

The other text Jesus refers to is found in Dan.7:13, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man.”  In referring to Himself as the Son of Man in this context, Jesus is alluding to the prophecy of Daniel, especially as he says in vs14,”And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

You know, many times as I counsel Christians today that are going through hard times or trials or difficulties, and when things seem their darkest, I cannot always offer the hope that things will get better in this life.  But I can offer the assurance that there will come a day, when the sorrows of this life will be past, when we will be seated on thrones with the Lord in glory, 

and we  shall rule and reign with him, and we shall enjoy his presence throughout eternity. These great trials which seem so overwhelming to us at the moment and seem unending as we pass through them are just brief moments in the plan and program of God.

Now, I would suggest that Jesus’s answer to the high priest  is the definitive answer to what constitutes saving faith. Believing in Jesus Christ then by His own standard is recognizing that He is God, the great I Am, He is the Son of God, which according to the testimony of the Jews meant that He was equal with God in all respects, and that He is the Son of Man, meaning that He became flesh and dwelt among us, that He might become our substitute, so that He might die on our behalf that we might be made the children of God, to become His kingdom, that we might life for Him and serve Him and rule with Him in His eternal kingdom, which shall never pass away.  All of that constitutes saving faith, what it means to believe in Jesus.

Well, the Jews rejected that outright.  They refused to believe.  In fact, Caiaphas makes a great show out of rending his garment, which was done in a prescribed way to show grief.  But in actuality he wasn’t experiencing grief, he was filled with fiendish glee that Jesus had made this confession, because he could now condemn Him of blasphemy.

Mark 14:63  Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?”You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.

Their judgement towards Christ, in spite of all the evidence that He had provided during His three years of ministry that He was the Messiah, was to reject it, claim blasphemy and condemn Him to death.  They hated Him without a cause.  I believe that they actually knew that He was the Messiah, and yet in spite of the evidence, wanted to kill Him because He did not fit into their plans and He threatened their power and position.  I believe they knowingly put to death the Son of God.  But that may be speculation on my part.  However, I believe ample evidence was there, and more than enough prophecy concerning the Messiah had been fulfilled that they had to have known about. But they rejected it.

Well, rejection of salvation always leads to hatred, and hatred to persecution, and persecution leads to murder.  These supposedly righteous religious priests and leaders take this as an opportunity to spit on Him, to punch Him, to strike Him.  They even blindfolded Him and then hit Him, while asking “who hit you?”  They truly revealed the evil nature of their hearts.  You know, people can put on all kinds of pious fronts for a while, but when an evil person gets a chance to strike without repercussions someone who is weaker or unable to retaliate, then their true nature is revealed. It certainly proves the depravity of man in his natural condition.

Well, we must close.  But let me try to apply this to us today if possible.  Let’s imagine that you are the judge and jury at the trial of Jesus Christ.  You are the one that must decide who you will say that Jesus is. Who will you say that He is?  It is not enough to recognize that He was a good teacher.  Or that He was a miracle worker and prophet who lived 2000 years ago.  By the words of Jesus own mouth, He declared Himself to be the same God that appeared to Moses in the burning bush 2000 years before.  He is either crazy, or a liar, or He is the great “I Am”, the eternal God.

By His own admission, He claims to be the Son of God.  He answered that question of Caiaphas in the affirmative.  That claim makes Him the equal with God. He is the author of salvation.  He is the Sent One, the Anointed One, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, who redeems to Himself a people from every tribe and nation. He is the Lord God Almighty,  seated at the right hand of the Father on the throne of God above all power and rule and authority.  And by that claim, He claims sovereignty over our lives.  If we believe in Him then we are His people who serve Him. And He is coming again in power and glory for His chosen people.  That is the definition of faith in Jesus Christ, or believing in Jesus Christ, as defined by Jesus.  

How do you judge Him by that statement?  Do you believe in  Him?  The Jews didn’t believe Him and they thought they could condemn Him.  But in actuality they condemned themselves. John 3:18 says “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

If you believe in Him, in all that He claimed to be, then that faith is the means of justification.  “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”  I pray that no one tasting of the truth  today hardens their hearts, and spits out the truth of God, and goes away from this place unsaved.  Jesus came to earth to save sinners, and He has paid the price for your sin, that whosoever believes in Him might be saved.  Let’s pray.

We are looking today, in our ongoing study of the book of Mark, at the night before the death of Jesus Christ.  For those of you wanting to hear the story of the resurrection, I’m sorry to disappoint you.  I’ve been going through the book as fast as I could, but we are here today I believe by the providence of God.  For the question really that needs to be asked regarding the life of Christ, is why did He need to suffer and to die? And then when we answer that, I think we will have a new appreciation for the resurrection.  So I hope to expound upon that thought of why He suffered here today as we exegete the passage before us.

Now for context, as I said it is the night before His crucifixion.  It is the night of His betrayal.  Multiple betrayals, by the way.  We all know the betrayal Judas did, but we will see that before the night is over, all will have deserted Christ.  And you will remember that at the beginning of that evening, which was Thursday evening, Jesus and His disciples observed the Passover.  It was customary for the Galileans to observe the Passover supper on Thursday, and the Judeans would observe it on Friday.  Hence Jesus was able to observe the Passover on Thursday, and change it’s symbolism to the Lord’s Supper in so doing, and then the next day, Friday, He was able to offer Himself as the Passover Lamb for the sins of the world.  God’s timing was impeccable, planned in infinite detail since before creation, and Jesus knew exactly what and when all things pertaining to His death would occur.  

I believe that realization on the part of Jesus of the exact details of His death is very important to understand.  Some theologians seem to love to make Christ out to be an unwilling, and unwitting victim.  But we will see that Christ showed tremendous courage and commitment to the Father’s will, because He knew intimately the horrors set before Him.  Jesus was no coward, He knew what was coming, and He courageously set His face towards the cross and no power on Earth could have stopped Him.  And He did that not only because He loved the Father and wanted to do His will, but also because He loved us, and He wanted to obtain for us the price of our redemption.

Another indication that Jesus fully knew what was ahead of Him, because it was traditional to sing the Hallel, which was the hymn they sang before going out on the Mt. of Olives.  The Hallel comes from Psalms, and particularly we se in Psalm 118: 27 “Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”  In Psalm 116, the same hymn, we read in vs 3 “The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol (Hades) came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.”   I would suggest that if you read the entire Hallel, you will come to believe that Jesus faced the knowledge of His death with courage and commitment, and He left the Upper Room singing His battle song, headed for the Mt. of Olives.

So as the disciples followed Jesus out of the Upper Room, towards the Mount of Olives, it was dark, and they wound their way through the streets of Jerusalem towards the Kidron Brook, which already was flowing red with blood as the temple mount and the altars drained directly into it.  And as they waded across this bloody brook by the moonlight, Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

Jesus is quoting from a passage in the Old Testament, in Zechariah 13:7.  I suggest to you that it is the Spirit of Christ who was the author of that prophecy, so it is no surprise that Jesus knows it right well.  Peter writes later in 1Peter 1:10-11 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,  seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.” So Jesus Himself was the author of the prophecies concerning His death. 

And I make much of this principle of the deity of Christ and His eternal nature spoken of in Hebrews 1:3, because it is important that we understand that it must be God that dies on the cross in order to effect our salvation.  Jesus, if just a man, was no more than a martyr. Many people have died as martyrs, even many have died on the cross.  Jesus had to be God in human form in order to effect our salvation through His death.

I don’t know how many of you may have seen an article in the news this weekend about a somewhat primitive and superstitious culture in the Philippines which every year before Easter acts out several crucifixions.  They actually flagellate themselves as they walk on these marches, and then it culminates with several of them being tied to a cross and then nails driven into their hands.  The sad thing is that such sacrifice and suffering does nothing in regards to obtaining justification or holiness.  They are suffering needlessly.  Only a holy, righteous God can atone for sin.   And Jesus was the divine, spotless, Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 

Notice also in this statement of Christ in vs 27,28, that Jesus foretells not only their falling away, and not only His death but the regathering of the disciples after His resurrection.  He knows all that is going to happen before it happens. It is all going according to a divine plan.

However, Peter doesn’t believe Him. He says that even though all the other guys may fall away, that He would never fall away.  I want you to notice some dangerous attributes that Peter exhibits in this statement.  First, he disregards the word of the Lord.  God has given us His word, even His commandments as warnings that we need to heed.  But how often do we brush aside the word of God in view of our own confidence?  We think we know better than the Lord.  The word  says, do not be unequally yoked; we say, we don’t see the problem with it.  The word says, do not be drunk with wine, we say, a few drinks won’t hurt you.  The words says, do not commit fornication, we say, that’s unrealistic in today’s culture.  How foolish Peter was to brush aside so easily the word of the Lord.  And how foolish we are today when we think it doesn’t really matter, or there won’t really be any consequences of our foolishness.

Secondly, Peter shows a superior attitude towards his fellow disciples. “They may fall away, but I never will.”  We often do the same thing, looking down at others who have fallen into sin, and yet thinking that we are somehow above it.  We routinely think that what we do isn’t really so bad.  We conveniently forget how often we sin against God. As I said the other day, we should never see a drug addict, or alcoholic, or a person enslaved to some grievous sin, without saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”  The scriptures say, “there is no temptation overtaken you, but such as is common to man.”  It’s a dangerous thing to look down upon others while thinking you are above such things.

Thirdly, Peter shows that he doesn’t know himself. He has an inflated, conceited opinion of himself as events are going to show.  Pride goes before a fall.

Jesus then rebukes Peter with an even more detailed prophecy of the events to come. “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.”  Jesus is referring to the third watch of the night, between midnight and 3am.  That’s pretty specific, I would say.  And yet Peter denies the word of the Lord again, with an even greater emphasis, “Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.” Though Peter did not know himself, yet the Lord knew his heart.  And notice that Mark says, the other disciples said the same thing.  Yet in just a few hours, all would leave Him and flee.  

How many of us confidently assert we will never be untrue to the Lord, yet find ourselves later forsaking Him and His word. We do not know our hearts.  Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart [is] deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The point that needs to be made if we are to fully understand what is going on in Gethsemane and then at Calvary, is that we are all utterly sinful.  The word of the Lord says in Romans 3:10-12 as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” Six times the word of God says “there is none.”  That includes you. Not your neighbor, but you are a depraved sinner.  And in Isaiah 53:6, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way.”  And furthermore, the word of God says in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.” Man is cut off from God, without hope, and fully deserving of the punishment of eternal death away from God.  

There is no hope in good works, there is no hope in being better than your neighbor, there is no hope in religion.  There is no way to atone for your sins. The only hope is that God will have mercy and forgive us.  But God cannot wink at sin.  God cannot break His own law. If God is a good God, then God must also be a just God. And the justice of God must be meted out towards sinners.  There is only one way for us to escape the punishment that we rightly deserve.  That is if God might transfer our iniquity on another, and punish Him, so that we might go free.  And that is exactly the point of the gospel.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “God has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And 2Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  God did not stop counting sin, He just stopped counting them against me, He counted them against Christ. That is the whole picture of the Passover, the innocent spotless lamb dying in the place of the guilty.

I believe that our iniquity, the sins of the world, began to be placed on Jesus that very night in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Gethsemane is a garden on the Mount of Olives, and as you might expect in an olive grove, it was the place where there was an oil press, where the olives were taken to be pressed into olive oil.  And that is what the word Gethsemane means, an oil press.  I believe that what happened there that night was the fulfillment, at least in part, of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:10, which says, “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering.”  It was there, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord began to crush Him, putting Him to grief for our sins.  The guilt of the world began to crush Him, until as Luke 22:44 tells us, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Notice that Mark says, after Jesus left some disciples and went off to pray, that he says Jesus was greatly distressed and troubled. I don’t think that the English language does that phrase justice. I think it could be better translated, filled with horror and anguish. Jesus goes on to say to Peter, James and John who went a little further with Him, “I am overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”  Then Mark says that Jesus going further still, alone, He threw Himself to the ground and prayed, “Father all things are possible for you, remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

Now what is going on here?  Did not Jesus know that this suffering was coming?  Is He now wishing for another way out?  Is He looking to avoid the cross?  Is He crying because He is sick in fear of what is to come in the crucifixion?  I would say – Never!  I think His anguish was not at that moment caused by anticipating the cross.  On the contrary, He was looking forward to it.  It was the purpose for which He came.  

No, I think that what was agonizing to Jesus was the horror of sin.  He had never known sin.  He had been always in perfect communion with the Father from eternity past.  Now He begins to know the burden of sin, the horror of sin, the weight of sin, upon His spotless, holy, righteous soul, and the anguish and horror of experiencing our sin  drove Him to the ground, and the weight of all our sins pressed down upon His soul until great drops of blood came out of His sweat glands.  And in regards to that horror, previously unknown, Jesus calls out to the Father, “if it’s possible, remove this cup from Me, yet not My will, but Your will be done.”

Jesus showed by this great act that His sacrifice was not forced upon Him, but He volunteered.  He voluntarily laid down His life for us.

I want to also speak to the point of what kind of death Jesus died for us.  So much has been pictured on film or spoken of from the pulpit regarding the physical torment of the cross on the human body.  But I would suggest that as these events in the Garden illustrate, the sufferings of Jesus were far more than just physical, and in like fashion, the death of Jesus was much more than physical.  The death that the unsaved man suffers is both physical and spiritual.  The spiritual death everyone is destined for is eternal separation from God, and eternal torment in hell.  I did not make that up. I would like to agree with Pope Francis who was reported as saying the other day that there is no hell.  But neither the Pope, nor I get to make those decisions.  Jesus said there was hell, and so there is a hell, where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. 

I believe the scriptures teach that Jesus suffered not only death on the cross, but the full equivalent of suffering that we would have to suffer.  He was our substitute.  Somehow or another, during those three days when His body was in the tomb, the Spirit of Christ suffered in Hades in such a manner that God counted it as sufficient payment for all the sins of the world.  How could He be our substitute unless He suffered all the punishment that is due to us?

Now I don’t have the time to offer all the reasons for my statement concerning this, but let me just leave you with a couple of things, and then you can do your own homework. First recall the  verse from the Hallel which I quoted earlier; Psalm 116:3, “The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol (Hades) came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.”  The Apostle’s Creed, which is not inspired by the way, nevertheless says in the Book of Common Prayer, “And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”

And I will give you just one more reference, and that is found in 1Peter 3:18-20 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,  who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” In the Spirit, Jesus descended into prison, that is Hades, the abode of the dead.

I want you to see something else that is given to us in this text for our instruction.  And that is the contrast in attitude between Jesus and the disciples regarding prayer.  Between the two, Jesus and the disciples, it would seem that the Lord needed prayer a lot less than the disciples.  But as the text illustrates, Jesus prays fervently, repeatedly, but the disciples repeatedly are found sleeping instead of praying.

The other night at Bible study, I tried to present another contrast between David and the Amalekite, and again between David and Saul.  In each case, David represented the spiritual man, and the Amalekite and Saul represented the material man, or the natural man. We have the same sense of that here.  David, of course, was a type or picture of Christ.  And so Christ is the quintessential spiritual man, and the disciples are natural men in their actions and attitudes.  They may have been saved, but they are still natural in the way that they view the world around them and their response to circumstances they find themselves in.  And so they do not obtain victory in their lives, because they fail to live by the Spirit, but instead they are walking according to the flesh.

An essential component in spiritual life is prayer. Prayer is spiritual conversation. Prayer is a spiritual connection to God who is Spirit.  So when Jesus warns the disciples to be on the alert, because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, He is speaking to that very principle that it is necessary to be in the spirit, to be in communication with the Spirit of God, if we are going to be able to stand firm in the physical world. 

Ephesians 6 tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against angelic principalities and powers that are fighting against us.  And Paul’s list of the Christian armor gives us only two weapons that we might use in this spiritual battle that we are engaged in.  One is prayer and the other is the Word of God.  Paul has this to say in regards to prayer, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”  

So as we see this contrast between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus is praying fervently. Jesus is throwing Himself on the ground. He is crying, beseeching the Lord.  He is sweating drops of blood as He prays.  He prays repeatedly.  He prays for hours.  We have recorded elsewhere that many times Jesus prayed all night.  And also Jesus implores, practically begs the disciples to pray with Him and for Him.  So that is how Jesus prays in the Garden.  On HIs face in the dirt, crying with tears, sweating with drops of blood, for hours calling out to God. 

Now look at the disciples.  They were too sleepy to pray.  They were too conceited in their own strength to feel a need to pray.  They had physical, tangible, normal, natural reasons to lay their heads down and go to sleep.  They just didn’t see what Jesus was so incensed over.

I wonder which example is the one that is more like our prayer life?  Do we tend to pray more like Jesus, or more like the disciples?  And let me point out one more thing about this prayer time.  Jesus says, “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Remember Jesus said earlier to Peter, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”  Satan has demanded permission to sift you here today like wheat, to sift your children like wheat, to sift your spouse like wheat.  Have you prayed for them, that their faith may not fail?  Your fervent prayers may be the only thing that keeps them from falling.

The point that needs to be made is that if you are desiring to live the spiritual life, the victorious life, then it’s necessary to be proactive spiritually, and not reactive.  In other words, Jesus is saying that prayer now delivers from temptation later.  Prayer now delivers from trials later.  The natural instinct is that you live the way you think is best now, you do what seems natural now, and then when things fall apart, then when consequences come, then when the crisis arises, now you pray.  But we need to be proactive in our prayer life, that we may not come into temptation. That’s the secret to a successful spiritual life, it’s praying at all times, in good times, when it seems there is no necessity to pray.  Pray at all times in the spirit.

Well, the time of trial comes unexpectedly for the disciples, even though they are weary, in fact, it deliberately comes in their weariness.  The devil always attacks us when we are weak.  When we are tired.  He hits us when we are down. And so Judas and the mob are approaching and Jesus who has been watching and praying hears them and says, “Get up, let us be going.  The one who betrays Me is at hand.”  

Some people point to this statement as evidence that Jesus wanted to flee the cross. But in fact the opposite is true.  Jesus wants to go out to meet them.  And as He does, Judas and the mob come up and Judas runs up to Jesus and greets Him with a kiss, which was the prearranged signal with the mob that this was Jesus whom they were supposed to arrest.  It’s only been a few hours since Jesus washed Judas’s feet in the Upper Room and served Him at the Passover meal.  Judas went out into the night, told the High Priests that He knew where Jesus would be sleeping that evening, and was given this mob made up from the temple police and Roman soldiers.

Peter though is still determined that through sheer force of will he will not deny the Lord, in fact he will die with Him if necessary.  So he draws his sword and takes a swing at the nearest man and ends up cutting off his ear. Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus healed the man’s ear and Matthew’s gospel tells us that Jesus rebuked Peter.   The point Jesus made in response to the mob and their arrest of Him was not to fight them with swords.  They came with swords and clubs.  They came with all the physical strength and weapons they could muster.  Peter thought that the disciples must fight fire with fire.  But Jesus doesn’t do that.  Instead, He says all this was done to fulfill scripture.  It was the Father’s plan not to fight against flesh and blood, but to fight against sin and death.  And Jesus would accomplish this great spiritual victory by delivering Himself over to death, so that He might experience the suffering and death that we all deserved, so that we might be given eternal life.  The enemy was sin and death, and Jesus would defeat them through righteousness and paying the penalty through His substitutionary death.

The disciples though, still seeing through the physical, natural eyes, are totally taken aback at Jesus’s response.  They don’t understand the spiritual yet.  They are still operating in the natural realm.  They don’t see Jesus doing anything that is going to bring about victory, they think that Jesus is surrendering to the stronger power of the mob.  They think He’s raised the white flag of surrender.  And so they all flee.  

Almost as a footnote, Mark adds an autobiographical note in vs51 and 52.  He was the young man who escaped naked.  Not yet a disciple, just a young hanger on, eventually he would become mentored by Peter and become a valued asset to the church.  But like all the rest, he deserted Christ that night.

I hope that you recognize in this passage of scripture we have studied today, why Jesus had to suffer and die.  Jesus suffered and died in our place, so that He might fulfill the justice of God, the wrath of God against sin which was poured out on Him.  And He did that so that we through faith in who He is, and what He has done, might be made righteous in Him.  I pray that you have accepted through faith this marvelous gift which Jesus purchased for us.  Saving faith is not just believing Jesus existed, but believing that His substitutionary death was sufficient to satisfy the judgement of God towards me.  And that assurance is given in that God raised Jesus from the dead, having satisfied all judgment.

And then secondly, I hope that you will be encouraged to walk in the Spirit, to live in the Spirit.  1Cor. 2:14-15 says “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.”  You want to live the victorious life over sin, as Jesus died to procure for us? Then walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.  Pray at all times in the spirit.  Don’t be wise in your own estimation.  Don’t think too highly of your strength of will.  But put your faith and trust in the Lord and seek Him in all things and at all times.  And if we do these things, then I pray that we will never be untrue to the Lord.   

Today we are looking at the section of scripture in which Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. It is called by various names in Christianity today, in some churches, it is the eucharist, in some, it is communion. All refer to the same ceremony, yet all do not observe it in the same way. It is the belief of this church, and most conservative, evangelical Christian churches, that this ceremony is one of two essential ordinances for the church, the other being baptism. In fact, some theologians have said that the identification of the church is that it observes the preaching of the word and the observation of the ordinances. So it is important that we know how we are to observe the ordinance of communion, and why.

I believe that the answers to those questions can be found in this text. For the answer to how we are to observe it, I would point to the precursor of this ritual as the template from which it is established. And as we se in vs12, it is the ceremony or ritual of the Jews that was known as the feast of Unleavened Bread. And if you look back at vs 1 of chapter 14, you will see that the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread are presented as synonymous. They refer to the same event, which is a week long celebration of Passover.

Now this ceremony was perhaps the most important ceremony celebrated in Israel. It was a celebration of the deliverance of Israel from captivity to Egypt. You will remember that Israel was captive of Egypt for 430 years, and God raised up Moses to be their deliverer. God, through Moses demanded that Pharaoh would let Israel go, but Pharaoh hardened his heart, even though God showed great signs and caused plagues to fall on the Egyptians. Until at last the patience of God was finished, and God pronounced a curse upon the land by saying that at midnight the death angel would pass through the land, and God would strike dead the firstborn son of whomever did not have the blood of the Passover lamb upon the door posts.

For the salvation of Israel from the plague of death, God instituted an ordinance which required for the Israelites to take an unblemished lamb and slay it, and put some of the blood upon the doorposts of their house. Then they were to roast the lamb whole in fire, and eat the lamb with a side dish of bitter herbs and with unleavened bread. This meal was to be taken once a year on the first month of the year, as a way of remembering God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery.

And though all the Jews may not have understood all the spiritual significance of the feast, other than the historical application, yet from our perspective we know that there were many symbols in the feast which were to be for our instruction. Namely, that as the scripture said in Hebrews 9:22, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The unblemished Passover lamb that was to live with the Jews in their home for 3 days, and then be sacrificed was a substitute for sin. It presented the principle of the innocent dying for the guilty. God allowed for the spotless lamb to be slain for the sins of the believing family. The bitter herbs represented the bitter years of slavery to Egypt, which in turn represented the bitter years of enslavement to sin and the world. And the symbol of unleavened bread represented the removal of sin; sin being represented by the yeast which causes corruption in the bread, making it rise, or in the absence of it, causing it to be unleavened, or uncorrupted.

So the Passover was observed every year in Jerusalem, and Jesus has been heading for this particular observance since the day He began His ministry, referring often to His appointed hour, which was the exact time when the lamb would be slain during the Passover. Now on the day of the feast, Jesus sends two of His disciples to prepare the meal in a room which He has designated for this important event. And there is an interesting aspect of mystery to Jesus’s instructions. He says “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.” It sounds like some clandestine arrangement like you would read about in a spy novel or something. In fact, there is a reason why Jesus would want to keep the location secret, and that is the fact Judas is looking for a way to betray Him to the rulers. So in saying look for a man carrying a water pitcher, the disciples would readily recognize the incongruity of a man doing something which was typically something only women did, and in so following this man they would be taken to the house which the Lord had designated, without Jesus having to divulge it’s exact whereabouts ahead of time. Now we don’t know whether or not Jesus had prearranged this, or whether it was His divine foreknowledge, but either way, it was something Christ had arranged, either through divine providence or prearrangement.

And I believe it was by divine providence, as Christ is able to even tell them the details of the conversation they will have, and Mark tells us that they found everything just as Jesus said it would be. And so they prepared everything for the Passover meal.

When it was evening, Jesus came to the house with the rest of the disciples, all twelve of them being now present, and Jesus as the host would have conducted the ceremony. The timing of this is Thursday evening, by the way. I’ve heard some commentators explain that the Galileans celebrated the Passover on Thursday evening, but the Judeans celebrated it on Friday. Thus, Jesus could celebrate the customary meal with His disciples on Thursday evening, but then be sacrificed Himself on Friday as the Passover Lamb for the remission of sins, even as thousands of lambs were being slain in the temple.

Now according to John’s gospel account, Jesus first washes the disciples feet in preparation for the meal. It was customary to wash one’s feet before entering a house to eat. And so Jesus takes on the position of a servant, that He might wash the disciples feet. You can read that account in John 13 if you like, but I will not expound on that aspect of the evening except to point out one fact; and that is that Jesus also washed Judas’s feet. If you want to know what being a spiritual servant looks like, then look no further than at the humility of Jesus who washes the feet of the man who will betray Him that very night.

And then, once again we see the divine omniscience of Jesus in His remark as they were then seated and eating the meal, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.” Now this was a shocking statement, and it should be noted that the word betray means literally, to deliver over. So it is clear what Jesus is saying, yet it is unclear of whom He is speaking of.

If this were a “who dunnit” then such a statement might draw conspiratorial glances around the dinner table, each of them appraising the criminal intentions of his neighbor. But to their credit, it sparks intense introspection on the part of the disciples, as they each wonder whether they could be the culprit. They show a sense of healthy self distrust. They don’t think of themselves as too far above such a thing as disloyalty or even betrayal of their Lord.

And I say such an attitude is healthy, because we should always have the mindset that we should not think of ourselves as being above some vile sin. We should always have a view towards anyone found in some public sin, that there for the grace of God go I. In fact, to some extent, all of them would desert Him that night. And Peter would in fact deny Him. Betrayal is just one step further.

So they each ask with a sense of inner grief, “Surely, not I?” They grieve because they mourn their own lack of fortitude or certitude. They know they are weak, but they pray that they are not that weak. And Jesus does not immediately allay their fear. Nor does He identify the culprit. But Jesus allows a moment of introspection and examination. And in 1 Corinthians 11:28, Paul warns that we too must take the moment to examine ourselves that we do not eat of the table of the Lord unworthily. We need to take the time to examine ourselves, to look for the yeast which needs to be removed from the Lord’s house, whose house we are, if we are to properly celebrate what Jesus has done for us in His sacrifice.

Jesus gives an answer to their questions of “Is it I” by giving an ambiguous answer, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl.” This was referring to the practice of eating a sop, a piece of bread dipped in the juices and herbs and meat. He was referring to the unthinkable act of sharing His food and yet plotting His betrayal by one of His own friends and close acquaintances. Especially in that culture, such an act after the host’s hospitality was considered unconscionable.

But though it was meant to be ambiguous to the disciples, it must have cut like a knife to Judas, who knew what his plans were, and now understood that Jesus knew his heart. It’s interesting that among the disciples none were more highly esteemed than Judas. He was above reproach. He was the treasurer, even though someone like Matthew, a tax collector, had more experience with handling money. He was a Judean, whereas all the others were Galileean. Therefore he was probably from a better society, better educated, more noble in appearance. And yet we are reminded that God said, “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” And Jesus knew what Judas had planned in his heart.

And then Jesus adds a warning for Judas. “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.” Though the Christ had been prophesied in the scriptures that He would die, (Isaiah 53 especially) yet Jesus is saying that Judas is still responsible for his actions. Though God appointed that Jesus would suffer for the sins of the world, yet still man who caused His suffering is responsible. Nowhere in scripture does predestination cancel human responsibility.

It was intended as a warning, but also as an opportunity; a last opportunity to repent. Judas could still have repented. Perhaps even as Judas kisses Jesus as a signal to the mob later on that night, he could have still repented. But like Pharaoh, Judas continues to harden his heart.

Well, at this point, Judas goes out, the other disciples thinking that Jesus must have given him some mission to go buy something that was needed. And so Jesus resumes the Passover meal, and in so doing He institutes the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. And please note that I try to consistently use the term “ordinance.” There is another word that is often heard in this regard which is “sacrament.” Sacrament infers a sacred act by which a certain measure of righteousness is attained. The Roman Catholics, for instance, believe that this ritual involves transubstantiation, in which the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ as it is taken. The Reformation began to move Protestants away from that assertion, and most evangelical Christians today believe that it is representative, or symbolic of Christ’s body, but it is not His actual body.

I was just in Starbucks the other day talking with a Catholic about this. They believe that the host, or the bread, is the actual body of Christ, even before it is eaten. So they cannot offer the host outside of the church. However, they have altered the ordinance because they do not offer the wine to the public for sanitation reasons, among others.

But we believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively. And if you will remember the Passover meal and it’s symbolism which I started by describing for you, then it should not be difficult to recognize that as the Passover meal was symbolic of God’s deliverance of Israel from their sins, then the Lord’s Supper is symbolic of Christ’s deliverance of the sins of the world. Jesus often used symbolic language to teach spiritual principles. For instance, Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Obviously symbolic. Jesus said about Himself that He was the door, He was the light of the world, He was the good shepherd, He was the bread that came down out of heaven, He was the rock in the wilderness, He was the water of life. In alll those expressions we understand them to be symbolic, and so also then is the Lord’s Supper.

Furthermore, Jesus was sitting there in front of them in His natural body, a 30 something year old Jewish man, and He was holding out a piece of bread or a cup of wine and saying, “this is My body, this is My blood.” He was not yet crucified, so He could not be actually offering those things to them except symbolically representing what He would accomplish for them on the cross.

So without further debate, it was a symbolic ceremony that Jesus was instituting. But what in fact did it represent? Well, once again we need to look at the precursor, the Passover meal. Jesus was declaring that He was the Passover Lamb. We are the family that must offer an unblemished sacrifice for the remission of sins, that the angel of death might pass over us. We do not have a qualified unblemished lamb that we may offer to God. The Bible says that there is none righteous, no not one. The original Passover Lamb in Egypt was a symbol of the true Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world which at that time was yet to come. The Passover pointed forward in faith to the day when Christ would come as the unblemished Lamb of God. The Lord’s Supper points back in faith to the day when Christ came as the unblemished Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.

As the Jews ate the lamb and the meal, they looked forward to that promise in Christ. Even so, as we eat the Lord’s Supper, we look back in faith to what Jesus did on the cross, the righteous dying in the place of the unrighteous. The innocent dying for the guilty. We recognize that we are guilty and that He died in our place. And then we eat of the unleavened bread, as acceptance of the righteousness of Christ which is applied to us by faith. As He is righteous, we by faith become righteous. That is why we eat the unleavened bread. It represents His righteous, sinless body, which was broken for US. His sinlessness avails for us through His death when we appropriate it by faith.

And then we drink of the cup. The cup, Jesus said, was the new covenant in His blood. Only God can make a covenant with man. A covenant is a binding agreement, a promise, usually sealed with an oath, or a deposit, or sometimes with blood. Jesus made the strongest possible bond of covenant, when He sealed it with His precious blood, the very blood of God. By His blood we are saved. Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

The Old Testament spoke of this new covenant, especially in Jeremiah 31:33-34 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” This covenant between God and man for our forgiveness is ratified by Christ’s blood.

The author of Hebrews rightly tells us that Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant with better promises. Though we celebrate the Lord’s Supper again and again, it is in remembrance, not in a continual sacrifice. The scripture says once and for all His sacrifice has sufficed to be the guarantee of our inheritance in heaven as children of God. But please understand that Jesus says that His blood has been poured out for many. That is more than a few, but not for all. But only to those who eat of His body and drink His blood. That is, for those who appropriate His sacrifice and substitute for themselves. They believe in Him, and they accept Him as their Lord and Savior. And that is what we are symbolically referring to when we eat and drink of the Lord’s Supper. Just as baptism does not save us, but it represents what has happened on the inside, and the new life spiritually that we are now living, so the Lord’s Supper represents what Christ has done, and what we have believed and appropriated, and now live with Him in us, and us in Him.

Finally, there is one last statement which Jesus makes in vs. 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.” In this statement Jesus reveals that the Lord’s Supper not only points back in remembrance to the cross, but also it points forward to the second coming. When Jesus speaks here of the Kingdom of God, He speaks of the consummation of the kingdom, when Jesus comes for His bride the church, and we are with the Lord, and participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Jesus is prophesying, in the face of His imminent death, that He will rise again, and He will return to claim His kingdom as it’s King. It is then not just a solemn remembrance of His death, but also a blessed hope of the resurrection, not only for Christ as the first fruits, but also for us as His bride, who will never taste death but will be raised with a new, glorified body to be with the Lord forever. And that is something to celebrate.

In vs.26, Mark says that they concluded the ceremony by singing a hymn, and went out on the Mount of Olives. I would point out that this is the only time we are told that Jesus or the disciples sung. I’m sure it wasn’t the only time. But it’s telling that singing does not have the emphasis in the New Testament that we have given it in the church today. Now you can make as much of that as you want. But I think we need to examine what we do today in the church in the name of worship by comparing what they did in the early church. There were other examples of singing in the church, Paul and Silas in prison comes to mind. And both James and Paul instruct us to sing.

But once again, if we look to the Passover Feast celebration, then we learn that the hymn they traditionally closed with was called the Hallel, which is Psalm 115 to 118. I would love to take this opportunity to read them in their entirety, but we do not have the time. It is particularly poignant though to read some of the verses recognizing what Jesus was about to go through as He was singing them. We don’t know the melodies of these songs today, but I can’t help but imagine that they were like fighting songs, like marching songs, that stirred up courage and faith in a time of trouble. And so in closing, I would like to read just a few random verses as they speak so vividly of what Jesus must have been feeling as He prepared Himself for the cross.

Psalm 116:3-4, 6, 8-9, 15 The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!” … 6 The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. … 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 9 I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living. … 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.

Psalm 118:1, 5-6, 8, 14, 16-17, 19, 22, 27-29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. … 5 From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. 6 The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? … 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. … 14 The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. … 16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. 17 I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the LORD. … 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the LORD. … 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. … 27 The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You. 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Let us not forget that Jesus suffered and died for us, that those who believe in Him and accept Him as their Savior and Lord might have the forgiveness of sins and have everlasting life. We are now going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Let’s pray as we prepare our hearts.

Back in chapter 12, you will remember that Jesus was asked, “what is the foremost commandment?” And of course the answer that Jesus gave was “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”

Now that should be very familiar to all of you. However, have you really thought about this foremost commandment of God? If you consider all of the traditions of all the false religions and false gods of the world, in which of them does their god declare that the most important thing is that you love him? Fear him, maybe. Obey him, probably. But love him? I dare say that our God is the only deity I am aware of that desires that His subjects love Him, first and foremost. Now granted, such love necessitates obedience and reverence. But the overriding principle is that you love Him with all your heart. That reveals the fact that we are designed to have an intimate relationship to God which is distinct from any other religion.

Today we are going to look at the characteristics of that kind of love, as illustrated primarily by a woman. And in her actions, we see exemplified the great sacrifice, the great extravagance, and the tremendous effect of such unmitigated love, a love with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Then in contrast, we are going to see someone that is attracted to Christ, that purports to be a follower of Christ, and yet does not love Him, but loves himself and loves the world.

Now to be clear, love is not the means of salvation. Faith in Christ is the means of justification. Faith is the way we are considered righteous before God. Abraham believed God and He counted it to him as righteousness. However, once we have been justified by faith, love is the means of sanctification. Love is the outworking of that righteousness. Love is how we become like Christ. We love, because He first loved us. And because we love Him, we do the things that are pleasing to Him. Not to confuse you, but there was another woman who anointed Jesus with perfume at the beginning of His ministry in Luke 7. And though Jesus praised her outpouring of love for Him, yet He said “your faith has saved you.” Love was working with her faith. We are saved by faith, and love is the result.

Now Mark’s account picks up the story in the middle of the Passover week, two days before Passover. But in vs 3, he actually goes back to the previous Saturday, not in Jerusalem where Jesus and the disciples were at present, but back to a visit in Bethany, to the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and specifically to the home of a man called Simon the Leper. And the only reason that we can deduce Mark makes this jump back in time at this point, is that he wishes to illustrate the sacrificial nature of love and the preparation for the imminent crucifixion of the Lord which will happen in just two days. Mark doesn’t make the timetable all that clear, but John’s gospel in chapter 12 tells us that it occurs on the preceding Saturday. John also tells us that the woman whom Mark leaves unnamed was actually Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

So Jesus and the disciples are having dinner with Simon the Leper. And it’s likely that not only Mary, but Martha and Lazarus are there. Lazarus, you will remember, was just recently raised from the dead by Jesus. And we might also assume that Simon the Leper was healed by Jesus at some point previously as well, because the fact is that if he were still a leper, no one would come to his house for dinner. He would have been an outcast from society. So it’s obvious that he had been healed by Jesus at some point previously. So it’s a dinner party, and considering what has recently transpired, it was a happy occasion, perhaps even meant to be a celebration.

Now it was customary for the host to provide for foot washing at such events. That was normally taken care of by the servants of the host. In some wealthier homes, the attendees might even be anointed with perfume. That might be a luxury provided by a wealthy host. But in this case, as Jesus is reclining at the table, Mary comes in and begins to tend to Jesus in a most peculiar way.

Mark tells us that she had an alabaster vial of very costly perfume called nard. Nard would have been imported from India, and so it was very rare and valuable. And what is important to understand is that such vials were used as a way of storing wealth. Perfume such as this was like liquid gold, that was able to be stored and preserved for the future. Many people did not have access to savings accounts at banks such as we have today, and so this was a way of putting aside money for the future. Of course, it could be used in small amounts as well for special events, but for the most part it represented an investment. This particular ointment was kept in an alabaster vial, a translucent, glass vial that was expensive in it’s own right.

Now if you look further along in the text, you will notice that the disciples said this perfume might have been sold for 300 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a day’s wage, so 300 denarii means that it was worth around $30,000, or close to a year’s wages. That’s a lot of money for perfume, or better yet, representative of a lifesavings.

But there is more to it than that, I believe. In those days, it was customary for a young woman to receive a dowry from her family to be used to help her acquire a husband. Now this worked both ways. On the one hand the bridegroom gave gifts to the parents, but the woman also had a dowry which was used as a financial gift to the groom from the brides family. Women were not considered in those times in the same way we think of them today. Marriage was many times a financial as well as a social arrangement. And so the dowry would sometimes be a financial incentive for a woman to get a husband. And without a husband, a woman had a very poor future. She was very limited in terms of owning property or having any sort of employment that would provide for her living.

However, it cannot be overstressed how important marriage was to a young woman in that society. Much like in our day, many young women look forward to and plan for their wedding day long before they even find a suitor, in hope that finding a husband will be the beginning of fulfilling their dream of children and a family. And it was even more so in that culture. So I believe that this alabaster vial of very expensive ointment was Mary’s dowry. And these vials of expensive perfume acted as a sort of savings account for the woman which would become her dowry which was given to her husband. And in the case that she didn’t find a husband, she could sell this perfume and it would help provide financially for her future.

So Mary comes to Jesus as He is seated at dinner, and she anoints Jesus, but in so doing she breaks the vial and pours it on His head and on His feet, and John even tells us that she washes His feet with her hair. What she did must have caused a tremendous affect on everyone there. It would have just stopped all dinner conversation. It would have caused everyone to stop eating and just stare in disbelief. It would have just been a magnificent act that dumbfounded everyone present.

What Mary’s offering represented was an act of sacrificial love. It was a tremendous cost not only in terms of money, but even more telling, in terms of her future. It was as if she was saying that her love for the Lord was more important than that of the love of a future husband. She was putting all that she had hoped in for this life, in this great act of sacrifice for Jesus. I find it very similar to the widow of chapter 12, who in giving an offering in the temple gave two small coins, which Jesus said was all she had to live on. And consequently, when Jesus saw it, He said, this widow has given more than all the other contributors, because she gave all that she had, all that she had to live on. Though Mary’s gift was considerably more valuable in terms of money, it was no less valuable in terms of worth as it represented all that she had hoped for in this world. And as such it illustrates the sacrificial, all encompassing love that we are to have for the Lord.

As I have mentioned several times lately, it’s reminiscent of the love of Jonathan for David. It was a noble love that David, as a type of Christ, said surpassed the love of a woman. That is the love we are to have for the Lord. It is greater than the love we have even for our spouse. Our hope is not in an human person, not even a husband or wife, but our hope is in the Lord, and we love Him supremely above every human affection.

Mary’s act of love was not only sacrificial, it was extravagant. It would have been more reasonable to have poured out a few drops, or perhaps as much as a handful of the precious ointment. That would have been more than enough. But Mary broke the vial and lavished it’s contents on the head of feet of Jesus. Nothing could be gathered up and put back in the alabaster vial. It was spent, it was spilled, it was splashed over Him from His head to HIs toes. John’s gospel tells us that she wiped His feet with her hair. The Bible tells us that a woman’s hair is her glory. I’m not sure what that means, except to confirm that I have always liked a woman with long hair. I suppose it refers to a beautiful covering which God has given to a woman. And so with this sign of her beauty, a mark of her femininity, she gets on her hands and knees and uses her hair to mop up and wipe Jesus’s feet. What a magnificent, extravagant gesture of her love for Christ.

And thirdly, Mary’s act of love effected everyone around them. Have you ever noticed when someone has put on a little too much perfume or cologne? There is sometimes an almost overwhelming, pungent aroma that pervades the room, or trails the person as they walk by. Well, Mary just emptied a pound of this extremely powerful, costly perfume on Jesus. And again, we look to John’s gospel for this detail, and he says the house was filled with the fragrance. I bet it was. In fact, I bet Jesus had this powerful aroma on His body and clothes for days afterward. In fact, Jesus alludes to that by saying to the disgruntled disciples, “she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.” I suppose that there was still the aroma of Mary’s perfume on His body when they laid the cat of nine tails against His back.

But her act of love not only anointed Jesus with the perfume, but she was covered with it as well. It was on her head. Her lavish gift of love for Christ anointed herself even as she was anointing Him. This is an illustration of the verse, “it is better to give than to receive.” For in giving to the Lord, you bless yourself. In loving the Lord, you are loved.

And not only did she bless herself, but it had an effect on all who were in the house. Everyone there had the aroma of this offering upon themselves. All of them left the house that night and carried with them the tangible reminder of this woman’s unabashed, unmeasured love for the Lord as a testimony to them. When we love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul and mind and strength, then the world will smell the pleasing aroma of that sacrificial love and it will be a testimony greater than any words can express.

In fact, Jesus said that her testimony was not only going to fill the house, effecting everyone present, but it would also stand throughout the ages to come as a testimony to future Christians of what unmitigated love for the Lord really looks like. Jesus said in vs9 “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

And I would submit to you that when you truly love the Lord and worship Him with an all encompassing, sacrificial love like Mary had, then it’s going to start affecting others in your house. You live with a husband who doesn’t care about things of the Lord? The answer is not to nag him to death, but to so love the Lord with an all encompassing, sacrificial love that he cannot help but be affected by it. Your kids don’t seem interested in the things of God? The answer is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And when you are consumed with the genuine love of God, that fragrance is going to affect everyone in your house. Every marital problem, every family problem, every sin problem, finds it’s solution by putting Christ first and foremost in every place in your life. When you get your love for the Lord right, then those other things are going to start to fall into place.

And I would just add one other point before we look at the contrasting example of Judas. And that is why should we love the Lord? You know, I can think of a lot of songs in which we sing of the love of God towards me. But it’s much more difficult to find a song in which we sing of our love for the Lord. It’s good to think about why we love the Lord. David in writing the Psalms, which were the original hymns, talks constantly about the admirable attributes of the Lord. I don’t have time to track through all the Psalms this morning, but I would just look at Psalm 145 as an example. David says he loves the Lord because of His great works, because of His mighty acts, because of the splendor of His majesty, because of His greatness, because of His goodness, because of His righteousness. He goes on to say that the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. Then he goes on to talk about the goodness and mercy of the Lord to save, to forgive, to help, to raise up the fallen, to feed the needy, to keep and to satisfy. When we think about the attributes and character of our Great Lord and God, our Savior and Redeemer, our Substitute, our Bridegroom, our King and Almighty God, how can we not love Him and give Him our all?

Well, though it should be obvious to all of us that Mary’s love is one to be emulated by generations of the church throughout the ages to come, yet it seemed to be a sore subject to the disciples. Mark tells us that some of the disciples were indignant. John, once again, gives us a little more detail. He says it was primarily Judas who was indignant. Perhaps Judas was just the most outspoken of the 12 concerning their indignation.

In vs4, they said, ““Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. Notice that they considered the anointing of Jesus to be a waste of money. They saw it as throwing money down the drain. In actuality, Mary was transferring her savings from earth to heaven. She was storing up treasure for herself in heaven, rather than on earth.

The fact is, the disciples are only focused on the here and now. As we have seen, they have been squabbling over who will be the greatest in the kingdom. In just a day more, they will still be arguing about who is the greatest as they file into the upper room for the Passover Feast, blissfully unaware that this is Jesus’s last meal with them. But somehow, Mary has gotten a true sense of what is going to happen. Perhaps the fact that her brother had died and risen again helped her to understand better when Christ taught that the Son of Man would die and rise again. Or maybe it was the fact that when others were working in the kitchen, or arguing about who would be the greatest, Mary was found sitting at Jesus’s feet, soaking up the words being taught by the Savior. Somehow, God revealed to her that Jesus is going to die, and so she has taken this opportunity to anoint Him with her gift of love for His burial.

And that reveals yet another aspect of her love that bears emphasis. And that is the urgency and immediacy of her gift. Jesus said in vs 7, “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.” In just a couple of days, Jesus would be arrested and crucified. The time for her sacrificial gift was now. Certainly, the disciples, especially Judas, were being hypocritical in their concern for the poor. John says Judas said that not because he was concerned about the poor but because he carried the bag and used to pilfer what was put in it.

But Mary recognizes the immediacy of the need to show her devotion for Christ. So many times we put off for tomorrow what should be done today. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. The scriptures says, “Today is the acceptable day of salvation.” We think we have a lot of time left to serve the Lord. After I get this done I will really devote myself to the Lord. After I get to the next level in my job, after I get married, after I move to my new house, whatever our excuse, it’s just an excuse. Today is the acceptable day. Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Love requires an immediate response. Now is the acceptable time to serve the Lord with all your heart.

Listen, the bottom line is that Judas loved the world more than he loved the Lord. He loved money. He sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He loved money so much it really irritated him to see Mary lavishly give her life’s savings in one grand gesture of love. She gave $30000 to anoint Jesus for burial, and Judas sold Him out to be killed for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a common slave.

I’m sure most of us today are appalled at what Judas did. We may think that we may not reach the height of sacrificial love that Mary had, but we would never betray Jesus like Judas did. But perhaps we already have. Matt. 6:24 says, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” And James 4:4 says, “You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” And finally, consider 1John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I’m afraid if we love the world, if we put the things of this world ahead of our love for the Lord, then we have done exactly what Judas did, in selling his soul for the temporal pleasures of this world. Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Let me remind you of something. Judas was close to the Lord. Judas was revered by the other disciples. He was part of the inner circle of Christ. He had a position of great privilege. He even participated in the healing and miracles and casting out of demons. By all measures, he was an upstanding member of Christ’s church. And yet, Jesus said he had a devil. He was the son of perdition. He sold out Jesus for a little bag of money. Our prominence in the church is not what counts before the Lord. Our service to the church is not an indication of our love for the Lord. Our esteem by others is not what counts before the Lord. It is the whole hearted love for the Lord from a pure heart that God sees which is what really matters.

It reminds me of another disciple. There was one of Paul’s disciples named Demas. He went with Paul to a lot of churches, he worked with Paul for a long time. But finally, Paul said, “Demas has deserted me, for he loved this present world.” He loved the world and the things of this world more than he loved the Lord, and as a result he deserted Paul. And Paul said that such “went out from us, because they were never part of us.” That’s the same story with Judas, though he was with Jesus and the other disciples for three years, yet his heart was never given completely to the Lord and so he went out from them and deserted Jesus and in the end he was destroyed by his own desires.

Let me just mention one final point in closing. And that is, even though Jesus was all knowing, and He knew that Judas was pilfering from the money box, yet Jesus never rebuked him, never had that “I got you!” moment with Judas. Right up to the very end, even when Judas was betraying Christ with a kiss, Jesus was giving Judas the opportunity to repent. The Bible says that the kindness of God draws you to repentance. Jesus was very patient with Judas.

That reminds me of the scripture which says, that in the days of Noah, the patience of God was kept waiting, waiting for men to repent of their wickedness. This idea that God is hiding around the corner with a baseball bat ready to whack you over the head if you get out of line is not biblical. God is patient, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Judas never did repent. He kept hardening his heart, until it says that Satan himself entered into him and he went out from the Lord. And as a result he never found forgiveness and hung himself in a fit of despair.

Well, we have seen two contrasting examples of how to love the Lord. The example of Mary, who gave all her hopes and dreams up to the Lord in a lavish, extravagant, sacrificial outpouring of love, or that of Judas, a self serving, self righteous love of the world and the things of the world. I wonder which example best fits us? I pray that I might be like Mary, and lay everything at the feet of my Savior and Lord. The good news is, even if we have fallen short, even if we have sold out the Lord time and time again for the temporal pleasures of this world, the Lord is patiently offering us a chance to repent and be forgiven. But the time is now. Don’t put off until tomorrow what the Lord wants from you today. Today is the acceptable day of salvation.

Do you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Then Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 that kind of love requires a sacrifice of all of you. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The passage before us today is without a doubt the most difficult of all of Mark’s gospel. There have been more books written and arguments presented on various possible interpretations than we could possibly address in a month of Sundays. I wrestled with how to present this passage for study today. I thought that I would try to introduce it and put off the bulk of exegesis until next week. I also thought about skipping it altogether this week. But somewhere along the way the Lord seemed to direct my thoughts to a particular theme that I am going to try to reveal today.

And what I really see the Lord doing here is presenting a series of warnings. He is warning of persecution, of tribulation and of coming judgment. And His warnings are specifically to the disciples, but also to everyone who will read these warnings later. Notice in vs37, “what I say to you I say to all, or as the RSV says, I say to everyone, be on the alert!” So this is a warning for us as well. In fact, it may be even more apropos today than it was then.

This passage is known as the Olivet Discourse in theological circles. And that title and the scholarly debates that has enveloped this passage for centuries lends itself to a certain detached intellectualism where people talk about hermeneutics and eschatology. But the fact is that this is a vital warning that Jesus is giving to the disciples and thus to the church that is as urgent now as it was then.

There are 6 warnings that Christ gives. And I want to read them to you so that you get a sense of the urgency that the Lord was seeking to convey. Vs5, And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads, or better, deceives you. Vs.9, But be on your guard… Vs23, “But take heed; vs33, “Take heed, keep on the alert. Vs35, “Therefore, be on the alert, Vs 37, ‘Be on the alert!’”

Now I read you those so you might get a sense of the theme of the discourse. It is a series of warnings to the disciples and to the church who would follow, that there are going to be perilous times ahead. That’s why I read to you the whole passage initially. Taken as a whole, it is a somber message; multiple warnings of trials and tribulations and judgment that lies in store for the world and for those that are Christ’s disciples. 1Peter 4:17 “For the time [has come] for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if [it begins] with us first, what will [be] the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

As we look at this more thoroughly, we note that his discourse is brought on by the disciples comments as they have left the temple and have started to ascend the Mt of Olives with Jesus, presumably to spend the night out in the open as they were wont to do each evening. And perhaps as they stopped on the path to catch their breath, they look out across the ravine where the Kidron brook flowed they see the wall of the temple before them with the buildings of the temple reflecting the setting sun. It was by all accounts one of the most beautiful buildings in the world at that time. Herod had embellished the temple which was constructed of huge white marble stones, some as big as 45 feet long, and he had overlaid much of the buildings with plates of gold. So as the sun was setting, it undoubtedly was reflecting off the white gleaming marble and the gold plating. It was certainly a tremendous sight. There used to be a saying among the rabbis, that if you had not seen Herod’s temple, as it was called, you had not seen a beautiful building.

And the disciples were obviously in great admiration of it. These were poor fishermen from Galilee, for the most part, and so this was a tremendous sight. Notice how they speak of the temple to Jesus; “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” The disciples are merely repeating what was a very typical perspective for most Jews. They all thought of the temple as the house of the Lord. They believed God dwelled in the midst of it, in the Holy of Holies. It was the center of religious life. David wrote many songs extolling the virtues of worshipping God in the temple. And so for the disciples, as for most Jews, worshipping God and worshipping in the temple were synonymous. In fact, you could say that in their minds to love the Lord was to love the temple.

But the Lord’s actions over the last few days should have revealed that He was not pleased with the temple, neither the priests who oversaw it, nor the way in which commerce was being conducted in it, and neither the self righteous external religious exercises that were being conducted in it. However, the disciples reflect what many people think concerning the church even today. They associate a beautiful building with church. They associate rituals and ceremonies with holiness. They associate even great crowds and pageantry and music and festivals with worshipping the Lord. They look at the external church and think that somehow God is in it.

But God’s attitude towards the church is not focused on the externals, especially not upon the buildings or the beautiful adornments or rituals or ceremonies or pageantry. Go is concerned with the heart. As God told Samuel in regards to him choosing a king, “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” God looks through the externals and sees the heart of the people.

From God’s perspective, the love of the church is to be a love of Him. The church as His body is to be a reflection of Him. It is His house. Remember the context here is still within the Passion week, when just a day earlier Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. It is the pure, unadulterated love of a bride for her husband. It is the love of Jonathan for David which David said was better than the love of a woman.

I hate to even repeat what perverse things liberals have said concerning the love between Jonathan and David. Let me just say what it is. It is a picture of the way a man should love the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a noble love, a love that is willing to lay down one’s life for his friend. It is greater than romantic love. It is greater, more noble than romantic love. It cannot even be compared to erotic love. It is the love of a warrior for his king and country, that drives him to lay down his life in service. It’s the kind of love that Uriah exhibited, when David called him from the battle field to come give him a report, in hope that Uriah would visit his wife and he could be thought of as the father of Bathsheba’s unborn child. But Uriah, you will remember, refused to go to see his wife and rather slept on the porch of David’s palace. His answer as to why he did not visit his wife was because his men were on the battlefront fighting, how could he go sleep in comfort with his wife. That’s the kind of love that surpasses the love of a woman. That’s the kind of love we are to have for the church and for the Lord of the church. Oh that the church might have some Jonathan’s today who would give up their kingdom in order to serve the Lord. Oh that the church might have a few Uriah’s today, that would give up even the love of their family for the sake of God’s church.

I want to say also that this title Lord is something we need to think of more seriously. We say Lord Jesus without thinking of what that means. If we are truly Christians, then Jesus must not be only our Savior, but also our Lord. Lord means Sovereign. Master, ruler, supreme ruler, owner, the one to whom all honor and homage is due. He is the Governor of our lives. He gave us life, and liberty, and an eternal inheritance. He is the source of all life and all blessings. How can we not give Him His due as our Lord? And if He is our Lord, then we must serve Him with all our being; all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. Nothing less than all of me is acceptable service. No holding back.

Phl 2:9 says, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” So Jesus is Lord, and He is also Lord of the temple and Lord of the church. And as Lord He has the authority and right to examine what is His and to do with it what He wills.

Matthew records Jesus as saying just previously to the Olivet Discourse as He looked over the temple and all the religious proceedings, according to Matthew 23:38 “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!” And immediately afterwards the disciples then start speaking of how beautiful the temple and the buildings were.

So the Lord responds with an even more dramatic statement; “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.” We know from history that this astounding prophecy was fulfilled less than 40 years later when Titus and His soldiers broke through the walls of Jerusalem and ransacked the city and the temple and set fire to the temple so that the gold melted and ran down into the cracks between the stones, so that the soldiers pried apart the stones in order to get the gold. Historians tell us that 1.1 million Jews were massacred in that incident, and consequently the religious and political life of the Jews ceased to exist as they were scattered across the Middle East and into Europe.

Now the disciples are understandably concerned upon hearing this prophecy. It must have sounded impossible, but yet they struggled to believe Jesus and understand Him. So they come to Him privately and ask Him, ““Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” There are really two questions that they are asking. When will these things happen, and what are going to be the signs of the end of the age. Matthew’s version makes the question clearer, Matt. 24:3 “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

As I said at the beginning, Jesus is going to use this as an opportunity to give the disciples and us some insight into the future events, but at the same time serve a series of warnings to His followers to be on their guard, to be on the alert. It almost sounds as if there is a military campaign against a fierce enemy. And they must keep their guard up lest they be overwhelmed. And perhaps that is exactly what is at stake. In fact, nothing less than spiritual shipwreck is at stake. Peter similarly warned the church later in 1Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Paul often related the church to a military unit. 2Tim. 2:3-4 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Now let’s notice these 6 warnings in order and speak briefly of each as we have the time. I believe that the best understanding of these prophecies is to realize that some were fulfilled within the discples lifetime at the destruction of the temple and some that are yet to be fulifiled completely, but which will be at the second coming of Christ. There is a dual application to most of them, pertaining to the end of the age of the Israelites and also pertaining to the end of the church age. Perhaps we may visit some of this later, but for now I just want to give you an overview of what Jesus is warning the church of. And that is what I think Jesus Himself is doing. He is giving an overview. This is not a detailed timeline of the end times. It is an overview, highlights of the time after He leaves the church, so that we might be forewarned.

First warning, vs5 , “See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.” This is a common warning in scripture. It is a warning against false teachers and false religion. Paul later on tells the Ephesian elders, in Acts 20:28-31 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

I think this warning covers more than just false Christs, but also those who would preach a Christ which is not the Christ of the gospel. It is a deceitful doctrine, a doctrine of demons. Meant to lead people astray into false doctrine that produces shipwreck and keeps people from true Christianity. It is superficial Christianity that is external but not internal. That’s why the Lord says don’t be deceived.

Another false flag Jesus identifies is wars and rumors of wars. He says that is not a sign of the end. In fact, that’s just the beginning. The times of tribulation that the church will suffer and the whole world will suffer will be marked by many wars, many nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdom, earthquakes and famines and so forth will be the norm after Christ is ascended into heaven. People today are constantly grasping onto every new conflict or catastrophe and using it to point that it must be the last days. Jesus says that is just the beginning of the age, not the end. Those sort of things will be the normal for the new age when Christ has gone away.

The second warning is in vs9, “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. “The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” Now we know that this was fulfilled during the lives of the apostles. Paul said by the time he wrote Romans which was before the destruction of Jerusalem that already the gospel had been taken to the whole world. Of course, he was thinking of the known world. But nevertheless, a certain measure was fulfilled then, and today we are seeing the full extent of that prophecy fulfilled. I think that you could say that with internet and television the gospel has reached virtually every part of the world today.

So there is a warning and a mandate. Note that the gospel must be preached. It is our duty, it is our service to God. It is the battle we have been called to wage for the kingdom. The enemy will only be defeated by the word of God as it is proclaimed throughout the world. But the warning is that we will suffer for doing so, even as the disciples suffered. Virtually all the apostles lost their life eventually in service of the gospel. The same sacrifice is expected of us if necessary, but whether we live or die, we must preach the gospel. We need to understand that the Lord is returning, and men are dying. We need to preach, as one pastor put it, as dying men to dying men. The world is dying in their sins. Without the Lord, without the gospel, people are destined for hell. We must have a vision for the lost, even if it means that we sacrifice our lives and comfort in the process. That is how we are to love our neighbor, by telling them the truth of the gospel. It’s our mandate. Our mission.

Jesus goes on to describe the opposition and persecution against His followers. Even family members will turn on you. In fact, I will go so far as to say that your family will often be the source of some of the most vicious attacks against you as a Christian. Jesus says that in some cases they will even turn you over to be killed. Children will rise up against their own parents. [2Ti 3:1-5 NASB] 1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” Sounds exactly like our culture today.

Vs13 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” I don’t think that Jesus is talking about conversion here, but he is talking about the end of one’s life. Persevere until the end. Endure until the end. Fight the good fight. Finish the course. Paul said in [2Ti 4:7-8 NASB] 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Such is our hope if we finish well.

These next verses I think clearly refer to the destruction of the temple. Vs 14 “But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 “The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; 16 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 17 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 18 “But pray that it may not happen in the winter.

The situation was when Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman armies, the people did what was normal for that time, they went for refuge to the walled cities. In that case they went to Jerusalem as the Romans came in closer. Jesus said do not go into the city, but instead flee to the mountains. History tells us that 1.1 million Jews died in Jerusalem when Titus sacked the city. But it is believed that many of Jesus’s followers escaped by fleeing into the mountains.

Now a lot of dispensationalists make hay with the mention of the abomination of desolation. It is a probably a reference to the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes who offered swine blood on a pagan altar in the temple 200 years before Christ in fulfillment of Daniels prophecy. And Jesus meant that as a foreshadowing of the Roman legions with their banners depicting Caesar encircling Jerusalem. In fact, in Luke’s synoptic account in Luke 21, he makes it clear that the encroaching Roman armies are the abomination of desolation here spoken of. Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near.” There may yet be a future fulfillment of that prophecy though in regards to Israel today. Today I think you may certainly say that Israel is encircled with enemy armies. Perhaps the end of the age is much closer than we might think.

Once again, Jesus warns of false Christs and false prophets who will arise, so that if possible they would lead astray even the elect. As I mentioned earlier, Paul said those would come immediately upon his departure. John, and Peter and Jude also spoke of false prophets already in place. John said that many anti Christs were already in the world. So we know that was fulfilled, and yet we know that in the end of times such false teachers will increase even more. Notice how today there are entire denominations that are known for their signs and wonders and consequently are deceiving many people.

Vs24-29 sound to many as if He is speaking of His second coming. And perhaps in one respect He is. But I think it is also accurate, and perhaps more accurate to see this section as apocalyptic language which depicts a coming judgment. If you look at prophetic language of the Old Testament, particularly in regards to God’s judgment upon the pagan nations, you will hear almost the exact same phrases being used. The events depicted in Mark are similar to those used to foretell God’s judgment of other nations such as Babylon – Isa 13:9-10, Egypt – Isa 19:1. Edom Isaiah 34:4,5; Nineveh – Nah 1:3-5, Israel – Am 8:9 or Judah – Jer 4:5-6,23-28. The prophets often foretold God’s coming in judgment upon such nations by using figures of speech denoting worldwide, cataclysmic destruction, even though it was a local or national event. And perhaps it was done so to foreshadow God’s final judgment upon the world at the end of the age. And I would add that the reason for God’s warning, and the reason even for the ensuing judgment and wrath is to bring about repentance. Even in judgment God is working to bring repentance.

But notice that Jesus puts a contemporary ending on this section by saying this generation will not pass away until all these things come to pass. Many theologians have tried to define generation to mean race or people in order to show that this judgment is still in the future. But we know for certain that it was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in one generation (40 years). The point though I want to emphasize though is that the Lord has the right to pronounce judgment upon His temple, and He has the right to pronounce judgment upon His world, and even His church as we saw in the letters to the seven churches. And the certainty is that the Lord is going to return in judgment for the world, and deliverance for His bride. James 5:8-9 “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

The last three warnings are all found in the last section, from vs33 to 37. And I have to cut this message short due to time. But suffice it to say that Jesus illustrates very well the mission for the church today in His statement about the man who went away on a journey. He is speaking metaphorically of course about Himself, who has ascended into heaven to the Father’s right hand. In the meantime, He has given to us, His servants the responsibility of guarding His house and maintaining His kingdom until He returns. And foremost in His statement, He instructs us to stay alert.

“Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the [fn]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”

Yet once again I think that there is an allusion to the immediate situation for the disciples and a future allusion for us today. For the disicples, it would be but 2 days before they would be told in the garden to watch and pray that they may not fall into temptation. And yet Jesus found them asleep on two occasions. And consequently they deserted Him in HIs betrayal. I think it’s no accident that Jesus mentions a rooster crowing, reminiscent of the denial by Peter when the cock crowed as he denied Christ three times. They were so focused on the future that they forgot the present application to be on their guard.

And I think the application is just as appropriate for the church today. I think the church is asleep when we are supposed to be on duty. We need to be about the Lord’s business. We need to be praying and watching and guarding against temptation. But instead I’m afraid we are lulled to sleep by ear tickling preachers who are preaching a here and now prosperity doctrine so that we are so concerned with the world that we are too preoccupied to be any use for the kingdom. I don’t claim to know all the ways that you may be deceived by the devil, or distracted by the devil, but I do know that the Lord is coming quickly. And He is coming this time in judgment. We need to make sure that we are found by Him to be faithful. He is Lord. We are His servants.

[2Pe 3:3-4, 7, 10-15 NASB] 3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” … 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. … 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation;

One of the titles of God that we are looking at today is the title of Lord. I think that the true sense of that word is somewhat lost on our culture today. It would be better understood in a feudal system, where one who was considered Lord of the Manor owned the land, printed money and was served by the people of the land. Over time, the title extended to various types of nobility, such as a Lord of Parliament, or someone called Lord who held an office of authority. The other historical use of the word was, of course to denote divinity. Caesars used to claim the title of Lord, and would make their people offer incense once a year and they were forced to proclaim when making the offering that Caesar is Lord. So there were many different possible meanings of the title Lord, ranging from master or owner, to nobility, to that of divinity.

And one of the things that makes it even more confusing to 21st century Christians is that the title of Lord was used in a variety of applications in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. One of my favorite references of this title is found in 1 Peter 3:6, and one which I have tried to remind my wife of, but to little avail, and that is that Peter said that Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. Now obviously, that is not something that is commonly done in our culture, nor in my house either, for that matter.

But to understand the full significance of this title, we need to consider it in the context of this passage which covers the Passion Week. You will remember that in chapter 11 Jesus had come into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, and the crowds were calling out ““Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” So they were saying that He was coming as the Son of David, which was understood to be a title of the Messiah.

Then later on, Jesus came into the temple and drove out the money changers and the vendors and stopped the commercial enterprise of the priests who were taking advantage of the people. And Mark tells us that the scribes and Pharisees and high priests came and asked Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

Jesus avoided a direct answer to that question by asking them a question concerning John the Baptist’s authority. But He gave an illustration in a parable of the vine growers, which is a very similar setting to that of a feudal system, in order to illustrate that Israel was the vine, and He was the owner of the vineyard’s Son whom they would plot to kill. So by illustration He claimed authority of Lord by virtue of the fact that He was the Son of God.

Now that infuriated them, so they conjure up three questions to try to entrap Him in something that He might say, so that they might put Him to death. When He brilliantly answered them all they are rendered speechless. They don’t know how to respond to His wisdom. So now, in response to their silence, Jesus asks them a question which speaks once again as to His authority which they had called into question.

And He does so by building upon the cries of the multitude who hailed Him as the Son of David, which was understood to be referring to the coming Messiah. So in chapter 12 vs 35, Jesus poses the question, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET.”’ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?”

As an important aside, notice that Jesus says Psalm 110 is authored by David. That is not given to us anywhere else, but we know that David was the author because of this answer. And then also notice that Jesus establishes the inspiration of scripture in saying that David was moved by the Holy Spirit to make this prophecy concerning the Messiah. Peter would later build on that statement saying in 2Peter 1:21 “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Now what was commonly understood by the Jews was that the Messiah would be of the lineage of David, and that He would restore the throne in Jerusalem and Israel would once again be a great nation, receiving the full blessings of God through the reign of the Messiah. They see this reign as a purely physical, temporal reign. The Sadducees, remember, didn’t believe in the resurrection so they were only concerned about the present. And they were also the party of the high priests. So they thought they would be the administrators of the kingdom under the Messiah.

So the multitudes had shouted the refrain that Jesus was the Son of David as they ushered Jesus into Jerusalem only three days earlier. And both the multitudes and the scribes and high priests understood this saying to be the concerning the fact that the Messiah would come from the line of David and restore the throne and restore the dominance of Israel as a nation.

But in Jesus’s answer, He seems to be bringing that doctrine into question saying, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?” It is clear that Jesus is speaking of Himself as the Christ. They wanted to show that He could not be the Messiah, but He is taking the approach that the children in the streets calling out “Hosanna to the Son of David” were speaking of Him appropriately. By the way, Messiah is the Hebrew term for the Greek word Christ. So Jesus is in a roundabout way confirming what the multitudes have said about Him, but He brings into question this idea that the Messiah is the son of David. He wants to show that the Messiah is more than just the son of David.

And He does so by quoting from Psalm 110. Now in the our Bibles it is presented as a quotation from the Greek Septuagint translation. That was the Greek translation of the Old Testament which was in use at that time. But in the original Hebrew language, there is more distinction in the Psalm. And that distinction comes in the usage of the word Lord. In the Hebrew text, the name Jehovah, or Yahweh, was considered so sacred by the scribes as the personal name of God that it could not be spoken, or even written. So in order to accommodate that idea, they used a tetragrammaton to signify the word Jehovah, which was the word LORD, which was substituted for Jehovah.

There is another word for Lord in the Old Testament, and that is the word Adonai. Both words, Yahweh and Adonai were names denoting God. The first being His personal name and the other being His title. In the New Testament, the word for Lord is the Greek word kyrious. And in our Bibles which are translated from the Greek, to show the difference between Adonai, and Jehovah, Adonai is presented as Lord, and Jehovah is presented in all caps, as LORD.

Jesus is quoting from the Septuagint translation, which is the Greek translation then in use, and it uses small letters for both Lords. In the Hebrew, however, it would read as, “Jehovah said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.”

The point that Jesus is making is that though the Messiah was to be a son of David, David by inspiration of God calls the Messiah his Lord. So the question Jesus asks is how can David call the Messiah his Lord if He is his son? The answer of course is that the Messiah was not only the Son of Man, but the Son of God. This is known in theological terms as the hypostatic union of Christ. He was fully God and fully man. He was born of the Spirit and born of a virgin. He was of the lineage of David and yet He is the Son of God.

What the Lord Jesus wants to illustrate to these unbelieving religious leaders is that the authority He has to cleanse the temple is because it is His Father’s house. The authority that He has to heal or forgive sins, or to teach the truth concerning the kingdom of God, is because He is the Son of God. He is One with God, and so His authority is from God. Therefore, the son of David is not only Messiah, but He is Lord God.

Now we can only imagine how infuriated this made the scribes and high priests. But Mark records the crowd as enjoying listening to Him. I doubt most of them understood all that He was saying, but they understood it to be a rebuke of the religious leaders and so they enjoyed seeing them corrected to some extent. But notice that Mark uses the same turn of phrase to describe their enjoyment as he used in the passage concerning Herod used to enjoy listening to John the Baptist. Yet Herod eventually put John to death, and in a few days some of this very crowd would call for the death of Christ as well. So the fact that the crowd enjoyed listening to Him does not equate with them believing in Him unto salvation.

Now there is an important connection to an earlier passage that we must make sure we see here. In vs 28, a lawyer had asked Jesus what was the foremost commandment. And Jesus answered with the Shema, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” What the Lord is now saying is, “The Lord our God is one Lord: And you shall worship the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and I am not only David’s son, I am David’s Lord.” The Lord that we are to worship with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 

He is our Sovereign, He is our Master, the owner and provider of every good thing. He is the Creator. John says in the first chapter of his gospel that nothing was made without Him that was made. He is God incarnate, God in the flesh. The Word that was in the beginning with God, who made all that was made, became flesh and dwelt among us.

Isaiah in the Old Testament should have informed the Jews that the Messiah would be much more than just human royalty. Speaking clearly of the Messiah, Isaiah 9:6 says, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah makes it clear that He is a son of David, and will sit on the throne forevermore, but also that He is very God.

So the church is to be the Lord’s vineyard, and we are to be His servants. Salvation comes not only in faith in Jesus as a person, but in faith and trust in Jesus as Lord. As our Sovereign Savior, we bow to Him and yield to Him our lives in service for the glory of God and to His kingdom. Jesus’ identity is the central issue of spiritual life. What is Jesus to you? Is he Lord? The whole issue of how to enter the kingdom and how to live in the kingdom of God hangs at that point: Is Jesus your Lord?

Is He Lord of your life? Is He the one who governs your life? His lordship is the key to our life in Christ. That is why all through Paul’s epistles you find many practical exhortations which are linked always with “as unto the Lord”: “Wives, be subject unto your husbands as unto the Lord,” (Ephesians 5:22). “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church,” (Ephesians 5:25). “Children obey your parents in the Lord,” (Ephesians 6:1). “Stop stealing for the Lord’s sake,” (Ephesians 4:28). “Masters be kind to your employees for the Lord’s sake,” (Ephesians 6:5-9). In every aspect of life Jesus Christ must be Lord of your life.

Mark concludes this account with a contrast that indicates how Jesus’ lordship will manifest itself. The true expression of a heart submitted to the lordship of Jesus is demonstrated in a contrast between a pompous, proud, religious scribes and a humble, poor, and godly widow. The scribes loved to be seen and admired for their positions and their adherence to certain rituals and ceremonies which they thought made them appear holy and righteous. The widow, on the other hand, presents a picture of someone who loves the Lord with all their heart. And as we learned concerning David, in our study in 1 Samuel, God judges the hearts, not in outward appearances.

Let’s first consider these scribes. Jesus lists six things that show their hearts are evil. First He says beware of the scribes because they like to walk around in long robes. You want to put that into a contemporary context, beware of religious leaders who like to dress up in some religious outfit that they think gives them some sort of official look. I would add, beware of pointy hats.

Next, He says beware of those who love respectful greetings in the market places. They love the fawning attention that their positions render them and the titles and so forth that people use when addressing them. To tell you the truth, I don’t even relish being called “pastor.” I understand that people are trying to show respect, but I would just as soon be called Roy. Paul was called simply Paul, and that’s good enough for me.

Third, He says beware of those who like the chief seats in the synagogue. That is the seats up on the podium facing the congregation. They were the chief seats. That sort of thing was also done with the parishioners in the early churches in the middle ages. The rich gave money to support the priest and the church and so they would have the side benches up front with their names inscribed upon them. And the order of the congregation would follow suit with the wealthiest up front and the poorer people in the rear.

Fourth, they love the place of honor at banquets. It’s more of the same, using their positions to an advantage, their religion to garner respect and public admiration.

Fifth, Jesus says they devour widow’s houses. They took advantage of poor widows by robbing whatever resources may have been left to their estate. This is the most egregious of all their abuses as far as I’m concerned. And this is what I see as the sin of a lot of television preachers today. Paul speaks of those in 2Tim. 3:6 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.” I see these false teachers on TV as entering into widow’s houses and leading them astray and taking advantage of them, devouring their financial resources as well as devouring them spiritually.

And then number six, Jesus says beware of those who pray long prayers. He says that they do not pray to be heard of God, but they do so for appearance sake. They love to be seen as holy, to be knowledgeable. So they pray to be heard of men in offering long, laborious prayers. Beware of praying to be heard of men. God doesn’t answer those prayers, and furthermore, He is opposed to them.

So what is the synopsis of those religious hypocrites? They love to perform their religious ceremonies to be seen of men and to win their approval. They superficially give praise to the Lord, they superficially love the Lord. But the Lord sees their hearts and consequently does not regard their service as acceptable. They have their reward here on earth. People call them holy, righteous and look up to them, and approve of them. They have their reward on earth. But they have not earned any reward in the Kingdom of God.

Note now the contrast in the last 3 verses as we see Jesus recognize the heart of the widow. Jesus was seated near the treasury in the temple. And what they did was they had 13 trumpet shaped repositories made which hung on the walls of the temple in this area. And the people would file into this area to give their offerings to the Lord. Mark says that the rich people were dropping large amounts into the coffers. I read somewhere that the way these were constructed, and the type of coins that were being given as a offering, meant that there was a corresponding loud clatter when a large amount of coins were dropped in. To make it even more ostentatious, Jesus said elsewhere that some even had actual trumpet players announce their coming into the temple to make an offering to make sure everyone noticed them giving.

But irregardless, when a rich person came in to give, it probably sounded a lot like hitting triple sevens on the one armed bandit in the casino. A cascading sound of coins flowing into the trumpet shaped urn which would resonate throughout the temple and draw approving glances from the people in attendance.

Then Mark says that a poor widow came in and dropped two small coins into the treasury, which amounted to a cent. Now there is a lot of commentary on exactly how much she gave, but the best sources I can find say that what she gave was probably equivalent to about a dollar in today’s currency. And it was in the form of two small, thin coins. To drop such slight coins in the trumpet vase would have barely made a discernible noise.

But though her offering made little noise and drew little attention by the crowd, or possibly even disdain by the crowd, yet it made a great impact on Jesus. He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Here again we see revealed the divine nature of Christ, in knowing not only what she put in the offering, but also in knowing what she had left to live on. But there is another lesson here that must be seen. And it is not a lesson on tithing. I said the other week that I avoid talking about tithing or giving offerings as much as possible. Paul said giving must be not out of compulsion, that God loves a cheerful giver. I know a lot of preachers have used this text to preach about money. I’m not going to do that. You are smart people, you can read into that if you want yourselves.

What I believe the real point of this is, is that this widow gave the Lord her all. She didn’t hold anything back for herself. There were two coins, she could have said I will give the Lord one and I will use the other for myself. But instead, she gave everything to the Lord. This woman loved the Lord with all her heart, with all her soul, and with all her strength. She didn’t hold anything back. She recognized that all that she had was the Lord’s, and so she gave all that she had to the Lord. She fulfilled the foremost commandment.

And I think that is the point of this whole passage. If you believe in Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, then you must believe that He also is Lord. And if He is Lord, then He demands your life, your heart, your all. He isn’t interested in pretentious, pretend Christianity that parades it’s supposed virtues to be seen of men. But He demands your all. That is how we are saved, ladies and gentlemen. We surrender all. He is Lord of all. He is worthy of all that we have and all that we can give. We can never repay all that He has done. The least we can do is give Him our complete devotion.

When I was in school, I used to hate tests. Usually, that was because I had either forgotten to study for it, or I was too preoccupied with sports or other activities to study for it. So consequently, when the teacher would say, “now put away everything off your desk and take out a pencil and a blank sheet of paper for your test,” I would get this horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and look around in a panic at my classmates all calmly putting away their books, in hopes that somehow this was all some great misunderstanding.

But teachers give tests in school not usually to cause extreme heart palpitations in their students, but rather to gage their knowledge and understanding. And likewise, students ask questions of their teachers in order that they might gain knowledge and understanding.

However, as we look at the passage before us today, we see three sets of people who ask questions of the Lord Jesus in order to test Him, but not so that they might gain understanding or knowledge, but so that they can trap Him in something that He said in order to use it against Him. Their ultimate goal is to put Him to death, so they are looking for some sort of justification in order to do that.

What’s also interesting is that Jesus has managed in three short years of teaching to invoke such hatred against Him, that His enemies, who were also enemies of one another, have unified in their common cause to have Him killed, and so they set aside their differences to try to accomplish their common goal.

We see that particularly in the first incident in which the Pharisees team up with the Herodians to try to test Him, or trick Him into making a statement they can use against Him. All of you are probably aware of who the Pharisees were; strict, sanctimonious religious teachers who prided themselves on keeping the law. The Herodians though are less known; they were Hellenists, lovers of Greek culture, people who were about as wordy as you could be and still be a Jew. These folks normally could not stand one another. But they come together in their common hatred of Jesus and what He represented. There is an ancient saying which predates Christ by some 400 years which states “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” That is especially true in the case of the enemies of Christ. In a minute we will look at another group here which is the Sadducees, and they and the Pharisees were like Democrats and Republicans. So there is a bipartisan effort here to eliminate Jesus and the gospel He is teaching.

Now in true political style, they come to Jesus with lofty titles and sly flattery in order to try to disarm Him in hopes of tripping Him up. They start off with calling Him Teacher, and yet they themselves claimed to be teachers. Jesus called the Pharisees the blind leading the blind. They fawningly say “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth.”

Wow, that’s laying it on heavy isn’t it? Especially when we know that they were plotting to kill Him at that very moment. If they really believed what they were saying, then they would have recognized that He who isn’t partial to anyone, but tells the truth regardless, would not be fooled by crass flattery. So all of that simply tells us that their question was not sincere. As Mark said in vs 12, they were buttering Jesus up “in order to trap Him in a statement.”

So the test they proposed to Him was “is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” Now to understand the full significance of this question, you need to understand a couple of things. First, a poll tax was the annual capitation tax, or per capita tax on every adult in Judea, and it was imposed by the Romans upon the Jews.

The other important thing to consider is that the Jews were in a constant state of rebellion over this tax, because they hated the Roman oppression, and furthermore, the devoutly patriotic Jews considered it a sacrilege to give the Emperor honor, because he claimed to be deity. So some of the most fastidious considered it an affront to God.

So the question put to Jesus was very clever. If He said that you should pay the tax, then He risked alienating many devout, patriotic Jews. And if He said that you should not pay the tax, then He was possibly guilty of sedition against Rome. So they thought that they had Him, no matter which way He answered the question.

But notice the response of Jesus. Remember, God sees the heart; vs 15, But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” A denarius was the common coin of Rome. It was equal to a laborer’s wage for a day’s work. And it was also the amount due for the poll tax.

They give Jesus a denarius and He asks, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

I am told that such a denarius has been found, and that on the obverse is a picture of the head of Tiberius, and on the reverse he is shown sitting on a throne. But the really interesting thing is the inscription, which reads; Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus, Highest Priest.

Yet in spite of this blasphemous inscription, Jesus acknowledges that this was Roman currency, and as the governing authority, it was issued by them, and as the governing authority it was due certain taxes for the blessings such government provided. Rome had achieved a measure of peace that the world had scarcely seen before. They had built roads and bridges and waterworks. They gave protection and liberty so that the people were able to live their lives in relative peace and prosperity. And for all that government provides, Jesus said you should render to Caesar that which is due to Caesar. Jesus is saying government has a right to exert taxes for the services it renders to it’s citizens.

For us that translates to pay your taxes. Give what is due to the government for it’s services. Paul makes this principle clear in Romans 13:1-2 saying, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” In other words, give the government it’s due, and if you do not, you will receive condemnation not only by the government, but also from God.

There is another principle though that Jesus makes which should be given equal attention. And that is “render unto God the things which are God’s.” What is due to God? Well, as we will see in a few verses later, our duty to God is to love Him above all, with all our being. Jesus said elsewhere that if you love Me you will keep My commandments. So we owe God our obedience. He is the origin of our life. So we are to render unto Him our very life. Considering all that He has done for us, how can we not give Him our all? So God has priority over government, but government has authority over us, as an extension of God’s authority.

Now there is much more we could say about that, but we have to move quickly as there is a lot yet to cover. So let’s look at the next test, the next question employed this time by the Sadducees to try to trap Him. Now who were the Sadducees? Mark tells us the defining characteristic of the Sadducees in vs18, they said there was no resurrection. So how ironic and hypocritical then is their question posed about the resurrection. But additionally, it should be noted that the Sadducees did not believe in angels, they only believed in the inspiration of the Pentateuch, that is the first 5 books of the OT written by Moses, and also that they were the party of the high priest. The high priests were selected from this party. Considering that Jesus had just the day before entered the temple which was the high priest’s domain and cleaned out the merchants and disrupted the money making scheme they were running there, there is no doubt that these guys were gunning for Jesus and hoping to catch Him in saying something that could be used against Him and at the very least they are trying to make Him lose favor among the people by sounding ridiculous.

Well, we’ve read the fictitious scenario that these guys have concocted concerning a woman who had seven husbands. I won’t take the time to reread it. But it was obviously a fictional situation which was designed to make the doctrine of the resurrection sound absurd. And here is the deal; the kingdom of God which Jesus was preaching was founded on the doctrine of the resurrection. They wanted a temporal kingdom of God, a physical, immediate kingdom in which they had the chief positions and which benefited them in this life. Jesus was preaching a spiritual kingdom which has it’s origin and culmination primarily in heaven, and so therefore is dependent upon the resurrection for it’s fulfillment. So in asking this absurd question they were trying to undermine the credibility of His gospel.

We have the same thing happen today in attacks from liberals on the gospel. They will try to show the absurdity of hell and the judgment to come. “God is really going to burn billions of people for eternity?” They will try to show the absurdity of heaven. “Who wants to live forever and ever with these right wing hypocrites anyway? What are you going to do, sing hymns for millions of years?” They try to show the absurdity of faith in God as Creator in contrast to the intellectualism of science.

But the answer Jesus gives the Sadducees contains the answer to the naysayers down through the ages. vs24, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” It’s amazing to me that those who would deny the supernatural in regards to God will accept so many other ludicrous ideas. They would rather believe in space aliens than in a divine creator. They would rather believe in things like evolution which took billions and billions of years rather than believe in a literal creation. They would rather believe in the improbability that out of chaos could come a universe so precise and ordered that it follows exact mathematical equations.

Jesus says there are two areas in which you are mistaken and therefore without understanding. First is that you don’t understand the scriptures. In the case of the Sadducees, they said they believed the Pentateuch, but they didn’t really know the scriptures in the Pentateuch which clearly taught that there was life after death. The problem with the Sadducees is very similar to the problem with many critics today; they focus on scriptures that they like, that fit their agenda, but disregard those that they don’t like.

Secondly Jesus says that they don’t understand the power of God. If they truly understood the power of God, then the doctrine of the resurrection should not have been that difficult to accept. Certainly the God who made all life and everything in the universe by the word of His mouth could raise the dead. The secret to understanding and knowledge is studying the scriptures. It’s not through some vision, it’s not through some ecstatic experience, it’s through studying the scriptures. That is how we come to know God and how we are able to worship God in spirit and in truth. God is revealed in scripture.

Jesus then tells them the truth about the resurrection and marriage. vs 25, “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” First note that in heaven there will not be the need for marriage, because there will be no need for procreation. We will live forever. Secondly, marriage on earth is a picture of our relationship as the church with Jesus Christ. In the resurrection, our fidelity is to Christ. He is our bride groom and we are His bride.

I also want to point out that Jesus is declaring that there will be a resurrection. Many churches don’t really talk about our resurrection from the dead. The common doctrine that a lot of people are being taught is that when you die you go to heaven. The Bible however speaks of the dead being raised at the resurrection. And then after the resurrection the Lord will institute a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus spoke of the dead in the story of Lazarus and the rich man as being in the bowels of the earth in Hades. Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom, a Jewish way of speaking of Paradise, and the rich man was in torment, that is in the flames of hell. And Jesus said between the two there was a great gulf which no one could cross. Now a lot of people want to dismiss all of that, because they don’t understand it, or it doesn’t fit their template. But that is what Jesus told us in Luke 16.

At the resurrection then those that are in Paradise will be resurrected with a new body. 1Thess. 4:16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Some have construed that to mean that our old physical bodies will be lifted from the graves. That may not be necessarily true. Consider what Paul said concerning the resurrection and this heavenly body in 1Cor. 15:36-44, 50, “That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. … Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

Notice Paul said, it is sown, that is it dies and is put in the ground as a natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body. So then what Paul says is that what is put in the ground is natural, but what comes out of the ground is spiritual. What manner of beings are in Paradise? They are spirits, and they will be raised with spiritual bodies. And if you really want to start speculating what that looks like, then I will tell you that a oak seed doesn’t look anything like an oak tree. What will we look like? Consider what John says in 1John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” In our eternal bodies we will be like Christ. That’s good enough for me.

Then Jesus turns to the scriptures to refute the Sadducees, and He picks a scripture from the Pentateuch. He quotes from Exodus 3 in the passage about the burning bush. Vs26, “But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

What Jesus is saying is that God speaks of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as being still alive. The point is that they are alive awaiting the resurrection. In fact, going back to the story Jesus told in Luke 16, He said Lazarus was in Paradise being comforted by Abraham. Abraham had a dialogue with the rich man. So Abraham was obviously very much alive. At the transfiguration, Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah, and they were talking about the things to come. They were alive and cognizant and able to have a conversation about what was going on in the world at that time. Jesus said in John 11:26 “and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” This is the hope of the Christian, ladies and gentlemen. This is how we face the future without fear. We will never die. At death we will be alive in spirit with those who have gone on before us. We will be with the Lord forever. And furthermore, at the last trumpet we will be resurrected from the dead with a new body, a glorified, spiritual body that is far beyond what we can imagine, but it will be like the Lord’s body. That’s a tremendous hope.

Well, there is yet one more test. This time it’s a lawyer who comes to test Jesus. Mark doesn’t make it clear that this was a set up as well, but Matthew does. The question asked by this lawyer is which of the commandments or laws was the foremost? Not the first, but the foremost in importance. Now there were much more than 10 commandments. The scribes and lawyers had determined that there were no less than 613 commandments, 248 of them positive, and 365 negative. One for every day, it would seem. The Pharisees seemed to focus on the negative. Jesus, however, is going to give the positive.

Furthermore, in this exercise, there is a sense in which the entire law is being boiled down to it’s essence, synthesized, or summarized into one brief sentence. I wonder if you could very easily condense the gospel into one sentence. It’s not that easy. But Jesus does so readily, once again quoting from scripture. He quotes from Deut. 6:4, 5, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’

In the original Hebrew, the first word “hear” is from the original Shema. Today in Jewish synagogues, it is still called the Shema, and is recited at the beginning of their service. But what Jesus is teaching is that the whole law can be summed up with one word; love. The duty of man is to love God supremely above all things with all his being. The elements of this love is broken down into somewhat overlapping dimensions. The heart is a dimension of the soul, the mainspring of all thoughts, words and deeds. The soul encompasses the mind, will and emotions. The mind speaks of the intellect, another dimension of the soul. And strength I believe emphasizes the will of man. They are overlapping, as I said. I think that they all are various dimensions of what might be rightly called the heart or the soul; which encompasses the mind, emotions, and will.

And I like that because it shows that we don’t just love God emotionally, but also intellectually. And we don’t just love God with a dry intellectualism, but also emotionally. And that we don’t just love God with our intellectually, but with our will, which produces action and strength. I think further understanding comes from the fourfold use of the word “all.” Four times Jesus says “all.” God’s wholehearted love for us must not be answered in half hearted love from us. But we love Him above all, and with all our being. We love Him above all other love, even the love of family, even the love of ourselves. We put Him first above all things.

Secondly, Jesus said that this love not only must be directed towards God first, but that the second most important commandment is that we must love our neighbor as ourselves. Once again Jesus quotes scripture, this time from Lev. 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”

The second commandment resembles the first in this respect; they both require love. In the case of the second, it is love towards those who bear the image of God. When Jesus held up the denarius and asked whose image was there, He said “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” So by similar application, when we look at our fellow man, we need to see that he bears the likeness of God, man was made in the image of God. Gen 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Gen 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

How do you love mankind who was made in God’s image? As you would love yourself. That is the measure by which you measure to another. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Luke 6:31)

And who is my neighbor? According to Jesus’s parable in Luke 10:30, it is anyone who God places in your path for sympathy and help. Furthermore, in Matthew 5:43 Jesus even includes our enemies as those we should love.

Well, hearing this answer, the lawyer is so impressed by the wisdom of Christ that he cannot help but offer his praise, saying in vs32, ”Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” His enthusiasm indicates that Jesus has just made one of His enemies into a possible disciple. And Jesus recognizing that says in return, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Listen, what an answer to those today who would offer the sacrifices of praise and worship and not the sacrifice of obedience. What an answer to those who would offer lip service, but will not surrender their lives in service to the Lord. In our study of the life of David, we heard Samuel emphasize a similar point to Saul that this lawyer made to the Lord. Samuel says in 1Samuel 15:22, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”

Love towards God cannot truly exist without obedience towards the Lord. There was just one more step needed by this lawyer to go from being not far from the kingdom of God to being in the kingdom of God. And that was believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Jesus said in John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

In John 11:25-26 Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I would close today in asking you the same question. Have you believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came into the world to offer the complete sacrifice for your sins? And are you willing to obey Him and give your life to live for Him as your Lord and Savior? If you will but believe in Him and surrender your life to Him, He will give you life, He will supervise your resurrection and you will never die but live eternally with Him in glory. I pray that you have surrendered to Jesus today and will learn to love Him with all your heart and soul.

In Hebrews 1:3 the scripture tells us concerning Jesus that “He is the radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of [God’s] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” And to that end, in the last couple of chapters we have seen Mark present Jesus in various ways, each displaying a dimension of the character of God. In chapter 10 we see Jesus presented as the Good God, as the Savior, as our Sacrifice, as the Suffering Servant, as the Son of Man, and as the Son of David. In chapter 11, we see Jesus described as the Lord, as the coming King, and as the Righteous Judge.

These chapters show that it’s simply wrong to emphasize the characteristics God in only one dimension, as in God is love, without also taking into consideration His Lordship, His sovereignty, His righteousness and His right to judge the world. A lot of people are willing to accept the idea of a God, even Jesus as the Son of God, as long as it conforms to their idea of what God should be. God is ok as long as He is serving me and insuring that I have a good life. But a God that judges me, that determines what is right or wrong for me, that may send to either heaven or hell, that’s a God that most people do not want to accept nor believe in. However, a god that you control is not a god at all; it’s an idol formed according to your design. God is who He is, and who He has been through the ages past, and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth according to how He has disclosed Himself to the world through the Word.

Now that’s the issue that we see before the religious leaders of Israel in the passage we are studying today. They cannot dispute His manifested power to heal or raise the dead or feed thousands of people from a few loaves of bread. Nor can they dismiss the truth of His teaching. But yet they will not submit to His Lordship. They will not submit to His rule and authority over them. They have determined that they will not have this man rule over them. And yet I believe that they had more than enough evidence to convince them that Jesus may have been the Messiah. Yet they would reject Him and plot to kill Him because they would not have Him be Lord over them. And that really is the issue today as well. People are willing to believe that Jesus existed, even believe that He is the Savior, yet for a lot of people their faith fails at the point of declaring Jesus as Lord. They refuse to acknowledge His authority to rule their lives and as such they will not let Him be the Lord of their life.

Now as we saw in the first part of the chapter, Jesus entered into the temple after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and looked around quietly during the evening, assessing what was going on. And then the next morning, Jesus came back to the temple with a vengeance, sweeping aside the money changers and the vendors in sacrificial animals, and basically putting a stop to all commerce in the temple. He disrupted the daily sacrifices, He stopped them from making money off of the temple service, and He basically asserted His authority over the temple as His house and His domain.

Well, we pick it up the story the following morning as Jesus and His disciples come back into Jerusalem and Jesus is walking through the temple, and the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

Now lest you miss it, these are the top brass of Israel. These are the chief priests and the rulers of the Sanhedrin. They control the temple worship and all practices in the temple and thus, they control Israel. They are very powerful and very wealthy men. And at this point, they are very angry men. Their income has been interrupted and called into question during what was the busiest week for sacrifices and offerings of the year. It’s the equivalent of the week before Christmas in the Mall of America. Imagine someone shut off the power and stopped everyone from doing business. There would be an uproar. And that’s what is happening here.

So they stop Jesus as He is teaching, which is of course one of the foremost things God had ordained to be done in the temple, and they ask Him, “By what authority are you doing these things?” What authority do you have to disrupt the temple service and determine what is appropriate?

And this really is a key question that they keep coming back to. They have previously accused Jesus of operating under or by the Devil’s authority. They have resolutely refused to recognize Jesus’ authority as the Messiah, although they have had plenty of evidence for it, and of all people they should have been the first to acknowledge Him as the Messiah.

Well, Jesus answers their two questions with a question of His own. It’s interesting to note that 8 times in Mark’s gospel, the critics of Jesus ask Him a question in order to attack Him or try to trap Him, and each time Jesus answers with a question of His own. I think what that shows us is that often people are asking the wrong questions. It’s possible to ask a question designed to provoke a certain answer. I imagine that is what the pollsters do. That’s why their polls are usually skewed to show the results that they want to show. But rather than play their game, Jesus asks His own question. And in that very thing, He shows His authority. God is not subject to our questions. God will ask the questions of us.

Jesus says to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” That’s an important question we need to ask ourselves in our ministry and in our worship even today. Is it from God or from men? If we really consider our worship, our ministry, our church from that perspective, then I think there are a lot of sacred cows in the church that might fail the test. A lot of what we take for granted in church should be subjected to that paradigm. Is it from God or from men?

Now according to Mark chapter 1 the baptism from John was the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It was the conclusion to the message of “prepare the way, the kingdom of God is at hand.” The Messiah is coming. So in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, John urged the Jews to repent and be baptized. And when John eventually saw Jesus coming to him, he said in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

The scribes and the chief priests knew all of that of course. They had come out to the baptism of John and been rebuked as being a “brood of vipers.” So they weren’t fans of John the Baptist. But Jesus had them cornered with this question, because if they said John’s baptism was of God, then the obvious question was why did you not believe him? And if they said it was of men, then they feared the people, because the people believed John to be a mighty prophet of God. And they did their deeds to be seen and approved of by men.

So the religious leaders considered their options, and they didn’t like them. So they said “We don’t know.” They would have been more honest had they said, “We won’t say.” And Jesus responds to that unsaid answer. Jesus *said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The question that comes to my mind is why didn’t Jesus tell them who He was? Why not state outright that He was the Son of God? People are still debating today whether or not Jesus said He was the Son of God. The Pharisees said to him on another occasion, in John 10:24, “how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, (that is the Messiah) tell us plainly.” And when Jesus said in response, “I and the Father are one,” they took up stones to kill Him.

Now they still want to kill Him. They want to accuse Him of blasphemy and put Him to death. And at His trial in a few days, they will do exactly that, and make that same accusation. But that is still to come. Jesus has an appointed time to die, and that is on the Passover, when the Lamb of God will be slain for the sin of the world. And that’s still three days away. It is not yet the appointed time to die, so Jesus doesn’t give them the answer they want to hear.

So rather than give them an outright, plain answer, Jesus gives them a parable. Remember why Jesus said He used parables? Back in chapter 4 vs 11 Jesus told His disciples, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”

The parable then He gives is based on Isaiah 5:1-7. This is one of the most clear parables that Jesus has given, because it is so obviously based on Isaiah 5 that they would have known exactly what He was referring to. Most parables Jesus gave He also needed to explain how to understand them. But in this case, their knowledge of Isaiah would provide them the key. Isaiah says, “Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.”

God is obviously referring to Israel as His vineyard. He planted the vineyard, and tilled it, and took care of it, and protected it, and yet it did not produce fruit. So He pronounces judgment upon it.

Now in that context, let’s look at the parable which Jesus gives the religious leaders at the beginning of chapter 12. “A man PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT, AND DUG A VAT UNDER THE WINE PRESS AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?”

The correlation to Isaiah 5 is obvious. But Jesus adds a new element. He says the owner sent his servants to receive some of the produce from the vine growers. So in this case, the vine growers are those who have been given stewardship over the vineyard. My father, when he was a young man, grew up during the Depression. And like a lot of people back then, they did not have very much money. They lived on a farm in eastern North Carolina, and they were sharecroppers. Sharecroppers lived on someone else’s farm, they took care of the farm and tended it for the landowner. Then at harvest time, they would reap the crops and pay the owner a percentage of the yield. That was the way they made a living. They didn’t own the land, they didn’t pay for the seed, etc, they simply were stewards of the owners farm and investment.

So what Jesus is describing is that when the servants of the landowner come to receive his share, the sharecroppers attack the servant and send him back empty handed. The amazing thing is that when the servant comes back to the owner, the owner doesn’t go and take retribution on the tenants, but instead he patiently sends another servant, and then another one, each time having his servants beaten and rejected by the sharecroppers. That shows tremendous patience and long-suffering of the landowner.

And of course, Jesus is portraying a picture of the patience of God and prophets that He sent to Israel, His vineyard. And again and again they persecuted and even killed His prophets. But God was patient with Israel, sending HIs prophets one after another down through the centuries until at last God sends His only Beloved Son. There is a poignancy in Jesus’s statement, “he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’” But instead of respect, Jesus says instead they conspire together and say, “‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.”

We would be remiss if we did not recognize the boldness of Jesus, who is looking into the angry, arrogant faces of the very ones who in three days would arrest Him and try Him and crucify Him, thinking that they had kept the nation of Israel for their own selfish gain. He knows at that very moment they are plotting to kill Him. And in a not so subtle way He is calling them out and exposing their evil hearts.

So Jesus concludes according to Matthew’s version with a question, which Mark records for us the answer in vs9 “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.” Because of the hardness of their hearts and their rejection and murder of God’s Son, the gospel of salvation, the kingdom of God, will be taken from Israel and be given to another people, or nations, who will render fruit in due season. There we see the justice and the wrath of God. God is loving, God is long suffering and patient towards us, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. But there will come a day when God will come to the vineyard, fully expecting His due, and on that day every deed will be judged, whether good or bad. The day of judgment had come upon Israel. They thought they were judging Jesus. But in effect they were condemning themselves. In just three days, the curtain of the temple would be rent from top to bottom. The Spirit of God would depart from the temple. And in one generation, just 40 years, the temple would lay in ruins and the religious leaders would be scattered and killed because they rejected the Holy Son of God during His visitation.

Now to the question of by what authority did Jesus do these things, the answer is obviously that Jesus is the Son who came to visit His vineyard. And so to make that point unmistakably clear, Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22, 23, Jesus said, “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?”

Jesus is saying that He is the stone which they the builders had rejected, but God had made Him the cornerstone of His building. They would reject Him and even crucify Him, but marvelously God would raise Him from the dead, and He would be the cornerstone of the church, the new nation who would be given the custody of the vineyard of God.

In answer to the priests question, Jesus Himself is the authority. When God would raise Him up from the dead Jesus would say according to Matt. 28:18″All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Jesus is the Lord of the vineyard, He is the King of heaven and all the earth. He has the authority over all and we as His people must submit to Him as both Lord and Savior. If we reject Him, we do so to our own eternal condemnation.

Mark concludes this passage by telling us that the religious leaders knew that Jesus had spoken this parable about them. He had pronounced judgment upon them, and they in turn pronounced judgment upon Christ. Vs 12 “And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.” Within a few days time they would act to kill Him and in so doing they would seal their own fate. The patience of God would soon come to an end for the nation of Israel and God would give the kingdom to the Gentiles as the Church of God.

But the principle that was in effect for Israel is also in effect for the church. The church is God’s house. He is the builder of it. He is the Lord of the church. We are His temple, and He is the cornerstone. Christ has laid down His life for the church. Christ has planted carefully His church by the word of God. He has sown it with the seed of truth. He has watered it, sent His prophets to tend to it. And one day Christ will come again to receive the fruit of His church.

Phil. 2:8-11 says, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

We need to understand that He is the authority in the church. We need to ask ourselves if what we are doing in response to that authority is of God or man. And we need to bow to Him and submit to His authority over our lives. That is what it means to worship Him. 1Cor. 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

In connection with the events of the Passion Week we have seen two figures in which God has presented the church as a fruit yielding plant; the fig tree, and the vineyard. The symbolism is intended to teach us that our purpose is to bear fruit. Jesus said in John 15:8, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” That’s the first principle of the WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM which asks, What is the chief end of man? And the answer is Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. Jesus said we glorify God when we bear fruit. And we bear fruit when we bear a resemblance to the image of Jesus Christ. When we act like He acted, when we look like He looked, and when we do as He did. In short, when we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ then we bear fruit and the Father is glorified. And we are able to be like Christ because we have the Spirit of Christ working in us. Let us therefore walk not in the flesh, but by the Spirit of God, and bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.