Mark 14:17-31

Speaker 1: Rousey Having turned to Mark and Mark today sorry about the songs slide back there by the time. I wouldn't take one last look at the events near and surrounding the Death of Christ and the Resurrection. March at 14 is going to be this evening, and I'll remind you, little blond headed boys there in the back that I can see you. And just because I don't say something during the service doesn't mean I won't say something when we get home. So you better be good. Jackson. All right. Yeah. All right, Mark, chapter 14. If you have your place there, why don't you join me in standing in honor of reading God's Word Mark. Chapter 14. Verse number 17 is where we're going to begin. And we're going to read down to verse number 31. I will says, and in the evening he cometh with the 12. As they sat and did eat. Jesus said, Verily, I say on the you, one of you, which Edith with me shall betray me. They began to be sorrowful. Listen to him one by one. Is it I? Another said is that I. He answered and said unto them. It is one of the 12 that did is with me in the dish. Son of man indeed. Go with as it is written of him. Woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good word for that man if he had never been born. As they did eat. Jesus took bread blessed and break it gave to them and said, Take, eat. This is my body. He took the cup and he had given thanks. He gave it to them and they all drank of it. He said to them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say send you. I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine till that day I drink it new in the kingdom of God. When they had sung and him, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Jesus said to them all, Ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is right now. Smite the shepherd. The sheep shall be scattered. After that, I am risen. I will go before you into Galilee. Peter sending him. Although all shall be offended yet, will not I? Jesus say it then to him, barely. I say to thee, this day, even in this night for the cock crow twice thou shall deny me thrice. But he spoke the more vehemently If I should die with the I will not deny the in any ways whites. Likewise also said they all. Let's pray early. Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the folks that are here. You give me the words you want me to say, the folks that are here to listen and apply with you here to their lives. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. I think maybe you see it. All right. How many of you like a good sandwich? Good sense. Not a wimpy sandwich. All right. Put your hands on. All right. What's your favorite sandwich ingredient? Yes, Caleb, you're really fast. Hey. All right. Somebody else? Yes, Miss Leah. Avocado. Millennial avocado toast. Yes, sir. Really, Michael? Huh? Club. Oh, okay. I thought you said clothes. Unlike clothes on a sandwich. Interesting. But. Mayonnaise. Yes, ma'am. NATO's. Yes. Bacon turkey with Johnny. Oh, you can't do that, steak. Ooh. We have a sandwich at your house. Yes, sir. You know. Bread on your sandwich. All right. Yeah. Funny guy. Yes. Titus, I see the hand. Go ahead. Hey, I'm all right. Yeah. Yeah, I was all I could guess. Maybe a meat balls. Yes, sir. Bacon. Bacon? Good. Yes. We all like a good sandwich. I like a good breakfast sandwich. Meatball sandwich, French dip, roast beef. I mean, all that stuff is good. Provolone on there. Yeah. Yeah. Some some honey mustard or Dijon mustard. A good wheat bread with lots of nuts in it. You know, I like that. Maybe. Maybe grill it, put some butter on it, and then grill it. Oh, I'm really not hungry, so it's okay. But then good sandwich. Now, here's the problem with a loaf of bread you can make a sandwich out of. Has to. It's. The heal or maybe have another word for it of the sandwich, you know, that just it's all crust, you know, unless you get a really good loaf of bread, nobody really wants that part of the same. Which do they? Really? It's your favorite. If we both make toast at the end. He. This many. She likes the ends. Okay? Michael likes the ends. Gavin doesn't like the note, but then does. All right. I don't. I don't want the ends unless it's a really good loaf of bread. I mean, if it's just, you know, the normal white bread, I don't want. Nobody really wants. I mean, if you like it, you're weird. I'm sorry. Just going to say it. It's the stuff in the middle anyways. That's really what the sandwich is all about. Unless you really do. Just like the bread on your sandwich. I mean, it's the ham, the cheese, the the. The veggies, the sauce. That really makes a good sandwich, isn't it? Uh. Yeah. Here in the story. We have a sandwich. Well, the problem is we got to its ends of the loaf, the part that most people really don't want, one side is really just not good. And on the other side, there's something that's really not good. But in the middle, there's something really special that makes this sandwich worthy of our examination here tonight. The first part of our sandwich will call this The base layer has to do with the man named Judas. And in the first part of the passage that we read, Jesus predicts Judas's betrayal. Jesus and the disciples, of course, are gathered together in the upper room to eat or observe the Passover. This was a time of joyous celebration. The Jews would observe the Passover in remembrance of their liberation from slavery. Now, that would be a pretty significant thing to be celebrating freedom from slavery. And so typically, this is a very happy and joyous occasion. And I have no doubt that as everybody was sitting down and gathering, there was a lot of talk and a lot of happiness in their voices. I mean, if you think about it, just a few days earlier, they had accompanying Jesus on the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and no doubt energy levels were still very high from that. But in the midst of all this happiness, Jesus speaks up. While they're eating, Jesus announces that one of the 12 is going to betray him. He uses the phrase in verse number 18. He says, Verily, I say unto you, one of you, which Edith with me, which Edith with me shall betray me. That phrase, one of you, which Edith with me carries a lot of weight. If you were going to eat with someone, if you were to share a table with someone, you had to you had to have a certain level of relationship with that person. You wouldn't just eat with a stranger. Or you wouldn't just eat with someone who is in a different social group than you. It was going to be someone that you were close to or you connected with or you agreed with, or you had something in common. And so it it almost for their culture. This sounds weird. So don't take me wrong in their culture saying someone that I'm eating with. It was almost the same as saying someone that I'm sleeping with. I mean, if you think about that level of relationship, that's got to be a pretty committed relationship to be sleeping with someone, right? I mean, it would say they'd be married. Okay. So that's a pretty high level of commitment and relationship. And so to say, this is someone that I'm eating with. You're like, Oh, wow. Okay, well, you must be pretty close to this person that's going to betray you. I mean, they must be someone that you know pretty well. You're looking everywhere. Who was it that Jesus ate with that made the whole religious community, like, lose their minds? So. Why were they so upset about that? Because you didn't do them. And he was someone that wasn't the same as you. You didn't eat with someone that wasn't on the same level as you. You didn't eat with someone that you didn't have a pretty strong relationship with. And so when Jesus says one of you, which Edith with me shall betray me. Well, this changes the mood of the meal just drastically. I mean, the disciples are immediately drawn into what Jesus is saying. Unfortunately, if you look at first from 19, they don't appear to show very much concern about the fact that Jesus is going to be betrayed. Instead, what are they so concerned about? Well, they say. And him, one by one. Is it I? Another said, Is it? I thought your dad gets home and he says, one of you is bad today. You're going to be in trouble. All your siblings are like, Is it me? Why is every single one of us knows I did something bad today? Which one of us did he find out about? In this account. Jesus says that the betrayer is one of the 12 one that dips his bread with Jesus in the common dish. Jesus in the book of Mark does not identify the betrayer. If you remember, even in the other Gospels, it is made clear that the the disciples did not know who the betrayer was. I've always thought that was strange, haven't you? Have you ever thought about that? I mean, here they are. From a readers perspective, it looks pretty obvious who the betrayer is going to be. The disciples leave this meal and they have no idea. Even when they saw Judas leave, they thought, well, he must have something to do with the money. He's got to deliver money to the poor or something. And so Jesus goes on and look at version 121. He announces, Woe upon the betrayer, says the son. A mean man indeed goeth as it is written of him. Remember, Christ died for our sins. According to the Scriptures, it was predetermined that Christ would die. But that does not remove the guilt of Judas's actions. He says, Woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. Good word for that man. If he had never been born. Now, as I said before. Marks Mark never tells us in this section who the betrayer is. But if you went back to versus ten and 11. Mark does explain that it was Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 who went under the chief priest to betray him unto them. When they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money and he saw it. How you might conveniently betray him. Mark's purpose here in this passage is not to rehash or give us a play by play for the entire conversation, but to show his readers that Jesus is facing betrayal by one of his own. Someone that is very close to him and has subsequently rejected him. Judas is one of the most tragic people that you could ever read about. And yet his story is not uncommon. For three years. We walked with Jesus. Heard Jesus teach. He saw the miracles he saw behind the scenes. If you saw behind the scenes in my life, you'd probably be like, I don't know if I really want this guy to be in my pastor. There was no hypocrisy with Jesus. When he was in public was the way he was in private. Where he was in front of the crowds is the way he was when it was just the 12. Judah saw all of this. And yet you still rejected Jesus. We're reading here in versus 17 to 21. Is the rejection of Jesus. By someone who is given every opportunity and every reason to believe in Jesus. It's extremely sad. We need to move on. That's one end of our sandwich. Let's skip down the verse number 26. We'll look at the other end of our sandwich. So when they had sung and hymns at the end of the meal, they went out into the Mount of Olives, said to them all, ye shall be offended because of me. You notice back in verse summer 18, he says, One of you will betray me. In verse 27, he says, All of you will be offended because of me. Was written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scatter. But after I am that I am risen. I will go before you in to Galilee. Peter said any. Although all shall be offended, it will not I. This takes place after the Passover is finished. If sung a hymn probably from the book of songs and they've headed out to the Mount of Olives as they're leaving the city. Jesus tells the 11 that are with him, they will all be offended of him. That very night, when he says All shall be all ye shall be offended. That word offended is the Greek word. This is heart. You're not going to get this one. Okay. I'm glad to explain it to you this next day. A doctorate in Greek for you to understand what this word means. The word is. Scandal up. Was it? Scandal. And the scandal takes place, everybody's like, Whoa. Yeah. I don't know this guy. We we really were never that close, you know? I mean, we maybe bumped into each other at the YMCA a few times, but I don't even know the guy. Scandal. You shall all be offended of me. I will be scandalous for you to be associated with me. This, too, is a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus disciples will be scattered. They will abandon him. And of course, Peter. Wonderful, Peter. He takes issue with Jesus's pronouncement. Can't you just hear him? Peter says something like this. A Everyone else may abandon you, but I won't. I'll never leave you. Jesus, I'm. By your side, ride or die. It's you and me together till the end. Jesus tells Peter. Before the rooster crows twice. You will have denied Jesus three times. I don't know much. But if I'm walking with a man that I personally have pronounced, I believe thou art the Christ. He says, you're all going to be fit. I say, No, Lord, not me. Not me. I never. I would never be offended by you. God. Jesus says, none of you will be offended. You're going to deny me three times before the night is over. That would probably. Make me be quiet. I would probably feel a little embarrassed, so much so that I might not say anything for the rest of the night. Not Peter. Peter continues on even more passionately than he had been before. The Bible says that he spake the more vehemently, more passionately, with more force in his voice. If I should die within. I will not deny this in any wise. Now we know. What Jesus said will come to pass, don't we? Peter. Peter. Peter catches a lot of grief for his behavior. Where did the Book of Mart come from? Was it one of the 11 mark? Isn't he one of the disciples? Now he's not. In fact, it's kind of interesting if you study it out. It's possible. Actually, the upper room where they were meeting was Mark's house. He was like a little boy just watching all of this take place. But but that's that's that's that's neither here. Mark wrote this, but many believe he wrote it based on the testimony of Peter. Peter. By the time he gets to writing this, he's perhaps a little bit older. He was never that great at writing anyways. I mean, he's a fisherman, not a not a teacher or a scholar or anything like that. And so Peter's is dictating to mark the events that he witnessed. So if we have in our mind that perhaps Peter is the voice, the source of this information, it makes the universe number 31 little bit more interesting. They're always giving Peter a rough time. A local Peter make sure is included there at the end. Likewise also. Said they all. Peter is like, yes. Okay, you know what? Yeah, I may have started it and sure, I protested the loudest, but all y'all were saying you weren't going to deny or be offended by Jesus. Well, Clarence, it's funny. It's slightly humorous that this is here in the Bible. It's as if Peter wants us to know. Hey, I was the only one that made such a claim. Unfortunately, all of Jesus's disciples, except for John, would abandon him in the coming days. Because except for the ladies that followed Jesus, John was the only one that was there. Jesus. Crucifixion. So we have two ends of a sandwich. We got 17 to 21 dealing with Judas. We've got 26 to 31 dealing with Peter. I'd say we've got one end dealing with, you know, a loaf of betrayal. And on the other end, we've got a loaf of denial. I mean, who wants to take a slice out of either of these? Hey, you know what? Signed me up for some good. A good helping of betrayal. I could really use a good knife in my back right now. Nobody. How about denial? You know? So it's like I don't even know the guy. Gary. Gary who? These two sections make up the bread of our sandwich. By themselves, they are very unappealing in every way. The people closest to our Lord responding to him with rejection and denial. However, between verse number 21 and verse number 26, there are four verses in the middle of this sandwich which detail for us the actions of Jesus and in the middle of Judas's betrayal and Peter's denial, we see Jesus sacrifice. Verse 22 to version 425. We have marks record of Jesus instituting the Lord's Supper. Mark doesn't go into great detail, but the message should be clear. Jesus gives the disciples the broken bread. Spread is a picture of Jesus broken body. Physical toll of the cross on the human body was tortuous between the mistreatment before the cross and the actual experience of the cross. Jesus body would indeed be broken. He was almost beyond recognition, even as a human male. Jesus then takes the cup. Gives it to each of the disciples, the Jews. There is a picture of Jesus. Blood is the shedding of his blood that enables sins to be forgiven. Hebrews 922 says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And so the men would betray him or reject him and the others would deny him. Right in the middle of this, this nasty scene in which we have Jesus willing to give his life. As a sacrifice for these men. You see, even though Judas never got saved, Jesus still died for him. There's an interesting verse. And first, John, chapter two, verse number two, which says. He is the perpetuation. The payment for our sins. It was our John and his readers who are believers. Not for hours only. Also for the sins of the whole world. As Jesus died for those who had rejected him. Just as much as he died for those who would accept him. I don't believe Judas is in heaven. Never. There's no record of him receiving Jesus as his savior. But Jesus still died for him. And even though Peter denied him. Jesus still died for Peter to. Immediately on either end of the Lord's Supper. We have a record, an example of human sin. On one side, you have an unsaved man who has rejected Jesus. On the other side, you have a saved man who is afraid of what it means.

Speaker 2: To.

Speaker 1: Identify with Jesus. Yet the Lord's Supper stands in the middle to remind us of Jesus victory and sacrifice for our sin. It's like you've got the two in pieces of a loaf of bread that nobody wants or likes. Normally they just get thrown away and tossed out. Jesus comes along and puts something good in the middle. Despite the betrayal and denial, Jesus proves that he was ready to sacrifice his life for fallen man. How does this help us tonight? First of all, it gives us hope. Hope for salvation. Up until the moment of his death, even Judas could have asked Jesus for forgiveness, and he would have received it. Tonight. If you've never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, then why not ask him? Nothing you have done is too big for Jesus to forgive you. Not only does it give us hope for our salvation, it gives us hope for a relationship with God. Don't we believe that once saved, we're always saved. No matter what you do or have done, Jesus will always be your Savior. What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing. Soldier this morning. I got saved when I was four years old. Just do your own estimation. You think I have more sins on this side of my salvation or more sins before my salvation? Well, let's see. Is our old. I'll be 34 this year. 30 years. Four years. I may have been a rotten baby, but I think I got more since after than before. Hasn't changed the fact that Jesus still died for me. Jesus forgave all of my sins. I say this a lot, but it bears repeating. All of my sins were in the future when Jesus died for me. It gives us hope. When God looks at me, he sees the sacrifice of his son. I have his righteousness because of Jesus. It gives us hope. It makes us thankful. When you think of the sacrifice that Jesus made and how unworthy we are, how can it not make you thankful to him? Every day, not just Easter. We ought to thank Jesus for his sacrifice of the things we've added to our prayer time with the boys. Sometimes they'll say it, sometimes they won't. I try to always say it is Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We need to be thankful for what he did for us. It ought to make us live. Thankful lives as well. Then finally, it motivates us. Motivates us to share the gospel with others. There are those that we come into contact with that have rejected and betrayed Jesus's message of the gospel like we talked about this morning. Maybe God would use you. To give them another chance to receive it. As long as a person is living, they have an opportunity to get saved. Motivates us to share the gospel. With others. So you and I are not perfect people. We have all at one time or another, rejected and betrayed God or Jesus. And yet he still loves us. And sacrifice is just as much for us as it was for the disciples. Don't let the world steal your hope. Remember that Jesus loved you died for you in particular. And you're feeling like everything is going wrong in your life. Give thanks for the salvation that he purchased for you. You and I don't feel like. Doing right anymore. Remember the price that he paid for our salvation. Remember how good he has been to us. Let that motivate us to continue to live for him and tell others about him. Let's pray their father. Thank you for this night and for the time that we can spend looking into your word one last time today, Lord, I prayed that we would all. Be mindful. What you have done for us. And even in response to the way we've treated you. We were at amnesty with you. We have all gone our own way. Yet. Lord, you've loved us despite of all of it. God. Perhaps tonight we are strayed from you. Helps to be mindful of the fact that just like Peter. All it takes is to turn back to you and you'll receive us again. Well, I pray that you would use your Holy Spirit to encourage and strengthen our hearts. Our relationship with you or we love you so much. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen

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