Jesus willingly accepted the suffering before Him as He was willing to give His life for the sake of humanity.
To the contrast, the disciples could not even stay awake to pray! In fact, as Jesus willingly followed God’s will in spite of all that it required of Him, afte the arrest all of the disciples deserted him and fled.
#NewTestament #NewTestament1Year #NewYear #Jesus #faith #spirituality #deconstructing #reconstructing #deconstructingchristianity #reconstructingfaith #postchristianworld #postchristian
This episode was filmed in India where those who follow Jesus are sharing about the One True God to people who believe in many gods much like the Christians in Rome that Mark was writing.
Video:
Mark 14 Notes:
Jesus is anointed by a woman with a very expensive bottle of perfume at the home of Simon the Leper. This so enraged Judas that he left to betray Jesus.
Now this may seem like a decision being made out of the blue. We don’t know all of the details which by the way is by design. The Scriptures are Hebrew meditation literature which leaves out details to get us considering the possibilities. There are a few clues in this passage and the parallel passages about this story and/or a similar story that may help us. Judas, who was the keeper of the finances for Jesus and the disciples was the one who said: “We could have used this money to help the poor” even though he did not truly care for the poor.
So why would Jesus see this experience as the impetus to betray Jesus?
- Perhaps He was concerned about what he considered was a waste of money.
- Perhaps he was trying to move the process along for Jesus to rise up and be the political Messiah some of the disciples hoped He would be.
- Perhaps the host was his father, Simon the Leper, so when Jesus allowed this to happen, Judas felt dishonored.
We are not really sure about his motivation, but we discover later he comes to regret his decision.
During their Last Supper together, Jesus reveals He is aware that He would be betrayed by one of the disciples.
During that same evening, Jesus predicts Peter will deny he knows Jesus 3 times.
In the midst of Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial, Jesus responds differently to the challenge in front of Him. In a moment of honesty, aware of the suffering He was about to face, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane:
“Abba, Father, Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)
Jesus willingly accepted the suffering before Him as He was willing to give His life for the sake of humanity.
In contrast, the disciples could not even stay awake to pray! In fact, as Jesus willingly followed God’s will in spite of all that it required of Him, afte the arrest all of the disciples deserted him and fled.
After being betrayed with a kiss, Jesus was arrested by the authorities and taken to a trial where false witnesses lied about him.
A fascinating exchange took place when it says in Mark 14:61-62
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Jesus clearly claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and even quotes Daniel 7 where we read of the prophecy where a Son of Man would reign alongside God.
Judas, Peter, and the disciples all gave up far too easy whereas Jesus continued forward praying: “Not my will but yours be done.”
How can we grow more to have that attitude?
What do you do when you are tempted to walk away from your faith, from your commitments, from anything that becomes difficult?
