Mark 14
Summary for Mark 14:1: 14:1–16:8 a The final section of Mark is the narrative of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection.Summary for Mark 14:1-2: 14:1-2 b The plot by the leading priests and teachers of religious law to kill Jesus (see 3:6 c; 11:18 d; 12:12 e) now comes to a climax.
Summary for Mark 14:3-9: 14:3-9 f The story of Jesus’ being anointed by a woman in Bethany (14:3-9 g) sets the scene for events to follow. Luke’s account (Luke 7:36-50 h) is significantly different and might be a different event. This incident took place in Bethany, two miles east of Jerusalem on the lower, eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus apparently stayed when he was in Judea (Mark 11:1 i, 11-12 j). The home belonged to Simon, a former leper (lepers were isolated from society; perhaps he had been healed by Jesus; see 1:40-45 k).
• eating: Or reclining. The meal was a banquet, as indicated by their reclining. A woman (see John 12:3 l) broke the neck of a sealed, alabaster jar containing expensive perfume (pure nard) and poured it all on Jesus’ head (see Exod 29:4-7 m; 2 Kgs 9:1-6 n).
Summary for Mark 14:4-5: 14:4-5 o Some (cp. Matt 26:8 p; John 12:4-5 q) were indignant over what they considered a waste of the expensive perfume, said to have been worth a year’s wages for the average worker. This large amount of money could have been given to the poor, and it was obligatory to remember the poor during Passover.
Summary for Mark 14:6-8: 14:6-8 r Jesus defended the woman’s action. That the disciples would always have the poor among them did not minimize Jesus’ concern for the poor. The opportunity to minister directly to Jesus was limited. Only hours remained! She chose the best thing she could do with her perfume.
14:8 s Jesus interprets the woman’s action. She had anointed his body in preparation for his burial. Whether the woman was consciously motivated by Jesus’ imminent death is unclear; her loving act served the purpose Jesus assigned it.
14:9 t Although Mark does not give the woman’s name, her deed (14:6 u) is indeed remembered as the story of Jesus is told throughout the world.
Summary for Mark 14:10-11: 14:10-11 v In sharp contrast to the woman, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, offered to betray Jesus for money (Matt 26:15 w; 27:3 x, 9 y).
Summary for Mark 14:12-32: 14:12-32 z The preparation for the Passover meal (14:12-16 aa) introduces the story of the Last Supper (14:22-25 ab).
• The Last Supper is associated with the Passover meal (14:12 ac, 14 ad, 16 ae; Matt 26:17-19 af; Luke 22:7-8 ag, 11 ah, 13 ai, 15 aj; cp. John 18:28 ak; 19:14 al). Many pilgrims celebrated Passover in Jerusalem, where God’s Temple was located (see Deut 16:2 am). 14:12 an The time when the Passover lamb is sacrificed was twilight on the 14th of Nisan (Exod 12:6 ao). This date falls in March or April each year.
Summary for Mark 14:13-15: 14:13-15 ap Jesus’ instructions to the disciples are similar to those of 11:2-6 aq, suggesting that Jesus had prearranged a place for eating the Passover and Last Supper with his disciples. Jesus’ careful preparations for this meal emphasize its importance. The two disciples were to prepare the Passover meal, which included the lamb (which had to be slaughtered, skinned, cleaned, and roasted over an open fire), unleavened bread, a bowl of salt water, bitter herbs, and a bowl of a fruit puree, or kharosheth. Enough wine mixed with water was needed so that Jesus and the disciples could each drink four cups to celebrate God’s fourfold blessing (Exod 6:6-7 ar).
14:17 as With the coming of evening, Jesus arrived with the Twelve at the upstairs guest room. “The Twelve” refers to Jesus’ disciples as a group; ten arrived with Jesus, since two of them were already there (14:13 at).
14:18 au As they were at the table: The Passover was eaten in a reclining position, as were other banquet meals. During the Passover meal, someone (usually the youngest son) would ask the host, “Why is this night different from other nights?” The father or host would then recount the stories of the Passover and the Exodus (Deut 26:5-9 av). The elements of the Passover meal were symbolic. The Passover lamb served as a reminder of the blood of the sacrificial lambs that protected Israelite homes from the angel of death, who visited the firstborn in Egypt (Exod 12:28-30 aw). Unleavened bread recalled the rapid exodus of God’s people (Exod 12:31-34 ax, 39 ay). The salt water represented the tears of their bondage and the crossing of the Red Sea, and the bitter herbs their slavery. The four cups of wine acknowledged God’s fourfold promise in Exod 6:6-7 az.
• The terrible deed of betraying Jesus was more heinous in that the betrayer was one of those eating with him (see Pss 41:9 ba; 55:12-14 bb).
14:19 bc The disciples were shocked and saddened, asking, Am I the one? This is the first they had heard that Jesus would be betrayed (though the reader has known it since 3:19 bd). Jesus maintained his betrayer’s anonymity.
14:21 be must die, as the Scriptures declared: See, e.g., Isa 52:13–53:12 bf. Jesus foreknew this betrayal as part of the divine plan (cp. 8:31-33 bg), but his betrayer was condemned. Jesus and the Gospel writers do not explain how God’s sovereignty and Judas’s human responsibility can coexist, but both are stated without compromise (see John 19:11 bh).
Summary for Mark 14:22-25: 14:22-25 bi The Last Supper began with a blessing. In modern practice, Christians ask God to bless the food; Jews in Jesus’ day blessed God for providing the food with the words, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
• this is my body. ... This is my blood: Some understand these words to mean that the bread and wine are transformed into the very body and blood of Jesus (transubstantiation); others, that the bread and wine remain bread and wine but that the real presence of Jesus is found in them (consubstantiation). In these two views, when one participates in the Lord’s Supper, one actually eats and drinks the body and blood of Jesus. A third view is that in eating the bread and wine, Christians spiritually feed on Jesus. A fourth view is that the meal is primarily a memorial, and the elements are symbolic of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. See also John 6:53-63 bj and corresponding study note.
14:24 bk The cup of wine represented Jesus’ blood, poured out as a sacrifice (10:45 bl; Isa 53:12 bm). It initiated the covenant that God has made with his people (Luke 22:20 bn; 1 Cor 11:25 bo; see Exod 24:8 bp; Zech 9:11 bq; Heb 9:18-20 br; 10:26-29 bs). The term many refers to all people (see Mark 10:45 bt; Rom 5:15-19 bu).
14:25 bv the day I drink it new: Jesus will have a great banquet for his followers when he returns and fully establishes the Kingdom of God.
Summary for Mark 14:26-27: 14:26-27 bw Then they sang a hymn: It was customary to end the Passover by singing the last part of the hallel psalms (Pss 114–118 bx).
• The singing of hymns brought the Passover meal and Last Supper to a conclusion, and Jesus and the disciples departed for the Mount of Olives to spend the night. As they proceeded, Jesus told his disciples that they would all desert him, which had to happen because the Scriptures foretold it.
• God will strike the Shepherd: As a result, the sheep (the disciples) would be scattered.
14:28 by Despite predictions of their failure, the account included encouragement and hope. After Jesus was raised from the dead, he met the disciples in Galilee (see 16:7 bz), where they were forgiven and restored (see John 21:1-23 ca).
Summary for Mark 14:29-31: 14:29-31 cb Peter’s protests and Jesus’ rebuke recall 8:32-33 cc. Despite Peter’s protests, his denial took place within a few hours.
14:32 cd Gethsemane (Aramaic, “oil press”) remains an olive grove to this day. It is called a garden in John 18:1 ce, and Luke 22:39 cf indicates that it was a favorite place for Jesus and his disciples.
Summary for Mark 14:33-34: 14:33-34 cg Jesus went ahead with Peter, James, and John (5:37-43 ch; 9:2-9 ci; see also 13:3 cj) and asked them to watch with him, meaning to agonize with and for him in prayer.
Summary for Mark 14:35-36: 14:35-36 ck Jesus fell to the ground to pray because of his deep distress (see Gen 17:1-3 cl; Lev 9:24 cm; Num 14:5 cn; 16:4 co). Since it was normal to pray out loud, Jesus’ prayer was probably overheard by the three disciples, who would not have fallen asleep immediately.
• Jesus addressed God as Abba, Father, indicating their close relationship (see Rom 8:15 cp; Gal 4:6 cq).
• Please take this cup ... from me: In faith, Jesus expressed his own feelings and desires to the Father. It was not only the physical agony of crucifixion that terrified him, but also the unique death that he would experience. He who knew no sin would experience the wrath of God against sin (Mark 15:34 cr; 2 Cor 5:21 cs; Gal 3:13 ct).
• Yet I want your will to be done, not mine: Jesus’ submission to the Father’s will is a model for his followers.
Summary for Mark 14:37-38: 14:37-38 cu are you asleep? The question was a rebuke, for Jesus knew that Peter had been sleeping.
• Though the spirit is willing to avoid temptation (see Rom 7:18 cv, 22-23 cw), the body (literally the flesh, which denotes the general weakness and vulnerability of humanity) is weak.
Summary for Mark 14:41-42: 14:41-42 cx The content of Jesus’ prayer was probably the same as before (see 14:35-36 cy, 39 cz). The third failure of Peter, James, and John to watch and pray recalls Jesus’ prediction that Peter would deny him three times (14:30 da, 66-72 db).
• The words sleep and have your rest can be interpreted as a command, as in the NLT. Others take it as an exclamation (“You are sleeping and resting!”). Still others take it as a rhetorical question (“Are you sleeping and resting?”).
• the time (literally hour) has come: The passion of Jesus had begun, the hour for pouring out the blood of the sacrificial lamb (14:24 dc). This statement coincided with the arrival of Judas and the armed crowd seeking to seize Jesus. Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinners for whom he willingly went to the cross (2:17 dd; 10:45 de; 14:21 df).
• Up, let’s be going: Jesus accepted the cup God had given him. He went out to defeat his enemies by dying for them.
14:43 dg Judas’s treachery in Jesus’ arrest is heightened by the reference to him as one of the twelve disciples. Having agreed with the leading priests to betray Jesus at the right time and place (14:10-11 dh), he led an armed group to seize Jesus secretly at night apart from the people (14:1-2 di). Although they wanted to avoid a conflict, the crowd was large enough to quell any resistance by Jesus or his followers (cp. Luke 22:52 dj; John 18:3 dk).
Summary for Mark 14:44-45: 14:44-45 dl Gethsemane was dark, and Jesus was personally unknown to most of the crowd sent to seize him (see John 18:7-8 dm), so Judas had given a sign by which he would identify Jesus. Judas addressed Jesus as Rabbi and greeted him with a kiss, a common form of greeting (1 Sam 10:1 dn; 2 Sam 19:39 do; Luke 7:45 dp).
14:47 dq One of the men with Jesus (Peter, see John 18:10 dr) attempted a hurried defense by slashing off the ear of the high priest’s slave (see Luke 22:50-51 ds).
14:49 dt But everything was taking place to fulfill what the Scriptures say about Jesus. Mark thus reassured his readers that these events were part of God’s divine plan. See Isa 53:7-9 du.
14:50 dv As Jesus had predicted just hours before (14:27-31 dw), all his disciples deserted him.
Summary for Mark 14:51-52: 14:51-52 dx The account of Jesus’ arrest ends with this comment about an unnamed young man. There does not seem to be any theological reason for Mark to record this incident. The explanation that it is an autobiographical detail about Mark is as good as any.
Summary for Mark 14:53-65: 14:53-65 dy The story of Jesus’ trial follows immediately upon his arrest. Objections have been raised as to the historicity of the various accounts of Jesus’ trial, because of differences of detail from the rules found in the Mishnah tractate Mishnah Sanhedrin. However, (1) the Mishnah was written around AD 200, whereas the Gospel of Mark was written in the late 60s, over 130 years earlier; (2) the rules found in Mishnah Sanhedrin idealize what later rabbis thought should take place in such trials and do not necessarily describe what did in fact take place; (3) it is questionable whether the Sadducees leading the Sanhedrin would have followed the Pharisaic rules found in Mishnah Sanhedrin (see Acts 23:6-10 dz); (4) the rules found in Mishnah Sanhedrin sometimes conflict with what the Jewish historian Josephus wrote; (5) existing laws of conduct were not necessarily followed—Jesus was being tried by a kangaroo court, in which the sentence was predetermined and only the charge for carrying it out was sought (Mark 14:55 ea); (6) if we must choose between the trial accounts found in the Gospels and Mishnah Sanhedrin, there is no reason to choose the reliability of Mishnah Sanhedrin over that of the Gospels.
Summary for Mark 14:53-54: 14:53-54 eb The leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law were not synonymous with the “entire high council” (14:55 ec; 15:1 ed), or Sanhedrin, but they made up a large part of it. Peter followed Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, where the Sanhedrin was meeting. The stage is set for Peter’s denial (14:66-72 ee).
Summary for Mark 14:55-59: 14:55-59 ef The trial took place before the entire high council (Greek Sanhedrin), which had seventy members and was led by the high priest. The Gospels portray a formal trial: There was a search for witnesses (14:55 eg), eyewitness testimony (14:56-59 eh), Jesus being placed under oath (Matt 26:63 ei), Jesus being allowed to defend himself (Mark 14:60 ej), the high priest tearing his robe (14:63 ek), and the concluding verdict by the Sanhedrin (14:64 el). This does not mean that it was a fair trial—the decision to put Jesus to death had already been made. Evidence was not sought to determine the truth, but to obtain a guilty verdict and death sentence.
• False witnesses giving false testimony misrepresented what Jesus said about the destruction and rebuilding of the Temple (see 15:29 em; John 2:19 en; Acts 6:14 eo). Because the false witnesses contradicted each other, their testimony was unacceptable (Num 35:30 ep; Deut 17:6 eq; 19:15 er).
Summary for Mark 14:60-61: 14:60-61 es Since the false witnesses failed to agree (14:56 et), the high priest sought incriminating testimony from Jesus.
14:62 eu I Am: Cp. study note on 6:49-50. The reader has known from the beginning that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (1:1 ev). This was acknowledged by demons (1:24 ew; 3:11 ex; 5:7 ey), by God (1:11 ez; 9:7 fa), and by the disciples (8:29-30 fb), but this is the first time that Jesus openly and publicly acknowledged that he was the Messiah.
• The second part of Jesus’ reply was that he would sit in the place of power at God’s right hand, which foretold his resurrection and ascension (Luke 24:50-51 fc; Acts 1:9-11 fd; see Phil 2:9 fe; Heb 1:3 ff) and his triumphal coming on the clouds of heaven to judge the world. At Jesus’ return, roles will be reversed, and those judging the Son of Man will be judged by him.
Summary for Mark 14:63-64: 14:63-64 fg The high priest tore his clothing at Jesus’ response. This was a judicial act that indicated a guilty verdict and signified that there was no need to find other witnesses. The rest of the Sanhedrin agreed that Jesus was guilty and deserved to die.
• Exactly what was blasphemous in Jesus’ reply is unclear. Perhaps it was his reply “I Am,” which was the way God referred to himself in Exod 3:14 fh (see John 8:58 fi). However, Mark is not necessarily repeating the actual words Jesus said at his trial (cp. Matt 26:64 fj; Luke 22:70 fk), so these words could simply be indicating Jesus’ affirmative response to the high priest’s question. He was the Messiah, the Son of God. During the second Jewish revolt against Rome, Bar Kokhba (AD 132–135) claimed to be the Messiah, and it was not considered blasphemous. Jesus’ identification of himself as the Son of Man cannot have been considered blasphemous, for we have over fifty instances before Jesus’ trial in which he used this title, and the charge of blasphemy was never raised. Yet it was too much for the high priest and the Sanhedrin when Jesus clearly claimed to be the Son of Man of Dan 7:13 fl coming in God’s name to judge the world. This declaration was also added to the fact that, during his ministry, Jesus forgave sins (Mark 2:5-7 fm; Luke 7:48-50 fn), claimed to be the Son of God (Mark 12:6 fo), pronounced judgment upon the Temple (14:58 fp), and claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath (2:28 fq). Already convinced that Jesus should be put to death, the religious leaders now pronounced the predetermined guilty verdict (14:55 fr).
14:65 fs spit: See 10:34 ft.
• Prophesy: See 6:4 fu, 15 fv; 8:28 fw; 14:58 fx.
• Similar abuse would follow his trial before Pontius Pilate (15:16-20 fy).
Summary for Mark 14:66-72: 14:66-72 fz Peter’s predicted denials (see 14:30 ga) occurred during Jesus’ trial.
14:67 gb The title Jesus of Nazareth might have been contemptuous, for Judeans held a low view of Galileans (John 1:46 gc; 7:41 gd, 52 ge).
14:68 gf Peter denied that he knew Jesus. To escape further questions, he left the courtyard and went to the entryway.
Summary for Mark 14:69-70: 14:69-70 gg The servant girl repeated her accusation to other bystanders. The others thought Peter was Jesus’ follower because he was a Galilean (see Matt 26:73 gh; cp. Acts 2:7 gi).
14:71 gj Peter swore: He took an oath that his denial was true.
14:72 gk Upon Peter’s third denial, the rooster crowed the second time and Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled (14:30 gl). While Jesus stood boldly before the Sanhedrin, Peter quailed before those with little power, cursed Jesus, and swore that he did not know him. Recalling Jesus’ words, Peter wept.
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