Trinity Baptist Church

The Book of Mark

Players in the Drama of the Cross, Pt 3

Mark 14:10-16

 

When we last met in our study of Mark, we were looking at the major players in the crucifixion from chapter 14.  We first saw His enemies, and then moved to His friends, with the focus being on Mary as she anointed Him with oil. 

 

 The next person we need to look at is

 

 

verses 10-11

 

As you know, Judas is one of the Twelve. He is specifically identified as Judas Iscariot.  The Bible takes great precautions to assure that he is not confused with others named Judas. 

 

Now I find it interesting that Judas is a form of Judah and the root of that is either Jehovah Leads, or one who is to be praised. He had a very noble name. Iscariot means he’s from the village of Kerioth, twenty-three miles south of Jerusalem. He is the only non-Galilean among the Apostles.

 

As the ministry of Jesus unfolds, we begin to see indicators of His true heart.  He is a very materialistic man and unfortunately, he is the treasurer of the group.  And as he begins to see what Jesus is doing, it is absolutely opposite of what he hopes to see happen.

And as we draw close to the crucifixion, Judas must have seent he last three years as a waste.  After all, he wanted a Kingdom, not a cross.

 

So, as these verses tell us, he went to the Chief Priests in order to betray Jesus to them. I think it very likely that he went to them early int eh week and set it all up.  So he knew all along what was going to happen. He knew the plan was in motion because the details had already been established.

 

There is an indication of that in the comments of Jesus at the Supper when He said, “I do not speak of all of you, I know the ones I have chosen. But it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled. He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.”

 

That is actually a quote from Psalm 41:9, which is a a prophecy concerning Judas. So based on Scriptural prophecy, Jesus predicts His own betrayal. The one who eats bread with Him lifts up his heel against Him.

 

Luke 22:6 tells us that Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray the Lord and he wanted to do it away from the crowds.  He, like the Jewish leaders, was afraid of how the crowds might react to an attack against Jesus. 

 

So while Jesus is going through the week preparing His disciples and Himself for His crucifixion, Judas is looking for the best way to hand Him over to the Sanhedrin for the money he’s been promised.  Matthew 26:15 says, “He agreed to do it for 30 pieces of silver.  By the way, according to Exodus 21:32, that was the price of a slave.

There is an interesting prophecy given through Zechariah where he acts out a drama that depicts this transaction and even refers to the 30 pieces of silver.

 

So behind everything is the plan of God. And Judas, seeing that things aren’t going to develop the way he wanted them to, decides to cut and run and get as much money out of the deal as he could.

 

He knew when Jesus was arrested, the disciples would be in disarray and chaos and he would have the money and he would disappear while the rest scattered in fear.

 

So, for one whole week, he looked for his moment. And as verse 11 tells us, much to the pleasure of the Sanhedrin, they were glad when they heard this and promised to give him money. They began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.

 

By the way, Judas didn’t operate alone. Luke 22:3 says, “Then Satan entered Judas.” Not just demon possessed, Satan possessed. “Satan was moving on him.” John 13 verse 27 says, “Satan went inside.” Satan operated through Judas, the unregenerate, unbelieving, greedy man. Satan fully possesses Judas.

 

So what is Satan trying to accomplish? What was he trying to get done here? What’s he after? Some people have said, “Well, you know, Satan wants to kill Jesus.” I don’t think so.  In fact, I think that’s just the opposite of what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to kill Jesus.

 

I think it highly probable that Satan knew what the cross meant and what the outcome would be, so I don’t think he was seeking the crucifixion.  I think we find evidence of that in Matthew 16 when Jesus said, “I’m going to die.”

 

And Peter says, “No, no, Lord, You’re not going to die.” And Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan.” Apparently the words of Peter reflect the mind of Satan and that is he doesn’t want Him to die.  He wants to keep Christ from the cross and thus, halt the plan of God.

 

Satan lived in heaven.  He Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  He understood all the Old Testament prophecies.  He knew all the Levitical sacrifices pointed to the death of the one sacrifice, the Son of God.  He knew he came to save His people from their sins.

 

He knew the cross was the culmination of all history.  This was the satisfying atonement that God had planned.  And he knew if Jesus died on that cross,  there was no doubt he would rise from the grave and that meant the kingdom and dominion and rule of Satan would forever be destroyed. Therefore, he didn’t want Jesus dead.  It was God who wanted Jesus dead. It was Satan who wanted to stop it.

 

So that raises an interesting question.  If Satan didn’t want Jesus dead, then why did he invade the life of Judas and get involved in the betrayal?  The answer is pretty simple. He is operating under an assumption and we’ve seen it alluded to all along. 

 

 

Everyone is afraid to do anything to Jesus because they fear the people.  According to verse 2 of this chapter, the leaders didn’t want to start anything during Passover lest there be an uproar from the people.

 

As I said, Judas wanted to betray the Lord away from the crowd.  And it seems the thought process of Satan is, “If he can get Judas to betray Jesus and he can get the Sanhedrin to move fast and arrest Jesus, the crowd will rise up and stop the crucifixion.”

That’s what Satan wanted. He had no desire to see Jesus on the cross.

 

It seems to me that Satan was moving Judas to betray Jesus to start a riot. And the people would prevent the murder of Jesus. He’s against the cross. He wants to create the scenario which will halt the direction of Christ to the cross. So he moves into Judas.

 

And I think perhaps the saddest thing about Judas is what we read there in verse 10 when it says he was “one of the Twelve”. Isn’t that sad? Twenty-four/seven, he was with Jesus for three years and he turned out like this.

 

When you compare his story with the others it is the tragedy of tragedies.  With his help, the most heinous crime ever committed by man took place.  And here he is with the greatest privilege and opportunity that anyone could have ever had as he walked and talked with God in the flesh. 
 

The sin of Judas has no equal. The closest parallel to the sin of Judas is the sin of Adam because Adam walked and talked with God also.

But the sin of Judas is even more terrible because he not only disobeyed God, but betrayed the very life of the Son of God.  And it was all energized by Satan himself.  And once Satan moved in, Judas moved on the plan.

 

But once again I want to remind us that even though there are all these dynamics at work, it is God who is calling the shots.  Even the betrayal was a fulfillment of Scripture. In fact, Jesus even says in the gospel of John, “I’ve not lost any of you except that son of perdition, that betrayer that Scripture might be fulfilled.”

 

And at the hand and initiation of God,  the betrayal happens at a time when Judas didn’t want it to happen, at a time when the rulers didn’t want it to happen and it accomplished a purpose that Satan didn’t want to happen.

 

So we have the enemies of Jesus, a worshipper of Jesus, a betrayer of Jesus, and finally,

 

 

verse 12

 

Obviously, the Lord has a plan. The Passover has to be observed and the Lord knows that. Jerusalem is crowded. They need a private room where the twelve, plus Jesus, can gather.

 

That must have thrilled Judas as he thought about the potential of having Jesus arrested somewhere separated from the crowd.  Here it is nighttime and they’re going to gather in a private room.  The plan is coming together!

No one should be out in the streets at night.  They are meeting at a specific place.  It will be easy to tell the leaders where they’ll be, easy to let them ina dn easy for Judas to collect his cash. 

 

But the thing Judas didn’t calculate into his plans is that Jesus knows what he’s up to.  He even knows what he’s thinking.  So watch how Jesus takes control of the situation. 

 

verse 13

 

Now that’s pretty sneaky. First of all, carrying a pitcher of water was women’s work. So to find a man carrying a pitcher of water would be rather unusual and that’s what they needed.  They needed a sign that couldn’t be missed and a signal that was unusual.  Jesus isn’t taking any chances. 

 

The Passover must be observed with His disciples, if for no other reason, just for sheer obedience’s sake.  It is still binding on Him as a Jew and He absolutely fulfilled the requirements of God.  But there are also some important things that will take place at that time, not the least of which is transforming the Passover observance to the Lord’s Table.

 

In addition to that, He has a lot of intimate teaching that He needs to do with them and all of it is recorded in John 13 to 17. And just as He had to die at exactly the right time as the Passover lambs are being slaughtered, He also had to celebrate the Passover with His disciples so that He can give them final instructions and institute His table.

 

And for all this to happen, He cannot, must not be arrested that night. He can’t be arrested until afterwards.

 

So this is how He did it. He sent two of his followers to find this man carrying a pitcher of water and they follow him.

 

Verse 14

 

Now apparently this man was familiar with Jesus.  Perhaps he had heard him teach or they had interacted in some other way, but they don’t even

Mention the name of Jesus in case somebody is listening. They don’t want anybody to know where this is going to be.

 

They just follow this man with a pitcher of water and enter where he does.  This tells us that Jesus had prearranged this, either actually, or supernaturally.

 

Versed 15-16

 

So why all the secrecy? Why not just say, “Hey guys, we’re all going to meet over on 6^th Street at such and such time and observe the Passover with Jesus”?

 

It is because if Judas finds out the location ahead of time, he can tip off the Jews and Jesus cannot let that happen…

 

And apparently the two that went ahead, most likely Peter and John, didn’t return back to the other disciples after preparing the room.  They stayed there until Jesus and the others joined them. 

 

 

So nobody knew where they were going until they got there and by the time they got there, Judas couldn’t leave and spill the beans about what was happening. The Lord covers every single detail because of the urgency and importance of this time with His disciples.

 

Everything is now in place.  Jesus will soon gather at the table with His disciples and before another day passes, He will be on the cross as God arranges all the details in perfect fulfillment of Scripture.  

 

Let’s pray.