MISSION WOODS CHURCH
Worship, Sunday, March 16, 2025
      • Bible Trivia
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      • Bible Trivia
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      • Bible Trivia
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  • Thy Loving Kindness
  • Be Still, My Soul
  • You Are My Hiding Place
  • A Shield About Me
  • Jesus journey to the cross is likely the best known chain of events Christians have in Scripture. The cross is central to Christianity, because of how we recognize the debt of our sins being paid there by Jesus. Most Christians are very adept at assuming the point of view of the observer. What we are less likely to do is to put ourselves in the scene.
    The scene we’re looking at this morning is a bit of a review of last week’s reading from Matthew. Mark gives us a less detailed view of what happened in the garden with Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. We’re going to take a bit of a closer look than we did last week in this particular scene.
    Whenever we want to study a passage, the first thing we need to do is observe. Our observation questions are:

    Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why?

    As you answer each of these questions one bit of caution. There is a difference between observation and interpretation. Observation is going to specifically stated. Interpretation is not specifically stated, but might be based upon the observations we have made. So of the questions here, “How?” And more often “Why?” are most often interpretative questions unless it is spelled out in the passage. Such as, “He did this by…” to demonstrate “how” or “He did this to fulfill the prophesy…” to explain “why”.
    Our passage today begins with “And Immediately”, if you’ve read through the Gospel of Mark, you no doubt noticed this phrase as a transition, but also lending a sense of urgency throughout his Gospel.
    Mark 14:43 ESV
    And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
    Judas - there’s a name we have likely come to despise in Christianity. Yet he was likely closer to Jesus than you might imagine. He’s identified immediately as one of the twelve. We know from earlier in this chapter, v. 10 that this is Judas Iscariot.
    Judas Iscariot was the son of Simon Iscariot, and is not to be confused with the other apostle called Judas. That’s why you will often see “Iscariot” with his name. The meaning of Iscariot is debated: man of Karioth; the assassin from the Greek sikarios; man from Issachar. WE don’t know.
    What we do know is that Judas held a privileged position within the group of 12 as the treasurer for the group. You also see his privilege by his proximity to Jesus at the Last Supper. There Jesus reveals that one of them would betray him, he says, Mark 14:20
    Mark 14:20 ESV
    He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.
    The question then we need to consider is,

    Why did Judas betray Jesus?

    The truth is we don’t know. Was it to force Jesus’ hand to be the Messiah they were expecting? Was it because he was convinced Jesus intended to die? Was it for the money? We don’t know.

    What did Judas betray?

    Some suggest that he betrayed Jesus’ claim to be Messiah. However, his absence at Jesus trial when such witnesses were sought, refutes this hypothesis. What he betrayed was how Jesus could be arrested privately.
    Upon reflecting over what he’d done, Judas experienced remorse and sought to undo his evil deed. He returned the 30 pieces of silver, and unfortunately went and hung himself.
    As we continue through this first of the verses in our passage we see Judas is not alone.
    Mark 14:43 ESV
    And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
    There’s a crowd with him, with swords and clubs and they’re from the chief priests, scribes and elders.

    Who are the chief priests, scribes, and elders?

    The chief priests were a group of individuals in charge of temple worship in Jerusalem and regarded as leading representatives of the Jewish people. Throughout his ministry Jesus was often in conflict with them.
    The scribes were men capable of reading and writing the law. They were of the learned class. They were considered experts in the Law of the Old Testament.
    Finally, the elders - these were men who performed tasks of the local government and justice throughout the biblical period. They were leaders in the Jewish community.
    So when it comes down to it, it’s the religious establishment of the day that is coming to arrest Jesus.
    This answers our questions of who, and what.

    When? and Where?

    We know this is taking place on the Passover as Jesus has just celebrated the passover meal with the twelve. We know that it is night as the meal was celebrated at night.
    We know that there in a place called Gethsemane.

    How?

    They came en masse to arrest him. They were cued by Judas.

    Why?

    Why were they arresting Jesus? Why did Judas betray Jesus? These are questions not directly answered in our passage. We know from the beginning of the chapter (if we’d read the whole chapter) the Chief priests and scribes were seeking a way to arrest Jesus in stealth and kill him. We’re not told why they wanted to do this specifically. Yet we can make interpretations: Interpretations we’re going to begin with the phrase “It could be…” because it’s not specifically stated.

    “It could be…”

    …Jesus was violating the law and raising as the religious teachers understood it.
    …Jesus teaching threatened the religious establishment as he was becoming known as the Messiah.

    How does this apply to us?

    Who are the religious establishment today?…hmmmm
    I’m part of the religious establishment. I’m a pastor. Think of who the religious establishment is in our culture. Pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, youth leaders, children’s church leaders, VBS leaders…the list goes on. Just about anyone and everyone who attends church regularly can likely be considered a part of the religious establishment.
    That’s got to give us a bit of a gut check, it does for me, and I would hope for each one of us.
    Now how could these verses apply to us?
    As I’m looking at this passage the one thing that I begin to think is
    How am I like the religious leaders of that day in my faith?
    Where do I try and limit/kill Jesus in my life? How about in the life of others.
    One area that is painfully obvious for me as a pastor and as a Christian is I hear from so many people who seem to think that God’s love for them through Christ is based upon their performance.
    We limit or devalue the idea of Jesus and God choosing to love us. Yet this whole passion narrative - from the time Jesus enters Jerusalem to the cross to Jesus’ ultimate resurrection is entirely focused on God’s love for you. It is the ultimate fulfillment of John 3:16 & 17.
    The religious leaders of the day constantly tried to limit Jesus - you can’t heal on the sabbath, it’s work; you can’t go near a leper, they’re unclean; you can’t associate with sinners and tax collectors (people Jesus hung out with all the time); and the list goes on.
    The religious leaders of the day had a specific idea of what a religious person looked like. Jesus didn’t fit their idea of either a religious leader nor the Messiah.
    When you and I doubt our belovedness, we are doubting and limiting God and our faith in him. You and I are deeply loved by God, this is the reason why Jesus came.
    There are three ways we can go with that - one is to imagine that somehow we’ve earned this love. That we are so incredibly valuable to God because of value within ourselves. This is thinking we are somehow a gift to God. It’s false, it’s arrogance.
    Second we can imagine that we now are indebted to God and this is a debt that must be collected before we die, so we are in bondage to pay back what we’ve been given. This results in our trying to prove ourselves worthy of God’s love and often the workaholic mentality.
    Lastly is simply to receive it as a gift, with gratitude. This isn’t a gift exchange. The scriptures are filled with passages that remind us it is not based upon anything we have or can do to earn God’s love given to us. Eph 2:8-9
    Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV
    For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
    Rather than defining who Jesus is as the religious leaders of the day tried to do, we need to recognize who we are in Christ. Children of God. Loved. Accepted. Forgiven.
    As we see that more and more in ourselves, it becomes more and more easy to see in others.
  • O Bless The Gifts
  • I'll Fly Away
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MISSION WOODS CHURCH
info@missionwoodschurch.org
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