Rejected

[0:00] And if you would open up your Bibles to Mark chapter 14, I will actually be preaching from 43 all the way to 72, but it's in page 10, 11, and 1011, 1012 of your pew Bibles.

[0:19] Let me ask you, have you ever been rejected? Have you ever been abandoned? Falsely accused.

[0:32] Have you ever been mocked? Denied? Has someone actually denied knowing you? We can come at this at another angle.

[0:47] Have you rejected anybody? Have you abandoned someone? Have you falsely accused someone else?

[1:00] Have you mocked someone? Have you denied someone? In Mark 14, Jesus is rejected.

[1:13] And what we're going to see, it's all according to God's plan to save us. Starting in chapter 8 of Mark, Jesus began telling his disciples that he would be rejected and that he'd be killed and that he'd be raised.

[1:26] And what unfolds in chapters 14, 15, and 16 of Mark is the climax of this gospel. So chapter 14, Jesus is rejected. Chapter 15, Jesus is killed.

[1:39] Chapter 16, Jesus is raised. And it's all good news. It's all good news. It's all good news.

[1:51] Because in his rejection, in his death, and in his resurrection, Jesus is revealed for who he truly is and what he's done for sinners like you and me.

[2:05] Today, it's good news. Today, what we're going to see is that Jesus is betrayed and he's betrayed out of greed.

[2:18] We're going to see that Jesus is abandoned and he's abandoned because people fear what other people think more than they treasure Jesus. And we're going to see Jesus condemned out of unbelief.

[2:33] People don't believe who he is. People are unwilling to submit to him. Greed, fear of man, unbelief, it's all in Mark 14.

[2:46] But do you know where it also is? It's all in our sanctuary. We deal with greed. We deal with fear of man.

[2:58] We have moments of unbelief. So these sinful heart postures, well, you know what happens. They're the cause for falling away from Jesus.

[3:12] People fall away from Jesus out of greed. People are ashamed of Jesus out of fear of man. And people will not follow Jesus because they don't believe who he is.

[3:23] If I were to ask you this morning, of all those three, greed, fear of man, unbelief, if you had to pick one as the chief suspect for your falling away of Jesus, which one would it be?

[3:41] The good news of Mark 14 is that in the midst of all this human failure, all this rejection, abandonment, betrayal, false accusation, condemnation, and denial, there is this unbelievable divine revelation.

[4:01] It's in the midst of his rejection that he's truly revealed. It's a climactic confession of the Christ.

[4:15] And it will keep you from falling away. Mark 14 begins with the chief priest two days prior to Passover plotting the death of Jesus.

[4:27] And then Jesus is, in his own words, anointed for burial. Following that, Judas approaches the chief priests in order to betray Jesus for money.

[4:37] And then the disciples are in the upper room during the Passover. And Jesus tells them that one of them will betray them as the scriptures are written.

[4:50] Following that, they're out on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus goes on to say, they're all going to be scattered according to Zechariah 13. More it is written.

[5:03] Then there's Gethsemane, those hours where Jesus in his turmoil is praying, and Peter, James, and John are sleeping. And that brings us to 43.

[5:14] And what we're going to see unfold are several scenes. Betrayal. Abandonment. False accusation. Condemnation and mocking.

[5:25] Even denial. And in the middle of it all is a revelation. Despite all this human failure, Jesus remains faithful.

[5:40] And it's lovely. So let me pick up in verse 43. And we're just going to walk through each of these scenes. And then we're eventually going to bring it to bear in our lives.

[5:51] Starting in verse 43. 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. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, the one I will kiss is the man.

[6:05] Seize him and lead him away under guard. And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, Rabbi! And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him.

[6:15] But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. We know that's Peter from the other Gospels. And Jesus said to them, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me?

[6:29] Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled. What we see in verses 43-49 is an intentional betrayal.

[6:42] Judas didn't betray Jesus by accident. It wasn't a crime of passion in the moment. This was premeditated betrayal.

[6:55] Started days earlier. And what Mark points out is that greed played a significant role in Judas' betrayal of Jesus.

[7:06] Have you ever been thrown under the bus? Have you ever been thrown under the bus by someone who wants to gain from it? It's a taste. Do you know what's amazing about what we're reading here of Judas' betrayal of Jesus?

[7:28] It's all according to plan. In 1421, at the Passover, Jesus is telling His disciples that one of them will betray Him.

[7:41] And in verse 21, He says, For the Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if He had not been born.

[7:56] According to plan. If you look at verse 49, after Jesus has been delivered by the betrayer, Jesus says, but let the Scriptures be fulfilled according to plan.

[8:11] I think there's a good chance that part of those Scriptures being fulfilled is Psalm 55, 12 through 15. the betrayal of a close friend.

[8:24] What's amazing about this is God is sovereignly orchestrating these events. And yet, Judas is fully responsible for his actions.

[8:37] For the Son of Man goes as it is written, but woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. What I want you to see here is that Judas valued money more than he treasured Jesus.

[8:56] It was an intentional betrayal. And it was according to plan. We move from 43 to 49, and now, in verses 50 through 52, we read of a shameful abandoning of Jesus.

[9:13] In verse 50, we read, and they all left him and fled. And a young man, verse 51, followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his body, and they seized him.

[9:27] But he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. In verse 50, and they all left him. Do you know who they're talking about? Mark's talking about the disciples who just hours before were, they were in the Mount of Olives, and they all said, we will never deny you, Jesus, even if we must die.

[9:48] Look at verse 31. And here, just hours later, they all leave him. They fled. They abandoned him.

[10:00] And in verses 51 through 52, the writer of this gospel, Mark, makes a cameo. Scholars think that this is actually Mark, and who was intentionally following Jesus, but is then seized, and then they grab his linen garment, and then he runs away naked.

[10:24] When the Bible talks about nakedness, it's often talking about nakedness in terms of humiliation, exposure, and shame.

[10:34] We're not talking about a guy who for his 30 seconds of fame is running naked on a football field. Not that. Not trying to get glory.

[10:47] This is shame. Why would the disciples abandon Jesus? They've been walking with him for three years.

[10:58] Why would they abandon him? They were afraid. Here's this crowd with swords and clubs. They fear their association with Jesus, and so they bail on Jesus.

[11:14] They're unwilling to suffer for Jesus. They shrink away in their shame. I don't know what I would have done.

[11:25] What would you have done? Ashamed of Jesus, afraid of the crowds.

[11:36] They shrink away in cowardice. And what we see happening here, this rejection of Jesus, at the heart of it, is a fear of man. Looking out for yourself.

[11:50] And you know what? It was all according to plan. If you look up at verse 27, and Jesus said to his disciples of the Mount of Olives, you will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.

[12:06] Zechariah 13, 7. Just let you guys know, you're all going to bail on me. And then it happens. In verse 49, we see that scripture, but let the scriptures be fulfilled.

[12:19] It's Judas delivering up Jesus, but it's also what follows. And they all left him and fled. It all fulfills.

[12:30] This is according to plan. Betrayed, abandoned, and then falsely accused. In 53 and 54, they've laid hands on Jesus, and he's brought to the house of the high priest for a trial.

[12:51] It's sketchy. But in verse 54, Peter also followed at a distance. And he just wants to blend in. So he sits next to some guards and warms himself by the fire.

[13:05] The next time we're going to see Peter is in verse 66. After Jesus is condemned. But in verses 55 through 61, Jesus is falsely accused.

[13:19] Look at verse 55. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. Does anybody else see the miscarriage of justice going on there?

[13:32] Do you see what they're doing? That the most powerful men in Israel have already decided that Jesus should be killed. And so what they're doing now is they're taking auditions for potential witnesses to give testimony that in fact he's worthy to be killed.

[13:51] It's backwards. This is a miscarriage of justice. In verses 55 through 59, there's this comedy of errors.

[14:03] There's this, these testimonies of these witnesses that they're saying, hey, we did this, he did this, and did this, and whatever. But none of them can agree.

[14:16] And so even in verse 58, look it, some stood up and bore false witness against them saying, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands.

[14:29] Jesus, what they're referring to is Jesus talking about his death and resurrection. But they don't see it. And even this, verse 59, their testimony did not agree.

[14:46] Do you know what that means? Jesus is innocent. Jesus is innocent. He's being railroaded. In verse 60, the high priest takes matters into his own hands.

[15:01] He's like, great. All right, let me try another tact. In verse 60, the chief priest, the high priest, says to Jesus, have you no answer to make?

[15:13] What is it that these men testify against you? What are they talking about? this temple being destroyed and being built back without human hands?

[15:27] What's striking is what happens next in verse 61. The high priest asked Jesus a question and in verse 61, but he remained silent and made no answer.

[15:38] That, brothers and sisters, is an illusion back to Isaiah 53, verse 7. Let me turn there with you. Turn there with me.

[15:50] It's on page 729 of your pew Bible. If you're familiar with Isaiah 53, it is a prophecy of the suffering servant. This one who would come and die for his people.

[16:04] Verse 7, He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

[16:23] But he remained silent and made no answer. It's all according to plan. Jesus had to be falsely accused.

[16:37] He had to be abandoned. He had to be betrayed. This is all according to plan. And now we get to the climax of this passage.

[16:52] It's in verses 61 and 62. The high priest, seeing that Jesus will not answer him, he goes like point blank, direct question.

[17:05] Are you the Christ? The son of the blessed? Now that might sound a little strange in your ear, son of the blessed. And what it is is a Jewish euphemism.

[17:18] What that means is instead of the high priest actually saying the name of God, he's using a different word in order to honor God. What he's actually saying is, are you the Christ, the son of God?

[17:35] If you would flip back in the gospel of Mark to chapter 1, verse 1. Do you remember where this gospel started? This is Mark and this is like the purpose statement of the book.

[17:52] He wants the reader to believe this. in the beginning of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, the Christ, the son of God.

[18:05] And here we have the high priest questioning that to Jesus. Are you the Christ? Are you the son of God? Now mind you, Jesus has been very careful all throughout the gospel here, all of what Mark has recorded, as to be very careful of what gets shared about him.

[18:24] Remember, like demons would say, I know who you are and Jesus is like, you be quiet. Do you remember in Jairus' house, Peter, James, and John are with Jairus and his wife.

[18:36] Jesus raises Jairus' daughter and he tells them, don't tell anybody this. Coming down from the mountain which he was transfigured, he tells Peter, James, and John, don't tell anybody this until after I'm raised from the dead.

[18:50] Jesus has been tapping down what gets said about him and it raises why? For this moment, this moment, he's been waiting to go public.

[19:05] He knew this was going to happen and at this very moment when the high priest who's representative of all of Israel said, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?

[19:17] What does Jesus say? He said, I am. And you will see the son of man at the right hand of power, another euphemism for God, and coming with the clouds of heaven.

[19:37] Coming with the clouds of heaven is a reference to Daniel chapter 7, the son of man who would be given dominion and be given a kingdom that is eternal and indestructible and he's given it by the ancient of days and he's going to establish this kingdom from people from all the nations.

[19:59] So Jesus goes public with who he is in the midst of all this rejection. This passage is actually about who Jesus is.

[20:13] Jesus is what's more spectacular than claiming to be the son of man. If there's anything, can there be anything more spectacular than that?

[20:27] Are those two words I am? The high priest, point blank, are you the Christ? Are you the son of the blessed? Initially, you take this I am as kind of like yes.

[20:41] Well, yes, I am the Christ. Yes, I am the son of God. Yes, I am the son of man. But, but those two words are more than agreement.

[20:56] Those two words are claim. Claiming of who he is, of his identity. He's claiming to be the great I am as in Exodus chapter 3, as in the burning bush, as in God speaking to Moses, sending him to Pharaoh and say, tell that guy, let my people go.

[21:19] And then Moses was like, well, I'll go, but who do I tell them sent me? And then God responds, I am who I am. Tell them, I am sent you.

[21:32] The deliverer. Exodus. What Jesus is doing here is saying, I'm the great I am. I'm the deliverer.

[21:43] I'm bringing about a new Exodus and a new people. This is a clear and climactic claim of the Christ.

[21:56] He goes public. And we've been waiting for this to happen. This is the moment in the midst of his rejection. He says, I am the Christ.

[22:09] I'm the son of God. I am the son of man. I am the I am. And so Christ the King Church, behold your king rejected and revealed.

[22:23] It's all according to plan. He's been waiting for this moment. And what happens next is his condemnation and mockery.

[22:39] Verses 63 through 65. 63, the high priest responds by saying, we don't need any more witnesses. We've heard his blasphemy.

[22:52] What's your decision? That blasphemy charge should ring a bell to Mark chapter 2 where Jesus, instead of healing the paralytic, tells him, your sins are forgiven.

[23:04] And then the scribes in the room say to themselves, what? That's blasphemous. Only God can forgive sins. Which is the point. He is the great I am.

[23:18] And the high priest completely understood his claim. He tore his garments, which is a gesture of terrible grief and the Sanhedrin, the most powerful men in Israel, the elders and the scribes and the chief priests, they reject him and contend him to death.

[23:47] They reject the Christ. They reject the Son of God. They reject the Son of Man. They reject the great I am who is there to deliver his people.

[24:02] They rejected him. And it's all out of unbelief. They don't see him for who he is. They choose not to believe him.

[24:15] And so, if they don't believe him, they're not going to give him full reign of their lives. this Jesus, well, he's not going to be killed, executed by the Jews.

[24:32] They don't have authority to do that. But Pilate does. And we'll see that next week in chapter 15. What I want you to look at is verse 65.

[24:45] And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him saying to him, prophesy. It was a game. Here's what was happening.

[24:59] They would take some kind of fabric and put it over Jesus' head and punch him in the face and say, which one of us did that? Prophesy. Prophesy, son of man.

[25:10] Prophesy, son of God. Prophesy, Christ. Tell us, who's going to punch you next in the face? Do you see the mockery? This too is according to plan.

[25:27] Jesus said so. In chapter 10, verse 33 and 34, they're on their way, he and his disciples, into Jerusalem. And Jesus says, see, we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes.

[25:43] That's happened. And they will condemn him to death. It happened. And deliver him over to the Gentiles. It's about to happen.

[25:54] And they will mock him, prophesy, and spit on him. We just saw it. And flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise.

[26:05] Do you see? See, this is all according to plan. Remarkably, all according to plan.

[26:17] And then in verses 66 through 72, we move from this condemnation and mockery to Peter's denial.

[26:28] And not just once, three times. The last time we saw Peter was in 54. He was warming himself by the fire, just blending in with some of the guards.

[26:40] And then what follows is three denials. Denial one is 67 and 68. This slave girl, she's like, says to Peter, hey, hey, hey, I know you.

[26:53] You're with that Nazarene Jesus. Yes. To which he plays like the dumb card. I neither know nor understand what you mean.

[27:05] And then he leaves the scene. He's like, I have no knowledge of him. I don't know what you're talking about.

[27:18] There's a contrast being developed here. Jesus is faithful before the most powerful men in Israel. Peter folds like a cheap suit before a lowly servant girl.

[27:30] The second denial happens in 69 and 70. That same servant girl starts talking to some bystanders. There, this man is one of them.

[27:40] So now word is getting out. It's incrementally getting a little bit more tense. Peter, in his Galilean accent, denies it.

[27:53] And then in verse 70 and 71, now the bystanders bystanders who were there, they say to him, certainly you are one of them for you are a Galilean.

[28:03] We hear your accent. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. You've got to understand the forcefulness of that third denial.

[28:18] He invokes a curse. He swears. He's like saying this, I swear by all things holy, I do not know this man of whom you speak.

[28:31] That's the force. He's being contrasted to Jesus. His denial contrasted to Jesus' true confession.

[28:44] And he's being likened to the false witnesses who are trying to make a testimony stick, but he was innocent, Peter's more like the false witnesses.

[28:58] And what you need to understand is this denial is paramount to lying. It's a lie. He knows Jesus.

[29:10] Imagine all that Peter has seen and heard over the last three years. He was in the boat when Jesus stilled the waters.

[29:23] He saw that man possessed by a legion of demons made calm. He saw the woman. He was there when she was healed of her 12 years of bleeding.

[29:33] And he was in the room when Jairus' daughter was, what do you mean you don't know him? He saw the 5,000 fed and the 4,000 fed. What do you mean? And he said, what do you mean? Judas didn't go this far.

[29:54] He denied him. In his shame, in his fear, he denied him. And it was all according to plan.

[30:06] Verse 72. Cockadoodledoo! A rooster announces fulfillment. If you look back at verse 30, Jesus says to Peter, truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

[30:28] Verse 72. And Peter remembered. Cockadoodledoo! Peter remembers! Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

[30:39] It's verbatim. And he breaks down and weeps. He's cut to the quick. Betrayed. Abandoned. Falsely accused.

[30:52] Condemned and mocked. And denied. What is this passage all about? This passage is actually about who Jesus is.

[31:05] this passage is about rejection, yes, but above and beyond that, it's about revelation. There's a striking contrast between the false accusers and Jesus' truthfulness.

[31:22] There's a contrast between the high priest representing the people and rejecting Jesus, but Jesus staying true, being rejected for his people. and there's the contrast between Peter who folds like a cheap suit before a lowly slave girl to save his skin and Jesus who boldly reveals himself before the most powerful men in the land to save us.

[31:53] There's this striking contrast and it's all according to plan. His betrayal was according to plan. Psalm 55. His abandonment was according to plan.

[32:05] Zechariah 13. His falsely being accused was according to plan. Isaiah 53. His condemnation and mockery was according to plan. Jesus himself, Matthew 10.

[32:18] And his denial by Peter all according to plan. The climax of this passage, what is to get your attention, is that pile up of titles in 61 and 62.

[32:34] He's the Christ. He's the Son of the Blessed. He is the Son of Man. And he is the great I Am. Behold your King, Christ the King Church.

[32:49] In rejection, he's revealed as God. God. In fact, if you were to ask, well, why is this according to God's plan?

[33:04] Why this way? Well, this ends up being good news for us because it's because of his rejection it resulted in our salvation.

[33:17] He had to go through this so that he could and would save us. So what?

[33:28] What do we do with this? Well, I have three things written down here. I'm going to hit two. So what? First thing is this.

[33:39] There's a warning. There's a warning against greed, against the fear of man, against unbelief that's unwilling to yield control of your life to Jesus. It's a warning about rejecting Jesus.

[33:52] It's a warning of going wayward from Jesus. Either from greed or from fear of man or from unbelief. So this morning, you know what I was doing? I was praying. I was, Lord, Lord, Lord, is there one of these three, is there something in me right now that is displeasing in you that would result in my waywardness from Jesus?

[34:17] And as I was praying, do you know what happened? I'm like, man, I need to text my mom because she asked me what did I want for my birthday and I mean, there's those cool pants and then there are these like, this like tailgate pad for my bike and you know, you know, maybe some cool handlebars and some great, I literally hit four things.

[34:40] I asked God, God, which one of these would get in the way? And then, I went materialistic. God showed me. He exposed my heart right there.

[34:55] He shows me for the greedy man I am. It was a joy to confess it. I was so grateful. It is, I can actually see a number of these things leading to my falling away.

[35:10] But thanks be to God. His grace is greater. fear. So there's a warning here, brothers and sisters. So if, if you were to ask these three, greed, fear of man, unbelief of Jesus, who he is, if you were to say, what would be the chief suspect of these three that would lead me away?

[35:34] Which one would it be? How's it showing up now? Second, there's a warning, but there is a way forward. How does a Christian not fall away from greed?

[35:49] How does a Christian not shrink back in the fear of man? How does a Christian or someone who's considering becoming a Christian not, not give Jesus full sway of their life because they don't believe who he is?

[36:03] How do you, how do you keep that from happening? You fight waywardness from Jesus with the worship of Jesus.

[36:17] That's how you fight. You fight waywardness from Jesus, what would lead you astray from worshiping Jesus for who he is. And, and the material for that is right here in this passage.

[36:31] In verses 61 through 62, there's this pile up of, of, of these titles. The Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the I Am.

[36:41] And you know how you fight? You speak these to Jesus in a prayer of adoration. Go something like this. Jesus, you are the Christ.

[36:54] Jesus, you, you are the Psalm 2 Son of God. Jesus, you are the Daniel 7 Son of Man.

[37:08] And Jesus, you are the Exodus 3 I Am. You are these things. You, you speak that to him.

[37:19] And when you do that, you give your heart, you, you give the captain's chair of your heart to the great I Am.

[37:35] And out of that, of, of who Jesus is, you deny yourself. You take up your cross and you follow him out of joy.

[37:47] You, and so, what I'm suggesting is, the way forward is Jesus. Make Jesus climactic confession to the Sanhedrin, your daily confession of worship to him.

[38:09] And when you do, you'll find yourself treasuring Jesus more than greed, more than cool pants, more than the fear of man.

[38:27] And it shrinks unbelief. I was going to tell you there's a third application.

[38:41] Wonder. Anybody else shocked by how God can remain sovereign over all things and yet hold every person responsible for their actions.

[38:54] It is a wonder. A wonder. And he did all these things. He orchestrated all this to save you and me.

[39:06] It's beautiful. people. This morning we've seen Jesus in the midst of all this rejection make an unbelievably believable revelation.

[39:23] revelation. That he is the Christ. The son of God. The son of man. The great I am.

[39:35] And we see him for who he is. The suffering Messiah. Behold your king. Rejected and revealed. And next week you will behold your king killed and confessed as the son of God.

[39:56] It's all good news. Let's pray. God in heaven we so need to be reminded of ourselves and our our postures of heart that can lead us astray but it's seeing you Lord Jesus hearing you say who you are that puts in our hearts a joy and a treasuring of you that that crowds out greed and crowds out the fear of man and crowds out unbelief.

[40:34] Lord Jesus thank you for being rejected for us and thank you for revealing yourself to us and giving us eyes to see and hearts to believe in Jesus name Amen.