And turn to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. Page 851. Lord, we pray for God's help. Lord, be with us tonight and speak to us.
! Help us to see Jesus more clearly. We pray this in his name. Amen.
What happens on the inside of something can be seen in what happens on the outside of something.
So if you have a poorly tummy on the inside, it starts to show on the outside, doesn't it?
Your face can become pale. Your eyes droop. You just don't look right.
So if you saw someone like that, you would think, oh, something's not right inside of them.
Something's going on there. Their tummy probably isn't right.
What happens on the outside shows us something happens on the inside.
And tonight, we're seeing some big and important moments in Jesus' life.
And on the outside of it, as we sit in the Garden of Gethsemane and watch all of this unfold,
on the outside of it, yes, it seems wrong what we're about to see.
Something distressing.
Unfair.
Something isn't right on the outside.
and that is because something isn't right on the inside.
There is a deeper spiritual reality of events going on here.
There is something spiritually going on here.
God is doing something here in the garden,
something to do with his plan of redemption.
In this garden, God is saving us.
So on the outside, we will see Jesus being betrayed and hurt,
treated as a criminal, abandoned.
And all of this is happening because these outside events
are the symptoms of an inner spiritual saving reality
bubbling up and being seen on the outside.
So these events aren't just random or just coincidence
of how Jesus got to the cross.
No, in God's providence, these events unfold
to show us how exactly Jesus saves us.
They're outside symptoms of a deeper reality.
And so let's see the first outside symptom.
And it's this.
Jesus was betrayed.
Still, in the quiet of Gethsemane,
Jesus has just been praying in agony to his father.
And then he's been speaking to his disciples.
But the quiet of the garden, it's disappearing.
Footsteps and voices approach.
And a familiar face begins to appear to Jesus.
Verse 43.
And immediately, while he was still speaking,
Judas came, one of the twelve.
And with him a crowd of swords and clubs
from the chief priests and scribes and the elders.
A crowd appears in this garden,
but they're holding swords and clubs.
You look closely.
This isn't just a normal crowd.
This is a mob.
It's a mob with, you can imagine,
pitchforks and torches.
This is a mob out for blood.
And who's leading the crowd?
It's Jesus' close friend, Judas.
Did you see what Mark calls him?
He calls him one of the twelve.
It's like saying, yeah, it's Judas.
And don't forget, he's one of the twelve disciples,
remember that?
One of Jesus' closest friends.
In school, I had a close group of friends.
It was the three of us.
It was me, Finn, and Will.
You could say, we were the three.
It was us three.
I was one of the three.
And we were best friends.
And we still are.
Well, this is how Judas is named.
Judas, one of the twelve.
One of the best friends.
Twelve friends who have been there
by Jesus' side from thick and thin.
And these words really sting
because Judas wasn't by his side that night.
Instead, he was rallying a mob
and he was plotting something against his friend.
Look at verse 44.
Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying,
The one I will kiss is the man.
Seize him and lead him away under God.
This mob from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders
have been after Jesus.
They don't like Jesus.
They don't like his teaching, his miracles.
He's come on the scene saying that he's the Messiah
and they hate it.
And so Judas joins with them and helps them.
And he plots with them.
He goes to them and says,
Hey, guys, I know where Jesus is going to be.
I know you want him.
I know where he's going to be.
He goes to this garden.
I can take you there.
And there will be a few other guys with him.
And you can imagine the mob,
the scribes and the priests,
like rubbing their hands.
Perfect.
But just a question, Judas.
How do we know which one is Jesus?
We really just want Jesus.
We need the right guy.
And Judas says,
Don't worry.
I'll show you.
The one I will kiss is the man.
Seize him and lead him away under God.
And that's exactly what happened.
Verse 45.
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.
Can you imagine the heartbreak
Jesus must have felt?
That's his friend.
When you see one of your close friends,
I'm sure you all have a close friend you can think of,
what feeling do you get inside of you
when you see them?
Getting off the bus,
getting off the train,
and knocking on the door.
When you see them,
there's a warmth inside of you,
isn't there?
There's kind of a trust.
You kind of feel like,
I'm in good company with you.
I'm safe with you.
Things are okay when I'm with you.
But when Jesus sees Judas coming,
he should have had that feeling.
But it just gets twisted
and shattered.
That feeling of warmth
gets turned into a stabbing pain in his back.
I thought you were my friend, Judas.
If any of you have been betrayed,
you might know how that feels.
You might think,
it hurts for me to even look at you.
Well, this hurts.
It really hurts.
And yes,
Jesus knew this was going to happen.
He said in verse 18 of this chapter,
one of you will betray you.
He knows it's Judas.
But it's one thing to know your loved one
will betray you,
and it's another to actually experience it
as they stare at you,
doing it right in front of you,
and kissing you on the cheek.
Judas has turned a loving greeting
to an act of treachery.
And as you look at this scene unfold,
you just want to cry out,
what are you doing, Judas?
Look how Jesus has loved you.
Look how wonderful Jesus is.
How could you do that, Judas?
What are you doing?
This is so ugly, isn't it?
And this scene,
it's a real warning for us.
If we walk away from Christ,
this is what we're doing.
We're stabbing Christ in the back
and siding with the enemy.
And it's really ugly.
And so,
if you're thinking about doing the same,
if you're here thinking about
walking away from the faith,
this is your warning.
Don't do it.
It's not a better option.
Look at the friend you have in Jesus.
Look how good he's been to you.
Don't do it.
Did you see what Mark
calls Judas in verse 44?
He stops calling him Judas
and he's called the betrayer.
The betrayer.
Judas
is defined by his sin here.
When you walk away forever,
you are defined by your sin forever.
Judas,
we know,
had never repented,
never sought forgiveness.
We know that
he just killed himself.
And so,
he is forever
written on these pages
in front of us
and labeled in God's eyes
the betrayer.
Judas is forever
the betrayer.
On the last day,
Judas' sins
will not be covered
by Judas.
God will look on him
and see
the betrayer.
And Judas
will be judged
accordingly.
And that's because
he never repented.
And that will be
the case for anyone
who doesn't repent.
They will be forever
defined by their sin.
But,
we need to know
that Judas,
he could have repented.
If Judas
came to Christ
after this
and sought forgiveness,
do you know
what would happen?
Christ would have
forgiven him.
Even with this sin.
This is quite possibly
one of the worst sins
ever recorded.
Betraying the
Son of God.
And Jesus
would have
forgiven him.
And that goes
for you too.
You can come
to Christ
and he will
forgive even
the most heinous,
despicable sins.
It doesn't matter
what you've done.
Christ can
forgive it.
And when you
come to Christ,
he completely
redefines who you are.
He takes
your sin
so you're
no longer
the betrayer
or the adulterer
or the murderer
or the liar,
he takes
that label
away from you,
throws it away
and then he
calls you friend.
But Judas
didn't do that.
He betrayed
Jesus,
stout him in the back
and then
never returned.
Jesus was
left there
forsaken
and crushed
by his friend.
the pain
and agony
that Jesus
felt on the cross.
It wasn't just
exclusive to the cross.
His suffering
didn't just happen
when he was nailed
to the cross.
He reached his
climax
on the cross
but he suffered
before that too
and it's happening
right here with Judas.
This moment
of betrayal,
it's an outside
symptom
and a picture
of what's going on
in the deeper
spiritual reality.
on the cross
Jesus felt
the pain
of being forsaken.
All warmth
and comfort
in him
was turned
to pain
and agony
and it was
so severe
on the cross
that it's appearing
in the events
of his life now.
It's like a stomach
bug
that's so bad
that you can see
it in your face
and in your skin.
This pain
he's feeling
now,
it's an outside
picture
of the inner
spiritual reality
that he will feel
on the cross.
Jesus being
stabbed
in the back
here
is a foretaste
of him being
stabbed
in his hands
and his feet.
Him being
forsaken
by his friend
here
is a picture
of him being
forsaken
on the cross.
But it doesn't
stop there
because he wasn't
just betrayed
but he was also
treated as a criminal.
That's my second point.
Jesus was treated
as a criminal.
Jesus was treated
as a criminal.
After this
Jesus faces up
to this mob
and he speaks up
which is pretty
striking.
He actually faces
up to them.
Imagine a bunch
of football
hooligans
and what's the
scary club?
Millwall.
Imagine a bunch
of Millwall
football
hooligans
coming up to you
with knuckle
dusters
and bats
and they're
stalking
straight at you
and imagine
you just said
hey,
what do you think
you're doing?
What do you think
you're trying to do
with me here?
Can you imagine
that scene?
Well that's what's
going on with Jesus
here.
Look at verse 48.
And Jesus said
to them
have you come out
as against
a robber
with swords
and clubs
to capture me?
Jesus looks
at this crowd
and says
why have you
come out
by this?
This is how
you treat
a criminal.
This is what
you do
when you're
on the hunt
for a fugitive
on the run.
And on top
of that
Jesus says
in verse 49
day after day
I was with you
in the temple
teaching
and you did
not see to me.
He says
I was in public
the whole time.
I've been open
to you
and you've had
your opportunity
this whole time.
I was even
just teaching
in the temple.
You've all come
from the chief
priests
and the scribes
and the elders.
You and your
bosses
have all seen me
yet you come
to me
and get me
like a mob
for a criminal.
Now we can
ask here
why didn't
they get him
before?
They did
see him
why didn't
they get him
before?
Why are they
coming out
like this?
Well we hear
a lot in
the gospels
that the
Jewish authorities
hated Jesus
but the people
the crowds
they loved
Jesus.
He drew
crowds to
himself
and showed
compassion
on them
that they
followed him
and they
couldn't wait
to hear his
teaching.
And so
even though the
Jewish authorities
hated Jesus
they were also
scared of the
people.
They knew
that if they
arrested Jesus
in public
while he's
teaching
while he's
standing up
they knew
that there'd be
an uproar
if that happened.
They knew
the people
would be crying
what are you
doing?
Get your hands
on him.
Have you not
seen his
miracles?
Have you
not heard
him teach
with authority?
Get your
hands off
him.
He hasn't
done anything.
What are you
doing?
And so
the authorities
this mob
they couldn't
do it in
public.
They had to
do it under
the cloak of
darkness.
There's another
reason.
Because
by coming to
Jesus with
swords and
clubs like
they are now
Jesus is
right in what
he says.
it makes
him out to
look like a
criminal.
He says
have you
come out
as against
a robber
with swords
and clubs
to capture
me?
This doesn't
make Jesus
look good
does it?
This is a
crafty way
of making
Jesus look
bad.
I love
watching
police TV
shows like
Road Wars.
Have you seen
Road Wars?
That's one of
my favourites.
I love
especially the
scenes where
they do
police raids
in someone's
house.
Like drug
dealers'
house.
or whoever.
And they'll
burst into
the house
with batons
and shields
and sometimes
guns, if it's
a good episode.
And you
always see
in those
police raids,
you always see
glimpses of
the neighbours
coming out of
their houses
and standing
outside watching.
And you know
that they're
all thinking
they've definitely
been up to
no good.
That must have
been drugs
or something
really bad.
You know,
just the
police raid
makes that
person look
guilty already,
doesn't it?
Well, this
crowd is like
that police raid.
It doesn't
matter what
Jesus has done.
It doesn't
matter that
Jesus is
sinless and
he's entirely
innocent.
This mob
just makes
him look bad.
It makes
people think,
oh well,
he must have
done something
bad.
They knew
they had
nothing to
hold against
him and
so they had
to misrepresent
him.
They had to
lie about
him.
But
interestingly,
Jesus doesn't
protest.
He doesn't
try to stop
them.
One of his
disciples tries
to stop him
in verse 47.
He swipes at
them with a
sword.
But Jesus
doesn't try
any of that.
He doesn't
let that
sword swing
play out.
Jesus simply
says at the
end of verse
49,
but let the
scriptures be
fulfilled.
He says,
you want to
label me as
a robber and
treat me as
a criminal.
Fine.
Let the
scriptures be
fulfilled.
And what
are the
scriptures being
fulfilled here?
Well,
Luke's gospel
gives us an
answer.
It's
Isaiah 53,
which is a
passage all
about a
suffering
servant who
saves us
from our
sins.
It says
this,
and he
was numbered
with the
transgressors.
He was
numbered with
the transgressors.
Scripture
says that the
saviour of
sinners must be
numbered with
the transgressors.
This is
Jesus becoming
the suffering
servant of
Isaiah 53.
So just let
me read out
that verse.
he poured
out his
son to
death and
was numbered
with the
transgressors,
yet he
bore the
sin of
many.
This scene
is Jesus
fulfilling
that prophecy.
This is
Jesus being
treated as a
criminal and
a sinner instead
of the real
sinners and
criminals.
This is
Jesus bearing
the sin of
many.
This is an
outward symptom
of the deeper
spiritual reality.
Christ being
treated as a
robber and
a criminal,
it shows how
he was treated
on the cross
under God's
wrath.
He was
cursed and
punished as a
criminal.
The sinless
Lord of
Glory,
the spotless
Lamb,
the perfect
King of
Kings,
that man
hung on a
cross as a
robber.
How awful.
And he
stands in
front of
this mob
and says,
okay,
treat me
like that.
Handcuff
me and
lead me
away.
I must
fulfill the
scriptures.
And why
did he
just take
it?
Why did
he just
take the
handcuffs?
Well, he
took them
so that
we would
never have
to work
them.
in this
scene, we
should be
crying out,
hold on,
I'm the
criminal.
I'm the
robber.
What's
going on
here?
And Jesus
says, yes,
you were,
but not
anymore.
Jesus was
numbered with
the transgressors
so that on
judgment day,
when God
looks at those
people defined
by their sin,
people like
Judas, the
transgressors,
the unrepentant
sinners,
when he
looks at
them to
put judgment
on them,
he did
this so
that you
won't be
there, so
that you
won't be a
part of
those
transgressors.
You
won't be
numbered with
the transgressors
because Jesus
was right
here.
On the
cross, God
declared on
Jesus in
his wrath,
criminal,
so that he
could say to
us today,
innocent.
Jesus was
truly
numbered with
the transgressors.
He was
treated as
a criminal.
But there's
a final thing
to see about
this fateful
evening, and
it's this,
Jesus was
abandoned.
Jesus was
abandoned.
So first,
he was
betrayed by
his friend,
then his
name was
smeared and
was labeled
as a criminal,
and to top
it all off,
look at verse
50.
And they
all left
him and
fled.
They all
left him
and fled.
Can you
believe that?
All of
his friends,
his disciples,
they just
abandoned
him.
The first
whiff of
danger,
they just
packed up
and turned
their backs
on Jesus.
He was
arrested,
barred,
and led
away to
the cross,
all alone.
He was
all alone.
No comfort,
no support,
no love.
Instead,
a taste of
betrayal and
abandonment in
his mouth.
And then
after that,
we hear a bit
of an unusual
account of one
of his followers
running away.
Did you notice
that in verse
51?
And a young
man followed
him with
nothing but a
linen cloth
about his
body,
and they
seized him,
but he
left the
linen cloth
and ran
away naked.
And it
sounds a bit
funny,
this ending,
doesn't it?
It's a bit
of a weird
add-on.
Some people
over the
centuries have
thought that
this young
man here is
Mark, the
writer of this
gospel.
But we don't
know that,
we can't really
say that,
it's just a
guess,
and so I
don't put too
much confidence
in that.
But I
think the
point of
this character
here is to
show how
shameful it
was to
abandon
Jesus.
It says
they all
left him,
and then we
zoom in on
this one
person, a
young man
who followed
Jesus.
And he was
one of his
followers who
walked miles
with him,
it says he
followed him.
But as
soon as the
authorities
tried to
seize this
man,
perhaps they
kind of
grabbed his
clothing to
arrest him
to, this
young man
pulled away
lightly, and
his clothing
came off
with them,
and then he
became naked
and ran
away.
I think
we're told
this because
it's a shameful
thing to
abandon Jesus.
He was
abandoning
Jesus naked
and exposed
and shameful.
His nakedness
here is
showing a
shame in the
action.
All while
Jesus remains
bound and
made out to
be a criminal.
Yet Jesus,
he remains
there dignified
and heroic,
doesn't he?
As this man
shamefully runs
away from him.
This unusual
moment, this
unusual ending,
is highlighting
that sinners
shamefully fled
from the cross
while Jesus
heads straight
to it,
all on his
own.
only he
can do it,
and he
did it
alone.
It was not
an easy road
to the cross
for Jesus.
We have
thought about
that.
He was
betrayed,
despised,
mobbed,
misrepresented,
abandoned.
He wasn't
cheered on
his way to
Calvary.
He didn't
have friends
to comfort
him on the
way there.
He wasn't
surrounded by
people to
support him
and encourage
him and say,
keep on going,
come on,
you can do
it.
The road
was horrible
for Jesus.
There's a
question to
ask.
Why did it
have to be
so horrible?
Could not
Jesus have
come and
died quickly?
To put it
bluntly,
could Jesus
not have
come,
got shot,
died,
and boom,
done?
Why did
he have to
go through
such anguish
before the
cross?
this suffering
is not
just coincidental,
this suffering
is important
and necessary
because Jesus
had to be
plunged into
sin and
anguish,
into the
very depths
of it,
so that he
could save
us from the
depths of
sin and
anguish.
He had to
plumb the
depths of
our sin
to save
us from
it.
He had
to become
the lowest
of the
low and
experience
the worst
of the
worst to
save the
lowest of
the low
and the
worst of
the worst.
A few
years ago,
I was
helping someone
clear out
their pond.
Don't ask me
how I got
ripped into
that,
but we
were clearing
their pond
and we
had to
clear out
all the
bottom
filled with
dirt and
geese
poo and
bacteria and
it absolutely
stank.
We had to
clear it
all out to
cleanse the
pool.
And to
clear it
out, I
had to
plunge my
hand to
the very
bottom of
the pond
and hit
the top
and drag
everything up
and then
clear it
out.
I had to
plunge my
hand all
the way
down into
that, so
I couldn't
just briefly
skim the
surface and
be like,
okay, done,
it's clean
now.
The muck
would still be
there,
wouldn't it?
No, I
had to
get to
the lowest
point and
clear out
everything from
there.
Well, that
is what
Jesus is
doing here.
He's
plunging down
into the
very depths
of sin
and misery
and suffering
to the
lowest of
lows.
His
betrayal
is him
being thrown
into the
mud.
His arrest
is him
being driven
further down
to the
bottom.
His
abandonment
is him
being plunged
into new
lows.
all so
that he
can drag
us out
of the
depths
and bring
us into
fresh air
and raise
us to
new life.
This
wasn't easy
for Jesus.
The road
to the
cross was
not easy,
it was
horrible.
But brothers
and sisters,
he did
it for
you.
He was
forsaken
so we
would be
loved.
He was
called a
criminal
so that we
could go
free.
He was
abandoned
so that he
would never
leave us.
Let me pray.
He was