Mark 14:12-25 | “Sovereign to the Death”

 

Jesus Died on Purpose

If we had total control of our lives, we’d probably do whatever we could to avoid pain and suffering.  If we were able to govern the events in and around our lives, we’d exercise our power to ensure our optimal happiness.  If we were sovereign, we’d most certainly work to avoid death. 

This is one reason why Jesus is different from us.  He is sovereign, yet he ensured that he died.  He has complete control and yet he chose not to avoid pain, suffering, or death.  He is the Sovereign King who willingly died for his subjects.

The passage we’ll be studying this morning makes it clear that Jesus died on purpose.  We’re going to learn that Jesus had complete knowledge and control over the events that led to his death.  He’s not a tragic hero caught in a web of unfortunate circumstances.  He shows no hint of desperation, fear, or anger as these events unfold.  He doesn’t retreat or run or hide like a coward as plots for his death are hatched around him. 

Jesus is driving the bus of his life down the road of the Father’s plan for him.  And he doesn’t take the exit for easy street when night begins to fall.  He keeps driving through the darkness of betrayal, torture, humiliation, abandonment, and death.  He powers forward through all of it because he must make it to a wooden cross.  He employs all his sovereign power to this end.

In our text this morning, we’re going to see Jesus’ sovereign control over his last meal (vv. 12-16), his sovereign knowledge of his betrayer (vv. 17-21), and his sovereign purpose in his death (vv. 22-25).  The point of our passage is that Jesus is sovereign even to his death.

Jesus’ Last Meal

In verses 12-16, we see how Jesus exercises sovereign control over his last meal with his disciples.  The key phrase is in verse 16.  The disciples “found it just as he told them.”  Everything Jesus said they would find, they found.  He wasn’t wrong on any point.  His word to them was totally true.  He knew exactly where he’d eat the Passover with the disciples. 

This passage is very similar in wording and content to 11:1-6.  In both passages, Jesus sends two disciples on covert missions that need to be completed in order for the events of Jesus’ last week on earth to happen.  And in each case, the missions happen exactly as Jesus said they would. 

From the first day of the last week of Jesus’ life to the next to last day of his life, Jesus is completely in control of what’s happening.  As I said, this reveals his sovereign authority over the course of events leading up to his death.

Why shouldn’t we trust a Savior who so resolutely walked toward his death?  He’s no coward.  He’s no liar.  He knew what was waiting for him in Jerusalem, yet he walked right into the city.  Shouldn’t we, like Jesus, walk with a zeal to please God and not man?  Shouldn’t we trust in God’s good plan, even if it entails pain and suffering and death? 

Jesus Died at Passover

Part of God’s plan was the time of year when Jesus would die.  As I pointed out last week, Jesus died on Passover weekend (vv. 1, 12).  Why is this important?  Let me give you a little more background on the Passover and try to make the connection clearer.

In the Old Testament, we learn that Pharaoh was crushing the Israelites in slavery and God heard his people’s prayers and sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them.  After ten plagues, the last of which was the killing of every firstborn child in Egypt, Pharaoh finally let the people go.  The night before the final plague, God told his people to kill a sheep or goat and put its blood on their doorposts, cook the animal, and eat it with some bitter herbs and unleavened bread (Ex. 12:1-8). 

This was more than a meal.  The blood on their doors of the animal that they were eating was their salvation (vv. 12-13).  The only reason God spared the Israelites was because they were covered by the blood of a sacrifice. 

The Passover was an event that was supposed to be remembered by a meal eaten once a year.  When Mark says, “And they prepared the Passover” (v. 16), he’s referring to the Passover meal that the Jews would eat at the time of Passover.  We’ll see in a few moments how this meal forms the basis for another meal, a new Passover if you will, that Jesus is about to give his disciples. 

Jesus exercises his sovereignty over the preparations for his last meal and its timing.

Jesus’ Sovereign Knowledge of His Betrayer

Secondly, let’s notice Jesus’ sovereign knowledge of his betrayer in verses 17-21.  During the course of the Passover meal, Jesus says that one of his disciples will betray him (v. 18).  In the middle of a meal with friends to commemorate God’s salvation of Israel, Jesus announces that one of his friends is not really his friend. 

Jesus doesn’t identify the traitor initially.  Why?  Probably because he wants all his disciples to do some soul searching.  He challenges all of them to think carefully about their motives for following him.  He wants his friends to consider whether they’re actually his friends.

This grieves the disciples (v. 19).  Every follower of Jesus knows that there’s joy in following Jesus and grief in failing him.  When we choose to live in sin, we’re grieved by the consequences of our sin, but mostly grieved by the disruption to the intimacy and fellowship we have with Jesus.  A follower of Jesus doesn’t want to sin anymore because they want to live in the joy of fellowship with Jesus, not the grief of broken fellowship with him. 

In verse 20, Jesus makes it clear that it will be “one of the twelve,” not any others who may be in the room for the meal.  Jesus will be sold out by one of his closest friends, by someone he’d shared many meals with.  He knows exactly what’s happening behind the scenes with Judas and the Sanhedrin (vv. 10-11).  Jesus’ sovereignty reaches out over even the sins of his enemies.

Verse 21 tells us the fate of the one brazen enough to betray the One who can calm storms with a simple word.  “As it is written of him” tells us that there’s divine purpose and God’s foreordination behind the betrayal of Jesus.  All of this unfolded according to the sovereign plan of God. 

Our Greatest Problem

Verse 21 also teaches us something about the judgment of God.  Anyone who, like Judas, turns their back on Jesus and loves this world more than him, will wish they’d never been born (v. 21c).  Those who persist in their sins and don’t value Jesus as their greatest Treasure will receive the judgment and wrath of God.  Jesus’ compassion for sinners has an ending point, it runs out. 

Have you paused and thought carefully about the judgement of God?  What do you perceive is your greatest problem?  Unhappiness, poor health, lack of a spouse, difficulty with children, frustrating job, financial hardship, lots of school work?  The greatest problem any of us face is the wrath of God that burns hot against sinners who’ve rebelled against him. 

The Bible teaches us that we’re all born dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1).  This why becoming a Christian means being made new, not being made nice.  We’re born dead in the sense that we’re unable to change and that we’re under the condemnation of the holy God who made us. 

Paul says that we’re “by nature children of wrath” (v. 3).  God made us to reflect and enjoy his glory, but we’ve all lived for our own glory.  Instead of acting like kids of the King, we’ve tried to overthrow the King by living however we wanted.  We therefore deserve the King’s wrath. 

This is our greatest problem.  How can we be saved from the wrath of a holy God?  Because God is good, he’ll repay all injustice and sin with what it deserves.  His goodness demands that he deal with badness.  If he didn’t, he would cease to be good.  And we’ve all sinned and rebelled against his goodness.

Being a Christian means being saved by Christ from the wrath of God, not saved from a purposeless life, low self-esteem, or unhappiness.  Jesus came to save us from an external, objective problem, namely the wrath of God, not an internal, subjective problem. 

This is not a popular truth, but we must find ways to talk about it to those standing blindly on the beach, not knowing that the tsunami of God’s wrath is coming in.  Consider talking to your friends who aren’t Christians about the moral outrage that exists in our culture, moving from there to talk about God’s outrage at our sin.  We must teach this to our children and grandchildren.  Our little ones need to be taught clearly about what their greatest problem is. 

The wrath of God is a central and non-negotiable part of the Christian worldview.  To deny it is to deny the gospel.  The good news of Jesus’ death in the place of sinners is no longer good if there’s nothing bad for sinners to worry about. 

Friends, have you repented of your sins and put your trust in Jesus?  Is he your only hope in life and death?  If so, you’ll be saved from the wrath of God because Jesus already took it for you on the cross.  If not, today is the day you could be saved by his grace.  Run to him before it’s too late.  All those who deny Jesus, who treasure money more than Jesus, like Judas, will wish they’d never been born. 

Jesus’ Sovereign Purpose in His Death

Jesus’ work on the cross to save sinners from the wrath of God was vividly portrayed in the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples.  Jesus used this meal to reveal his sovereign purpose in his death (vv. 22-25).  What does Jesus teach us in this Passover meal about the purpose of his death?  He teaches us that his body would be crushed and his blood spilt in order to save many sinners from the wrath of God and to inaugurate the new covenant.

Jesus Dies to Initiate the New Covenant

The Passover was perhaps the most important and somber meal of the year for the Jews.  This isn’t just a nice meal with friends.  It carried great theological significance for the Jews.  But as Jesus leads the disciples through the Passover meal, he turns it into something new.  He takes an old tradition and infuses it with new meaning. 

Jesus remakes the Passover meal in order to teach his disciples about the death he’s about to die.  He’ll give his body for them (v. 22).  Luke adds, “Which is given for you” (22:19).  Jesus’ death won’t be an accident.  No one takes his life.  He sovereignly gives it. 

Verse 24 says that Jesus’ blood is the “blood of the covenant.”  Luke says that it’s the “new covenant” that Jesus is initiating with his blood (22:20).  Through the prophets, God promised to make a new covenant with his people (Jer. 31:31-34).  Jesus is saying that this is happening through his death.  Matthew’s account makes this clear.  He says that Jesus’ blood “is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (26:28).  Jesus’ blood results in new hearts and the forgiveness of sins.

This cup of wine represents what must be given in order for another cup to be diverted from us – the cup of God’s wrath, which Jesus feels being poured out on him just moments after this dinner (v. 36).  Jesus drank God’s wrath for us on the cross.  We remember this in the cup of his blood.    

“This is My Body, This is My Blood”

Throughout church history, Jesus’ language about the bread being his body and the wine being his blood has been variously interpreted and greatly disputed.  The view that our church takes is that, when Jesus says, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood,” he’s making the bread and wine signs of the new covenant.  He’s connecting the bread and wine to God’s new covenant promises like we connect a wedding ring to vows made between a husband and wife.  The ring reminds us of our commitment to one another.  It’s a sign of the covenant.  Jesus isn’t saying that the bread and wine transform into something else.  He’s naming the sign with what it points to.  “This is my body,” therefore means, “This bread points to, or signifies, my body.”  “This is my blood” means, “This wine points to, or signifies, my blood.”

A Future Supper with the Lord

In verse 25, Jesus tells his disciples that he’ll drink wine with them again in God’s kingdom.  This means that, in this new Passover meal, what we call the Lord’s Supper, Jesus doesn’t want us to only look back to his death on the cross.  He also wants us to look forward to his return and the coming of God’s kingdom.  The Supper helps us to look forward to the time when Jesus will feast with his people again.  During the Supper, we remember the past and anticipate the future.

God promised that there’d be a day when death would be done, when people from all the peoples would come into his house and enjoy his food, and everlasting joy in his presence would begin.  He promised a day when our weary waiting will be rewarded. 

In the meantime, we wait, we hope, and we trust his promises.  When we observe the Supper, we look back to Jesus’ cross and we look forward to Jesus’ coming.  In the Supper, we see a glimpse of the glory of Jesus’ death for our sins, and we see a glimpse of the glory of his second coming.

In our passage, we’ve seen Jesus’ sovereign control over his last meal (vv. 12-16), his sovereign knowledge of his betrayer (vv. 17-21), and his sovereign purpose in his death (vv. 22-25).  We’ve learned that Jesus controlled his destiny and went to the cross on purpose for the glory of God and for our salvation.  Jesus was sovereign to the death and is thus worthy of our trust.