Mark 14 begins with a woman's act of devotion, the anointing of Jesus, sandwiched between two dastardly acts of betrayal of Jesus by the Jewish leadership and by Judas Iscariot. Probably both thought they were serving God, but the betrayers had mistaken their own personal agendas for God’s. The woman, possibly, had listened to Jesus and was one of the few people who understood what we has doing and thus prepared his body for burial. At the very least it was an act of supreme devotion to Jesus which was what God was really looking for. The next section records the preparation and eating of Jesus' Last Supper. Mark is clear that Jesus is fully aware of what is about to happen and the coming significance of the events, though the disciples seem to have no idea. He warns them that there is a betrayer in their midst and that they all will deny Him, but they refuse to believe Him. God's kingdom will not come about by human bravery, but by lives changed through Jesus' death and resurrection. This is what is symbolized in the recurring remembrance of the Lord's Supper. It is the ceremony of a new relationship with the risen Christ, a pledge of our allegiance to the New Covenant begun made possible by Jesus' broken body and blood, and commitment to one another as God's kingdom family. Each of us need to regularly examine ourselves to make sure we are not acting as Judas, who takes the elements while planning to betray Jesus, or as the disciples who think they can serve Jesus in their own power and with their own agendas.
The woman had no idea of the worldwide significance of her action, nor did the high priests, Judas, or Pontius Pilate. Albert Einstein said, “It is a tragic mistake for those in power to think that they are in control.” It is also a mistake for us to think that our sacrificial devotion is wasteful or insignificant. Who knows how God will use it? Mark 14.1-11, 521
Jesus’ sacrificial death is also a covenant-making event. It marks a new act of redemption and begins a new relationship between God and the people—one that supersedes the old. It creates a new community gathered around his table. Mark 14.12-31, 529
The Lord’s Supper works for good. It reminds us who we are, what our story is, what our values are, and who claims us as his own. In the Lord’s Supper, the gospel confronts all five of our physical senses. We see, hear, taste, smell, and touch what it meant for Christ to die for us. It also binds the past, present, and future together. We look back to Jesus’ Last Supper and experience the beginning of the new covenant with God. We experience Jesus’ death for us and the power of our sins being forgiven in the present. We look forward to the future celebration in God’s kingdom, when all will acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Mark 14.12-31, 534
The rest of Mark 14 records Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane, the arrest of Jesus, His abandonment by His disciples and the trial before the Sanhedrin. Mark portrays Jesus in agony, knowing and waiting for what he is about to experience. He goes to the Father in prayer asking if there is any other way but trusts the Father's plan and becomes the example of how we are to handle suffering. The disciples, on the other hand, fail to realize the crisis they are in and immediately abandon Jesus when the mob comes to arrest Him. The Sanhedrin, not all the Jewish people, are seen in Mark as the guilty party for arresting Jesus and turning Him over to the Romans. The issue is that Jesus combines several OT prophecies and raises the idea of a human Son of David to a human/divine Son of Man. He is then convicted of blasphemy. Peter's denial heightens the abandonment of Jesus. The only encouraging thing here is that Mark's readers would have known that Peter was forgiven and restored. This whole scene goes exactly as Jesus predicted.
Prayers asking God to have a change of mind are not considered insubordinate but actually exude trust that God listens to prayer and grants requests that can be reconciled “with overall Providence.” Mark 14.32-52, 540
In Mark, we see the Son of Man associated with power that is blended with suffering and weakness. Jesus openly declares that he is the Messiah only when there is no possibility that crowds will rise up to crown him king. His admission seals the case against him and ensures that he will die. If Jesus is the Son of Man who will sit on the right hand of Power and come in the clouds of heaven, one must completely rethink what one believes about the Messiah and about power. Jesus as the Messiah is far less than many people hoped, because he never raises a finger against anyone and passively submits to death. As the Messiah, he is far more than anyone hoped, because he divinely exercises the power of God. Mark 14.53-65, 569
Peter was the most prominent of Jesus’ disciples, yet he was still a sinner in need of God’s mercy. He thought he would die for Jesus, but he needed Jesus to die for him...If Peter could be restored after denying his Lord and even cursing him, then there was hope for others who might be guilty of the same or worse. Peter’s tears of remorse mark the beginning of that restoration. Mark 14.53-72, 574
Chapter 15 of Mark describes the trial before Pilate and crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate's indifference to justice and desire to preserve order and his position, at all costs assure this miscarriage of justice. Garland sees the people's choice of Barabbas over Jesus as an example of the human way to choose violence to gain personal power over God's ways. Mark emphasizes the mockery of all classes of people at the crucifixion. Ironically, what was intended as mockery is shown to be true. Jesus was a real king and God did deliver Him from death through the resurrection. Mark also emphasizes Jesus’ cry from Psalm 22 and he pictures the crucifixion with reference to the entire psalm, emphasizing that Jesus was the "righteous sufferer" who felt and seemed abandoned by God but was never abandoned and would be vindicated. That vindication began with the tearing of the temple veil from top to bottom and the confession of the centurion. The old order was done. God's presence and power were about to break out of the temple and go out to all the world.
God’s way responds to evil redemptively and short-circuits it. On the cross, Jesus took the sting of death and absorbed all the poison. Our failure to choose this way stems from our failure to trust God. We may trust God to take care of the afterlife, but we do not trust God enough to let go of too much control of the here and now. If we have to suffer, we would rather put our trust in the Barabbases of this world, who fight back and murder enemies. We have yet to see that this way only leads to more death and tragedy. David E. Garland, Mark 15.1-20, 583
Jesus is a king who died an outlaw’s death. Jesus is the Messiah, who was rejected by the people he came to deliver. Jesus is the mighty Son of God, who did not use his power for himself but died a seemingly powerless death. All traditional symbols have been reversed. Weakness is a sign of power. Death is the means to life. Godforsakenness leads to reconciliation with God. Mark 15.21-47, 598
Jesus prayed the prayer of the righteous sufferer, who trusts fully in God’s protection. Psalm 22 naturally came to mind because he was mocked (Ps. 22:7–9), his strength was dried up (22:15–16), his hands and feet were pierced (22:16), and his garments were divided (22:18). Jesus therefore did not simply let out an anguished wail of pain but deliberately quoted this lament, which moves from an expression of pain to confidence in God’s deliverance. Why would Jesus cry out to an absent God unless he believed that God was indeed there to hear and able to deliver him? Mark 15.34-37, 601
Mark ends his record of the Passion the same way he started it; with a report of the devotion of the women who followed Jesus. The women come to the tomb wondering how they would roll away the stone and then, when they see it rolled away, they wonder how that happened. A "young man" explains that Jesus "is not here. He is risen." He instructs the women to tell the disciples and let them know that Jesus will see them in Galilee. The narrative ends with the report that the women remain silent and do not report as instructed. I would tend to agree with Garland that "Mark fully intended to end his Gospel with the startling disclosure that the women spoke to no one because they were afraid. If we want to understand Mark, we must grapple with this awkward conclusion no matter how unsatisfying it might be." (618) I think that Mark does this purposely to place the reader into the story. We know that eventually the women told the story, the 11 disciples believed and the gospel has gone out powerfully into most of the world. Now the question becomes what will we do with this command. Will we go meet Jesus and faithfully live as His people and tell the story of the gospel to all the world?
This command is the first time that Jesus’ followers are told to tell something about him. The crucifixion and the resurrection, therefore, mark a turning point. There is no need for silence or secrets now (see 9:9). As Marcus points out, “Whereas before those events Jesus commanded secrecy and open proclamation was disobedience, now Jesus commands open proclamation and secrecy is disobedience.” Mark 16.1-8, 614
“He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” There is no reunion with the familiar earthly form of Jesus, with tears of joy and hugs all around. Jesus cannot be held by death, let alone by a stone. He is free from death, transformed from this earthly existence and unleashed on the world. One cannot meet him at the place where they laid him. His grave is not to become a shrine like David’s tomb (Acts 2:29), the dressed-up tombs of the prophets (Matt. 23:29–31), or the tombs of modern-day leaders. The God who raises the dead has no use for earthly memorials. The tombstone is not to become a wailing wall. God is not the God of the dead, entombed in shrines, but of the living. Mark 16.1-8, 623
The gospel is about the power of God, which overcomes human dysfunction and disaster. We know that Jesus’ resurrection was proclaimed and is being proclaimed throughout the world, just as Jesus said it would. This means that God’s will and Jesus’ promise have been fulfilled despite human disobedience. Mark 16.1-8, 626
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