CALL THIS JUSTICE?

Passover is the most important Jewish festival – without Passover there would be no Israel; this one in Mark 14 is the highlight of their history, with Messiah expected to show up and untold thousands have arrived in Jerusalem for this momentous event!                                              

Hang on...                                   

What are these 71 Sanhedrin elders doing?...trying this man Jesus late at night with no reliable witness and the sentence of death already decided!

What sort of justice is this? Moses told Israel that the nations will marvel: “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people”. 

He continued: “For what nation is there so great, who has God so near to them...that has statutes and judgments so righteous?”

God manifest in Jesus is right in front of them, while they break their own rules...

• A trial at night
• False witnesses
• Intimidation to force defendant to incriminate himself
• The High Priest rends his garment
• Violent abuse and spitting

How does Jesus respond?                                                            

The Man of Isaiah 53 remains silent until agreeing with the truth:

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of ‘the Blessed’...                                

“I AM and you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven”

...just as Daniel saw Him by vision over 500 years before!

CRUNCH TIME!

Suddenly it’s ‘crunch time’: the betrayal of Jesus in Mark 14:43-54.

Run for it guys!

Notice the detail given by John Mark’s account: the Lord’s disappointment, His agony and His sorrow in prayer. Mark will soon discreetly reveal himself in this picture - fleeing naked in panic!

Let’s try to immerse ourselves in the tension here...                       

All of these Jews - yes, every single one of them - have just enjoyed the intimacy of this profound Passover feast, foundational to the Jewish faith. Later in the evening it is now an ugly scene of threatening violence with swords and staves!

Why oh why??                                                                                                 

“The scriptures must be fulfilled”             

Yes, God is in control – not religious thugs, even if it might look like it!

Can you recall how Simon Peter has just contradicted his Master?... “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I... If I should die with you , I will not deny you in any way” ...and his mates all said the same.

So what happened?    ‘All forsook Him and fled’.                                                                                                           

Peter follows at a very safe distance and makes himself comfortable at the palace fireside.                                        

Those were brave words Peter but... can you deliver on that?

"LET'S GO!"

Jesus has been reclining for a meal in Bethany, even having His head anointed.  Two days later it’s no longer time for reclining  – Passover MUST be celebrated tonight!  (Mark 14:12-42)                        

The question is: WHERE?   There is no need for Jesus to lead His disciples back into Jerusalem just for Passover but that is what He orders...    “Go into the city...”           

Why?...for His betrayal!  Notice how absolutely certain Jesus is...

• “One of you... shall betray me...it is one of the twelve”
• “The Son of Man indeed goes...”
• “This my body....this is my blood”
• “After I am risen...” (always Jesus’ outlook!)
• “The sheep shall be scattered”
• “Before the cock crow twice, you (Peter) shall deny me three times”

Jesus is so like His friends in appearance and none of them seem to know who would betray Him: “Is it I?”                                                                   Peter even proudly vows his allegiance, along with all the others.    

Finally it’s time: “Get up, let’s go, the betrayer is here!”

This is the decisive moment of testing for all - surely they will prove loyal?   .                           

MAN of ACTION

Notice how Mark presents Jesus as the Man of action, with so much happening immediately...

“For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”  (10:45)

Now is not the time for action - Jesus just reclines for a meal (Mark 14:1-11)                                     

Watch what happens around Him in this obscure setting...                                                                     
In the home of Simon the leper, in the small village of Bethany, an unnamed woman breaks an alabaster box of spikenard to anoint Jesus’ head...Nardostachys jatamansi probably from Indian honeysuckle!                                                                                                             

Meanwhile the chief priests and scribes plot to have Jesus put to death thru trickery – only when it suits them – not with all the Passover crowds in Jerusalem likely to riot.  How convenient for them that Judas Iscariote, who thinks his master is a waste of this expensive spikenard (worth a year’s wages) agrees to betray Him....when it’s convenient of course.

Time is of the essence here – the alabaster is broken, Jesus’ head is now anointed for burial...                                                                 

Will they pull this off when it suits them?...or will Jesus reclining at table prove to be in ultimate control?

WATCH!

“What I say to you, I say to all: WATCH!”

Watch what?  Okay there was that strange ‘Abomination of Desolation’ that is meant to be a trigger to flee Judaea - goodness knows why.

Apparently one generation is going to see all of this – EVERYTHING!   

So what else will there be to see? (Mark 13:24-37)

• The heavens will be shaken; the sun and moon darkened
• The Son of man will come in power and glory
• The angels will gather the elect from every corner of heaven and earth.   Notice that the angels gather (Gk:episunagoge) and it is a universal gathering from earth AND from heaven. No, this is not the Rapture of the Church caught up (harpazo) in a   split-second at the shout of Christ himself.
• And there’s one more!...                                                                 

Yesterday Jesus cursed a fig-tree and it completely shrivelled. Today He is predicting the ‘fig-tree’ will one day grow leaves again.  These disciples know this speaks of Israel but they will not live to see Israel revive in 1948 - after 1878 years!

No matter what – we must... W A T C H !!

F L E E !!

Suddenly, very suddenly, things will get a lot worse, especially for those in Israel – it’s time to flee to the mountains!                    

Here in Mark 13:14-23, Jesus is sitting with four of His disciples and leaving with them a warning... that He knows will even get written down!                                              

So which period in the future is Jesus referring to?                  

Does He mean the destruction of the temple immediately in front of them?     

• Nothing as bad will have occurred before, ever since Creation – that includes the Great Flood.  WOAH!
• Unless the Lord shortens these days no flesh would survive – humanly impossible until nuclear war became a reality in 1945
• Not only will the threats be military but also spiritual, with false christs and their miracles

So then, what is the trigger?                                                                  
The ‘Abomination of Desolation’ gets set up ‘where it ought not be’ i.e. ‘the holy place’. Every year since Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes IV profaned the temple, the Jews have been celebrating its re-dedication in Hanukkah, knowing the warning by Daniel: ‘the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up’.

In other words, the temple MUST be rebuilt sometime after its destruction just predicted by Jesus Christ... AND it must be defiled again. Watch this space!

Just as women and babies suffered terribly at the hand of Antiochus, so will they be at risk from this future profanity.

Why?

Don’t stop to ask – just R U N !!

WHEN??

 

Do you remember what Jesus predicted on leaving the temple? (Mark 13)

“There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”          

No wonder four disciples follow Him up with questions on the Mount of Olives!...starting with: “WHEN...?”

Notice carefully that Jesus NEVER answers that question of ‘when?’...but proceeds to teach them about what awaits the faithful remnant of Israel.

In fact, there is NO RECORD anywhere in Holy Scripture of the destruction of that 2^nd temple which can no longer be seen on Temple Mount!                In other words, there is a far more important series of events in the future...

• False christs
• Wars, earthquakes, famines...
• Arrests & beatings
• The gospel preached to ALL NATIONS
• Family betrayals
• Hatred by ALL MEN

...and these are only the ‘beginning of sorrows’ – just like the onset of childbirth pain. It gets much worse!

NEXT: Time to flee!