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Scripture Reading: Mark 14:43-72; 15:1-15
In this message we shall begin to consider the death and resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the accomplishment of God’s redemption (14:43—16:18).
We may say that Christ’s death began from the time He was arrested. Before Judas came with those who arrested the Lord Jesus, the Lord was praying in Gethsemane concerning His death. As we have pointed out, the Lord came purposely to Judea from Galilee to be crucified. Therefore, actually He was not delivered by Judas; instead, He delivered Himself to those who came to arrest Him.
While the Lord was still in Galilee, He knew that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem in order to be put to death on the day of the Passover. After coming to Jerusalem, He prepared the environment, His disciples, and even His opposers for His death. The opposers plotted to kill Him. Mark 14:1 says that the chief priests and scribes were seeking how to seize Him by craftiness and kill Him. They said, “Not at the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people” (14:2). However, in order to fulfill the type of the Passover lamb, the Lord was crucified on the day of the Passover, even though His opposers sought to avoid this. The Lord Himself prepared what was necessary for Him to be put to death at the proper time.
During the last feast of the Passover, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him: “Truly I tell you that one of you will deliver Me up, one who is eating with Me” (14:18). Then Judas was exposed. No matter how evil Judas was, because he was still a human being, he was ashamed to remain with the Lord and His disciples. After Judas left, he went to the high priest and led a company to the place where they arrested the Lord Jesus.
Once Judas had left, the Lord instituted His supper. He knew that in a few hours He would be arrested, judged, sentenced to death, and crucified.
After instituting His supper, the Lord brought His disciples to a garden. He went to the best place for Him to be arrested. This indicates that He presented Himself to those who arrested Him.
In Gethsemane the Lord Jesus prayed, “Abba Father, All things are possible to You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will” (14:36). Throughout the centuries, many Bible teachers have spoken concerning the Lord’s prayer about God’s will. But not many have seen what specifically God’s will is in 14:36.
If we would know what the will of God is in this verse, we need to consider Hebrews 10, where we are told that the Lord Jesus came to do God’s will. It is commonly thought that this means that the Lord Jesus came to do everything according to God’s will in a general way. But from the context of Hebrews 10 we see that God’s will specifically denotes the replacing of the offerings. God’s will was to send Christ to earth to carry out the replacement of the offerings with Himself.
In the Old Testament there were many offerings or sacrifices. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to replace all these. It was God’s will that Christ should die as the replacement for all the offerings. The Lord Jesus knew that it was God’s will for Him to die as the replacement of the offerings. This was the reason He prayed, “Not what I will, but what You will.”
After His prayer in Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus was ready to be arrested, tried, sentenced, and put to death. Everything and everyone had been prepared, and He had had thorough prayer with the Father. By means of that prayer, He had the confirmation that it was God’s will for Him to die to replace all the offerings. Therefore, after that prayer, He was ready to be arrested by the chief priests, elders, and scribes.
Mark 14:43-52 tells us how the Lord Jesus was arrested. In verse 49 He said to those who came to seize Him, “Daily I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me — but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.” The God-forsaking and God-offending opposers, afraid of the people who had warmly welcomed the Slave-Savior (11:7-11) and who were gladdened by His speaking (12:37), dared not arrest Him in the daytime or in a public place like the temple. Instead, these opposers arrested Him subtly in the deep night (14:1), as though arresting a robber (14:48).
Mark 14:53—15:15 describes how the Slave-Savior was judged. First He was judged by the Jewish leaders representing the Jews (14:53-64). Then He was judged by the Roman government representing the Gentiles (15:1-15).
Mark 14:53 says, “And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes come together.” The Slave-Savior was arrested as a robber (v. 48) and brought to the slaughter as a lamb (Isa. 53:7).
In 14:55-60 we see that the Lord Jesus said nothing in answer to those who were falsely testifying against Him. “He was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest questioned Him and said to Him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (v. 61). The befuddled high priest of the traditional, God-forsaking and God-forsaken religion called God “the Blessed” in order to show how much he revered and honored God. Although concerning His behavior the Slave-Savior would not answer His faultfinders’ false accusation, yet concerning His divine Person, His deity, He was not silent. Rather, in verse 62 He answered strongly and definitely, affirming His deity in His humanity by stating that as the Son of Man He will sit at the right hand of God.
Verses 63 and 64 say, “And the high priest, having torn his garments, says, What further need do we have of witnesses? You heard the blasphemy! How does it appear to you? And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.” The blind opposers condemned the Slave-Savior for being blasphemous in affirming His deity, not realizing that they themselves were blaspheming God, who was right then the very One whom they were slandering and mocking.
Verse 65 says, “And some began to spit at Him, and to cover His face, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, Prophesy! And the deputies, slapping Him, took Him.” This was the Jews’ despising and rejecting of the Slave-Savior to the uttermost, as prophesied in Isaiah 53:3.
Mark 15:1 goes on to say, “And immediately in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, and having bound Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate.” Under God’s sovereignty, the Slave-Savior was judged not only by the Jewish leaders as a sheep before the shearer (Isa. 53:7) in 14:53-65, but also by the Roman governor, as a criminal before the accusers (14:64) in 15:1-15. He was judged both by the Jewish leaders and by the Roman governor so that He might die to serve sinners with His life as a ransom (10:45), not only for the Jews, represented by the Jewish leaders, but also for the Gentiles, represented by the Roman governor.
Mark 15:15 tells us that Pilate, seeking to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and delivered up Jesus to be crucified. This exposed the darkness and injustice of man’s politics to the uttermost. It was a fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the Slave-Savior’s suffering in Isaiah 53:5 and 8.
The Jewish death penalty was by stoning (Lev. 20:2, 27; 24:14; Deut. 13:10; 17:5). Crucifixion was a heathen practice (Ezra 6:11), adopted by the Romans for the execution of slaves and heinous criminals only. To crucify the Lord Jesus was not only a fulfillment of the Old Testament (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13; Num. 21:8-9), but also a fulfillment of the Lord’s own word concerning the mode of His death (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32), which could not have been fulfilled by stoning.
In 14:43—15:15 we have a record of the experience both of the Lord Jesus and of Peter. These experiences were taking place at the same time. While the Lord Jesus was being judged, Peter also was judged. The fact that the Lord was judged by the Jewish leaders and the Roman governor is a strong sign that He was tested by the entire world. He was judged by the Jews according to their law and by the Gentiles according to Roman law.
With the Lord Jesus, of course, there was nothing deserving judgment. Peter, on the contrary, was exposed as being fully wrong. The account in the Gospel of Mark merges the judgment of the Lord Jesus by the Jews and the Gentiles with the exposure and judgment of Peter.
We need to see that both Peter and the Lord Jesus were crucified. We may say that Peter was ordained and appointed to be our representative.
Everything that happened related to the crucifixion of Jesus was a fulfillment of either the types or the prophecies in the Old Testament. We have pointed out that, as a fulfillment of the type of the Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus was crucified on the day of the Passover. He was arrested during the night. According to the Jewish calendar, a day begins not in the morning but in the evening. The Lord Jesus partook of the Passover feast in the evening of the day of Passover. This means that He ate the Passover at the beginning of the day of the Passover. Then He instituted His supper and went to Gethsemane to pray.
Late in the night the Lord was arrested, brought to the court of the high priest, and judged. Then in the morning He was brought to Pilate. It was early in the morning that the Lord Jesus was sentenced to death. Immediately after He was sentenced, He was taken to Golgotha, and beginning at nine o’clock in the morning, He was crucified.
The Lord’s opposers did not give the people an opportunity to do anything against them. The opposers arrested the Lord Jesus secretly, and the Lord cooperated with them. The Lord purposely went to Gethsemane, and Judas knew that He would be there. Hence, late at night, while the people were sleeping, Judas led a company to Gethsemane to arrest the Lord Jesus. In a quick way, without the people knowing anything, the Lord was judged by the Jewish leaders. Then He was judged by Pilate and sentenced to death. In order to satisfy the crowd, Pilate made a quick decision to crucify the Lord Jesus.
We have pointed out that while the Lord Jesus was being falsely accused, He was silent. But when He was questioned concerning His Person, whether He was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, He answered, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (14:62). Although He was asked whether He was the Son of the Blessed, that is, the Son of God, the Lord referred to Himself as the Son of Man. The Lord is the Son of Man, not only on earth before His crucifixion, but also in the heavens on the right hand of God after His resurrection (Acts 7:56), and even at His coming back on the clouds. To accomplish God’s purpose the Lord had to be a man. Without man, God’s purpose could not be carried out on earth.
In 14:62 the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying to the Jewish leaders, “You ask Me whether I am the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. I say, Yes, I am. I am also the Son of Man, and you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power. You speak of the Blessed, but I speak of Power.”
Both “Blessed” in verse 61 and “Power” in verse 62 refer to the almighty God. The Lord’s use of the word “Power” indicates that the Jewish leaders were not the government, but that He is the government. The Lord went on to indicate to them that He would come back as the Son of Man. The Lord also seemed to be saying, “You revere God as the Blessed. But I tell you, He is the Power to govern all things. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
When Pilate was examining the Lord Jesus, he did not care whether or not He was the Son of God. Instead, Pilate questioned Him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (15:2). To this question the Lord answered, “You are saying it.” This means that the Lord admitted to Pilate that He was the King of the Jews. Therefore, He was both the Son of God and the King of the Jews. Because of this, He was sentenced to death. This means that He was crucified as the Son of God and as the King of the Jews.
In chapter fourteen, while the Lord Jesus was passing through the judgment at the hands of men, Peter failed. In his failure he passed through the experience of the Lord’s death. All the close followers of the Lord were also brought into His death.
We should not think that the Lord Jesus was finished with Peter because of his failure. No, Peter’s failure was his crucifixion, and this crucifixion was the entrance into the Lord’s death.
Peter needed to be crucified, to be brought into the death of Christ, because he was so natural. Being bold, he always took the lead. Certainly it is necessary for such a person to be crossed out, and Peter was in fact crossed out. Although he did not realize it at the time, he entered into the Lord’s death. No doubt, later, after the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, Peter came to realize that he had entered into the Lord’s crucifixion.
For years I did not understand why the record concerning the judgment of the Lord Jesus is merged with the account of Peter’s experience. I thought that this was merely intended to be an exposure of Peter. Now I see that not only was Peter being exposed, but He was passing through the process of death with the Lord Jesus. Because Peter is our representative, this means that we all entered into the Lord’s death with Him.
The Lord Jesus went through death in a triumphant way, but Peter went through death in the way of failure. This failure exposed Peter’s natural being and caused it to be dealt with.
The Lord Jesus was not the only one who passed through the process of death. All of us, represented by Peter, have passed through this process with the Lord Jesus. Do you not think that you are a Peter? We all are Peters needing to be exposed, judged, and crucified.
