Mark 14:43-52, CEB - Suddenly, while Jesus was still
speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs.
They had been sent by the chief priests, legal experts, and elders. His betrayer had given them a sign: “Arrest
the man I kiss, and take him away under guard.”
As soon as he got there, Judas said to Jesus,
“Rabbi!” Then he kissed him. Then they
came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
One of the bystanders drew a sword and struck the
high priest’s slave and cut off his ear. Jesus responded, “Have you come with swords
and clubs to arrest me, like an outlaw? Day after day, I was with you, teaching in the
temple, but you didn’t arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” And all his disciples left him and ran away. One young man, a disciple, was wearing nothing
but a linen cloth. They grabbed him, but he left the linen cloth behind and ran
away naked.
And
now, the high drama begins, with armed confrontation, graphic violence, betrayal
with a kiss, and even a man fleeing naked in terror from the scene. Jesus, fresh from His “please take this cup
from me” prayer is now eerily calm and seemingly in control. He knew Judas was there to betray him and yet
Jesus allows the traitor to kiss him. As
Jesus is grabbed by the mob, He points out that this treachery is being
perpetrated in the dark of night in a remote garden instead of the temple where
the deed would have been much easier, but much more public. Nevertheless, Jesus announces, let the
scriptures be fulfilled, implying that He could have stopped all of this, but
is choosing to allow it to happen instead.
Mark
takes great care to draw the contrast here in this scene between Jesus and
everyone else. A bystander becomes
enraged and cuts off the high priest’s slave’s ear. The mob has come armed for a violent
encounter. Judas, who has followed Jesus
for three years, now achieves the peak of treachery by choosing to betray Jesus
with a kiss. And all the disciples fled
the scene in a desperate attempt at self-preservation. One young unnamed disciple even flees naked
rather than stay and face arrest. The
only One in this scene not being carried away by their emotion is the One that has
the most right to be out-of-control.
I find
comfort in this, for there have been many times when I feel out-of-control and
desperate. Yet, even now, Jesus is still
in control. When I am enraged, Jesus is
able to hear it without returning it.
When I try to hide my betrayals in the darkness, Jesus calmly and
non-judgmentally calls me out. When I run away, Jesus allows me to do so,
knowing that eventually, I will come back.
In the midst of scenes of greatest
turmoil in my life, Jesus is the calm-restoring
presence of God that I can count on in the moment.
Also
abundantly clear in this passage is that Jesus chooses to give himself up. This is not the story of a would-be savior
whose plans were foiled by the religious authorities and/or Rome. When Jesus announces,
“let the scriptures be fulfilled,” he is confirming what He has been telling the
disciples repeatedly for weeks now; this was always the plan. Salvation comes though the transformative
sacrifice – a sacrifice made voluntarily by the very Son of God. Spend a few moments today meditating on the
thought that you and me are saved by God’s sacrifice.
Question: What does this passage show you about the
character of God as seen in Jesus?
Prayer: God, I
get angry, confused, scared, and out-of-control, but You are my Rock in all of
it. It is Your unfathomable love that
holds me, saves me, and transforms me in my worst moments. To You, Jesus, be
all glory and praise forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for the people of Turkey as they experienced
a second deadly earthquake just two weeks after the first that killed nearly
50,000 people.
Song: Judas is
Betrayed By Jesus – Poor Bishop Hooper
