Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Passover-King - Mark 14:1-2


The Passover-King
Mark 14:1-2 (Read 14:1-11)
Introduction: Black Friday is just past. The crowds, the sales, the excitement the bargains, gifts purchased to exchange on Christmas. The crowds may have been something like that Passover week in Jerusalem. Pilgrims arriving for the feast, guest rooms filling up, lambs being purchased for the sacrifice. In our context in Mark’s Gospel, the blackest of Fridays was approaching. The greatest transaction in the history of humankind was about to take place. The reason for the incarnation would soon be realized. As Isaiah the prophet had written 700 years earlier, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him [on Jesus] the iniquity of us all…” (Isa 53:6).
       Jesus has been showing His authority throughout the Gospel of Mark… He had authority to heal, to forgive sins, to cast out demons, to calm the stormy sea. He even had authority over death. Now, amazingly, He would show that He had authority to lay down His own life, and to take it up again. He spoke as a prophet in the previous chapter, revealing the coming destruction of the Temple which would happen in A.D. 70, while also alluding to His own return in messianic glory at the end of the age. But the disciples did not yet understand that the time of His Kingdom on earth was yet future, and the time of His departure was approaching. Jesus would again show His authority as He guides the story toward its pre-determined conclusion, in His time, finishing the work He came to do. No one would take His life, but He would lay it down of His own accord.
       The Passion of Christ confronts us with some challenging theology, including the intersection of human responsibility with divine sovereignty. The leaders are culpable for their rejection of Jesus. They should have recognized their own messiah. But God had a plan, fashioned within the God-head in eternity past. It was necessary to accomplish the rescue of His people. Peter seemed to get it when, on Pentecost, he both rebuked his countrymen for their unbelief, and affirmed the sovereign hand of God behind the events…
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-  23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it…” (Acts 2:22-24).
The story of the passion of Christ is the culmination of Mark’s Gospel. Everything before, it has been said, was an extended introduction. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is “Gospel,” that is, “Good News,”  because Jesus accomplished what He came to do, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, He paid a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.
Context: After looking ahead to coming tribulation, judgement, and the return of the King (Mark 13), Mark reminds us that this story will continue to unfold as planned: according to the predetermined purpose and foreknowledge of God.
The Maine* Idea: Jesus came as the Passover-King, the Lamb on the throne, who alone could shield us, by His blood, from the wrath we deserve.
I. The hour was approaching for the exaltation of the Son (14:1a).
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,  2 for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people."
     Let’s focus on the first part of verse one as we consider the revelation of Jesus as Sovereign: He is in control, guiding the story, to fulfill the Father’s plan. The leaders had been plotting the death of Christ since His ministry in Galilee. The triumphal entry, the crowds hailing Jesus in messianic language, the cleansing of the Temple, the repeated success of Jesus in repudiating the attempts of the leaders to trap Him with their questions… all of these things have added tension to the story, and pushed the leaders forward in their determination to put an end to Jesus. Even so, they had determined not to make a move on Christ during the feast. It would have been too public, too many people, too likely that it might result in a popular uprising against the leaders. Such a commotion would also draw the attention of the Roman authorities, which could turn out badly for the status quo which the leaders were enjoying. So, they thought it better to seize Him after the feast, to wait for a time when there would not be so much attention and potential for backlash.  
      But Jesus was in charge. He had revealed to His disciples that He would be handed over by the leaders to the gentiles, tortured and killed, and then be raised on the third day. They did not understand, and would not, until after the resurrection. But the timing was determined by the Father, not by the religious rulers. It had to unfold according to the plan of God, at time He had determined.
       Jesus came to fulfill the Scriptures, that is, the Law, the Prophets and the Writings that pointed to His death and resurrection. And it was Passover. The hour was approaching for the Lamb to be slain. After all, Jesus came as the Passover-King, the Lamb on the throne, who alone could shield us, by His blood, from the wrath we deserve. He is Lord, King, He also came…
     As Sacrifice: He came to shed His blood to save His own. Remember the questions Mark is answering as he writes his account of the life and work of Christ: 1) Who is Jesus; 2) Why did He come; and 3) What does it mean to follow Him? All three questions are further answered powerfully in this final section of Mark. He is the Son of God, the promised Deliverer, the Coming King. But He is not a King like the nations around them, the nations of the world. He is a Servant-King, a Passover-King, the Lamb on the throne. In God’s economy the crown and the cross cannot be separated. We see that picture in Revelation 5:6-12,   
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.  8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,  10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."  11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,  12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
The Lamb who was slain, who alone was worthy to open the seals, who by His blood ransomed a people from every tribe and nation, and who would reign in His kingdom on the earth, is Jesus. How do we get from a reference to Passover, to John’s vision of a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, next to the throne of Heaven?  
       By the first century, the feast of Passover and Unleavened bread had been merged into a week of celebration, remembrance and worship. Passover was the “defining feast” of Judaism, one of the “pilgrim-feasts” when those who were able would travel to the Temple in Jerusalem for sacrifice and worship. It celebrated the deliverance of the first-born from the angel of death, and the deliverance of the nation from Egyptian bondage. The tenth and final plague would bring death to the Egyptians, but the Jews were to kill a spotless lamb, and put it’s blood over the door and on the door posts of every home. We read in Exodus 12:11-14,  
…It is the LORD's Passover.  12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.  13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.  14 "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
And God did as He promised. The Angel of Death passed over those homes that were marked with the blood. Death came to every home of the Egyptians. The Jews were told to celebrate that day every year, as a reminder of what God had done. As clear as that instruction was, it seems that after the time of Joshua, the nation fell away from celebrating the Passover. We read in 2 Kings 23:21-23,
21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”  22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.
This Passover in Mark 14:1, 600 years or so after the time of Josiah, the Feast would be fulfilled in the Sacrifice of the Lamb. Jesus would be slain at the hour of the Passover sacrifice. As the blood of maybe a quarter of a million lambs was being shed in Jerusalem for the feast, the blood the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world, was being poured out. He willingly laid down his life for us. This is the heart of the Gospel message! Greater love has no man than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. He is sovereign and sacrifice, the Lamb and the King. And so, the apostle Paul could write to the Corinthians that, “…Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us…” (I Cor 5:7).  Jesus came as the Passover-King, the Lamb on the throne, who alone could shield us, by His blood, from the wrath we deserve.
II. The hour was at hand for the leaders to be exposed (14:1b-2).
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,  2 for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people."
      We see the leaders exposed as scheming, murderous conspirators, ironically, plotting the death of their own Messiah! There is tremendous irony in the unfolding story of Jesus at this section of the Gospel. The leaders plot against Jesus, planning to put Him to death, yet also scheming to avoid any backlash from the people or from the Romans. Even as they reject Him, they fulfill their own Scriptures, adding one more line of evidence that proves that Jesus is in fact the promised Messiah!
       In addition to the Scriptures, they are also fulfilling the prophesies that Jesus himself had made to the disciples on the journey to Jerusalem, showing His omniscience and authority. Three times He told them what would happen…
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again… (Mk 8:31).
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know,  31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise…" (Mk 9:30-31).
32 And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,  33 saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.  34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise…" (Mk 10:32-24).
And then Jesus says more about why He came, why His story had to unfold in this manner: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many..." (Mark 10:45). Paying a ransom implies delivering someone from captivity, setting them free. This is why He came. The scheme of the leaders, unknowingly, carried out the plan that God had established. Recall that their plans had begun forming almost as soon as the public ministry in Galilee had begun. After Jesus had healed one man on the Sabbath we read in Mark 3:6,  
The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Sabbath controversies, calling out the Pharisees for elevating the traditions of the Fathers on a par with Scripture, paved the way. Jesus’ actions since His arrival in Jerusalem did nothing to assuage their determination to kill Him! When Jesus disrupted the commerce in the Temple, casting out the money-changers and overturning the tables of those selling pigeons, we read in Mark 11:18,   
And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
      Their minds were made up. The leaders are exposed as scheming, and also as scared, fearful of rejection by the people, and of oppression by Rome. The leaders were fearful, they were afraid of losing their power and prestige.  We get a little glimpse into the deliberation of the Sanhedrin in John 11:48,  
If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
And so, their scheming against Jesus exposed their hearts. Back in chapter 7 of Mark, Jesus had spoken of the things that defile, the evil that comes from the depths of the fallen human heart…
20 And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,  22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person..." (Mk 7:20-23).
The wickedness in the hearts of the rulers was revealed by their deceitful scheming against Jesus. In the words of the Apostle Peter, speaking on the day of Pentecost, they essentially nailed Him to the cross, by the hands of godless men (Acts 2:22,23). Yet we see further on in that same passage that “God has made Him both Lord and Christ…” (Acts 2:36). They were culpable, but it was God’s plan. He did it for us. That blackest of Fridays purchased for us the Gift of Christmas.
What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus came as the Passover-King, the Lamb on the throne, who alone could shield us, by His blood, from the wrath we deserve.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Black Friday is past, some of you got bargains... good for you! But let’s remember, this Christmas season, the blackest of Fridays, we also call it Good Friday, when the true gift of Christmas was purchased… life and redemption, reconciliation with God… for all who believe. Jesus is the Son of God, God the Son, the promised Messiah. He came to redeem us, paying the price for our sins. Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us, delivering us from wrath and for worship… to God be the glory!
       What does it mean to follow Him? Mark wants would-be disciples to know that they need to count the cost. As the world is at enmity with God, under the influence of the prince of darkness, spiritually dead, that same hatred will be directed toward followers of Jesus as well. The Bible says, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” (2 Tim 3:11). The disciples would experience it. The church in Rome to which Mark is writing understood it… believers in many parts of the world are experiencing it still today. And some day, in some way, so will you if you determine to follow Jesus.
       Advent season is a great opportunity to ask a question about the reason for the day and turn conversations toward spiritual things. Maybe there is someone you can invite to Journey to Bethlehem tonight, it is a perfect opportunity to share with someone who needs to hear the good news! You could also invite them to one of the Sunday services this month. We’ll seek each week to connect the message of Christmas with a word about why He came.  As we interact with our families and friends let’s seek this month to lift up the name of Jesus and even to speak of the gift that He purchased and holds forth to humanity: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord… AMEN!

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