Is it I, Lord? | Mark 14:10-21 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

Mimi, in Mark chapter 14, please, as we begin together be beginning in verse 10 of this chapter, time to hear God's voice in his word. As you're aware, on more than one occasion, the Lord Jesus told his disciples coming where he would die, that he would be buried, that he would be resurrected. But there's an important detail in those predictions, which total number of three in the gospel of Mark, that he would be handed over. He'd be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. And they would be the agents that would judge him and condemn him to death.

And what you and I have before us in this text is the entry point of the realization of that prediction. This is going to serve as the beginning of the drama of Christ's atoning death and resurrection. We are now going to unfold the anticipated sacrifice that will serve as the provision for humanity's redemption. And as we journey on this path of discovering, rediscovering, reinforcing the story of our salvation. There are wonderful inspirations and insights and instructions that await to be harvested.

And that is the case with this particular portrait of Jesus' life where he is now ready to celebrate a unique Passover with the 12. And there are indeed spiritual pearls that are way to be stringed together so that these truths can be bound in our hearts and that they can be tied around our necks like Proverbs speaks about. And the way we're going to see these things is by considering three important observations about this particular Passover feast. The first thing is the preparation for this Passover. The second thing will be the proclamation during this Passover.

And lastly, we will look at the prophecies about this Passover. And so I want us to read from verse 10 down to verse 21 in one sitting to get an idea of what we're going to examine more carefully. Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. And wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where's my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.

There, prepare for us. And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the passover. And when it was evening, he came with the 12. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. One who is eating with me.

They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, is it I? He said to them, it is one of the 12. One who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

Father, I admit my weakness. We all admit our frailty. We ask that the word would work in us. And, Lord, as this word is shared that you would work through it, we desperately need you to change us, and it cannot happen unless we depend on you in prayer. So, Lord, we do not assume that just because we have this room, that we sang some songs and that we have Bibles before us, that things will occur.

We ask, Lord, that you would bless this time and that we would sense your blessing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you and I meditate on verse 12 alone, there are two sparks that will surely kindle our hearts toward Christ. Let us consider, firstly, the preparation for this Passover.

We see here that Jesus is approached by his disciples. Jesus is approached by this whole group, and they are the ones who inquired about preparing for this feast. It wasn't Jesus who initiated it. It wasn't Jesus who brought them in and commanded them. It was the 12 who were mindful and vocal about their willingness to volunteer to meet this requirement.

And this already is truly admirable. It's something that is worth seeing as inspiration. You know, it's one thing as disciples of Jesus Christ to be willing to serve the Lord. It's another thing to look for opportunities to serve, as these men did. There's an interesting place in one of the the short epistles.

It's it's a book of Titus, and you don't have to turn there, but Titus speaks about good works, good works, good works. And there in Titus three, he actually tells Titus to tell his people to be careful to devote themselves to good works. Later, he actually says to learn to devote themselves to good works. But before in Titus two fourteen, he says that Jesus Christ died for a peculiar people that they might be zealous for good works. Zealous for good works.

So not just to devote yourself to good works, but to be passionate about it. If you if you're zealous about anything, you're going to pursue it with conviction, with excitement, with discipline. And this is what the spirit is saying to his people. Be zealous for good works. And that's modeled here, I believe, with these disciples.

There's a lot of things about the disciples that disappoint us. But right here in this snapshot, we should be moved that they approach the Lord and they say, Lord, what do you want us to do now? What is it that what what's the next mission? What's the next task? You know, somebody made a very humbling observation about the church at large.

The church, he said, is often like a soccer stadium where you have 11 people on the field who are in desperate need of rest and thousands of people in the stands who are in desperate need of exercise. How true it is that that is the tempo. That is kind of the environment of many local churches. Maybe a handful of people who are excited to serve God, not just attend, but serve God, and they're doing a lot. They're carrying a lot, and and a lot of people are, like, at a game watching, who are in desperate need of spiritual exercise.

May not be so of Maranatha Bible Church in Jesus' name. But at the same time, though these disciples came to the Lord and they volunteer their hearts in their hands, You see Christ responding by commissioning only two of them. Isn't that what we see in verse 13? And he sent two of his disciples. Now the two are actually named when you look at Luke's account, which you don't have to turn to, but in Luke 22 verse eight, it was Peter and John.

He sent Peter and John to prepare this feast. And there's application even in this. You see, although we might all want to be willing and even eager and seek opportunity to serve, at the same time, we have to accept that the Lord will delegate and distribute different opportunities to serve, and we have to trust in his wisdom. So as much as you might be excited, also know that you must be trusting leading. Because I know that there are other people who want to serve, who are looking for opportunities to serve, but are also frustrated.

Frustrated. Perhaps because they wanna serve in a particular way. They wanna exercise certain gifts that they may not even have. But I see also the submission of these disciples who though they came collectively to the Lord, Christ says, okay, I'm gonna select two of you. Now you go.

And so be willing to serve, and be willing to even wait at times for the Lord to call you when he needs to call you and providentially open the door for you when he wants to. All you have to do is be like a servant on your feet ready to be commissioned when the master commissions. And that's one simple truth, but the second truth from verse 12 alone, again, we are warming ourselves at the fire of meditation, is not from the disciples necessarily, but from Jesus himself. When the disciples approach Christ and ask him to do what is necessary to prepare for the feast, they're implying, and obviously, it's implying to us that they're gonna eat this feast with who? Jesus.

That they're going to observe and commemorate this Passover together. Now you might miss this unless you have an understanding of the Old Testament because in the Old Testament where this Passover was instituted, we're not only told there when the Passover is supposed to be observed. We're not only told how the Passover is supposed to be recognized. We're also even instructed with whom you're supposed to celebrate this feast with. I want you to see it with your own eyes in Exodus chapter 12 beginning in verse one, and see how this reflects upon the heart of Jesus for his followers.

Exodus 12 beginning in verse one. Remember that this was a feast created by the Lord himself in order to remember the Exodus. And at the very time of the original Exodus out of Egypt into the promised land, this is what the Lord says in verse one of this text. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb. So you see here that the institution calls for the feast to be honored by each household. And that's confirmed by verse four that if that household was too small, then they can extend the invitation to the nearest neighbor to eat of the lamb together. And there are awesome practical truths even in this.

Though this feast is not binding on us as Christians in the new covenant, there are principles here surely about family worship. How to honor the Lord as a unit that share the same blood. But more than that, I want us just to see how this points to what Jesus is saying about his own 12. Did Jesus have an earthly family? He did have an earthly family.

But is there any indication at this point in Mark that Jesus celebrated the the Passover with his earthly family? No. Who is he celebrating it with? The 12. What does that mean?

I believe the explanation is given to us in a different part of the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew, we read here in chapter 12 verse 15. You don't have to turn there, but listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew twelve fifty. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. Do you see this?

What is Christ saying about his own even in the way he's celebrating the Passover? These 12 are my family because they're doing the will of the father. See, when you give your life to Christ, you are not becoming a subject to his kingdom merely. Jesus Christ goes a step further than that, and he adopts you into his family. He makes you one of his own.

He brings you to himself. And I wonder how many people in this room view their relationship with Christ in such a way. It's very easy in understanding the sovereignty of God. Yes. Even God and his sovereignty coming as a savior, understanding his love.

But it's very easy to see how the appropriate response would be to say, I'm your servant. You're my Lord. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do. My life belongs to you. That's that's quite simple.

What's more difficult to grasp is that he calls you his son, his daughter, his friend. That's what people wrestle with. That's what people find hesitation to leap into and to enjoy and experience in their Christian journey. And yet Christ, in direct ways and indirect ways, wants us to believe that, that you have that kind of relationship with the living God. And we have to understand that.

And I'll tell you why I believe that this is so important to the heart of Christ because he he dispels something in one of the first statements he makes after his resurrection. Christ says something so profound that is applicable to you and I and understanding, okay, I'm studying who Jesus is but who's Jesus now? He's resurrected. He's ascended. Is there any indication of what he's like now and the bible gives us plenty of evidence?

Mary. Mary who went to the tomb and wanting to find Christ bumps into what she perceives to be the gardener. And it's in fact Jesus. And she realizes that. And Jesus says something to her.

Jesus commissions her to go to the disciples and to reveal that he is in fact alive. And and what does Jesus say to Mary in John chapter 20 verse 17? Let me read the words of Jesus to you. He said here, Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my who? Brothers.

Not my servants, not my subjects, not my ministers, not my apostles. Go to my brothers. Go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Now it's moving enough to see that Christ would use such familial language to mere creatures, but what's more moving is when you consider the timing of him identifying the disciples as such. Where were the disciples when he sent Mary to fetch for them?

Where? They were cowering in fear. They denied him not too long ago. They distanced himself. They were in doubt.

They were in unbelief. And yet Jesus, in understanding their current condition, still calls them my brothers. You know what that means for you and I? Failing, stumbling Christian, listen to this. Christ is committed to you.

He's committed to you. I know that might be hard to believe, but that's why you need to get to the word and see the heart of Jesus. He calls them my brothers even though they have failed him. After twenty four seven attendance before Christ, they they come to this point where even on the night of his betrayal they boasted, we're willing to die with you. Oh, really?

And so he sends a woman as a witness, and she's gonna tell him, Jesus said, tell my brothers. That that's the grace of Christ. That's what you have to put your hope in day in and day out. Not just when you you feel good in your walk with the Lord, but even like these disciples. When your head is down and your heart is sinking and you're wondering, where did I go wrong?

Tell my brothers. And the Lord gives Peter and John back in Mark 14, somewhat strange instructions. Let's go back to our text and read it again in verse 13 down. And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.

And wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? This seems to be intentionally vague. So he recruits these two, he launches them out and he gives them a set of instructions and it seems to be like this undercover mission. And one of the first things that he tells them to do is is to go and look for this man with a jar of water, and he's gonna lead you and you're gonna find this place, and that's the place where it's going to be. But why is Christ being so cryptic?

Like many of Jesus' instructions, he does not provide much explanation. Right? Because he wants faith from you and I. But if you wanna know answers to what seems to be a a mysterious thing in in one of your readings of the text, Always do this. This is what you always have to do, and you always come to a closer place of finding an answer.

Look at the context. Look at the context. That's the key. What happened right before Jesus was approached by the disciples and Jesus sent two of them in this way? Go back to verse 10.

What do we read? Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12, went to the chief priest in order to betray them. To betray him to them. So what we see here is that Judas we learn now, Judas is ready to at any moment report where Christ is at the right opportunity and have the authorities arrest the Lord. And you know who was aware of that?

The Lord. Jesus knew what Judas was up to. And and Jesus here at this time in giving these instructions in this way was to conceal the details of his next location in order to blind Judas and to prevent him from doing this evil thing. It wasn't time yet. Do you understand that Jesus was not only in control of his passion, he was absolutely sovereign over every single second of it.

He would be betrayed later that night but not at that time of the night. Why? Because Christ had to do a few things, share a few things, teach a few things to his own before he would be betrayed. Christ, as we're gonna learn in the weeks to come, is gonna institute the Lord's supper at this Passover feast. Christ, according to John 13 to John 17, is going to pour out precious and powerful truths for the 12 and for disciples to come.

And so when he gives these instructions, surely, Judas was in attendance and was listening very carefully. But what Christ did was leave out the necessary details to leave him in the dark. Oh, the wisdom of Jesus. Oh, the brilliance of the mind of Christ. You and I just a moment ago didn't understand why he only sent two, not all of them.

Now you know. We didn't understand perhaps at first why he's he's giving these mysterious plans. Now we know. Can I tell you something, please? Would you trust Christ always?

Always. If you're in the dark at any point, don't you dare fall into the temptation of criticizing his wisdom or doubting his heart. He knows. He always knows. Cling to him, obey him, worship him, and watch him lead you perfectly.

Perfectly. And so he says, go, Enter into the city and you're gonna find a man with a jar of water. You have to remember that this was what? During the Passover. Hundreds of thousands of people were cramming the streets.

The hustle and the bustle, the noise, the purchasing, the planning, the last second arrangements. You can imagine how crazy it was. How is identifying a man with a jar of water gonna be significant evidence to identify the person who's supposed to lead them? Unless you understand that it was not common for a man in the public to carry a jar of water. Because that's what the scriptures tell us.

That this task was designated exclusively, generally for women. And you get hints of that in the scriptures. You see it in Genesis twenty four eleven with Rebecca that when Abraham's servant is looking for a wife for his son, he goes to the well at the time where the woman come out and draw water. You see it in the new testament with the woman at the well in John chapter four. It was a custom for a woman to go fetch deliver water.

Men did not do that chore. And so now it makes a little bit more sense. This man will stand out surely to the disciples. But before we move on too quickly, what does that say about this man? Because evidently, Christ in giving this plan to these two disciples prearranged these things.

He prearranged them. The the man with the the room had it ready. And so whether he did so naturally or supernaturally, we're not told, but he did prearrange these things. And so here's what I learned about this man with a jar of water. He was willing to obey Christ no matter how I made him look in public.

That he was willing to play even a small part in this greater drama of redemption. And what was his part? To carry a jar of water so that two of the 12 disciples can say, that's the guy. Let's follow him. And so I see something about humility.

I see something about inspiration from this unnamed soul who loved Christ enough to do his bidding, as small as it may have been. But the inspiration doesn't stop there. Never mind the man with the jar. That's one thing. What about the man who owned the house?

No name given. And again, this is intentional. Judas didn't need to hear names. He didn't need to hear addresses or street names. He he didn't need any of that.

But this man who owned the house, this man with the jar would lead him to this specific abode. Now if this man had a family, and I'd like to think he did, then he, obviously, in wanting to honor the law, had to what? Prepare for his own Passover feast. And you know what it's like in festive days, right, in festive seasons, they're running around the last second things. And Christ selected his home, and he says, I would like to have my disciples and myself celebrate in one of your guest rooms.

And what does the man do? He complies. He complies. Was it convenient timing wise? Probably not.

But you know what this man teaches me? Nah. He wasn't too busy to serve Jesus. He wasn't too preoccupied with other things, even good things, to serve the Lord. Are you too busy to serve Jesus?

Are you too busy by everything around you? I see a man here who says, come. Yes, Lord. Come to my home. And timing wasn't the only potential excuse for this man to step away from accepting Christ inviting himself into his home.

Do you remember what happened right before John chapter 12 where Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus? I wanna remind you what happened in John chapter 11 verse 57. Listen to these words. Now the chief priest in John eleven fifty seven and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, being Jesus, he should let them know so that they they might arrest him. So there was this public call.

If anybody knows where this Jesus of Nazareth is, let us know because we're looking for him. So timing wasn't the only issue here. Trouble was. It's not just inconvenience for the master of this house, but serious danger. Hosting Jesus at this time, where the most powerful people apart from Rome were looking for him, and yet this anonymous individual says, you're having it in my home.

Christ is worthy. Christ is worthy of our time. Christ is worthy of any risk. And what do you read? Look at verse 16.

And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. Don't you love that phrase? That they had found it just as he had told them. When you obey the Lord, even if his instructions may seem to be difficult to grasp or understand or even dangerous to pursue, you will, if you honor his wishes, walk into a fascinating realization of his faithfulness. Exactly the way Christ said it would happen, happened.

Exactly what he said would would come to transpire. Exactly what he said. It is a greater risk not to obey the Lord than to obey the Lord. Remember that. No matter what fears you face as you stand at the threshold of trusting Jesus Christ, always remember that it is a greater risk to step away and disobey than to thrust yourself and to obey him always.

They found it exactly as he said they would find it. But we come now from the preparation to the proclamation, the proclamation at this Passover. And what do we discover? Verse 17. And when it was evening, he came with the 12.

And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. They began to be sorrowful and say to him one after another, is it I? So at some point in the celebration, they're all reclining, they're honoring the feast and the traditions surrounding it, and the Lord uttered this heart sinking statement. You can just imagine how tension filled that room in that very moment. You can imagine the silence.

You can imagine the heartbeat of these disciples that were pounding against their chest. When Jesus, who has never been wrong about anything that he had said, made this claim. One of you is gonna betray me. And you have to recall that Christ, on more than one occasion, told the very same 12, I'm going to die. I'm going to be buried.

I am going to raise from the dead. And two out of those three times, he said, I will be delivered up. And at this point now, he is closing in on the culprit, the one who's actually going to commit this inconceivable crime of giving the son of God over to vicious, evil, wicked men. And as Jesus says this, you might be wondering why. Why is the Lord sharing this publicly?

Why is he telling the disciples? And I believe the main reason is so that he can reveal his omniscience yet again. He's done it on different occasions, and he's doing it once more here, providing further evidence that Jesus Christ did not get surprised at any point of him surrendering his life, not once. What is Christ showing here? I know exactly the horrific plans that are made against me, and I willfully am walking into them.

I'm not I'm not here unwilling to be apprehended. I'm here laying down my life, and I'm telling you now, I know which one of you is actually gonna betray me. Now think about this. If for whatever reason you've been given divine inspiration, that one person in your friend group is going to betray you to people who wanna murder you, what would you do with that knowledge? Run.

Escape. Not have dinner with the guy. And what what does Christ do? He is conveying to the 12 I know which one of you are gonna do, and I'm still here because this is this is a part of a greater thing. And so that the disciples would know and that the disciples like us would know for generations to come that Christ came into this world and embraced his mission.

He didn't cower from it. He didn't flee from it. He didn't second guess it. He with joy, chest out, walked into it. But what I find amazing here is how this announcement disturbed the consciousness of all these disciples.

Did you catch it? It says here that they were sorrowful. In verse 19, they began to be so this is talking about deep grief, significant pain. They began to be sorrowful, and one after the next began to say, is it I? Is it me?

Is it me? Notice I didn't say, I think it's him. Not once. And it makes you wonder also, is this self examination something to be praised or concerned about? And I think the self examination taking place at this moment is honorable.

It's honorable because hearing the words of Christ concerning the capability of our sin should always encourage reflection. And no matter how strong you think you perceive yourself to be, it is a dangerous thing to be in a place where you feel like you will never fall. Paul warns about that in first Corinthians 10. And so what you see with these disciples is that they're doing some soul searching, not to the point of condemnation. And that should never be the case for you, but this soul searching, when you hear a strong word, when you come to the word of God for yourself, when you begin to feel conviction in your conscience, or when you hear of a failure of another and it causes you in a holy way to be like, Lord, may it never be of me.

That's exactly what it should produce. Not condemnation, but clinging to the Lord with a greater grip. Lord, I don't wanna fail you. Lord, I don't want to deny you. I I pray that it would never be true of me.

So you can applaud the fact that these disciples are asking about themselves, and they're not scrutinizing one another. But I'm also convinced here because what's so interesting is that they didn't suspect Judas. In fact, I I believe that the disciples, if they had to make a list of who is most likely to betray Christ, Judas would be on the bottom. At least, the lower tier. Do you know why?

Because he was trusted enough to be made the manager of the the ministry finances. That's John chapter 12 verse six. You have to trust somebody to deal with the ministry finances and funds. And and Judas was selected, and he held that position for that three year tenure. So there was something about him that was winsome, disarming.

There was no suspicion about him necessarily. But I'm convinced that if the disciples paid a little bit more attention as each one began to ask the Lord, is it I? They might have suspecting something of Judas. And I wanna prove that to you because you don't see it here in Mark, but you do see it in Matthew. So go to Matthew with me in chapter 26, and I want you to look at how Matthew depicts this very same scene in Matthew 26 and verse 22.

And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, is it I, Lord? What does Matthew add? Lord. They said Lord. Each of these disciples said, is it I, Lord?

He answered, he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Now look at verse 25. Judas, who would betray him, answered, is it I, rabbi?

Is it I, rabbi? He said to him, you have said so. So the 11 said, is it I, lord? When it came down to Judas, he didn't call him lord. Judas was making an attempt.

Right? Because Christ here is being ambiguous on purpose. And like the past three years, Judas is trying to camouflage himself at this critical moment. And so as these disciples are saying one after the other, is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord?

It comes down to Judas' turn. He wants to try to blend in. But even in his attempt to try to blend in, he can't help but cough up the word rabbi, which means teacher. Why didn't he echo the disciples? Why didn't he say, is it I, Lord?

I'm persuaded because he could not. He could not. His heart had determined to betray him and to even use the word Lord was too heavy on his lips. It was a weighty thing. And so he says, rabbi you know what's interesting in the gospel of Matthew, you have two instances where you have the recorded words of Judas.

You have it here, and then you have it in the same chapter in verse 45. Look at verse 45. When Judas finally brings the band of murderers behind him to find Christ in the garden, notice what Judas says here in verse 49. And he came up to Jesus at once and said, greetings, what? Rabbi.

Greetings, Rabbi, and he kissed him. Never called him lord. At least at this point, he couldn't. Listen very carefully, Judas serves as a sobering reminder for those who think that they can live successfully in compromise. No matter how clever you think you are, no matter how successful you've been over the years, Judas proves to us that exposure is bound to come.

You might reveal it yourself, others might discover it about you, or the Lord of glory himself will unmask it. Judas did pretty good up to this point. But upon close and careful investigation, he wasn't who he said he was. And he even stood out from the true disciples. Why?

Why did Judas betray Jesus? The general answer that people tend to give is because he loved money. He did love money. He stole from the ministry funds. He did love money.

But he loved money all along. Why at this point did he betray Christ? Again, when you look at the context, you have the best key of unlocking revelation. What happened right before Judas chose to collaborate with the Pharisees and the chief priest? What took place that triggered that moment?

Go back to Mark 14, you'll see it for yourself. We read it in verse three of Mark 14. That while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. Who was in attendance? Judas.

In fact, he was the one who began the criticism and the disciples followed. You could have sold this for 300 denarii. We could have given this to the poor. He was offended by this. Ultimately, because he thought, I could have stuffed my pockets more if we we sold this.

This was a donation. I would have I would have made more money for myself. But something happens. Jesus in defending Mary says, she did this for what? My burial.

She's paying tribute to my death. And I am convinced that at that moment, it dawned on Judas. He he's not here to establish a kingdom. He's he's gonna die. He's he's saying it.

And I wonder if all the past times where Jesus said, I'm going to die. I'm gonna be buried. I'm gonna I wonder if that crashed into his thinking right there and then as well. Whether it did or not doesn't matter. At this moment, Judas understood that this Jesus of Nazareth is not going to be establishing a government.

He's talking about his death. I didn't sign up for this. I signed up when I realized that I was chosen among others, a band of men who are gonna have the most prominent positions in this kingdom, and now he's talking about dying? And now this woman's anointing him because he's gonna be dying evidently very soon? I'm jumping this ship because it's a sinking one.

But you know what? I'm not gonna leave here without something in my hands, so I'll sell him. If he's gonna die, let me make something out of it. Do you see what Judas is thinking? So he goes to the chief priest and he says, what's the price?

I'll give him over to you. I realized that this man has a tendency to whatever he says about himself or events or people is always right. 100%. He's talking about dying. I'm abandoning this cause, but I'm not leaving here empty handed.

So what's the price? 30 pieces of silver? Perfect. So it's the timing. It dawned on him that things are gonna change.

Things are not what I thought they would be, And so he's gonna betray the master. But this doesn't catch Christ by surprise because now we come to the prophecies about this Passover. We talked about the preparation for it, the proclamation during it, but now we come to the prophecies about this Passover. What does Jesus say in verse 20 of Mark 14? He said to them, it is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

For the son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Notice again in verse 21. For the son of man goes as it is written. Christ didn't know about Judas merely because of his omniscience.

Christ also knew about Judas because it was declared hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago. Not just about Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, but even his betrayal has been foretold by the prophets. And one of the clearest passages as we come to a close in this message is found from the lips or the pen rather of the psalmist of Israel David. Look at this with your own eyes in Psalm 41, and I want you to see how even this moment has been told. And we've been prepared for it by the spirit of God.

Psalm 41 beginning in verse nine. Jesus alludes to the words of David in his own experience of treachery, and it's found here in this verse of Psalm 41 verse nine. David writes, even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. You know what it means to lift your heel against someone? It's to lift up your foot and to deliver a crushing blow.

And David says, a friend of mine, whom I trusted, who ate with me. Now that's ex it's just even more painful when you've had some meals with a person, and you enjoy that experience with someone, and yet that person turns around to kick you in the face. Where did David had that experience? With his own son, Absalom, with one of his most trusted advisors, Ahithophel. This was fulfilled in David's experience with the Holy Spirit uses this to show a greater fulfillment in the greater son of David with Judas and Christ.

But the prophecy doesn't end there. We continue in verse 10 to 12 and we realize that there's more to it. But you, David says, but you, oh Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up that I may repay them. By this I know that you delight in me. My enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

But you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever. That's David speaking. Yes. That's David by the spirit disclosing to us the reality of eternity and resurrection. I'm going to be in your presence forever.

But what is David speaking about here? Vindication. Yes, my closest friend would betray me, but I'm asking you, oh Lord, to not let him have the triumph over me. Vindicate me, oh God. And God did vindicate David, but again, we have to connect this to Christ and the unthinkable loyal disloyalty of Judas.

Did God vindicate the son of God? Absolutely. It did not end with Judas' betrayal. He was brought forth and raised up into the presence of the almighty forever and ever, and he sits at his right hand to this day. So if there is anyone to be pitied in this in this scene, this sombering scene here, it wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ, it's Judas.

Because Judas is not coming out victorious. He's not even gonna come out prosper prosperous, even temporarily. He's gonna end his own life, unfortunately. And that's why Jesus pronounces a woe against him. He says what?

Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. And this is how he ends. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Can I tell you what that means? Here's what it means.

Judas's nonexistence would have been better than his eternal existence in torment. Judas did so horrific will the punishment and the divine wrath be against Judas for what he did against the son of God. That it would have been better if he was not born. This might be a little bit of an awkward way to end a message like this, but maybe somebody needs to hear it. Hell is a real place.

You don't hear the word often unless it's used as a cuss word or derogatory in a derogatory way. And I think that's Satan's tactic of making hell seem like a joke. It's not a joke. It's real. And there will be people going there, and they're not gonna have a second chance.

The only chance you have of making sure that you have eternal life is if with the breath you still have in your lungs, you admit that you've sinned against a holy God, but you also receive this holy God's love in the person of Jesus Christ who wants to rescue you from the wrath of God. So what is it in your mind that's causing you to delay in accepting that? Is it money? There will be many people in hell because they served money in their 70, eighty years of life. Many people.

You know, some people, it's a disappointment. A misunderstanding of who God is, like Judas. And And that was enough to deter them and to cause them to live in rebellion against him. You know, Judas would realize he would experience a deep sorrow. He never experienced true repentance, and I am among those who believe that if Judas repented, God would have forgiven him.

He didn't repent. He was he was broken, but he didn't confess. He didn't flee to Christ. He killed himself in the shadow of despair. Do you know Jesus Christ?

Do you have the guarantee that you have eternal life? Is Christ Lord? Was there a moment that you remember where you said, save me, Lord Jesus? Save me. Forgive me for my foolishness.

Forgive me for my waywardness. I now stop and realize that you've done all that you could, the unimaginable. You came and you died in my place so that I would have a place with you forever. Has that has that thought ever dawned on you to the degree that it caused you to bend your knee and to say, I wanna live for this Christ? I wanna let you know that your woe can turn into a win, and all that is required of you is to realize that he is the Lord, and he is your savior.

So why delay a moment? Why delay another second? Why not at this very second? You forget everything around you. You realize that in this past fifty minutes, you have tasted something of the beauty of Jesus, and he can become your savior.

And here's here's where I'm ending. This will result more than just you going from hell to heaven. That's wonderful. That's glorious. I love that.

But I'll tell you why it's better than that. He takes you from enemy to a son, from a rebel to a daughter, from a foe to a companion. And you don't experience that only when when you pass on from this life. The moment you are justified, you are brought into his heart, and you walk with him day by day by day. Things through you, and you accumulate these testimonies until it it climaxes where you meet him face to face.

That's what the Christian life looks like. Do you want that? What do you have that's that's better than that? Please, meet me at the door and tell me. I'm I'm very curious.

Oh, your business. Oh, your properties. Oh, you chasing one girl out there. That's satisfying you? That's why you keep running around?

You know down deep inside that what you're doing in your own efforts, in your own imagination, with your own lust is only temporary and it always fails you. So why do you keep going back to it? Why don't you just bring your sin to the foot of the cross, let Christ deal with the record of debt, and then give you a new heart so so that you can live out the way you were created to live, and that's for him. So I I end this message about Jesus celebrating the Passover with an invitation for you to be saved. Believe you, if you're saved, just praise him more today.

Give him thanks that you belong to him and that he has a purpose for you. Can we pray? Let's pray. I want you to think about maybe one or more than one thing that touched your heart and then translate that into prayer. Respond to the word of God with your own words and and commune with the Lord.

And if you're a person here who doesn't know the Lord, the Bible tells us that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved. Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, not just that Christ died, but that he rose and that he's living, and he beckons you to come to him. And as you're praying there silently, I'll ask the praise team to come and join us and prepare for us to respond in song. But just there's so much noise today. Just in in a brief moment of silence, let each of us just seek the Lord, and then we will sing to him together.

Shall we? Lord, we ask that these words would in fact live in us. We wanna be changed. We wanna know you, live for you, glorify you for the rest of our days. We thank you for what you've said to us.

Now we respond to you with these words of love. In Jesus' name, amen. I had an interesting time studying the word yesterday, as I usually do for Sunday, as you know, studying about the Last Supper. And I'm sure most of us in here received a text or stumbled upon a clip on the Internet of how the opening ceremony of the Olympics in France included a blasphemous display of drag queens who were mocking that very scene that we uphold and revere and adore Christ for. Devilish as that was, late last night, I I pulled out my phone and had trouble sleeping, but I watched, Living Waters, Ray Comfort's Ministry, because they're out there in Paris now doing some evangelism work, and they responded quickly to that, that whole ordeal, and they began to interview people about what they thought.

Did anybody see this? What they thought about what happened at the opening ceremony. And I don't know what broke my heart more, what that thing was or how the people responded to it. Things along the line of, yeah, it's art or, you know, and I mean, any other religion. Paris would be on fire.

Right? I don't remember the last time. A lot of things have made me feel different ways in the past few years, but this this one made me emotional after seeing that that interview with different people. And though it made me broken and grieved, I felt something. I don't know if you sense that too, this holy boldness.

This boldness. In what sense? If the world is only intensifying in their blasphemy, my prayer since last night was, lord, amplify my life to be unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unashamed. No crack in your voice, no hesitation to say it, no no no setback on calling sin sin.

If there was a time to be bold, it's today. If there was a time to be vocal and to to share the good news of Jesus Christ, it's now. It's now. We don't respond to wickedness and even blasphemy by protesting or threatening or rampaging or looting. We don't do that.

But the way we do it is we go out and we give more light, more truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so I just thought it was interesting timing, at least for me, studying about the last supper, and this blasphemous thing shows up on my phone. So don't allow your righteous indignation to just remain as emotion or to cause you to act carnal. Ask the Lord to give you the wisdom to protest with the truth of Jesus Christ. And if they're gonna shove this in people's faces, then may may we, by the wisdom of God, give this gospel to as many people as possible.

To allow these things, every event, it just seems like the birth pains are getting more intense. So let's be more intense. By the spirit as he energizes us. And I I just, if anything, I I wanna see the church explode in revival in these days. That's been my prayer, and I hope it's your prayer as well.

Why don't we pray it together? Lord, we thank you. You told us, Lord, that if they call the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more are its servants? So, Lord, we are not completely shocked at the evil around us and the evil that will come our way, not just for your name, but even for those who bear your name. Make us bold, Lord.

Fill us with faith, Lord. Fill us with the knowledge of your words so that we can give an appropriate defense for the hope that we have. We pray, Lord, that what we're seeing around us would only cause the church to be more alive than ever. May the Holy Spirit not be grieved among his people. May he be pleased.

May you be pleased by what you see here with every ministry represented here. Lord, we we wanna walk out of this place with a strategic mindset, a missional mindset that, the gates of hell will not prevail. We will succeed. We will win in the end. And we want to be part of that plan to see people come to the kingdom of God.

So we do ask that you go before us. Keep your hand on our minds and our hearts, and may we, Lord, be your vessels for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.