A Blossom Bible Podcast
A Blossom Bible Podcast
Mark 14:43-52 Forsaken for Us: Jesus' Journey to the Cross
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The betrayal and abandonment of Jesus stands as one of the most pivotal moments in human history. This powerful episode examines Mark 14:43 and the events in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested, betrayed by Judas with a kiss and the duplicitous greeting of "Rabbi, Rabbi."
We explore the profound significance of Judas' hypocritical words, unpacking how throughout Scripture, repeating someone's name carried special weight—indicating deep emotion or emphasis. From God calling "Abraham, Abraham" to Jesus weeping "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," this pattern reveals heart posture. Yet Jesus warns that merely saying "Lord, Lord" without truly knowing Him leads to spiritual disaster. Judas exemplifies the gap between religious language and authentic relationship.
The desertion becomes total as Peter attempts a misguided defense by cutting off Malchus' ear before fleeing with the other disciples. Even the likely author of Mark's Gospel—the mysterious young man who escapes naked when soldiers grab his garment—abandons Jesus. This complete forsaking fulfills Jesus' prophecy that "the shepherd would be struck and the sheep scattered."
Most significantly, we witness the divine exchange that forms the heart of Christianity. As Jesus cries "My God, why have you forsaken me?" from the cross, we see 2 Corinthians 5:21 fulfilled: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness.
When we truly grasp this exchange, we understand that when God looks at those who are in Christ, He sees not our failures but Christ's perfection. Not because of anything we've done, but because of everything Christ did. If you're struggling with guilt or feeling unworthy, remember that Jesus was completely forsaken so you could be completely accepted.
Mark 14, 43. Alright, so we are closing in on the cross here in the book of Mark. It is Thursday night in our reckoning, in the Jewish reckoning it's good to kind of get a grasp on this it's really the beginning of Friday. As the sun goes down there, thursday night, friday is beginning in the Jewish mind, and so this is Passover day. As Jesus spends time with his disciples, he celebrates the Passover meal Before the sun will go down again, jesus will have died on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That Passover fulfillment there. And so we are in the garden Garden of Gethsemane, across from the temple, there, across the valley, in the garden, and Jesus has been sharing some last minute truths with his disciples. He has been praying to the Father and he has encouraged his disciples to watch and pray. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak Now. He shared many other truths, shared many other truths, but it seems as if the one there in verse 27 is kind of the mood that's all around this passage, verse 27,. Jesus says all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. So Jesus shares a version of Zachariah 13, verse 7, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. And that's exactly what's going to happen before the end of our time today All of his disciples will be scattered. Jesus will be struck and he will be taken. All of them will be scattered and he will be alone.
Speaker 1:So notice here in verse 43, as we read and immediately, while he was still speaking, judas, one of the 12, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal saying whomever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him and lead him away safely. As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him, jesus, and said to him Rabbi, rabbi, and kissed him. And they laid their hands on him and took him, and one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus answered and said to them have you come out as against a robber with swords, clubs to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me, but that scriptures might be fulfilled. Then they all forsook him and fled.
Speaker 1:So here Jesus in the garden. He has predicted that Judas will come and betray him. But you picture it? He's there in the garden. He's been praying and all at once, as we have there at the end of verse 41, he says the hour has come. Behold, the Son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. You can picture it. There in that quiet garden, jesus is praying. And here comes these torches at a distance. This mob probably about 600 people are involved in this. John gives us a better number of that. About 600 people are coming to the garden and you can see the torches coming. As he looks over, he says see, my betrayer is at hand. And at that point everything changes and Judas enters the garden and things are about to go down.
Speaker 1:Now John gives us a little more detail in John chapter 18. He says, as this mob comes, that he asks them who are you seeking? And they respond Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus there in John 18 verse 5, says I am he. Actually, he said I am is what that would be in the original language I am the name of God, that God spoke to Moses in Exodus, chapter 3. So as this goes down and the people come towards me, he says that's me, I am. And they all, it says, fall backwards. This whole mob falls backwards to the ground and once again Jesus says who are you looking for? And they say, well, we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, probably wiping their eyes and going what just happened here. And he says again I am. And all of this to say that nobody took Jesus' life. He laid it down, he was in control. That's all that was really to prove.
Speaker 1:Now Judas approaches and there's two acts that we see here. Judas had given them this signal. The one whom I kiss We'll talk about that in a second and that really is the way that he identifies Jesus from everybody else in this dark garden. A kiss, now. We struggle with this in American society, right? Some of y'all are okay. Some of us guys are okay with a hug. Hey, bro, hug. You know kind of thing Starts with the handshake, ends with the hug. We're okay with that. Some are a little freaked out by that. In other places in the world it's a kiss, right. So picture it. It's that kind of muah muah that we see, in those you know, eastern European or Middle Eastern countries, you'd be a little freaked out if somebody came up and kissed you like that, but it's just a way of greeting in that time and in that place. In this case too, it's a sign of respect A disciple to his teacher. So Judas says this is how I'll identify him to you guys, with a kiss Mwah mwah. Right, and he does Now.
Speaker 1:The other thing that Judas does is he says Rabbi, rabbi. Now, in this we see his hypocrisy, right, because he could have just said Rabbi. But he says Rabbi, rabbi Now to us. We go. Well, that's just Bible talk, right? Isn't that how they just spoke back then it's verily, verily, I say unto thee. You know, it wasn't Not even in this day. To say something twice meant that you were really putting an emphasis on it. There's only about 15 times in the Bible where somebody mentions the other person's name twice like this.
Speaker 1:In Genesis 22,. Abraham is about ready to plunge the knife into his son Isaac and God says Abraham, abraham, let me get your attention, don't do it Now. I know that you wouldn't even withhold your only son, moses, when he's there in the desert taking care of sheep and God appears to him in the burning bush. He says Moses, moses, samuel. When he's a little child asleep, god comes to him and says Samuel, samuel, david. At the death of his son, absalom, at the death of his son, absalom says Absalom, my son, absalom, my son. And it's this deep kind of thing in his heart. Elisha says of Elijah, when he's being taken up in a chariot of fire my father, my father, the chariots of the Lord. And so we see in the Old Testament, when you really wanted to kind of emphasize some passion, you said it twice In the New Testament, jesus is speaking to Martha.
Speaker 1:You remember Martha, good heart, a good worker. She points to her sister, Mary, who's sitting at Jesus feet, says well, why are you going to let her just sit around? Have her help me, for goodness sake. Feet. He says well, why are you going to let her just sit around? Have her help me, for goodness sake. And Jesus says Martha, martha, you're busy about a lot of things, but one thing is needful Getting her attention. Jesus, when he tells Peter that he's going to deny him, stops him and says Simon, simon, before this night is over, you're going to deny that. You even know me A little later. Just a couple more examples.
Speaker 1:A little later there's Saul, saul of Tarsus, who's persecuting the church. He's on his way to Damascus and Jesus knocks him to the ground and says Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? So shows that that intensity, when you say it twice. Matthew 23, the end there you remember. Jesus faces off with the religious leaders and there at the end, he breaks down in tears and he says Jerusalem, jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets. How often I've wanted to bring you in, like a mother hen brings her chicks in, but you were not willing. And you see that passion on the cross. Jesus, just a few hours from this point, would say Eloi, eloi lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And you see that real intensity, that real don't miss it, kind of thing. But we see another point where Jesus mentions this, and let's turn so we can get our fingers moving this morning.
Speaker 1:Matthew, chapter 7. Matthew, chapter 7. It's the end of the Sermon on the Mount. And in verse 21, jesus says something that's a little terrifying, at least enough to make us think. Verse 21, jesus says this Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Speaker 1:Many will say to me on that day, lord Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So we see here, and those that say Lord, lord, good Christianese, right, it's a good Christian thing to say Lord, lord, but it's not enough, lord, lord, didn't we cast out demons and do all sorts of wonderful things in your name? And Jesus says but I'll say to them I never knew you. So there's a difference between just saying Lord, lord, and really knowing God.
Speaker 1:Judas had the words rabbi, rabbi, teacher, almost a oh teacher. Oh, oh, captain, my captain, right, almost that kind of thing. Oh, teacher, my teacher, and yet it was so meaningless. Oh, teacher, my teacher, and yet it was so meaningless. We can't just rely on words and Christian needs. I get a little sketchy when I analyze other people's lives, of course, right, who are just so good at oh God bless you, brother, how are you today? I'm just blessed, right, and I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1:Some program, something you know, teaches people at times, in fact the church itself. Sometimes we teach people, you know, don't say you were lucky, say you were blessed, and that's not bad, that's good truth. But we get where we can say all the right things oh brother, I'm just blessed today and yet Jesus says it's not enough. Teacher, my teacher, it's not enough and we better think about that. I don't know that we need to like overthink that, but where's our heart? Because it's more than just having the words to say Lord, lord, but it's truly knowing him.
Speaker 1:And we see that with Judas here. Judas is just a terrifying person because he spent like three years with Jesus. He participated in the miracles as Jesus sent them out, and even that night, when Jesus told his disciples one of you is going to be betrayed, they didn't go. Judas, I knew it, like he had horns sticking out from his hair, you know they all wondered to themselves is it I? So they actually thought it was just as possible. It could have been them, as that it could have been Judas. Nobody knew. He played his cards well. And yet here Judas is just a big fake and we see here that Judas the hypocrite, he really officially departs. Now it's a sad story.
Speaker 1:When you read about Judas. He has remorse for what he did. He goes and he throws the coins back into the temple and they said what's that to us? You take care of it, it's not our problem. And Judas, it says, went out and hung himself. He had remorse, had guilt, but he had no repentance. He didn't turn to Jesus.
Speaker 1:Now, this is my opinion. I think he had just as much possibility of being forgiven as anybody else. There's no sin that can't be forgiven, and I understand Judas a little different deal. But if he had turned to Jesus, I think he could have been forgiven. Forgiveness is that deep. But he didn't. And so Judas leaves the story at this point. Now that's not exactly surprising to us, because we knew this all along about Judas. But what is surprising is our man, peter, right, and he's the guy we read about here in Matthew 14.
Speaker 1:As all of this goes down, verse 47, one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Well, john has no problem telling us that that was Peter who did it. A little bit of rivalry there, maybe, between John and Peter in John's gospel, but he has no problem saying yeah, that was Peter. Peter took out a sword. Peter chopped off the high priest's servant's ear, and John tells us that the high priest's servant's name was Malchus. So we can put some flesh on this guy. Malchus, the servant of the high priest, probably got hit because he was the least threatening person around there. Right, he's just there for the servant. The high priest probably didn't even have a sword or anything. And Peter goes and slices his ear off, poor Malchus, right, he cuts his ear off.
Speaker 1:And Luke, I believe it is, tells us that the final miracle that Jesus performed was to touch Malchus' ear and undo that mess that Peter made so good of Jesus to do that. And Jesus tells him in John's gospel, I believe put your sword away. Those who live by the sword die by the sword, didn't you know? I could call legions of angels to save me right now. And so Peter's in the flesh We've seen it all along. But he tries his best, right, he tries his best to make things right, and Peter's going to leave Jesus.
Speaker 1:But notice verse 48. Jesus answered and said to them you come out to me like I'm a robber, with swords and clubs to take me. I was with you daily in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. Jesus lets him know. Hey, why are you taking me at night? Why are you coming with swords? I've been in the temple all week long teaching and sharing and doing these things. He didn't take me there.
Speaker 1:Well, the reason why, of course, is because the religious leaders didn't want to make a big fuss about it. They wanted Jesus gone, but they didn't want the people to riot. There were some that really, you know, followed Jesus. They didn't want there to be a riot in Jerusalem. So their intent was to take him quietly at night. They used Judas to do that, in the darkness of the garden and before people knew what was happening. He would be dead if they had it their way.
Speaker 1:But notice, all of that goes down in verse 50. We read then they all forsook him and fled. Really, it's that fulfillment of what Jesus said Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. And all of them forsook him. Picture that. All of his friends forsook him. Jesus was alone.
Speaker 1:Now, in verse 51, we have one more person in this strange account that has to forsake Jesus. Notice there, in verse 51. Now a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body and the young man laid hold of him and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. So interesting story here. You've got to wonder what in the world is going on. Why this guy? There's a guy, a young man. He's wrapped in like a sheet, more or less, and he's there seeing the whole thing go down and when things get crazy they pull at him, they try to grab him and take him in. He rolls out of that sheet. He runs away naked. Who is this guy? Well, most commentators think that this is probably Mark, our author.
Speaker 1:Mark, according to the book of Acts, chapter 12, verse 12, lived in Jerusalem in a house with his mother Mary. There. In Acts, chapter 12, peter is going to be in prison and the whole church is there praying for Peter and God miraculously releases Peter. In Acts, chapter 12. Peter comes to the door of Mark's house, his mother Mary's house, knocks on the door. Their servant, rhoda, comes and answers the door and she's so excited when she sees Peter that she runs away and slams the door on him right and God miraculously delivers Peter from prison. Well, that was Mark's house. Possible that Mark there? Well, it was probable. Mark lived in Jerusalem. It's possible that the house of the last supper, many think was at Mark's house. And as things go down, mark, being inquisitive, says well, I'm going to follow and see what happens. He's already ready for bed, so he wraps himself in a sheet and he goes there. Mark perhaps is firsthand witness to this thing in the garden.
Speaker 1:But but the thing that we notice here, and where we're really left, is that even the narrator leaves Jesus at this point. Everyone leaves Jesus. He's alone, 100% forsaken, even on the cross, as Jesus suffered and died. He's alone. It would seem that the sins of all humanity were placed on him. And there we already read it. Jesus cries out with a loud voice Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now? That was the point to Psalm 22. You can read Psalm 22, and it fits up perfectly with the cross. It was prophesied way back in the book of Psalms that his hands and his feet would be pierced, that they would look and shake their head and say he believed in God. Let God save him. And to the T, what goes down on the cross? Jesus said that he points to Psalm 22, but there was something real that seemed to be happening there as Jesus went to the cross.
Speaker 1:Listen to this Isaiah 53, common passage, verse 4. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him. Stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we were healed. So Isaiah tells us that on the cross, jesus took our sin upon himself. He died as a perfect sacrifice for your sin and mine.
Speaker 1:And there I don't understand the theology of it, god being omnipresent and all of these things. It seems that holy God turned away from his son as he took the sin of the world upon himself, that he was forsaken even by his father, that he was forsaken even by his father, forsaken because of our sin. Well, let's turn one last place, so early. Turn to 2 Corinthians, a place that we land on often pretty powerful passage, 2 Corinthians 5, one worth memorizing for sure. Verse 21 tells us a little bit more. Paul tells us a little bit more of what happened there on the cross, 2 Corinthians 5, 21,. On the cross, he made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And so we see this really strong truth here that on the cross Jesus was made sin. It was made sin for us. So picture that, your sin and my sin.
Speaker 1:Now some would argue that it's limited the sin that Jesus died for. I believe it was a sin of the whole world, as 1 John says, it was everybody, it was all sin, think about it, all the nastiness that we're capable of, all the atrocities of history. Jesus paid the price for that sin, not anything we have to argue about, but he became sin for us. He took on your sin, man. There are things in my life I still look back on and I have strong regrets because I know I'm forgiven, but that sin is still in my mind. I did it, I'm guilty, but yet Jesus paid the price as a sacrifice for all of our sin.
Speaker 1:Let's look at it again 2 Corinthians 5.21,. For he made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. That's good news. He takes sin upon himself. But notice what it says after that, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And there's this kind of transfer that happens at the cross. If we receive it right, if we come to the cross and we truly do receive it. He takes our sin and we get his righteousness. Man, there is no day that I've ever had where I go. I've been perfectly righteous today. There has absolutely never been a day where I look and go. You know, I kind of nailed it right there, just all across the board Never. But when God looks at us in Christ and that's important in Christ we're a new creation, we're righteous. Now we still mess up, but when God sees us, he sees the righteousness of Jesus.
Speaker 1:You know, when your kids have a good day, you know you smile. Sometimes. Rough day my kids are perfect, right, girls. But you know, sometimes you know, kind of you don't smile quite as big, right. But God, when he looks at us in Christ, he sees perfection. And it's so good to know that every time you come to God in Christ, he just smiles and goes. Couldn't have done better. I'm so pleased. Perfect, you did it all. Relationship is solid. It's just perfect because of what Jesus did for us.
Speaker 1:And so we look at this thing of Jesus being forsaken for us, 100% forsaken. All of his friends, all of his followers, even, to some degree, the father. Why have you forsaken me? Forsaken for us to become sin for us. That's good news. We're gonna need that this week when we mess up. What Jesus did is enough to take care of our sin, but also to put on us righteousness, perfect righteousness, not because of anything that we do, but because of Jesus. That's good news, god. It's one thing to talk about it, but it's another thing to just know it in our hearts this week. God, we need that. But even more than that, I know it's not just feeling good about ourselves that you're looking for God. It's that we really do find ourselves in Christ.
Speaker 1:That when you died on that cross, jesus, you became sin for us and it was our sin. That cross, jesus, you became sin for us and it was our sin that brought you there. And we've all sinned. God, we understand that None of us is perfect. It was our sin, but, god, you loved us so much that, even while we were still sinners, christ died for us that we could be made clean, forgiven, perfect, righteous. We could have an actual relationship with you, just like the Son. God, it's so amazing that you would love us like that, not because of anything good that we've ever done, but just because of you. God, it's no small thing what you did on the cross for us. I pray that we would take it to heart this week. God, you would just again use your word in our heart by your spirit. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.