"The Passion of Our Lord: Blessing before Betrayal" (Lenten sermon on Mark 14:12-31)

For these midweek Lenten services, we’re doing a series on “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Mark.” We’re working our way through Mark chapters 14 and 15, where Christ willingly enters into his time of suffering for our salvation. Last week we began with the account of Jesus being anointed with pure nard and then explaining that this was to prepare him for his burial. Our Lord knew what was coming, and still he went through with what lay ahead. That’s how strong his love for us is.

Likewise tonight. Jesus knows what’s about to happen, and although his suffering is imminent, we see him bestowing blessing even as he’s about to be betrayed. And so our theme tonight, “The Passion of Our Lord: Blessing before Betrayal.”

It’s Holy Week. We’re in Jerusalem. Everyone is. That’s because it’s time for the great Passover festival and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. If you’ll recall what Passover is about, it goes back to the time in the Old Testament when Israel was in bondage in Egypt. Pharaoh would not let God’s people go. So God sent a series of plagues on Egypt, culminating with the death of the firstborn in every home. But the Lord provided a way for the Israelite homes to be spared. The Lord told Moses that each household should sacrifice a lamb and spread its blood on the doorposts and that that would be a sign for the angel of death to pass over. Also on that night, they were to make unleavened bread, bread without yeast, because that night they would have to leave Egypt in a hurry, in a mass exodus. And that’s what happened.

Ever since then, every year on that day in the spring, Israelites were to commemorate and celebrate that great saving event with the Passover meal. Which is what Jesus and his disciples are preparing to do. He sends two of them into the city to get the room prepared.

That evening, as they are eating the meal, Jesus tells his disciples these ominous words: “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” Whoa! Where did that come from? Here they are, having this solemn yet joyful Passover meal, and Jesus predicts that one of his disciples, one of his supposedly loyal followers, one of the twelve will actually betray him! Shocking! That’s a jolt from out of the blue. But Jesus knows men’s hearts, and he knows that one of his followers has already arranged to hand him over to the authorities. That very night! And he knows which one it will be.

But the boys around the table don’t know--except, of course, the betrayer himself. The other fellas are sorrowful, and they wonder and say, “It ain’t me, is it?” Hmm, are their consciences bothering them, to the point where they think they could be capable of such a thing? Or are they trying to make the point, “No, no, it certainly won’t be me!” The text doesn’t say. But Jesus knows which one it will be.

Jesus tells them this much: “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.” Imagine, someone sharing a meal with you, having close table fellowship with you, and that person is already plotting and planning to hand you over that night! That’s what’s going to happen, but woe to that man who is going to do it! He is damned to perdition, by his own unbelief and evil.

So Jesus is in the midst of this unfolding drama, knowing that the betrayal is about to happen, and yet he takes the time to bestow blessing on his disciples. It comes in the form of the Passover meal being “updated,” if you will, into a new salvific event.

He takes the bread, blesses it and breaks it, and gives it to his disciples with these words: “Take; this is my body.” Then he takes the cup, his cup, and gives it to them, and they all drink from his one cup. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” You see, here is the fulfillment of the great Passover! A new Lamb will be sacrificed! It is Christ himself, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He takes away your sin, dear friends--all of it, the whole rotten mess. By his atoning, sacrificial death on the cross--which is about to take place before sundown the next day--Jesus gives his body into death, and by his holy blood death passes over you! You are spared! You are saved!

For eternity. “Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” That new day is coming! Christ will share the heavenly banquet with us in the blessed age to come.

As a pledge of that salvation, our Lord gives us his Holy Supper on a regular basis even now. Christ is committed to your salvation, and he wants you to know it and to be sure of it. And so he gives you his body and blood right here at this altar, every week, for your forgiveness. It’s his covenant with us, sealed with his blood shed on the cross. You can be sure of it. His blood of the covenant guarantees his commitment to you.

Jesus and his disciples conclude the Passover meal, now with this new “update,” the fulfillment that Christ brings to it. They sing a hymn and go out of the city up to the Mount of Olives. That’s where Jesus will pray. That’s where the betrayer will betray. But it’s not just the one betrayer who will desert and forsake his Master. They all will. Jesus tells them: “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Jesus is the shepherd, and they are the sheep. But when Jesus is arrested, they’re all going to scatter, fleeing out of fear for their safety.

“Nah, nah!” Peter says. “Not me! These others may all run away, but I never will! You can count on me, Lord!” Oh, really, Peter? You, the Rock? How reliable will you be? Why, this very night, Jesus says, “You will deny me three times.” And it’s not just Peter. They all say the same thing. But their overconfidence will evaporate in the heat of the moment, when the crisis hits. And it’s about to.

Now note one thing Jesus says that we may have passed by--because the disciples certainly lost sight of it. It’s when Jesus says, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” You see, Jesus knows that the betrayal, his arrest, his suffering and death--he knows that this will not be the end. His passion will have an outcome, a result. And it will be a glorious one at that! Resurrection! Life coming out of death! Yes, there’s hope ahead!

And that’s true for you and me. There is hope ahead! There’s life ahead! Like the disciples, you and I may be wobbly at times. Our faith may wax and wane, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. But our Lord is faithful, and he will see us through. Jesus has made a commitment, a covenant to bless us, and that is what he will do. The Lord’s Supper is his pledge to us of that covenant.

Dear friends, our Lord has gone before us into death and resurrection, and he will meet us and greet us and bless us on the other side. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you can be sure of that!

Mark 14:12-31 (ESV)

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 is 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 twelve. 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 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.”

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

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