A Betrayer October 29
Mark 14:17 In the evening He came with the twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”
Jesus foretells His coming betrayal. His words appear as a reference to David’s lament in Psalm 41:9:
“Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.”
A tight knit group together for most of three years, the pronouncement must stun the disciples. Jesus has spoken of His imminent death before, but this statement brings the event into the very near future. And Jesus adds that the end begins with a betrayal.
Jesus’ statement is not simply a prediction of what is to occur. Yes, there is the fact of a betrayal to come, but His words convey the personal nature of this offense.
That the one who brings his arrest and death is one of His twelve chosen is an indictment on them all. Yet they do not point accusing fingers toward another. More than one asks, “Is it I?” None asks, “Who is it?” or “Is it he?” The eleven are oblivious to the treachery of the twelfth.
That the betrayal is to be on the night of the Passover is meaningful. This is the memorial of the death of the first born males of the Egyptians, the sacrifice made for the freedom of the imprisoned people.
History repeats as Jesus is to die in the daylight hours of Passover.
Woe to Him! October 30
Mark 14:20 He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”
The family of Christ and the family of mankind are to be one. Even the presence of Jesus does not bring all within the circle. He draws the arc wide that it might encompass all, but each person has the freedom to choose to remain beyond the encompassing border of love.
Choosing not to love others is a betrayal. Another term for this is to double cross, and this is a much more loaded term in this context.
First, the betrayer acts as though he is on Jesus’ side, but he reveals Jesus’ location to those who will arrest Him. He believes that by putting Jesus in jeopardy, that the betrayer will benefit. As Jesus’ prediction of “woe to him” works out, we see that the act is self-betrayal.
Second, the cross itself is seen through a double lens. The cross is first seen as an emblem of shame, a deserved death for the guilty. But the resurrection recasts the cross as a passageway to a more abundant life, now and in the future.
Perhaps the cross is also seen as a plus sign.
The refusal to love – both the crucifier and the crucified – is to keep alive Judas’ betrayal. The answer to, “Is it I?” becomes “Yes.”
Communion October 31
Mark 14:22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
What is known as “The Last Supper” is told briefly in these verses. Here is the pattern for the Christian celebration of communion.
Communion is fellowship, participation in something common to all, whether faith or a meal. It is an immersion into oneness, as in communing with nature. Or communing with God.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus identifies Judas Iscariot as the traitor when He gives Judas the dipped bread. The next statement is dramatic, Judas breaking communion with his Master: “Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night” (John 12:30).
The symbolism of the unleavened bread and the wine is clearer to us in retrospect. Jesus’ last meal with His disciples has become a tradition. Its core is common to all denominations, a wider communion than any one offshoot.
The meal is eaten in solemnity, much as the Passover meal before the flight of the Israelites from Egypt. But as with the meal leading to freedom, the communion reenactment is also taken with the joy of the promise of a new life. Each represents a death to bondage and being reborn to renewed life in communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Bread November 1
Mark 14:22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Much earlier, Jesus had said that He is the bread of life (John 6:30-40). As solid food is necessary for physical sustenance, so spiritual food is necessary for spiritual sustenance.
Isaiah 55:2 comes to mind:
“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.”
In a country and age when food is abundant, and non-foods are more promoted and accepted, we have both a literal and figurative understanding of Isaiah.
Much of what Americans consume is not food. It is either ultra-processed and its nutrition gone, or imbued with chemical and non-food additions for shelf life, color, etc.
Has the doctrine adopted by our hearts become corrupted, as well? Does our spiritual nourishment sustain the spiritual strength that is to be our preferred power?
David wrote, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Ps. 34:8).
Are we distracted by catchy and glittering baubles? Or do we allow our senses to taste, smell, hear, see, and feel what is good?
Our spiritual senses must be kept sharp and put into service, as well.
The Wine November 2
Mark 14:23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.”
Much is made in the Old Testament of sacrificing a life for a life. Human sacrifice was a part of many ancient cultures/religions, but the God of Israel established offerings of animals as a substitute. Means for the individual to be restored to God were laid out in the books of Moses. Different sins required different sacrifices.
Blood marked the days of the calendar: daily sacrifices, feast days, Sabbaths, and sacrifices for individuals’ sins. We think upon those times now as somewhat barbaric, although better than the human sacrifices of the surrounding nations. The thought of the personal manner in which the sacrifices were killed, the intimacy of the knife in one hand, the flesh in the other, and the outpouring of blood, still seems extreme.
There was one sacrifice annually “for all the assembly of Israel” (Lev. 16). Lots were cast for two goats. One was sacrificed as an atonement for all the sins of the people, and the other was sent into the wilderness bearing all the sins of the people.
Note that this resulted in the forgiveness for the offenses, but the use of a scapegoat did not solve the problem of sin. This is like eliminating the symptoms of a disease rather than eliminating the cause: the disease will resurface.
Jesus died upon the cross. To seek justice, retribution upon His killers, is a natural human response. But Jesus, guiltless, shows the way for us to remain guiltless.
The Wine of Heaven November 3
Mark 14:25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Think upon the progression of the concept of sacrifice:
Lev. 17:11 “‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’”
Hebr. 9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
1 John 1: 7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
One sacrifice was, is, and will be sufficient.
This is not because God needed another sacrifice, another blood offering. Jesus is our example in living in a fallen world, where even a disciple betrays his Teacher and nameless foreigners commit murder without remorse.
And the murdered Man forgives them all. Even as the Father in heaven forgives them all. Even as He forgives us.
The wine symbolizes the blood of life, the flow of love from the human heart.
The wine of heaven is not a physical drink for a physical body, but is the outpouring of all that is good and desirable for those who see through the eyes of Christ.
Love is the fruit of the vine in heaven.
A Hymn November 4
Mark 14:26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The words, “when they had sung a hymn,” are represented by a single Greek word. Essentially, Jesus and the disciples hymned, sang praises to God. This was the custom after the Passover meal.
Jesus leads His disciples from the room borrowed from His friend. There is no need to implicate the room’s owner in what is about to occur.
And there is no need for the officers of the law to come in force into the crowded city. The possibility of arousing passions is too great and will serve no purpose. Indeed, any violence will undermine the purpose of the events of this evening.
They leave the city, crossing the Brook Kidron and entering the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden on this spring evening is a place of peace, a place of calm before the action of the final scenes.
He leads them beside the waters of the Kidron, and sets them down in the green garden. Jesus’ last acts before His arrest are all leading the disciples to shared moments of peace.
Jesus models peace even as the storm approaches and then envelopes them.
Next day
Mark 14:17 In the evening He came with the twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”
Jesus foretells His coming betrayal. His words appear as a reference to David’s lament in Psalm 41:9:
“Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.”
A tight knit group together for most of three years, the pronouncement must stun the disciples. Jesus has spoken of His imminent death before, but this statement brings the event into the very near future. And Jesus adds that the end begins with a betrayal.
Jesus’ statement is not simply a prediction of what is to occur. Yes, there is the fact of a betrayal to come, but His words convey the personal nature of this offense.
That the one who brings his arrest and death is one of His twelve chosen is an indictment on them all. Yet they do not point accusing fingers toward another. More than one asks, “Is it I?” None asks, “Who is it?” or “Is it he?” The eleven are oblivious to the treachery of the twelfth.
That the betrayal is to be on the night of the Passover is meaningful. This is the memorial of the death of the first born males of the Egyptians, the sacrifice made for the freedom of the imprisoned people.
History repeats as Jesus is to die in the daylight hours of Passover.
Woe to Him! October 30
Mark 14:20 He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”
The family of Christ and the family of mankind are to be one. Even the presence of Jesus does not bring all within the circle. He draws the arc wide that it might encompass all, but each person has the freedom to choose to remain beyond the encompassing border of love.
Choosing not to love others is a betrayal. Another term for this is to double cross, and this is a much more loaded term in this context.
First, the betrayer acts as though he is on Jesus’ side, but he reveals Jesus’ location to those who will arrest Him. He believes that by putting Jesus in jeopardy, that the betrayer will benefit. As Jesus’ prediction of “woe to him” works out, we see that the act is self-betrayal.
Second, the cross itself is seen through a double lens. The cross is first seen as an emblem of shame, a deserved death for the guilty. But the resurrection recasts the cross as a passageway to a more abundant life, now and in the future.
Perhaps the cross is also seen as a plus sign.
The refusal to love – both the crucifier and the crucified – is to keep alive Judas’ betrayal. The answer to, “Is it I?” becomes “Yes.”
Communion October 31
Mark 14:22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
What is known as “The Last Supper” is told briefly in these verses. Here is the pattern for the Christian celebration of communion.
Communion is fellowship, participation in something common to all, whether faith or a meal. It is an immersion into oneness, as in communing with nature. Or communing with God.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus identifies Judas Iscariot as the traitor when He gives Judas the dipped bread. The next statement is dramatic, Judas breaking communion with his Master: “Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night” (John 12:30).
The symbolism of the unleavened bread and the wine is clearer to us in retrospect. Jesus’ last meal with His disciples has become a tradition. Its core is common to all denominations, a wider communion than any one offshoot.
The meal is eaten in solemnity, much as the Passover meal before the flight of the Israelites from Egypt. But as with the meal leading to freedom, the communion reenactment is also taken with the joy of the promise of a new life. Each represents a death to bondage and being reborn to renewed life in communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Bread November 1
Mark 14:22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Much earlier, Jesus had said that He is the bread of life (John 6:30-40). As solid food is necessary for physical sustenance, so spiritual food is necessary for spiritual sustenance.
Isaiah 55:2 comes to mind:
“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.”
In a country and age when food is abundant, and non-foods are more promoted and accepted, we have both a literal and figurative understanding of Isaiah.
Much of what Americans consume is not food. It is either ultra-processed and its nutrition gone, or imbued with chemical and non-food additions for shelf life, color, etc.
Has the doctrine adopted by our hearts become corrupted, as well? Does our spiritual nourishment sustain the spiritual strength that is to be our preferred power?
David wrote, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Ps. 34:8).
Are we distracted by catchy and glittering baubles? Or do we allow our senses to taste, smell, hear, see, and feel what is good?
Our spiritual senses must be kept sharp and put into service, as well.
The Wine November 2
Mark 14:23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.”
Much is made in the Old Testament of sacrificing a life for a life. Human sacrifice was a part of many ancient cultures/religions, but the God of Israel established offerings of animals as a substitute. Means for the individual to be restored to God were laid out in the books of Moses. Different sins required different sacrifices.
Blood marked the days of the calendar: daily sacrifices, feast days, Sabbaths, and sacrifices for individuals’ sins. We think upon those times now as somewhat barbaric, although better than the human sacrifices of the surrounding nations. The thought of the personal manner in which the sacrifices were killed, the intimacy of the knife in one hand, the flesh in the other, and the outpouring of blood, still seems extreme.
There was one sacrifice annually “for all the assembly of Israel” (Lev. 16). Lots were cast for two goats. One was sacrificed as an atonement for all the sins of the people, and the other was sent into the wilderness bearing all the sins of the people.
Note that this resulted in the forgiveness for the offenses, but the use of a scapegoat did not solve the problem of sin. This is like eliminating the symptoms of a disease rather than eliminating the cause: the disease will resurface.
Jesus died upon the cross. To seek justice, retribution upon His killers, is a natural human response. But Jesus, guiltless, shows the way for us to remain guiltless.
The Wine of Heaven November 3
Mark 14:25 Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Think upon the progression of the concept of sacrifice:
Lev. 17:11 “‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’”
Hebr. 9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
1 John 1: 7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
One sacrifice was, is, and will be sufficient.
This is not because God needed another sacrifice, another blood offering. Jesus is our example in living in a fallen world, where even a disciple betrays his Teacher and nameless foreigners commit murder without remorse.
And the murdered Man forgives them all. Even as the Father in heaven forgives them all. Even as He forgives us.
The wine symbolizes the blood of life, the flow of love from the human heart.
The wine of heaven is not a physical drink for a physical body, but is the outpouring of all that is good and desirable for those who see through the eyes of Christ.
Love is the fruit of the vine in heaven.
A Hymn November 4
Mark 14:26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The words, “when they had sung a hymn,” are represented by a single Greek word. Essentially, Jesus and the disciples hymned, sang praises to God. This was the custom after the Passover meal.
Jesus leads His disciples from the room borrowed from His friend. There is no need to implicate the room’s owner in what is about to occur.
And there is no need for the officers of the law to come in force into the crowded city. The possibility of arousing passions is too great and will serve no purpose. Indeed, any violence will undermine the purpose of the events of this evening.
They leave the city, crossing the Brook Kidron and entering the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden on this spring evening is a place of peace, a place of calm before the action of the final scenes.
He leads them beside the waters of the Kidron, and sets them down in the green garden. Jesus’ last acts before His arrest are all leading the disciples to shared moments of peace.
Jesus models peace even as the storm approaches and then envelopes them.
Next day