The New Testament with Commentary Mark 14

The Sanhedrin make plans

1 It was two days before the Passover and the Unleavened Bread.* The chief priests and the scribes were looking for an underhanded way to seize and kill Him. 2 But they said, “Not during the feast, or the people may riot.”

An anointing in Simon's house

3 Being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at a meal, a woman came having an alabaster vase of very costly perfume of pure nard. Then she broke the vase and began to pour it over His head. 4 But there were some who were expressing indignation to one another and saying: “To what purpose was this perfume wasted? 5 It could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor!” And they started censuring her.† 6 But Jesus said: “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done something useful to me. 7 You will always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do them good; but you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could.‡ She has perfumed my body for the burying before the fact. 9 Assuredly I tell you, wherever this Gospel may be proclaimed throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”§

Judas is hired

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests, so as to betray Him to them.* 11 Well upon hearing it they rejoiced and promised to give him silver coins.† So he started figuring how he might conveniently betray Him.

The upper room is made ready

12 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they would sacrifice the Paschal lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare, so that you may eat the Passover?” 13 So He sent two of His disciples, saying to them: “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a clay jar of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The teacher says, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ 15 He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”‡ 16 So His disciples set out and came into the city and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

The last night—begins Thursday evening, 04/04/30, and ends the next morning

17 When it was evening He came with the twelve.

The traitor identified

18 Now as they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Assuredly I tell you, one of you who is eating with me will betray me.” 19 So they began to be sorrowful and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” And another, “Surely not I?”§ 20 He answered and said to them: “It is one of the twelve, the one dipping with me in the bowl. 21 The Son of the Man is indeed going just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of the Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man not to have been born.”*

Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper

22 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, 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 it. 24 And He said to them: “This is my blood, that of the new‡ covenant, that is being shed for many. 25 I tell you assuredly that I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”§ 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Peter will deny Him

27 Then Jesus said to them: “All of you will be caused to stumble because of me this night,* because it is written:

‘I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered.’†

28 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29 But Peter said to Him, “Even if all are caused to stumble, yet not I.” 30 Jesus said to him, “I tell you assuredly that you, today, this very night, before a rooster crows twice,‡ you will deny me three times.” 31 But he insisted even more vehemently, “If I have to die with you, I will absolutely not deny you!” And all the others said the same.

The agony in Gethsemane

32 Then they came to a place that was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 But He took with Him Peter, James and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. 34 And He said to them: “My soul is overwhelmed with grief, to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” 35 Going on a little, He fell to the ground and started praying that if it were possible the hour might pass from Him. 36 And He said: “Abba (Father), all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter: “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you keep watch for even one hour? 38 Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 And when He returned He found them sleeping again, because their eyes were being weighed down;§ and they did not know how to answer Him. 41 Then He came the third time and said to them: “You are still sleeping and resting! It is enough, the hour has come; yes, the Son of the Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let's be going. See, my betrayer has approached.”*

The betrayal and arrest

43 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived, and with him a considerable crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.† 44 Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, he it is; seize him and take him away securely.”‡ 45 So upon arriving he went directly to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 46 So they laid their hands on Him and secured Him. 47 But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.§ 48 Then Jesus reacted by saying to them: “You have come out with swords and clubs to arrest me, as if I were a bandit. 49 I was with you daily in the temple, teaching, and you did not seize me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50 Then they all deserted Him and ran away.*

A curious case

51 Now a certain young man had followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. The young men grabbed him, 52 so leaving the linen cloth he fled from them naked.†

At Caiaphas' house

53 They led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. 54 Well Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the operatives and warming himself at the fire.

A farcical trial

55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus so as to kill Him, but were not finding any. 56 To be sure, many were testifying falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree. 57 Then some stood up and started testifying falsely against Him, saying, 58 “We heard him saying: ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’ ” 59 But not even then did their testimony agree.‡

60 Then the high priest stood up in the center and questioned Jesus, saying: “Are you not going to answer? What are these testifying against you?” 61 But He remained silent and answered nothing.§ Again the high priest questioned Him and said to Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”* 62 So Jesus said: “I am, and you will see the Son of the Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven.”† 63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said: “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You heard the blasphemy!‡ What do you think?” They all condemned Him to be deserving of death. 65 Then some began to spit on Him, to cover His face, punch Him and say to Him, “Prophesy!”§ And the operatives started slapping Him.

Peter's denials

66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Natsarene!” 68 But Peter denied, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out into the entryway, and a rooster crowed.* 69 But that servant girl saw him again and began to say to those standing by, “This guy is one of them.” 70 But again he kept denying it. Again, after a little while, those who were standing by said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them; because you really are a Galilean, and your accent agrees!”† 71 Then he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you are speaking!” 72 And for the second time a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered‡ the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” He broke down and started to cry.

* 14:1 I take it that this statement settles the question of the exact day of the crucifixion. It was late Tuesday afternoon, probably after 6:00 p.m.—adding two days takes us to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, but the proceedings in the upper room began after 6:00 p.m. on that Thursday, which to the Jews was already Friday. Therefore Jesus died on a Friday [not Thursday]. (See also Luke 23:54-24:1—Jesus was buried on Friday afternoon; then the women rested during the Sabbath [singular = just one day]; then early the first day of the week they went to the tomb.) For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “How long was Jesus in the tomb?” † 14:5 When Mary did it in her own house, only Judas complained. Now several others join in; it was getting to be too much of a good thing. See the footnote at verse 10 below. ‡ 14:8 She did what was in her power to do. I would be happy to have that epitaph on my tombstone (if I ever have one) —‘he did what he could’. § 14:9 Yes indeed; we are still reading about it, some 2,000 years later. * 14:10 It was too much for Judas. On Saturday (03-30-30) Mary of Bethany had anointed His feet with 300 denarii worth of the same perfume, and now four days later (Wed., 04-03-30) another woman anoints His head with another 300 denarii worth of perfume (that was a lot of money, and he liked money). In both cases Jesus affirms they are anointing Him for burial (and He had repeatedly told them He was going to be killed). Judas figured out that his expectation of an immediate kingdom was unfounded, and he rebelled. (He might even have convinced himself that Jesus had deceived him when He called him to be a disciple.) † 14:11 I follow the best line of transmission and 40% of the manuscripts in reading ‘silver coins’ rather than ‘money’. ‡ 14:15 This had obviously been prearranged. I suppose that this was the upper room that the disciples continued to use. § 14:19 Some 8% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘and another, surely not I’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). * 14:21 Praying to His Father, Jesus said: “Those whom you gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Judas was lost. But what are the implications of ‘better not to have been born’? I suppose it means that it is better to have never existed, than to spend eternity in the Lake. I find this line of reasoning to be uncomfortable. † 14:22 Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘eat’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 14:24 A small handful (0.6%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘new’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. Hebrews 8:7-10:18 clearly links the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 to the shed blood of God's Lamb. § 14:25 Jesus affirms that He will drink it in the Kingdom. I imagine this will be during the Millennial Reign, not in Heaven. * 14:27 Some 30% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘because of me this night’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). † 14:27 See Zechariah 13:7. ‡ 14:30 For a full discussion of Peter's denials, harmonizing all four accounts, please see the Appendix: How often did Jesus say Peter would deny Him? I argue that this is the fourth warning, and since Peter became increasingly belligerent and disrespectful, Jesus added a second crowing preceded by another three denials. § 14:40 The verb is in the passive voice, so the necessary question is, by whom? I follow some 35% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, in reading ‘were being weighed down’, rather than ‘had been weighed down’, as in the rest. * 14:42 There may have been pauses between the statements. † 14:43 John 18:12 informs us that there was a ‘chiliarch’ present (a commander of 1,000 soldiers). An officer of such high rank could only be there by the Governor's order (Pilate). Subsequent events make clear that Pilate had been consulted, and had agreed to play along. ‡ 14:44 Why the ‘securely’? Judas had seen so many manifestations of Jesus' power that he should have known better, but of course he was under Satan's control at that time. However, it appears that they expected resistance. § 14:47 We know from Luke 22:51 that Jesus immediately healed the ear—otherwise things could have gotten nasty. * 14:50 Mark's account is brief. The parallel accounts fill in the picture of what actually happened. † 14:52 Now why would Mark want to include an incident like this in his account? (None of the others do.) I rather imagine that he was that young man. Although not invited to the Passover, he probably waited outside and followed them to Gethsemane. In effect he is saying, “I was there.” ‡ 14:59 It was indeed false testimony, since that was not what Jesus said. But even if He had said that, it would just be stupid, not criminal. They were desperate. § 14:61 It was so obviously a farce that no answer was required. * 14:61 This was an illegal proceeding on the part of the priest: he was asking Jesus to testify against Himself. The priest was desperate. † 14:62 Wow! Jesus gave him more than he asked for! But how and when will those men, certainly lost, “see the Son of the Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven”? They will still be in Hades when Christ returns. Will those in Hades be able to see what goes on outside? I don't have an answer. ‡ 14:64 Wait a minute! How could the truth be blasphemy? They rejected the truth. § 14:65 They wanted Him to say who had hit Him. What they were doing was really cowardly, but they were probably under demonic influence. * 14:68 Nine Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, against 1,623 (according to TuT), omit “and a rooster crowed”, to be followed by NIV and NASB (with their usual misleading footnotes). † 14:70 Around 2.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘and your accent agrees’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. ‡ 14:72 But only after the Lord looked at him and broke the spell (Luke 22:61).