Sermon Tone Analysis

Mark 14:27 – 15:15

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Introduction

What tremendous pressure there must be on athletes at the Olympics!

I am thinking particularly of the pressure on skips in curling.

Whatever has happened before, they throw the final rock and if they miss, then no matter how well the others on the team have done, they could win or lose the end or even the game.

Twice in the gold medal game in women’s curling Cheryl Bernard had the opportunity to win the game.

If she made her shot, her team would win and it would be victory not only for her, but for her whole team and even for the country.

Twice she missed her shot by a very small margin, but just enough that she lost the end and ultimately the game.

I am still proud of her and the Canadian team for doing a great job and winning silver, but in that moment the pressure was on her to make the shot, not only for herself, but for the whole team, the whole nation.

We have been talking about the journey to the cross and the text we will look at today continues on that journey.

The text is Mark 14:27-15:15.

In this section, there is a lot at stake.

We know that it is the plot of the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus.

We know that Judas has agreed to facilitate the arrest of Jesus.

Arrest must be followed by a trial.

Officials don’t just murder someone but must do things in a legal way, or at least appear to be legal.

In this section, we read about the trials of Jesus which bring us from 14:21where we read, “…the son of man will go” to 15:15 where we read that he “handed him over to be crucified.”

In these trials, the pressure is on Jesus.

If he gets through these trials the whole team will win.

If he fails in these trials, the consequences for the universe are devastating.

But the trial of Jesus is not the only trial going on here.

The disciples are also on trial and we find that they fail miserably.

Interestingly, the two trials are bound together.

If the one, Jesus, fails, all fail.

If all fail, but Jesus succeeds, all can succeed.

How does all this happen?

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I.                   The Trials of Jesus

!! A.                 The Trial in His Soul

The first trial of Jesus is not his trial before the Jewish leaders or the Roman leader.

The first trial which Jesus must go through is the trial within his own soul.

After the time he had spent with his disciples at the meal in Jerusalem, he went out with his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane which is near the foot of the Mount of Olives.

All the disciples were there except Judas and Jesus took three of his disciples, Peter, James and John and went a little further and invited them to accompany Him while he prayed.

The language of Mark 14:33-36 reveals to us the great depth of horror which Jesus faced on His journey to the cross.

When we read the announcements of his death which he had given to the disciples, they may perhaps seem somewhat “matter of fact.”

He seems to be simply and coolly saying, “This is what is going to happen” and we don’t sense that it was difficult.

In Hebrews 12:2, we read “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” and the emphasis seems to be focused on joy and victory and we are inclined to deemphasize that he endured the cross.

But in Mark 14:33-36, we cannot escape the depth of the difficulty of going to the cross Him.

First of all we read, “…he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.”

There was a powerful agony in the depth of his soul.

In the next verse we sense the anguish when we hear Jesus say, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

It is hard to know what to say about such a thing, but we need to allow these expressions to speak for all they are worth.

We see even more of his deep grief when we read in verse 35, “he fell to the ground.”

What is happening in your heart and mind when you are driven to throw yourself to the ground?

This was crisis time for Jesus, it was a severe trial and we understand that when we read His prayer in which he asks, “Father, everything is possible for you.

Take this cup from me.” Jesus had agreed to leave heaven and come to earth.

Jesus had lived as a human child, worked as a human man and now for three years He had proclaimed the kingdom of God.

At this time all He had come to do was coming to a head.

He was about to enter upon the final act, which would seal the victory planned from the beginning of time.

The pressure was on and it was almost too much.

Jesus was on trial in the depth of His soul.

Would he go through with it?

Would He be faithful?

How would He come through this trial?

In the very next line we read, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus succeeded in the trial within His soul when in spite of the deep anguish of it he agreed to follow the Father’s plan.

!! B.                 The Arrest and Trial before the Sanhedrin

The second trial happened before the Jewish leaders.

After Jesus finished praying, we read that Judas came with a whole mob of people with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus.

How horrible when we read that Judas identified Jesus with a kiss.

The Greek word used for friendship love is “phileo” and the word for kiss which is used here is the same word.

A kiss implies love and Judas used a sign of friendship love to betray Jesus.

How awful!

Jesus highlighted the injustice of the arrest when he commented in verses 48, 49 that they could have arrested him any day.

But he knew that they were looking for a sly way and this was it.

He was arrested at night, in a secluded garden.

He was arrested unjustly as the Scriptures say.

They took Jesus to the house of the high priest and all those who wanted to get rid of him, who from Mark 3:6 on had plotted to kill him, gathered to find a “legal” way to justify their action.

Jesus was on trial before the court of the Jewish leaders.

What would the trial reveal?

They found some who were prepared to accuse him of saying that he would “destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.”

Jesus never said that.

He never said that “he” would destroy the temple, rather He said “destroy this temple” meaning if others would destroy it.

Was there an element of truth to the accusation?

Yes.

He had said that if the temple was destroyed He would build another, pointing to the temple of His own body and indicating that the physical temple would no longer be the place where God dwelt, but His body would be the manifestation of God’s presence.

But he never defended himself on these charges.

He remained silent.

Other false accusations were made but none of them were sufficient to find cause to put him to death.

Finally the high priest asked him directly in Mark 14:61, 62, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” and Jesus replied "“I am…And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Now the whole Sanhedrin thought they had their cause to judge him worthy of death.

In actual fact they did not.

What Jesus said was not technically blasphemy.

Furthermore, what Jesus said was actually true.

He was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One.

He would sit at the right hand of God and He would come on the clouds of heaven.

But the Jewish leaders did not accept that.

They understood what Jesus was saying, but did not accept it.

Did Jesus succeed in this trial or not?

When he was sentenced to death, we might think that He did not succeed, but in fact He did.

Jesus was successful in this trial because in it, His true identity was clearly explained.

He succeeded because He died as God, which is exactly what God’s plan was.

This was the divine necessity of which Jesus had spoken.

!! C.                 The Trial before Pilate

Having achieved a verdict that Jesus was worthy of death, they brought Him to Pilate in order to achieve a sentence of death.

But a strange thing happened in this next trial of Jesus.

The accusation changed.

The Jewish leaders had charged him with blasphemy.

Now, before Pilate, they charged him with being the “king of the Jews.”

Ironically, once again, they got it exactly right.

When confronted by this charge before Pilate, Jesus answered and the NIV translates his answer as, “Yes, it is as you say.”