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Like Him or loathe Him (Mark 14:1-31)
Have you ever heard this said of someone, "Like
him or loathe him you can't ignore him?" Two readings ago we saw Jesus
make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, enrage the scribes and Pharisees,
and clear the temple. In the last reading we saw him engage directly
with those who challenged him and teach them a lesson on what are the
major themes of the kingdom he had come to declare. This week we find:
Now…the chief priests and the teachers of the
law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. "But not
during the Feast [Passover]", they said, "or the people may riot." (Mark
14:1-2)
Clearly, the authorities loathed him.
Like Him or loathe Him
The woman with the alabaster jar, we are told in John's gospel (John
12), was Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha. Like him or loathe him?
Martha loved him.
"She has done a beautiful thing to me…She
did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare
for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached
throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory
of her." (vv 6-9)
What will be told in memory of you?
Like Him or loathe Him
We are given an insight into the character and activities of Judas Iscariot:
…he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself
to what was put into it. (John 12:6)
It was he, we are further informed, that led the objections to the 'waste'
of a jar of expensive perfume. He is remembered for entirely different
reasons:
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve,
went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted
to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity
to hand him over.
Judas also made his choice. Have you made yours?
Like Him or loathe Him
I like the fact that these days the "Last Supper" is more often referred
to as the "Lord's Supper". It is not the last because we will drink
the fruit of the vine with him again when we drink it anew in the kingdom
of God (v22). It was during the supper that Jesus told his disciples
that one of them would betray him. During the supper that he told them:
"The Son of Man will go will go just
as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son
of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
Jesus makes clear that there are consequences to our choices. He also
makes clear that he has made choices, the consequences of which will
reach into eternity, the immediate effect of which would see him separated
from his Father and suffering for the sins of the world. In the face
of our sin God, in Christ chose to love us (John 3:16). What is our
choice?
Like Him or loathe Him
As they walked to the Mount of Olives Jesus anticipated the next day's
events:
You will all fall away," Jesus told them,
"for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered.'"
You can understand Peter's objection. Never! Not us! Not me, ever! But
they would, he would, as prophesied. They didn't loathe him as the scribes
and Pharisees who plotted to kill Him. They didn't loathe Him as Judas
who had plotted with them. They loved Him - but denied Him when the
trial of their faith came, and Jesus knew they would. But Jesus' love
is a constant in the face of our human frailty.
There are those who choose to loathe Him, those who choose to love Him,
and then those who choose to love Him but their love is tested. Jesus'
words in the supper are a great comfort to all that recognise their
compromising human nature:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread,
gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take
it this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it
to them, and they all drank from it. "This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many", he said to them.
Matthew Henry had this to say:
How comfortable is this to poor repenting
sinners, that the blood of Christ is shed for many! If for many, why
not for me? It was a sign of the conveyance of the benefits purchased
for us by his death. Apply the doctrine of Christ crucified to yourselves;
let it be meat and drink to your souls, strengthening and refreshing
your spiritual life.
A comfort, not to those who loathed him and sought his end, or to those
who loathed him and sought to betray him, but to those who loved him
and were horrified by how they had failed to own him who died for them
- the repentant believer. To those Jesus promised:
"But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."
May he go ahead of us this week and as we anticipate that terrible and
wonderful festival of Easter.