Mark 14 Jesus betrayed, arrested, accused and denied

v1-9  Jesus commanded the woman with the alabaster jar because she did what she could and He considered it a beautiful thing. 

Our priorities in Christian service should not be money, but rather doing what we can for Jesus. 

v10-21  Judas’ motivation for betraying Jesus seemed to be money.  Do I see the potential in myself to betray Jesus for ulterior motives?

v22-25  Jesus brings salvation through the shedding of His blood, the giving up of His body and the costly sacrifice He was willing to make. 

v26-31  How much easier it is to see God’s words as appropriate for others & not ourselves – Peter would have done well to see Jesus as speaking directly to himself before considering others. 

v32-50  Jesus’ distress came from knowing what was about to take place – He was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  We must remember it was no easy thing for Jesus to go to the cross – He went willingly, but prayed that if it was possible, the Father would remove “this cup” from Him. 

Jesus was ready in a way that His disciples were not, because He had faced the situation with prayer and anticipation. 

v53-65  It was clear that Jesus saw Himself as the Christ (v62) & that they understood His claims to be the Christ (v63).   Jesus explained to them that one day they would see the Son of Man enthroned at the right hand of the Mighty One. 

Peter had been through some evening.  He had sat with Jesus as He had announced someone would betray Him – Peter must have wondered if this was Him.  He was sure it would not be.  He had heard Jesus say they would all fall away & again, He must have been sure this would not include him. 

He boldly stated it would not include him, but also heard Jesus say that he would disown Jesus 3 times that night.  Then, he had seen Jesus betrayed by one of His (& Peter’s) friends.  He had experienced the pain of seeing Jesus betrayed and being falsely accused.  He has been asked if he belongs with Jesus and denied it 3 times.  Peter has been on some journey – we must always remember we are vulnerable to temptation and must never think we are beyond it ourselve