Jesus awakened his disciples. - Mark 14:41
Jesus awakened his disciples for a third time and told them it was
enough. The time for
sleeping was past. Perhaps, right before he said this Jesus saw the torches being carried by his enemies as Judas led them through the dark garden. In verse 35 Jesus had prayed that his hour might pass from him. Now he recognized that the
hour had come for the events of his death to be put in motion.
Get up and go. - Mark 14:42
Jesus' command to
get up and
go was not an attempt to get away from his enemies. It was his determination to confront them.
Betrayer - Mark 14:43-44
Judas the
betrayer solved the Jewish leaders' greatest problem: how to arrest Jesus when no crowds were around. Judas told them that the one he would
kiss is Jesus. Judas abused this sign of friendship and respect pretending to still be Jesus' friend and disciple.
Rabbi - Mark 14:45
Rabbi was a Hebrew word that was derived from a root meaning
great. It came to be used of one's teacher with the sense of
my master.Cut off the ear - Mark 14:47
Mark reported that one of the disciples cut off the ear of one of the mob. John 18:10 identified that disciple as Peter. Luke 22:51 reported how Jesus defused the rising violence by healing the man's ear. Luke 22:38 made it clear that at least two of the disciples carried a sword.
Robber - Mark 14:48
The Greek word translated
robber may also be translated
revolutionary.The disciples ran away - Mark 14:49-50
Jesus did not mention which
scriptures he was thinking of; but they probably included Zech. 13:9. All of the disciples
ran away. Up to this point the disciples' misunderstanding, words, and actions must have made Jesus feel alone. Now they actually left him alone.
Jesus, abandoned by everyone - Mark 14:51-52
Mark is the only gospel writer who mentions this
young man running away
naked. Some writers have guessed that Mark himself was that young man. Whoever he was, it is another example of Jesus being abandoned by everyone.
The Arrest and Trials - Mark 14:53-15:15
The arrest and trials of Jesus show the cruelty and determination of his enemies to put him to death. They also show his increasing aloneness as his disciples failed him. During this time his messiahship and divinity became more and more clear.
Sanhedrin - Mark 14:54-55
Jesus was put through two trials. The first was before the
Jewish council, the Sanhedrin.
Sanhedrin is the transliteration of the Greek word for
council. The Sanhedrin was the highest judicial body in Judaism. (Many cities had their own councils, but only the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem had authority over Judaism in other communities as well as their own.) The night time meeting was highly irregular. Similarly, it was very unusual to hold a session of the court at the residence of the high priest instead of in the temple courts. The speed with which the leadership wanted to handle this matter led to cutting corners and secrecy. One possible explanation of the irregularities is that this was not a meeting of the whole Sanhedrin (see note at 15:1), but only a fact gathering interrogation by some of the members. Of course if that were the case the judgment of vv. 64, 65 were premature. Even more irregular was the fact that they were actively
seeking testimony against Jesus to support the guilty verdict they had already come to.
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