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Mark | 1 -7 | 8-12 | 13:1-13 | 13:14-27 | 13:28-37 | 14:1-9 | 14:10-21 | 14:22-31 | 14:32-52 | 14:53-72 | 15:1-20 | 15:21-41 | 15:42-47 | 16 | PDF |

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Mark 14:10-21 – Judas Plans to Betray Jesus

Outline

I. Judas offers to betray Jesus (10-11)
II. The disciples prepare the Passover (12-16)
III. Jesus prophecies His betrayal (17-21)

I. Judas offers to betray Jesus (10-11)

Discussion Questions

• What might have motivated Judas to betray Jesus?
• Why might he have followed Jesus at the beginning?
• Why did the chief priests need Judas? What was his job?

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. Judas was not a genuine believer –

Mark 14:10 – Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.

The Bible doesn’t tell us the reasons Judas followed Jesus or even the story of how he became Jesus’ disciple. Perhaps Judas was something like Simon the Magician in the book of Acts (Acts 8:9-25). Simon witnessed miracles. He saw that there was power in this movement and he wanted to use that power for material gain. He was motivated by fleshly desires.

Judas may have had similar earthly or material motivations. Perhaps Judas hoped to have a high position in Jesus’ kingdom and therefore to get rich. Perhaps he hoped to gain the ability to do miracles so that he could charge for them or increase his reputation. We don’t know the reasons, but we do know that Judas was greedy.

In John 12, we see that Judas is motivated by a desire for money. He suggested that the perfume be sold because he stole from the money box.

John 12:5-6 – “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

There are many speculations on why Judas offered to betray Jesus. Some include elaborate theories, such as trying to force Jesus’ hand to become king and throw the Romans out of Judea.

But the only concrete information we have is that Judas did it for money.

Mark 14:11 – And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

They promised thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3).

How much was the silver worth?

It is hard to calculate the exact value because we don’t know exactly what the piece of silver represented. Scholars who have attempted to calculate it believe it ranges between one-half year’s wages to the price of a slave. It was a significant amount, but nothing that would make Judas extraordinarily wealthy. The silver was later used to buy a field (Matthew 27:7).

2. Why did the priests need Judas to betray Jesus?

Jesus’ opponents wanted to capture him by stealth (Mark 14:1-2). They wanted to do it in a private place away from the eyes of the public that adored Jesus. Because Jesus was so popular, they were afraid of a public backlash to his arrest.

But there were no spy satellites, GPS tracking, or CCTV systems to help them keep track of Jesus. If Jesus wasn’t in a public place, then they had no surefire way of detecting where he was. That is why they needed Judas. As one of his disciples, he knew Jesus’ schedule and itinerary. He could tell the priests when an opportune time presented itself. And that is exactly what he did after the Lord’s Supper when Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane.

3. Lessons from Judas –

A. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10) –

While Satan gets the nod for worst sinner of all of God’s creation, Judas may get the nod for worst sinning human. He masqueraded as Jesus’ friend. He followed Jesus for three years, serving with Him, eating with Him, traveling with Him, talking with Him, and listening to Him teach. As one of the disciples, he participated in Jesus’ ministry and preached the gospel. He was an eyewitness to Jesus’ miracles and saw the blind and lame healed, the dead raised to life, a storm calmed, and food provided for thousands. Judas experienced Jesus and his ministry more closely than almost anyone who has ever lived.

And yet, he finally betrayed Jesus. This could be considered far worse than what the priests did. They never pretended to follow Jesus. At the same time, they always claimed to be serving God. Judas had no such excuse (for an excuse it was).

Judas loved money. His love for money ensnared him to the point that he betrayed the Son of God to death. How sad that Judas chose the passing pleasures of this world instead of an eternity with the Lord. He gave up his soul for thirty pieces of silver. Because of his guilt, he did not even enjoy the ill-gotten money.

Mark 8:35-37 – For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

Application – Loving money caused the worst betrayal in the history of the world. If it can cause that, how many more sins can it cause? Do not allow yourself to go down the road of loving money. We should follow Mary’s example in the first part of this chapter. She gave the very best she had to Christ, even though it cost a lot.

What are some practical ways you can fight against the love of money in your own life?

2. Not everyone who looks like a sheep is a sheep – To most people, Judas looked like a faithful disciple. He seemed spiritual and committed. He had also given up things to follow Jesus. But he was not a faithful disciple. His heart had not been regenerated. He had ulterior motives.

Matthew 7:21 – Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Do you sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts (1 Peter 3:15)? Do not just talk the talk. Continuously evaluate your own heart and motives so that they are pure before the Lord. Spend some time evaluating the “why” of your faith. Why do you go to church? Why do you worship? Why do you pray? Why do you read the Bible?

Is it because of a sincere desire to worship the Lord and a love for Him or is something else motivating you?

Let us pray the prayer of David in Psalm 139.

Psalms 139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

II. The disciples prepare the Passover (12-16)

Discussion Questions

• What is the Passover lamb?
• Why is it significant that Jesus died during this festival?
• What did the disciples do in this passage? What can we learn about their role in Jesus’ ministry?
• What do we learn about Jesus from this passage? How about the disciples?

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. Jesus would die during the Passover Festival – This was not a coincidence. Just as the blood of the original Passover lambs meant that God would not judge His people, Jesus is the once-and-for-all Passover lamb. Those who believe in Him will also not be judged.

Before God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, Pharaoh refused to listen to God’s commands 9 times. So God told Moses He was going to send a worse plague. The firstborn child of every family was going to die.

If His people would take a Passover Lamb and put the blood on their doorways, God’s judgment would Pass Over them and they would be saved.

Amidst many instructions, God told them this command.

Exodus 12:3 – Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.

Exodus 12:6 – And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

They were to keep the lamb for four days before sacrificing it.

By requiring the families to care for the lamb for four days, it would help them to realize that the sacrifice was personal. It was not just a nameless, faceless lamb. It would live with them in their house for four days. They would feed it and care for it. Perhaps they would even grow to be fond of the lamb and see its personality.

All of this was designed by God to make them know that the sacrifice was personal. This innocent lamb was going to die so that they wouldn’t.

God designed this entire ritual to point to Christ.

John 1:21 – Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The Passover Lamb lived with them. Jesus came and lived with us.

The Passover Lamb was a personal sacrifice for them and Jesus is a personal sacrifice for us.

The Passover Lamb was to be an unblemished male and Jesus was the only sinless man to ever live.

The Lamb died to take the place of a specific person. Jesus died for us personally. He died not only for the world in general, but for me, Jason, and for you.

And just as those people killed the lamb, so we are responsible for Jesus’ death. We were not there, but our sins put him there.

Here is a difference. The Passover lamb could not choose its fate. Jesus did. He gave up His life to save you. He knew what it was going to cost and He went willingly because He loves you.

In order to receive this salvation, you must have a personal connection to the lamb.

Reflect – Do you have a personal connection to Jesus, the Lamb of God?

2. The disciples took the initiative to ask what they could do to help prepare –

Mark 14:12 – “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

We have seen throughout the book of Mark that the disciples were quite involved in Jesus’ ministry. They did not just sit and watch, but helped in many ways. Here we see that they took care of a lot of physical errands (much like the original deacons in Acts), so that Jesus could have more time and energy to focus on spiritual ministry. Instead of waiting for Jesus to tell them what to do, they came to Jesus and asked what they could do.

Application – We would do well to learn from their volunteer spirit. Be observant to consider what you can do to help others in a variety of situations. Instead of waiting for others to help, jump in and do what needs to be done. Every believer has a spiritual gift and an important role to fill in the body of Christ. Church is not a spectator sport. We are all called to participate.
One brother in my church arrives hours early each week. One Sunday, he messaged me two and a half hours before the service and apologized for being late! Wow. He goes early every week and prepares behind the scenes. Most people in the church never know what he does. But he humbly serves in the background.

God sees and rewards every act of service that is done for Him with sincere motives, even if no one else does.

Matthew 6:4 – And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

3. Jesus demonstrates His deity again –

Mark 14:13-15 – And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

Jesus told them what was going to happen with surprising detail. Unless this happened by God’s sovereign power, it could not have happened. If I were the guy carrying the pitcher of water, I would have kept looking over my shoulder at the two strong men from out of town who were following me. After taking a couple of turns, I would glance back and they were still there. My first thought would be that they were thieves trying to rob me. After all, there would be many kinds of people roaming about Jerusalem during the festival. Probably long before I got home, I would have broken into a run to get away from the stalkers.

But this guy didn’t do that. He led them back and the owner of the house graciously agreed to let them use it. In Jerusalem, rooms like this would have been in high demand as thousands of Jews flowed into the city to celebrate the Passover.

Why does this guy let the disciples follow him back? Why does this owner so readily agree to let them use it (and apparently for free)?

The answer is God’s providence.

4. The disciples were obedient – By this point, it seems that they had mostly learned to obey Jesus without question. Jesus’ story is hard to believe from a human standpoint, but Jesus had done many more difficult miracles. Jesus expects us to trust and obey.

III. Jesus prophesies His betrayal (17-21)

Discussion Questions

• Why were they reclining at the table? What does this tell us about the culture there?
• How did Jesus know Judas would betray Him?
• Why did Jesus allow Judas to follow Him since He knew this would happen from the beginning?
• How did the disciples react?
• Who did Jesus say it was?
• What did Jesus say about the betrayer? Why didn’t Judas take this warning to heart and repent right away?

Cross-References

Matthew 26:25 – Judas also said, “Surely it is not I.” Jesus said, “You have said it yourself.”

Luke 22:3 – Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.

John 13:26-30 – Satan enters Judas and Jesus tells him to do it quickly.

Psalms 41:9 – Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

Zechariah 11:12 – Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. Jesus declares that one of His disciples will betray Him –

Mark 14:18-19 – And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”

Eleven of the disciples do not know what is going on. They proclaim their innocence of the plot to betray Jesus. Not only did they never enter into any such plot, but it was shocking to them that any of their number could stoop so low as to do something like this. Only Judas knew what Jesus was talking about. Still, it was beneficial for the others to hear this conversation because later they would understand and know that Jesus was well aware of the betrayal and His coming death ahead of time.

2. Jesus knows who is going to betray him –

Mark 14:20 – He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

The main point seems to be to show the disciples that Jesus knew about this betrayal. It did not catch him by surprise. In fact, he had known all along.

What do we learn about Jesus from this?

We learn that Jesus is omniscient. It is yet another reminder that Jesus allowed Himself to be caught and killed. He could have prevented it if He wanted to, but He did not want to. He was on a mission (Luke 9:51). We also learn about Jesus’ impressive patience and even self-control.

Somehow, He let Judas take part in all of the activities of this inner circle for years. There is no record that He rebuked Judas before this event or confronted him about his motivations. Jesus mercifully exposed Judas to more teaching and gave him more opportunities to repent.

Even more importantly, this was part of God’s sovereign plan (21) in providentially bringing about Jesus’ sacrifice, which would bring salvation to the world.

3. What do we learn about the will of God?

The story of Judas is a fascinating study in the will of God. Was he following God’s will to betray Jesus? No and yes. Judas was specifically defying many of Jesus’ teachings. He had ignored what Jesus had taught him even as recently as Mark 14:6-7. Judas intentionally disobeyed the revealed will of God. And yet, in the process of breaking this revealed will, he was somehow fulfilling an integral part of God’s ultimate, sovereign, end-plan will.

Was Judas doing what was right since this was part of God’s ultimate plan and used to bring about Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of the world? No. It was sin.

But somehow God used Judas’ own sinful choice, made completely of his own volition (James 1:13-17), to bring about His perfect plan and fulfill prophecies made centuries before.

This is something that I will never understand this side of heaven, and maybe not even then. It shows us just how amazing, transcendent, and incomprehensible God is.

4. Jesus warns Judas –

Mark 14:21 – For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

Judas did not decide to betray Jesus in ignorance. Jesus made sure of that. He made it clear that this would be the worst and most catastrophic decision he could make. And yet Judas went forward and did it. He gave up his very soul, and for what? He did it for thirty pieces of silver, which he later threw back at them because of his guilt.

Application – It is easy to look at Judas and think about what a foolish decision this was. But what about us? Every time we sin, we do the same thing. Whenever we choose to satisfy our flesh, lust, or greed, we despise the commandments of God in return for short-term pleasure. This pleasure will not satisfy us on a deep level because of the guilt and shame that we will feel. Do not make the same mistake Judas did. Do not knowingly reject any commands of God for short-term gratification.

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