Read Mk 14:53-65

Here we see the Thursday night illegal trial accusing Jesus of blasphemy. Why didn't the witnesses agree? Perhaps they were brought in one by one and didn't hear what the others had said. Of course the truth always agrees. Jesus boldly states that He is the Messiah..............."I AM".


Read Mk 14:66-72

This is the low spot of Peter's life. He was scared and had lost his courage as he denied that he had been with Jesus. But he does repent and ask forgiveness. In Jn 21:15-17, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him and dad pointed out that perhaps it was a connection to this incident. 1 Jn 1:9 is our hope for this life...."If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just ot forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Read Mk 15:1-15

Now we have the official trial on Friday morning. Pilate realizes that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him because of envy. They were jealous of Jesus' popularity with the people.

Jesus answers nothing at this trial as He is determined to be falsely accused and die for us. Imagine not defending yourself against false charges.

The chief priests easily manipulate the crowd so that they ask for Barrabas to be released instead of Jesus.

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Ps 22:9-11
"But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts.
I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother's womb You have been My God.
Be not far from Me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help."

Fitting verses for the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, marking the killing of 50 million children in our nation.

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We are almost done with the book of Mark, and our next study is going to be a topical one. Any suggestions?

Read Mk 14:32-42

We find Jesus praying for the Father to "take this cup away from me". Going to the cross was going to be really hard on Jesus because He knew He was going to be rejected by the Father as He took on all of our sins.

And then the diciples fell asleep! Lesson......... we need to have compassion on other people's mistakes. We are just as weak as the disciples, men who had spent 3 years learning from Jesus! Why do we expect so much of eachother?

Read Mk 14:43-52

John says that a "cohort" of armed Roman soldiers with swords came to get Jesus and that would have been 600 men. They must have thought that Jesus was very powerful!

One of the 12 that Jesus carefully picked is the one who betrayed HIm. How awful to think that he did this.

The naked man seems to be John Mark, the author of the gospel. It is reasonable that the soldiers had been at Mark's house looking for Jesus prior to this account. This is possibly the house of the upper room. Perhaps they woke Mark from his sleep and he hurried out with a cloth wrapped around him.

Read Mk 14:26-31

"And when they had sung a hymn...." This would have been one of the Psalms between 113 and 118 so we read Ps. 115. It was inspiring to think of Jesus and the disciples singing these actual words. The psalm speaks of the believers blessing the name of the Lord and the Lord blessing the believers. Verse 11 commands those who fear the Lord to TRUST Him. Both do not naturally go together, do they?

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Between a small picture of a certain someone and clowning with her younger sister, Anne managed to.........shall we say..............keep Dad on his toes last night? (just seeing if anyone is reading this)

Read Mark 14:22-25

"This is My blood of the new covenant..." We talked about the Old Testament Abrahamic covenant and how God walked through the bloodied animals, showing His unconditional promise. Now Jesus takes full responsibility for the New Covenant by dying on the cross and giving His life.

"I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine..........." Dad pointed out how when Jesus appeared to various people after the resurrection, He often ate with them, but He never drank anything. He also refused the sour wine at the cross.

Ps. 37:3 "Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness."

Read Mark 13:21-37

Working backwards, this passage admonishes us to be ready for Jesus' return, remembering that no one knows when He is coming back. Jesus will come in the clouds with glory and we will see Him, so we are not to be fooled by false messiahs. Though one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, God's Word stays the same. It is our anchor for all of life!

Read Mark 14:1-16

The woman here is Mary the sister of Lazarus. She is being accused of wasting the "fragrant oil", which is pure nard, and it was in a marble flask, valued at an equivalent of today's $15,000 (according to dad's calculations). Jesus corrected them and didn't seem to consider it a waste.

The chief priests and scribes who want to arrest Jesus are very concerned about creating a riot. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, so He had arranged for a quiet Passover meal so that they could eat in secret and not be interupted.

Does Jesus' reaction to those who criticized Mary surprise you? What would have been your first reaction? I'm afraid that I would have first thought about the monetary worth before considering her heart.

Jesus knew what was coming from Judas' betrayal, but He "did the next thing", as Elisabeth Elliot says. He did not allow the coming trial to shake Him. If only I could imitate!