The Son of Man will be betrayed 24/05/2022
- Robert Neilly
- May 24, 2022
- 4 min read
hey were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem, ”he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” [Mark 10: 32-34 NIV]
Jesus is approaching the end of his public ministry on earth. He is on his way to Jerusalem where he will be crucified. He knew exactly what lay before him. We are not able to predict the future with any great certainty. Looking back to May 2001, I could hardly have predicted many of the events of this last year. Things have happened that I never expected. But Jesus was never taken by surprise by events.
This is not the first time that he had told them what was going to happen to him but they have found it difficult to grasp. Sometimes we use defence mechanisms when we are confronted with bad news. They were in a state of denial. They thought that if they shut this out of their minds, this gloomy prediction of death would not become Judas reality.
Notice the precise details which were fulfilled exactly as Jesus had predicted.
This event would take place in Jerusalem.
The Son of Man will be delivered etc. The role of Judas Iscariot is predicted although he is not mentioned by name.
Jesus would first of all be handed over to the Jewish religious hierarchy (chief priests and teachers of the law).
The Jewish religious leaders would condemn Him to death.
The abuse of their prisoner by the Roman soldiers (mock him and spit on Him).
The scourging (flog him).
His death was predicted although crucifixion is not mentioned.
His rising from the dead after three days.
Interesting that the word 'delivered' was used and I linked this to the betrayal by Judas. From a human point of view, that is what happened. From the divine perspective, this was planned in eternity.
This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 2:23 NIV
The phrase 'handed over to you' is translated 'delivered.'
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Acts 2:23 KJV
So, although the Jewish high priests thought they were in control, they were oblivious to the fact that these events were planned in eternity so that there would be salvation for mankind and the way to heaven would be opened wide.
Look back to the first sentence in the paragraph. Jesus is leading the procession to Jerusalem, the place of execution. There is no uncertainty or hesitancy. There are two groups following Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. Firstly, there are the disciples and they are amazed. What is the cause of their amazement? Was it the determination of Jesus to make his way to the city where his enemies were planning his downfall? Secondly, there is this group which is vaguely defined. All we know is that they were following on and they are afraid. They have heard the rumours of impending revenge on the part of the Jewish leaders who have made no secret of their hatred for Jesus.
In our studies in Mark’s Gospel, we are approaching the most important event in the history of the world - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. You might be surprised that we have only two more blogs left in Mark’s Gospel. So we will not reach the death and resurrection of Jesus. Instead we are travelling back to the Old Testament and the book of Proverbs. There are twenty Day Shares dealing with some principal themes in this book. We might learn a new word ‘aphorism’ - a fancy word for a proverb. This is associated with a particular genre of writing which was popular among the Jewish people. This will lead us on to studying a New Testament letter in some depth - James’s Letter. It contains very practical and relevant teaching for us today.
[Photo by Thanti Riess on Unsplash.]
Thank you for your continued interest in studying God’s Word with us and our prayer is that the living word will speak to our hearts and minds and challenge our attitudes and our conduct. Here is a quote from one Bible teacher.
Spiritual maturity is one of the greatest needs in churches today. Too many churches are playpens for babies instead of workshops for adults. The members are not mature enough to eat the solid spiritual food that they need, so they have to be fed on milk (Heb. 5:11–14). Just look at the problems James dealt with and you can see that each of them is characteristic of little children:
• Impatience in difficulties—1:1–4
• Talking but not living the truth—2:14ff.
• No control of the tongue—3:1ff.
• Fighting and coveting—4:1ff.
• Collecting material “toys”—5:1ff.
After well over a quarter century of ministry, I am convinced that spiritual immaturity is the number one problem in our churches. God is looking for mature men and women to carry on His work, and sometimes all He can find are little children who cannot even get along with each other.
Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Mature (James): Growing Up in Christ (The BE Series Commentary) (pp. 24-25). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
[Photo by Les Anderson on Unsplash].
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