THE GOSPEL OF MARK
The Passion Narrative
On the surface, it seems strange to tie these 2 episodes together; however, just like Mark had done previously with the incidents of the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple, Mark relates the first half of the plot of destroy Jesus, then tells the story of the anointing at Bethany, and then returns to the plot to destroy Jesus in order to link the episodes of the plot and the anointing together. By weaving the 2 stories together, Mark is first contrasting the attitude and action of the woman at Bethany (Mary) with the attitudes and actions of Jesus' enemies. By placing these 2 episodes together in his Gospel, Mark is wanting us to ask ourselves which one of these categories do we fall into--the one represented by Mary or the one represented by Jesus' enemies. Second, by weaving them together, Mark is informing us that the anointing of Jesus is what pushed Judas Iscariot over the edge. When he saw Mary's action and correctly interpreted Jesus' response, he knew that Jesus was never going to be the kind of earthly Messiah he had envisioned. Moreover, if Jesus wasn’t going to be some kind of conquering hero, then Judas would never be the treasurer in a great earthly kingdom. Well, Judas figured that if he wasn't going to be the treasurer of the Messiah's kingdom, he was at least going to get 30 pieces of silver out of it.
ANOINTING AND PLOT TO DESTROY JESUS (14:1-11)
It is approximately 2 days before the beginning of the Passover Feast; according to Jewish reckoning, this is most likely Wednesday of Passion Week after Jesus has concluded His debates with the Jewish religious leaders in the Temple environs. The Jewish religious leaders without even bringing Jesus to trial have already determined that He is to die. Their actions will ultimately constitute nothing less than judicial murder. They hesitate, though, to bring in Jesus because they are afraid of the populace. Because of the Feast of Passover, the population of Jerusalem has swelled from its normal 70 thousand to over 200 thousand. Many of the pilgrims are hot-blooded Galileans who for the most part are favorable towards Jesus, the "Galilean." The religious leaders know that if they arrest Jesus during the feast, the danger of a riot increases. If a riot occurs, then it is quite possible that the Romans will hold them responsible and remove them from their position of power (a constant fear of the religious leaders--see John 11:48).
In the meantime, though, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha have held a feast for Jesus in the home of Simon the leper (see John 12:1-2). All 3 act according to their temperaments--Martha is serving the supper, Lazarus is reclining at the supper, and Mary is preparing to perform an act of great devotion. She takes a pound of extremely precious genuine spikenard ointment. The story will later inform us that it cost 300 denarii, the equivalent of a year's wages--today in the tens of thousands of dollars. The ointment apparently came from as far away as India. Its cost shows us that it was probably a family heirloom which was passed on from mother to daughter. Instead of removing the cork from the bottle so that she can replace it later to preserve the remaining ointment, Mary actually breaks the long neck at the top of the flask so that she can lavish ALL the ointment upon Jesus.
When Mary performs this act of devotion, some of the disciples led by Judas Iscariot protest. They claim that this same ointment could have been sold, given to the apostolic treasury of which Judas was the treasurer, and then later given to the poor. It was customary during the Feast of Passover to offer some charity to the poor (John 13:29), so it was only understandable that some of the disciples would have followed Judas‘ lead here. Of course, all this was a farce. According to John, the apostles discovered after Judas’ betrayal and death that Judas had embezzled funds from the apostolic treasury. He was only wanting the money put into the treasury so that he could steal it.
Jesus, however, does not address Judas' ultimate motives. Rather, He defends Mary, explains the significance of her action, and then praises her for her action. First, He reminds the apostles that although the poor would always be around to be treated charitably, Jesus physically would not always be present. He is not denigrating charity to the poor but is rather putting it in its proper perspective.
Now, I've seen some people in churches act like we are horrible persons if we spend money on almost anything other than charity. If we spend a dime on anything other than missions, we're not walking with Jesus, so they claim. We're to be involved in charity, missions, etc.; however, we're never to reduce Christianity to being nothing more than a charity for the poor or the promotion of any other good cause. The primary focus of Christianity is the person of Jesus Himself. Mary demonstrates it by anointing Him with this costly ointment.
Next, Jesus explains the significance of her actions. Normally, whenever a person died, loved ones would anoint the dead body with costly perfumes and spices. According to Jesus, Mary has prematurely anointed His body for His approaching funeral. Instead of waiting until He was dead when He would not be able to appreciate it, she has anointed Him beforehand so that she could demonstrate to Him the depth of her love while He was still living (a great lesson for all of us to learn!).
Now many NT scholars claim that Mary would not have known that Jesus was about to die; therefore, she anointed His body for burial without realizing what she was doing. Those who claim this, though, fail to mention (1) that Mary and her family lived only 2 miles from Jerusalem, the center of opposition to Jesus, (2) that apparently Mary and her family had connections with some of the rulers in Jerusalem, and (3) that Jesus could have informed them of what was about to happen (see John 11:18-19). Most likely, Mary knew not only the political climate in Jerusalem but also exactly what she was doing. She just wanted Jesus to know how much she loved him BEFORE He died.
Next, Jesus praises Mary by predicting that when the gospel is preached throughout the world, her action would be included in it. Her action will touch Christians who have never even met her. This prophecy shows that although Jesus knew He was going to suffer and die, He also knew what the ultimate outcome of the series of events would be--His resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of God spoken about by the apostles in the gospels they were to write. For this reason, Jesus speaks about this woman's deed being spread with the gospel.
At this point, Mark returns to the plot to destroy Jesus. Judas Iscariot approaches the religious leaders and offers to deliver Jesus over to them for a small sum of money (specifically 30 pieces of silver, the going price for a slave). If Judas wasn't going to be able to get 300 denarii out of the apostolic treasury due to Mary's lavish display of love, he was at least going to get 30 pieces of silver. Many try to rationalize or psychoanalyze away Judas' motives; John flatly says that he was a greedy little man (John 12:6). In fact, he was a devil (John 6:71).
What constituted his betrayal? The religious leaders knew what Jesus looked like; so they really did not need anybody to identify Him for them. Moreover, they were not afraid to arrest Jesus because they had already determined to do this. What constituted Judas' betrayal was that he was going to be able to deliver Him over to them immediately during the Passover in such a way as to prevent a riot from occurring. By leading them to Jesus at an opportune time (whenever the crowds were not present), they would be able to capture Him in secret right now.
What a sorry spectacle this is, and how it contrasts with Mary's act of love. Mary anointing Jesus with perfume worth $30,000 and Judas plotting to kill Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. What a contrast.
PREPARATION FOR THE PASSOVER AND INSTITUTION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER (14:12-26)
When Thursday of Passover arrived, Jesus sent some of His disciples into the city to finalize preparations for the feast. Apparently, Jesus had already prearranged with one of His Jerusalem followers to have the feast in the city. (He did this because the Jews required that he Passover be eaten within the city walls of Jerusalem.) They were going to eat the meal in an upper room which would have been furnished with carpets, tables, and couches on which the celebrants would recline. Jesus informed the disciples, whom He sent into the city, to look for a man carrying a water jar; he would direct them to his house for the meal. Apparently, Jesus was combining the natural with the supernatural in these instructions. The natural: Jesus had probably already prearranged the meal. The supernatural: the way to discover who the owner of the house was (the man carrying the water jar—normally only women carried water jars). By exercising His supernatural ability, Jesus was probably wanting the disciples to understand that He had everything under control. No matter what appearances may seem to imply—especially His scourging and crucifixion, He nevertheless still had everything under control. The disciples followed Jesus' instructions and found everything to be just like Jesus had predicted. They make the final preparations for the Passover meal.
During the course of the Passover meal, 2 incidents occur. First, Jesus declared that one of His disciples was in the very process of betraying Him. The disciples recoiled in horror. The very idea that one of the 12 would betray Jesus seemed too much to bear. How could one who walked, talked, slept, dined and studied with Jesus for 3 years turn around and betray Him? It really sent shock waves throughout the apostolic band—another shock wave in Peter's denials was just around the corner. I’ve had Christians ask me how it is that some—not many—but some church people can be so vicious towards other Christians, even ministers. The truth is that Judas like some church people have all the trappings of being Jesus' followers and yet are as far away from Him as possible. How far away was Judas from Jesus spiritually? John claimed that Judas was demon-possessed (John 13:27). That's how far away spiritually a person can be from Jesus even though he had been so close to Him physically for 3 years. A person can live their life at the church and yet still be far from Christ. The disciples all protest: "It isn't me, is it?" (It shows that each of them fears that they are accidentally going to slip up and harm Jesus. They couldn’t believe anybody would intentionally harm Christ.) This form of question asks for a negative response from Jesus: "No, it is not you!"
Second, Jesus took 2 of the elements of the Passover and reinterpreted them. First, He took the unleavened bread and declared that it was His body broken for them. Next, He claimed that the wine of the Passover meal represented His blood which was about o be shed so that God could set up a new covenant with mankind. A lot of discussion centers around which parts of the Passover meal Jesus reinterpreted. For example, the Passover meal consisted in drinking wine 4 times. Which one of the 4 times did Jesus take the cup and reinterpret it? The answer is: "We don't know because Mark doesn't inform us" and "It doesn't matter; otherwise, Mark would have informed us." The truth is that by taking 2 elements of the Passover and reinterpreting them, He was claiming that the original Passover was finding its ultimate fulfillment in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. At that first Passover, the Israelites had sacrificed the lambs and spread their blood around and over the doors of their homes so that the death angel would "pass over" their homes. Well, Jesus is claiming to be that Lamb which would be sacrificed on the cross so that all who stand beneath the blood of Jesus (our Passover Lamb) would be saved this time from the second death. At the first Passover, God had won a great victory for His people, Israel; however, as great as that victory was—and as great as Spielberg and DeMille have depicted it, it pales in comparison to the victory Christ achieved for us on the cross. That first Passover was great; however, it was only a taste of the greater Passover that Jesus achieved for you and me.
The shedding of blood also pointed to the inauguration of a new contract between God and mankind. God had instituted a covenant with mankind at Mt. Sinai. This covenant had proved to be a miserable failure. If the Israelites were going to keep God's covenant, you would have thought they would have kept it right after He had parted the Red Sea and had given them the 10 Commandments; however, right after God had given the 10 Commandments to the Israelites, they responded by rejecting God and crafting a golden calf which they claimed to be their god. By the time of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the prophets were predicting that a time would come when God would do away with the inadequate Mosaic covenant and replace it with a new covenant, one characterized by the coming of the Holy Spirit (Jer. 21:31-34); Ez. 36:25-27). It would no longer be an external covenant but a covenant of the heart. God would not simply change a person's actions but his very heart also.
Finally, the new Passover—the Lord's Supper—had the purpose of pointing to the future. According to Jesus, He was not going to drink this cup of wine but would drink a cup of wine with them in the future when He returns to consummate His kingdom. On that day, Jesus said that He was going to throw a feast. People would come from the four corners of the earth to dine with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Son of Man (Matt. 8:11). Well, the Lord's Supper is a little taste—a real taste, yet only a little taste of the banquet that Jesus is preparing for His followers. It will be a banquet that Jesus is preparing for His followers. It will be a banquet of unity among Christians—that's the reason Jesus had the disciples drink from one cup and eat from the same loaf of bread. It will ultimately, though, be a banquet in which intimate fellowship with Jesus is achieved. Whereas now we eat the bread and drink the cup in order to show we are united with Him—His “blood” and His “body” actually become a part of us, a day will come in which we will experience the most intimate relationship possible with Him. There will be mo more symbols, just intimate fellowship with Him.