DEVOTION
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK
THE LORD’S WILL BE DONE
Mark 14:43-52
43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With
him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the
teachers of the law, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal
with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under
guard." 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Rabbi!" and
kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47 Then one of those
standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting
off his ear. 48 "Am I leading a rebellion," said
Jesus, "that you have come out with swords and
clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple
courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled." 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51 A
young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they
seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
NIV
Both Luke and John also record this incident in the garden, however
John gives the most details, with Mark giving the least, which seems to be Mark’s
style. What we know having walked around the fenced-in area that is supposed as
the Garden of Gethsemane, the place of this incident, we know that it was
possible that Jesus and his disciples saw Judas and his crowd coming from
Jerusalem. Here the garden is slightly downhill from the Mount of Olives and
being nightfall, as they went there after eating the Passover meal and singing
hymns, the crowd with Judas would have been carrying torches as well. They
would have had to come down from Jerusalem crossing the Kidron valley in the
dark. Surely that size of a crowd with torches would have been seen from the
Garden. What John includes is interesting and shows the power of Jesus which
demonstrates he was in control of this whole event. Jesus was not the victim
here, but the orchestrator so that the will of God would be accomplished and we
would be redeemed. John gives us this account that when Judas and the mob
appear in the Garden, Jesus goes to them and asks them who they are looking
for. When they say Jesus, he tells them he is the one they are looking for and
they all fall back to the ground. That is due to the power that resides
within him. John also records that Jesus tells them he is the one they are here
for and to let his disciples go. Mark leaves this out but is the only one who
includes this young man who fled naked. What is not told, but may be seen, is
that the mod may well have intended to grab Jesus and all his disciples, arresting
them all and thus putting an end to the whole of this movement. However, that
did not happen as the disciples did flee into the night, leaving Jesus alone to
be arrested and dragged back to Jerusalem to face his trial. Although, we know that
later all turned out well, and the disciples being filled with the Spirit moved
boldly about spreading the good news and thousands upon thousands put their faith
in Jesus, and now here we are, one of the hundreds of thousands who have put their
faith in Jesus. These mere men could not put an end to this movement, they
could not put a stop to the will of God. What man is bold or rather foolish
enough to claim to have more power than God and can affect any change that is
not authorized by the will of God? We can see this foolishness today in the
thinking of the world’s thinking that man is the cause of anything in the environment,
that we can change that which God has established. Jesus was not being led to
the cross, he was leading them to the cross. Jesus was always in control because
he had just finished praying that His Father’s will would be accomplished. Jesus
was doing the will of God, and so men were just the supporting actors in this accomplishment
of the will of God. We ought to see ourselves in a similar light. It is not our
will that is at play here, but the will of God in our lives. We are the clay
and he is the potter and He forms us into whatever type of vessel he requires to
accomplish His will in the time and place in which we live. Does God give us
some latitude as far as our daily activities? It would seem so, or at least we
take those liberties. However, when it comes to where we live, work and
worship, we would best be sure we are directly within the center of His will,
for He has called us to be this certain part in the Body of Christ. He has
called us to be where he can best use us as he has empowered us with his gifts.
Jesus is the Lord, as because Judas and the mod showed up, Jesus did not stop
being the Lord. All this was about the Lord’s will being done and so should our
lives be about the Lord’s will being done.
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