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Gospel of Mark
Part 81: The Betrayal of Jesus
By Rev. Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON TIMELINE
- Introduction
- John the Baptist
- The Baptism of Jesus
- Temptation of Jesus
- The Preaching Ministry of Jesus I
- The Preaching Ministry of Jesus II
- The First Disciples
- A Teacher with Authority
- At the Home of Simon and Andrew
12. Jesus and the Tax Collector
13. Jesus Questioned About Fasting
15. Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath & Resurrection Sunday 2025
16. Hard Hearts and Hard Thoughts
18. Jesus Appoints the Apostles
24. Parable of the Growing Seed
25. Parable of the Mustard Seed
26. Benefits of Private Teaching
30. When Familiarity Breeds Contempt
32. Weakness in the Seat of Power
34. Feeding 5000
38. The Source of True Defilement
39. Gentile Blessed for Her Faith
40. He Has Done All Things Well
41. Jesus Feeds 4000
42. Jesus Sighs
43. Beware of Leaven
44. The Blind Man at Bethsaida
45. Who Do You Say That Jesus Is?
46. Mindful of the Things of God
49. Ashamed of Jesus and His Word
51. The Disciples ask Questions
54. Principles of Discipleship
58. The Cost and Reward of Discipleship
59. A Couple Days Before Palm Sunday
61. Greatness in the Kingdom Comes from Serving
62. Blind Bartimaeus
63. Triumphal Entry
66. Is it from Heaven or from Men?
67. Parable of the Wicked Vine Grower
68. Our Duty to God and Country
69. The Resurrection of the Dead
71. David’s Son and David’s Lord
72. Beware the Pretentious Scribes
76. The Preparations
79. Peter’s Denial
81. The Betrayal of Jesus
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Mark 14:27-31 “And immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up, and with him was a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard.”
45 And after coming, Judas, having immediately gone to Him, *said, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 46 And they laid hands on Him and seized Him.
47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.
48 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber? 49 Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place in order that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left Him and fled.
51 And a young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they *seized him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.”
Psalm 109:5-20
John 10:17-18
Luke22:51 Malchus
Isaiah 53
Zechariah 11:13; 13:7
INTRODUCTION
It is now Late Thursday Night of the week of Passover.
§ Late Thursday Night: In the Garden of Gethsemane, betrayal, arrest, (TODAY’S MESSAGE) soon: Jewish hearings
§ Friday morning: Jesus before Pilate, Crucifixion and death; Friday before sunset: Burial
Following the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Last week I spoke of the juxtaposition (or typological contrast / theological parallel, whatever you want to call it) of Eden and Gethsemane, and how it reveals this profound biblical distinction: where the first Adam failed in a garden through disobedience, the Last Adam was victorious through submitting to the Father’s will.
I hear people say all the time they want to live a victorious life in Christ, but then they do not submit to the Father’s Will. It takes one to have the other.
So what is this typographical contrast?
In Eden, the first Adam faced temptation and disobeyed God
In Gethsemane, the Second Adam (Christ) faced suffering and anguish and submitted Himself fully to the Father
In Eden, man said, “my will”
In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “not My will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42)
In Eden, the beginning, the entrance of sin and death, and separation from the Father.
In Gethsemane, Jesus, on His way to the cross, said, “it is finished” (John 19:30), meaning it has been completed, accomplished, or, better, brought to its intended end. And through Christ and His substitutionary death, restoration with the Father for mankind.
Today we read that one of the closest to Jesus (one of the twelve) betrays Jesus. When the disciples see the mob with clubs and swords, Peter strikes out at a servant, cutting off his ear.
Jesus says to Peter, “…Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11
In Mark 14:47-50 we read the disciples flee. All but one. Scripture says “A young man following him,”
Most scholars agree this is Mark speaking of himself in third-person here rather than repeatedly using “I” or “me.” This fits both ancient historical writing conventions and the literary style of the Gospels.
Luke is the only exception. In the opening of his Gospel, he explicitly uses the first person. But once the narrative begins, Luke largely disappears from the story and tells events from an external perspective.
The young man eventually flees when they try to capture him, only escaping by pulling from the cloth covering him.
We can understand why the disciples fled, and Mark, though he tried to remain strong and stand with the Lord, fled as well, but what about Judas? What led him to betray his Lord and Savior?
How could one who had been with Jesus, seen His miracles, heard His teachings, betray him?
Can we, today, also have spent time with Jesus, seen His miracles, and heard His teachings, and yet be guilty of betraying Jesus in the same way?
Are there things that misled Judas that could have a similar effect on us?
I. JESUS WAS BETRAYED BY A CLOSE FRIEND
a. Judas was no stranger to Jesus
i. He was one of the twelve, one of the apostles (Mark 3:14-19)
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” John 13:1
1. Judas was among them at this time!
Yet, just as prophesied in Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”, Jesus was betrayed by a close friend.
b. Being close to Jesus is no guarantee
i. Just being a follower of Jesus is no assurance we can not betray Him.
ii. “If you were a real follower, you would never…” stop right there.
1. Did Jesus not rebuke many of the churches in Asia Minor in Revelation for “wandering from the truth” and betraying Him?
2. Revelation 2:4-5 Left their first love.
3. Revelation 2:14-16 Tolerating false doctrine
4. Revelation 2:20 Permitting false teachers to spread their doctrines
5. Revelation 3:1-3 Failing to protect our works and not be watchful
6. Revelation 3:15-16 Being lukewarm
iii. Yes, we can betray Jesus by denying Him who purchased us with His own blood (2 Peter 2:1)
If it were not possible to betray Jesus as a follower, then we wouldn’t read scriptures like John 6, which states that when teachings became difficult, many disciples left Jesus, and “walked with Him no more.”
If it were not possible for believers to stray from the truth and be in danger of losing their souls, then we would not have the warning of James 5:19-20 written directly to believers.
Believing “I said the prayer of salvation [not biblical], I invited Jesus into my heart [not scriptural], I was baptized, fully submersed [water does not save you], I take communion every week [only a memorial symbolic of a truth] so I can go on living however and I am going to heaven, because Jesus loves me.”
John 13:1 Jesus loved Judas as well. Do not think love refuses to discipline. It is the opposite. Love disciplines.
Hebrews 12:6-7 “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He flogs every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
Do you think there is a good reason Jesus says in Revelation 2:10b “… Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
II. JESUS WAS BETRAYED BY A LOVER OF MONEY
a. Money was a problem for Judas.
i. We know from Scripture that he often stole from the money box of the disciples. (John 12:4-6)
Matthew 26:13-16 “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. 16 And from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”
ii. The opportunity to make more money led him astray.
b. Money can be a problem for us.
Mark 4:19 “but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
1. Jesus, telling the parable of the seed, tells us in this scripture that many will produce no “fruit” in their life because
a. Worries of the world – but I have bills (mostly from poor financial choices)
b. Deceitfulness of riches – (if I just had more money, all of my problems would be solved)
c. Desires for anything else (other than producing fruit)
d. And they remain fruitless
1 Timothy 6:9-10 “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
2. Chasing more money leads to temptation.
3. It’s a snare, a trap, and leads to many foolish and harmful desires
4. A root of many evils, by chasing it, some have wandered away from the faith (WHAT? But…once saved always saved?)
5. They wander away from the faith and pierce themselves with many griefs.
Every year, men and women from every economic class and profession die by suicide. Some are poor, some are middle class, and some are extraordinarily wealthy.
They include physicians, executives, business owners, entertainers, athletes, musicians, and actors. There is no reliable national statistic for how many of them are millionaires because death records do not record a person's net worth. But the larger truth is beyond dispute. Money does not insulate the human heart from despair.
Wealth can purchase comfort, privacy, travel, entertainment, and almost every material convenience imaginable.
What it cannot purchase is peace with God. It cannot guarantee purpose. It cannot heal every wound, restore every relationship, silence every fear, or give a person a reason to live.
Jesus warned us against measuring life by possessions.
“But He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.’” Luke 12:15
A person may possess everything this world calls success and still discover that none of it can satisfy the deepest needs of the soul.
The answer is not found in having more. Ultimately, our hope must be found in Christ.
III. JESUS WAS BETRAYED BY A SHOW OF AFFECTION
a. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
i. Notice, once more, Judas refers to Jesus as “Rabbi,” or teacher, not Lord, just as when the disciples were asking Jesus who would betray Him.
ii. And he betrayed Jesus with a kiss, a show of affection
iii. He could have pointed.
Luke 22:48 “But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
iv. What a contradiction!
b. Displays of affection do not ensure faithfulness
i. There are many today who are very emotional in their religion
1. They display it in their worship
2. Believing these emotional behaviors to be evidence of being “spirit-filled”
ii. Yet, Scripture warns us that emotions alone are not a reliable guide!
1. Emotions can mislead us!
a. Proverbs 16:25
b. Jeremiah 10:23
c. Jeremiah 17:9
2. And we see that emotions are often present in the unstable believer
a. Mark 4:16-17
3. This is in no way to discount the place and value of emotions
a. Matthew 22:37-38 we are called to love God with all of our heart and mind
b. The Holy Spirit does produce fruit in our lives that affects our emotions (Galatians 5:22-23)
c. But we must keep them in proper order.
Our emotions must come from faith, not our faith coming from emotions.
This is why people are told not to make important decisions when a tragedy takes place, because they may make poor decisions when they're an emotional wreck
This is also why “emotional decisions for Christ” usually never stick, and have been statistically proven that only 5-8% remain believers after only a few years.
Getting people fired up in an emotional frenzy, then asking them to make a decision for Christ that will change their life forever is NOT how Jesus and the apostles “made disciples.”
We are NOT to be led by our emotions. We want logical decisions for Christ, led by faith, not led by emotionalism as a foundation for our belief.
True faith comes from THE WORD OF GOD!
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
John 20:30-31 “Therefore many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
If we believe that displays of affection in our religion can make up for our failure to heed God’s Word, we deceive ourselves and betray Jesus!
IV. JESUS WAS BETRAYED BY AN EMOTIONAL FOLLOWER
a. Judas reacted to his sin the wrong way, emotionally
i. Judas later reveals how emotionally unstable he truly was
1. Matthew 27:3 says he was overcome with grief
ii. Why? He wanted to betray Jesus for silver, he got the silver. What’s the problem?
1. He followed his emotions and greed for the money; afterwards, realizing what he had done, another emotionally charged decision...overcome with grief.
iii. When followers make an emotionally motivated decision instead of waiting on God in faith, oftentimes you will witness that believer make one emotionally driven decision after another, trying to recover from the first.
iv. It’s like making an emotionally driven decision is falling down a flight of stairs. When do you catch yourself? When you stop making emotionally charged decision after decision trying to get on your feet, stop, and wait on the Spirit of God in faith.
v. Judas, after making an emotionally charged decision to sell Jesus out for money, felt grief, and his emotions once again took over, and he made another bad decision…to hang himself. (Matthew 27:5)
b. We too can react to our sins the same way…incorrectly
2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world brings about death.”
1. Worldly sorrow brings about regret and death
2. Godly sorrow produces REPENTANCE without regret, leading to SALVATION!
ii. It is natural to be sorrowful for our sins
1. However, we should NOT wallow in our grief!
2. But repent, as Peter did when he denied Christ!
iii. Paul is another great example of one who did not let the sins of the past hinder service in the present!
1 Corinthians 15:9-10 “For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
a. Paul focused on God’s grace, which gave him another chance!
Philippians 3:12-14 “ Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
b. Paul directed his attention to striving for the upward call of God!
CONCLUSION
While Jesus was betrayed, we cannot forget the influence of Satan.
Luke 22:3-4 says Satan used Judas to betray Jesus.
John 13:2 says Satan put it in Judas’ heart to betray Jesus
John 6:70-71 we see Jesus referring to Judas as “a devil”
HOW did Satan influence Judas?
Through Judas’ love for money
Through Judas’ emotionalism
Through his preoccupation with self
And we see that even Peter was influenced by Satan through some of these things in Matthew 16:23
The difference between the two is that, instead of worldly sorrow, godly sorrow leads to repentance without regret, which leads to Salvation!
FINAL THOUGHT
We should humbly learn from the mistakes of Judas, and take to heart the words of Peter.
1 Peter 5:6-10 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
8 Be of sober spirit, be watchful.
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished among your brethren who are in the world.
10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground you.”
THEREFORE
James 1:2-4 “ Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various temptations, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. 4 And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
When we face temptation, trials, and sufferings in this world, we know it tests our faith, which brings to us PERSEVERANCE.
And when we persevere, as Jesus says, “remaining faithful to the end,” we will have accomplished Spiritual-Growth and Spiritual Maturity that can be obtained by no other means.
The Word of God promises that when we suffer in this way, Jesus Christ Himself will restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground us!
So let us resist the devil, firm in our faith, and as James 4:7 affirms, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
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