Mark 14:10 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 14:10

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Luke tells us that the betrayal was something engineered by Satan: ‘Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.’ This was Satan’s intense desire – the murder of Christ. He was driven on by irresistible hatred. Though it would bring about his downfall according to prophecy, he could not resist the impulse. The purposes of God trapped him in his wickedness, and caused him to assist in his own destruction. Wickedness has these internal fault lines. Matthew Henry says, ‘It was the devil’s work, who thought hereby to ruin Christ’s undertaking, to have broken his head; but it proved only the bruising of his heel.’ But Judas was fully responsible, and how great was his guilt, ‘one of the twelve’ who had been part of the inner circle of disciples and had seen so much. Greater light results in greater guilt when it is ignored.Judas has his eye on earthly gain, as if there was anything on earth that could be worth more than the Saviour of the world. We read in Matthew's Gospel that he asked them, ‘What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?’ We have already seen in verse 2 of this chapter that the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to arrest the Lord without causing a public disturbance: ‘But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.’ That was the great meeting of the Sanhedrin council to have him trapped and brought to an end. Now Judas provides them with a way to do exactly what they want, but at the very time they wished to avoid. Nevertheless, the opportunity is too good to pass by. Having decided it must not be on the feast day, what happens? A disciple comes! ‘I can betray him to you.’ Luke says that Judas conferred with the chief priests and also mentions the captains, ‘the captains of the temple’ (Luke 22:52) who came to Gethsemane to arrest Christ. Then there is a deal done and the deal was for the price of the purchase of a slave. For thirty pieces of silver Judas would tell them where Christ would be once he was out of the city; where he would be found in the hours of darkness, where he could secretly be taken. A disciple! Only a disciple could betray the Lord. Only one of the inner circle knew where he was accustomed to go when he was away from the crowds.Luke adds that Judas gave his word that he would carry out his side of the bargain: ‘and he promised.’ His faculty of truth telling was employed in this terrible act. Could he be trusted? Yes, in this matter he was to be trusted by Satan’s emissaries, because he thought he had something to gain. He must convince them that he would play his part. How did the chief priests look at this man? What did they think when a member of Christ’s inner circle came to them with this proposition? It must have cemented them in their cynical view that there was no real loyalty in this band of disciples, but that they were all on the make if they could be. They though they were working behind the Lord Jesus’ back and finally catching him off guard. How far from understanding the situation they were! How much deeper than they understood were the purposes of God! Even in this Satan was deceiving them, and God allowed it in order to harden their hearts.‘And [Judas] sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.’ This was the important thing; it had to be done covertly, away from the eye of the people. The chief priests were schemers and cowards. But at this stage Judas did not know what he was going to do. His mind would be turning over this problem in the following hours. When he finally knew what he would do, he would somehow get word to them. It is John’s Gospel that tells us when this took place. It was after Christ’s prediction of the betrayal (John 13:21), that Judas went out (John 13:30), to bring them to what he now knew would be a convenient place, the Garden of Gethsemane. Everything was being perfectly timed according to the plan of God.Unbelief was Judas’ big problem. How did he get into this state? Well, he believed nothing; he was untouched by the miracles and the teaching of Christ. He was so proud and did not care about letting down Christ or the disciples. He saw a possibility of personal gain. He knew the authorities were desperate to take Christ, and so he thought he could take advantage of the situation. The Gospel of John tells us that he was a thief who helped himself to the common purse (John 12:6). He was prepared to steal from his closest associates, and from the Lord, and now he goes this terrible step further.

Application

There is a warning in this for all of us. Hypocrisy always grows. As soon as Judas began to pretend, he fooled the disciples. He always nodded his head in agreement at the right things – most of the time anyway. When everybody closed their eyes for prayer, he did also. He had considerable charm in his personality. The disciples didn’t suspect him, even when he left the room at the Last Supper to betray Christ. They still thought he was going out for some good purpose. So he was obviously a man of attractive personality outwardly, and he could fool everybody, but he was a hypocrite. The greatest injuries ever done to the church of Jesus Christ are done by people who were once disciples, or supposed to be. They do the greatest harm. The worst heresies that have so discredited churches and caused much unbelief have been by insiders.

At the same time, we have to be very careful not to be too precise and exact when we receive people in, because when people are converted, they are newcomers. There will still be faults in everybody, and if we were to say, ‘We will only receive a person in, if we are absolutely and utterly convinced that there is no spot, or blemish in them, then we would never let true children in Christ into membership of the church. We are all imperfect people, so we have to have a balance. We have to try to be reasonably sure, but not so exacting that it is impossible for less than perfect people to join the church of Jesus Christ. Consequently, there are going to be mistakes, and we are going to be let down and that has always been the case, and the disciples are going to be taught this. Even among the twelve, there is going to be one, who was not merely insincere, but was extremely evil, and wicked and that was tragic. We want to believe people’s profession of faith. We are inclined to receive people, but often we make mistakes, and get let down, and that is as it should be. We must not be so exact that we leave babes in Christ out in the cold, on the doorstep, as it were, uncared for in Christ.

Questions

Why was he chosen? Why did the Lord ever choose him as a disciple? He knew his heart; he knew what he was capable of, what he would do. He knew that there was one who would be there who would follow him and yet would betray him. He told the disciples as much on several occasions (John 6:70; 13:18; 17:12). Why did he choose him? It was all part of the plan of God. It was also, no doubt, to train the eleven and us. The church of Jesus Christ will never be 100% pure; it can never be. We are to do our best with reasonable, human judgment to make sure that when we receive people into membership of the church, they are converted. We try to ensure that they are true Christians, that they have repented of their sin, and experienced the new birth, that Christ has worked in their hearts, and they love him and believe in him. But we are not infallible, and we are going to receive people in, in good faith, thinking they are truly the Lord’s, and yet they may be hypocrites. They may be deluded; it may not be true, and they let us down and things will go wrong.

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Mark 14:10 Commentary and Bible Study

Explain meaning of Mark 14:10