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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Mark 14:50
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They were true believers, but they were overwhelmed. This was terrifying to them. With Christ in that garden was this great multitude – the soldiers, the levites, the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests: all armed to the teeth. We know it was a full moon that night, but still John tells us, they were carrying torches and lanterns. ‘What hope have we?’, they might have said. The disciples, forbidden to use the sword – which anyway wouldn't have done them much good against so many – were overcome with fear, and they forsook him, left him, and fled, and at that point they bound Christ. Only Peter and John would follow at a distance, to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, and be aware of the trial. But by the time Christ was bound and delivered to crucifixion by Pilate, Peter would flee also, and only John would be discreetly hidden at the foot of the cross.Why did they take so many with them? Why such a large force to arrest one man? First of all, they might have thought that there were many more than the twelve or eleven with him, that there were other followers there, that this would be a violence occasion. They misjudged Christ. He had never been violent. There had never been any violence from him, or any words threatening violence. But nevertheless, from their own evil hearts, they feared lest there be a party there to defend him.But secondly, this must succeed. They had sent officers to take him on previous occasions, and he has just walked from them, and they couldn't touch him. For some strange reason they couldn't lay hands on him. ‘He marshals some hypnotic power.’ – they wouldn't have wanted to explain it spiritually – ‘This time we've got to make certain of it. We’ve got to send a great force.’But the size of the force also reflected their hatred. They so hated Christ; they so wanted to take him and humiliate him. Furthermore he was a miracle worker. He could heal people, whole crowds of people. What were these powers? In their hardness of heart, they didn't believe they were powers from God. They must have thought he had some power of magic, some tricks, some techniques which nobody could get to the bottom of. He must not escape their clutches, so, because he had some undoubted powers, they would send the largest force they possibly could. All these things came into it, and it terrified the disciples.
Application
Christ had to do this alone. Who could have helped him? Only the Son of God, only Christ, is qualified to suffer and die on our behalf and to bear the punishment of sin for all who would be redeemed in the history of the world, and sustain that eternal weight of punishment on their behalf. He must be perfect in order to do this. He must have no sin of his own. He must be divine. No one could have helped him and no one did. Some looked from afar but that is all. He was entirely alone in carrying out the work of redemption for us.
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