Mark 14, a visual study from The Lampstand Project.
Not what I will, but what you will.
A woman anoints Jesus for burial. The last supper. Gethsemane. Arrest. Trial before the Sanhedrin. Peter’s denial. Mark 14 is the longest chapter in the Gospel — and the most intimate.
The night before the cross.
Mark 14 moves from a beautiful act of anointing to betrayal, from the table to a garden, from a prayer of surrender to a miscarriage of justice. Everything happens in darkness. At the center is a prayer no one is awake to hear.
Tap any numbered marker to read its part
“Truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
She has done what she could.
The chief priests look for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth. In Bethany, a woman breaks an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment and pours it over Jesus’ head. The disciples are indignant: this could have been sold and given to the poor. Jesus defends her: she has done a beautiful thing. She has anointed my body for burial beforehand. She has done what she could. Wherever the gospel is proclaimed, what she did will be remembered. Immediately following: Judas goes to the chief priests to betray him for money. The contrast is absolute — extravagant love and calculated betrayal in the same room, the same night.
“She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
This is my body. This is my blood.
Passover preparation. Jesus sends two disciples with instructions for finding a room. That evening he reclines with the twelve. While eating: one of you will betray me — one who is dipping bread with me. They are sorrowful. While they eat, he takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it: take; this is my body. He takes the cup: this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many. I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day I drink it new in the kingdom of God. The Passover meal has always told the story of redemption through blood. Jesus takes the meal and says: I am the fulfillment of everything this meal has always been about.
“For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
“And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?’”
Abba, Father — not what I will, but what you will.
They go to Gethsemane. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John and begins to be greatly distressed and troubled: my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. He falls on the ground and prays: Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. He returns to find them sleeping. Three times he prays; three times they sleep. Then: the hour has come. My betrayer is at hand. Judas arrives with a crowd. One of those standing by draws a sword and strikes the high priest’s servant. Everyone flees. A young man in a linen cloth runs away naked — the only eyewitness detail with no explanation, possibly a signature of Mark himself.
“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”
“Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am.”
I do not know this man of whom you speak.
Jesus is taken to the high priest. The Sanhedrin seeks testimony; none agrees. The high priest asks directly: are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Jesus: I am. You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven. The high priest tears his garments: blasphemy. They condemn him to death. Outside in the courtyard, Peter warms himself. A servant girl recognizes him: you were with the Nazarene. Peter denies it three times. At the second cock-crow he remembers Jesus’ words and breaks down and weeps. The most powerful confession of the trial — I am — is spoken by the one being condemned. The most devastating denial is spoken by the one who had confessed him Lord.
“If we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful.”
The prayer in Gethsemane is the most intimate moment in Mark. Jesus, who has been healing and commanding and teaching with absolute authority, is greatly distressed and troubled. The cup he asks the Father to remove is the cup of God’s wrath against sin. He does not want to drink it. He drinks it anyway. The surrender is not passive — it is the most active thing in the chapter.
The night before.
Mark 14 is full of ironies. The woman who anoints him is unnamed; the disciple who betrays him is named. The one who sleeps in the garden is the one who confessed him. The one condemned in the trial is the one who tells the truth.
Peter’s weeping at the end of the chapter is not the end of his story. Mark knows that. The reader knows that. The tears are honest. The story is not over.
“And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’”Mark 14:36 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV). A study from The Lampstand Project.