What was in the cup that Jesus drank?
(Mark 14:1-72; Psalms 41:9; Isaiah 53:6-9; Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Blog Sep. 8-14, 2024
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: PresentTruthLRI@gmail.com
REVIEW: The book of Mark emphasizes our need of faith in Jesus as the Savior of the world. As fully God and fully man he lived a perfect life and was headed to the cross that we might find in him a substitute life and a substitute death. His own disciples were slow to discern his true mission, and the religious leaders continually opposed his mission.
Before Betrayal
1. What happened while Jesus was eating at the home of Simon the leper? A woman came with an expensive alabaster box of spikenard and poured the ointment on Jesus (Mark 14:3).
2. What two reactions to the woman’s act are recorded in Mark? Some in attendance at the feast were indignant at such a waste of expensive ointment while Jesus commended the woman for her act of love in anointing his body prior to burial (Mark 14:4-9).
3. What does Jesus’ response to the expensive ointment tell us about efforts to eradicate poverty? Jesus assures us that all efforts to eradicate poverty (such as communism) will fail for he says we will always have poor people who need our help (Mark 14:7).
4. What Old Testament prophecy was the woman fulfilling by anointing Jesus with spikenard? She was fulfilling Solomon’s prophecy about God’s church giving forth a sweet fragrance to Jesus her King (Mark 14:4-9; Song 1:12).
5. What lesson should we learn about Jesus’ sacrifice for us in the story of the spikenard? We should learn that just as the woman’s perfume filled the whole room but not everyone appreciated its fragrance, so Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, although being sufficient for all humanity, is only grasped by a few (Mark 14:3-5; Matt. 7:14; 1 Tim. 2:6).
6. What day of the week did Jesus eat the Passover with his disciples? It was Thursday night in the upper room in Jerusalem that Jesus ate the Passover with his disciples for the Galileans celebrated Passover one day before the Judeans did (Mark 14:1-3).
7. With what emblems did Jesus introduce the new covenant, and why? Jesus introduced the new covenant with unleavened bread & grape juice for they were symbols of his sinless life & spilled blood. The new covenant offers forgiveness for past sins & a substitute life of obedience as our hope of eternal life (Mark 14:22-25; Jer. 31:31-34; Rom. 3:25; 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 12:24).
In the Garden
8. Since it was part of God’s prophetic plan that one of Jesus’ close followers betray him, was Judas held responsible by God for betraying Jesus? Yes, for it was his greed that motivated his actions (Mark 14:21; Psa. 41:9; John 12:6).
9. What was in the cup that Jesus in Gethsemane prayed the Father would take from him? In that cup was the wrath of God against the guilt of the sins of all humanity from Adam to the last child born on earth (Mark 14:36; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 1:18; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24).
10. Where would we be if God had granted Jesus’ request in Gethsemane? We would all be eternally lost for without Jesus’ perfect life & atoning death we would have nothing to present to God for our acceptance with him (Mark 14:36; Rom. 2:13; 5:17; 8:1; Eph. 2:7-8, 12).
11. Who was the young man that followed Jesus to Gethsemane clothed in a linen sheet and ran away naked when pursued by the mob? The young man was probably John Mark who Scripture says was the son of Mary in whose home believers often met. Most likely the one with the upper room where Jesus ate the last supper. Mark probably followed the disciples from the upper room of his mother’s house to the Garden of Gethsemane & was privy to events taking place there (Mark 14:13-15, 51-52; Acts 12:12).
Before the High Priest
12. After many false witnesses tried unsuccessfully to show Jesus’ guilt in the palace of the high priest, what answer did Jesus give when asked if he was the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed? Jesus said, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:53-62).
13. How did the leaders of God’s church react to Jesus’ statement that he was indeed the Messiah? The high priest tore his robe & the leaders all condemned him to be guilty of death. Then some of them spit on him, covered his face, & hit him (Mark 14:63-65).
14. When Peter and the other disciples assured Jesus that they would go with him to death before they would deny him, in what were they trusting? They were trusting in their own internal strength. They were self-confident (Mark 14:31).
15. What had Peter and the other disciples not done that would have prepared them to stand by Jesus’ side when he was arrested and tried? They had not watched (studied the Scriptures) nor prayed (but rather slept) before the crisis (Mark 14:37-40).
16. What Jewish laws did the high priests break the night of Christ’s betrayal? Among other things, they convened court at night, the most credible witnesses could not agree among themselves, the high priest rather than defending the accused sought evidence against him, no intermediate day of reflection was given between the trial & final death decree, & they gave no opportunity for the accused to bring forth witnesses in his favor (Deut. 16:18-20; 19:15-19; Eze. 44:15, 24; Zech. 3:7).