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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
14:3 alabaster box. Mary of Bethany (see John 12:1-3) not only used all her “very precious” ointment on Jesus, but even broke her costly alabaster box so it could never be used again, all as a symbolic act of full devotion to her Lord in gratitude for what He was about to do for her.
14:9 shall be spoken. This prophecy has obviously been fulfilled. Three of the gospels include the account.
14:12 the passover. See Exodus 12:8. The Passover lamb, commemorating the deliverance from Egypt some fifteen centuries earlier, was to be slain and eaten with unleavened bread on the fourteenth day of the first month. The unleavened bread (symbolizing absence of evil) was to be eaten for seven days. The Passover and its supper constituted a type of Christ, who would shortly become “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), as “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (I Corinthians 5:7). Apparently, Jesus had already made arrangements with Mark’s family to have the supper there, for it was already “furnished and prepared” (Mark 14:15-16).
14:13 meet you a man. It is possible that Jesus had secretly made these arrangements ahead of time, to be sure that He and his disciples could observe the Passover before Judas could betray His whereabouts to the chief priests. A man bearing a water pitcher could easily be noticed by the two disciples, since this was a task usually done by women.
14:17 cometh. The wording here is significant, perhaps indicating Mark’s own personal perspective on the world-shaking events about to take place, beginning in a “large upper room” (Mark 14:15) in his own mother’s home (Acts 12:12). He described Jesus and the twelve as coming (not going) to the upper room, as though he was there before they arrived. This in turn suggests that he may have been a silent observer, or listener, as Jesus met with His disciples there in Mark’s own upper room.
14:21 woe to that man. Some have tried to justify Judas’ betrayal in terms of some supposed noble motive he may have had, but this is not the analysis revealed by Christ. Jesus called him “a devil” (John 6:70) and said it would have been better for him if he had never been born. He was the treasurer of the group, and a thief (John 12:6). Perhaps he feared exposure. Also, he was actually possessed by Satan himself when he conceived and carried out his evil scheme (John 13:2,27).
14:24 my blood. When Jesus said, “This is my blood,” speaking of the cup from which they drank, He obviously was speaking metaphorically, for all His blood was still flowing in His veins. He often used such metaphors: “I am the door,” He said (John 10:9), but He was not an actual door! The elements to be used in the supper which He instituted that night were not saving instruments in themselves but rather instruments to remind us of His sacrificial death and to show it until He comes (I Corinthians 11:26). In effect, He was saying: “This [represents] my body,” and “this [represents] my blood.”
14:25 fruit of the vine. It is significant that Jesus called the drink “the fruit of the vine” (also in Matthew 26:29 and Luke 22:18) or “the cup” (I Corinthians 11:25-28) rather than “wine.” Even though the simpler term “wine” could have (in the context of that day) referred either to unfermented or fermented grape juice, He seems to have gone to special pains to make it clear that fermented wine could not properly represent His precious blood, no matter what may have developed by then as the Jewish custom at the Passover. Just as the Lord’s Supper was to be observed with unleavened bread (leaven representing evil), so it should be observed with unfermented wine. The leavening process and the fermentation process are essentially the same, catalyzed by the same organisms and both representing decay and ultimate death. The Lord shed “innocent blood” when He died, and it was to be symbolized by pure, unleavened, bread and wine.
14:26 sung an hymn. This is the only occasion mentioned in Scripture of either Jesus or His disciples singing. They probably sang one of the psalms, and it would be interesting to know which one, but the Lord has not revealed this to us—probably because we might then tend to place that particular psalm on some kind of pedestal above the others.
14:42 Rise up. This command seems incongruous with respect to the one He had just given: “Sleep on now, and take your rest.” Probably the latter was actually expressed as a question. That is: “[Do you] sleep on now and take your rest?”
14:50 all forsook him. Just as He had predicted, and as they had vehemently denied (Mark 14:29-31), the disciples forsook Him.
14:51 certain young man. This “young man” almost certainly was John Mark himself (otherwise who would know about and write about such an incident). Mark probably had retired for the night in an adjacent room, and had overheard their very fascinating, and obviously significant, conversations there in the upper room of his mother’s home. Then, when they left to go to the garden, continuing their conversation as they walked, he quickly decided to grab a linen cloth and follow them at a discreet distance, unseen but still able to hear and see what was happening. The soldiers then saw him and tried to detain him, but he, like the disciples, also fled.
14:62 I am. Jesus here asserted His deity in no uncertain terms. This was clearly blasphemy if He were only a great human teacher, as skeptics and theological liberals allege. However, this was not blasphemy, because the statement was absolute truth.