Mark Chapter 14

Mark Chapter 14 - 12-09-2011

XIV 1 And it was Passover and the feast of unleavened bread after two days. And the high priests and the scribes sought how seizing Him with guile they could kill Him. 2 For they said “Not on the feast, that at no time shall there be an uproar by the people!”

Christ not only had thousands of followers, winning the hearts and minds of the people, but He was also winning the battle of ideas. His expositions of scripture and a proper application of the Law, judgement and mercy, kicked the foundations out from under the pedestal of legalism upon which the Pharisees pretended their authority. Not wanting to lose their status and titles and position, but realizing that Christ continually exposed them, rather than repenting they sought to kill Him.

From John chapter 11 we can read a fuller account: “47 Then the high priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said 'What do we do, seeing that this man makes many signs? 48 If we should leave Him thusly, they shall all believe in Him, and the Romans shall come and they shall take both our place and our nation!' 49 Then a certain one from among them, Kaiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them: 'You do not know anything, 50 nor do you consider that it is advantageous to you that one man should die on behalf of the people, and the whole nation not be lost.' 51 (Yet he did not say this by himself, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Yahshua was about to die on behalf of the nation, 52 and not only on behalf of the nation, but that also He would gather into one the children of Yahweh who had been dispersed. [Here is a parenthetical statement by John, and if Yahweh can use Balaam's ass to express His will, then the Edomite Sadducee high priest is not much different.]) 53 Therefore from that day they determined that they would kill Him.”

Just like we see all the slander concerning Christianity today, spouting from the mouths of the jews and their proselytes, that Christians are somehow a threat to the government, right from the beginning it was so. Yet Christ never taught His followers insurrection against Rome. Rather, He taught them to obey Yahweh, while giving to Caesar whatever it was that belonged to Caesar. But the Pharisees wanted more, they wanted the very hearts and minds of the people. Through the temple they commanded that then, and today they have that again, through their television and their media, and once again they despise true Christians who separate themselves from the world and condemn it. Like Peter says, they hate us for not wanting anything to do with their sin. “While they are astonished, they blaspheme at your not running together in the same excess profligacy” (1 Peter 4:4)

Yet there are even many so-called Christians today who think that Christ was somehow encouraging the undermining of the power of Rome. He certainly was not. Rather, the boundaries and duration and might of the Roman Empire had already been predetermined by Yahweh, as seen in Daniel chapters 2 and 7, and in the words of Paul at Acts chapter 17 where he says of Yahweh, referring to the Adamic race of Genesis chapter 10: “26 And He made from one every nation of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, appointing the times ordained and the boundaries of their settlements”. All of these things being determined and uttered well in advance, the Word of God does not change, and therefore Christ could not have been teaching insurrection..

3 And with His being in Bethania at the house of Simon the leper, upon His reclining came a woman having a box of pure ointment of spikenard of great value. Breaking the box she poured it on His head. 4 But there were some getting annoyed between themselves: “For what has this waste of the ointment occurred? 5 For this ointment was able to be sold for over three hundred denarii and to be given to the poor!” And they admonished her.

John in his gospel gives us a fuller account, in chapter 12: “3 Then Mariam taking a pound of pure ointment of spikenard of great value, anointed the feet of Yahshua and wiped His feet off with her hair. Now the house had been filled from the odor of the ointment, 4 then Ioudas Iskarioth, one of His students – he who is going to betray Him – says: 5 'For what reason has this ointment not been sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' 6 (But he said this not because he had care in him for the poor, but because he was a thief and carried the case holding the savings.) 7 Therefore Yahshua said 'Let her be, that she would keep this for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor among yourselves, but you do not always have Me.'”

This is why we have four gospels, because none of the four writers or the other witnesses they used for sources had a complete perspective on the events which transpired, and even if they had a better perspective, at times what they actually wrote fell short of relating it fully. Peter, at least as Mark records it, spole only of “some getting annoyed”, whereas John clearly tells us that the instigator was Judas, who would rather have seen that the ointment was sold so that he could steal the money. It can be discerned, that out of empathy for the poor, some in the room would agree with Judas, not knowing his true intentions. Today, we should think of the Canaanites in the exact same manner which John thought of Judas, who was certainly a Canaanite. Judas was called Iscariot, which comes from the Hebrew term ish Kerioth, or man of Kerioth. The town of Kerioth was on the original border of Judah and Idumaea, and was one of those towns of Judaea that the Edomites had moved into. The nature of Judas is revealed, when Christ states rhetorically “Have I not chosen you twelve? Yet one from among you is a false accuser [devil]!” This is recorded at John 6:70. John again records of Christ at John 13:10-11 that “10 Yahshua says to him [to Peter]: 'He who is bathed does not have need except to wash the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, but not all!' 11 For He knew the man betraying Him. For this reason He said that 'You are not all clean'.” Such is the nature of the Edomite jew. And just like Judas was the treasurer for the apostles, today we have Edomites as treasurers everywhere in our society. So what do you think they have been doing with our wealth? It should be no wonder that jewish charities are a dime a dozen, and that our economies are being drained through the jewish central banking system. That is what they do best, yet we failed to heed the warning of Scripture!

6 But Yahshua said: “Allow her! Why do you cause trouble for her? She has performed a good deed on Me. 7 For always do you have the poor among yourselves and whenever you should desire you are able to do good for them. But Me you do not always have. 8 That which she had means of she has done. She has anticipated to rub My body with ointment for burial. 9 Truly I say to you, wherever the good message should be proclaimed in all Society, also that which she has done shall be spoken for a memorial of her!”

There are many passages, and this is one, which show the provenance of God in Christ. The apostles rarely discuss, but repeatedly record, events which show that Yahshua had known things that no man should possibly have known. Here not only do we see that Yahshua was certain of His imminent death, but also that He knew with certainty that His Gospel message would indeed go out through the whole world, and he knew it with great confidence. The mere indication that He was able to do this serves as proof of His immediate connection to God, and that God is true. And these things were foreseen long in advance. For Isaiah 52:7 says “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

There is an event recorded at Luke 7:44, where a sinful woman entered into the house of a man named Simon - a Pharisee - and washed Yahshua's feet with her hair and anointed him with ointment as he dined there. Yahshua did not know the woman intimately (from a human perspective) before she anointed Him and washed His feet. This happened when Yahshua was in a city called Nain, which was in Galilee (Luke 7:11). This incident is obviously much earlier in Yahshua's ministry, and it is not this same event, for all of the circumstances of the earlier event recorded in Luke are quite different than those found here.

At John 11:2 where it is said that “Now it was Mariam who anointed the Prince with ointment and wiped off His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick”, we learn that Mariam (Mary in the KJV) was the woman who anointed Yahshua with ointment in the last week of His ministry, and Matthew chapter 26 also records this event in the same circumstances as John chapter 12 and as Mark does here. However Matthew and Mark both have this event in the house of “Simon the Leper”, a name not seen elsewhere in Scripture, where in the Gospel of John this same event takes place in the home of Lazaros, the man whom Christ raised from the dead, whose sisters are Martha and Mariam. Lazarus lived in Bethany (John 11:1), and Matthew and Mark both state that Simon the Leper lived in Bethany. So either Lazaros is also Simon the Leper, which is one possible situation, or Lazaros, Martha and Mariam lived in the same house with with Simon the Leper.

Perhaps coincidentally, but perhaps not, the man whom Christ called Lazaros in the parable of The Rich Man and Lazaros in Luke chapter 16 was described as a leper, having sores all over his body, but he was not specifically called a leper. While the parable is an allegory and this man need not actually exist, it still may be the reason that Christ chose to use the name Lazaros for the man in this parable. And if the real Lazaros had been healed by Christ of his leprosy, he still may have borne the name of the leper, though he no longer had leprosy.

Yet in the Gospel of John, which was written by all accounts 60 years after the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ, the triumphal march into Jerusalem with Yahshua riding on an ass happens one day after this feast with Christ and Lazaros and Martha and Mariam (John 12:12). So this very much complicates our understanding of these things. Does John mean to refer to yet another event, where in Chapter 11 of his gospel he had said “Now it was Mariam who anointed the Prince with ointment and wiped off His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick”? Or is the chronology of the last weeks in the ministry of Christ simply at a variance in John's gospel, as compared with Matthew and Mark? It is unlikely that there were two anointing events, where the same subject of the expense of the ointment was raised under the same circumstances. Since Christ was in Bethany often during his final weeks, it is possible that there were indeed several such episodes, confounded in the memories of the apostles who recorded these things at a much later time, or it is possible that there was only one episode and the chronology was confused by at least one of the apostles. While other explanations may also be imagined, in my opinion these small conflicts actually prove the veracity of the gospels by humanizing them. Many would reject this opinion, preferring to ignore the facts. However the conflict undoubtedly exists and cannot be ignored. Indeed the gospels represent the inspired Word of God, yet the occasional revelation of the fallible hand of man helps to demonstrate their authenticity, and also illustrates the fact that they are not sprung from a single source.

10 And Ioudas Iskarioth who is one of the twelve had gone out to the high priests in order that he could betray Him to them. 11 And they hearing it rejoiced and promised to give him silver. And he sought how he could betray Him opportunely.

Matthew at 26:15 and twice in chapter 27 says “thirty silver pieces”. Zechariah 11:12-13: “12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.”

While the prophecy in Zechariah chapter 11 is quite enigmatic, and the Septuagint version helps us to better understand it, we nevertheless see that the thirty pieces of silver are cast to the potter in the temple. In Matthew chapter 27 we learn that Judas in his consternation actually did so, in effect, where he cast the thirty pieces into the temple, and they were ultimately used to purchase a field from a potter for the burial of strangers. It is evident that a potter may have such a field for the mining of clay, which may not then be easily used for agriculture, and may more readily be employed for other purposes, such as burials.

Zechariah was a prophet during the period when the temple was rebuilt, at the first return of captives to Jerusalem from Babylon. Zechariah Chapter 10 is a prophecy of redemption for Israel and Judah. Of course, nearly all of Israel, and most of Judah, are dispersed far and wide by this time, into Europe and Asia. At Zechariah 10:6 Yahweh says “And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.” Here we shall read Zechariah chapter 11, verses 1 to 17, with some comments :

KJV Zechariah 11: “1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. [This cannot be something which occurred in Zechariah's time, a time of rebuilding. And must look forward to a future event.] 4 Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king [this seems to me to indicate the Roman treatment of Judaea in the years before the fall of Jerusalem]: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. [The Roman destruction of Jerusalem.] 7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. [The “poor of the flock” were those who became Christians.] And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. [Could this be the three would-be emperors who all died, being supplanted by challengers, the year prior to when Jerusalem was taken? Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who all died or were killed in a period of about nine-months?] 9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. [This describes the inhabitants of Jerusalem in its final months.] 10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. [The end of the Old Covenant in the death of Christ.] 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. [This describes the good people of Judaea who understood the prophecies concerning the Christ.] 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. [This was the price of His betrayal.] 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. [The Septuagint has possession here rather than brotherhood, the possession of Israel and of Judah.] 15 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. [From the time of the rebellion and destruction of Jerusalem, Roman emperors had troubles with the jews.] 17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.”

As for the Septuagint version of Zechariah chapter 11, in verse 14 where the King James version says “brotherhood”, the Septuagint has “possession”. There was no brotherhood in Zechariah's time between Israel and Judah, for the tribes had divided and fought with each other since the death of Solomon, and therefore I lean firmly towards the Septuagint reading here. The Dead Sea Scrolls are wanting most of Zechariah chapter 11. In this chapter, we see Yahweh promising the breaking of both the covenant and of the possession of Israel and Judah. The Old Covenant was broken with the death of Yahweh – the Husband of Israel – on the Cross of Christ. After that time, the possession would be broken, and true Israelites would no longer be able to stay in Jerusalem.

So it is clear in Zechariah chapter 11, that the thirty silver pieces and the breaking of the covenant snd the destruction of the city – which can only happen upon the death of Yahweh in Christ – are fully related in prophecy, even if the manuscripts and the translations cause us some confusion.

12 And on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, when the Passover is sacrificed, His students say to Him: “How do You wish departing we may prepare in order that You may eat the Passover?”

Mark 14:1, states that “it was Passover and the feast of unleavened bread after two days”, as Matthew 26:1 also declares that at that time Christ said “after two days it shall be Passover”. Now we do not know exactly how many days transpired between those statements and this day, which we are told was “the first day of unleavened bread”, yet it seems to be either the next day or the day after, and so it must be Passover in the mind of Christ. The feast of unleavened bread begins the day after the Passover Lamb is slaughtered (Exodus Chapter 12, Leviticus Chapter 23). While the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the 14th day of the first month, Exodus 12:6-9 read thus: “6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.” So the day upon which the Passover was actually eaten was, by the way the Hebrews kept the calendar, the beginning of the fifteenth day of the month. Therefore reading Leviticus 23:5-6 we should bear in mind that the Passover necessarily starts on the fourteenth day, but is eaten on the fifteenth: “5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.” Yet Matthew considered the day upon which the Passover should be prepared to be “the first day of unleavened bread” and therefore we see a departure from the exact words of the accounts of Exodus and Leviticus. It is possible that the preparation day when the Passover was to be prepared (the evening before it was to be eaten) was being considered “the first day of unleavened bread” because that was the day by which leaven was to be removed from the home (Exodus 12:15).

Yet there is an even further departure which is evident: when Christ was crucified – on the day after He had the passover with his disciples - that day was considered by the Judaeans to be the preparation day, the day before their Passover. This displays a difference of two days between two Passovers. John seems to distinguish that difference in the calendar, at John 2:13 where he states that “it was near the Passover of the Judaeans”, and again at John 19:42 where he talks of the burial of Christ and says “So there, on account of the preparation day of the Judaeans, because the tomb was near, they had laid Yahshua.” By distinguishing the Passover and the preparation day as being“of the Judaeans” it seems that John did not share these days in common with them, or why would he distinguish them? Here we clearly see that the disciples of Christ esteemed a day for Passover other than the day upon which the Judaeans celebrated it. The attitude of the disciples was not at all that they must celebrate Passover early for any reason, and they had no way of knowing the things which were to transpire as they did in the few days yet to come. It is fully evident that there were different calendars even at the time of Christ, that the Judaeans had deviated from the original. When the disciples asked about eating the Passover, there was no indication at all that they thought they were eating Passover on any day other than the day upon which they thought they should have been eating it. They clearly believed that the Passover was on a different day than that day upon which it was celebrated by the Judaeans in Jerusalem.

Clifton Emahiser has a detailed study of the chronology of the final week in the earthly ministry of Christ and the three days and nights of His entombment, which is entitled Three Days and Three Nights available on his website at Christogenea.

13 And He sends two of His students and says to them: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water shall meet you. Follow him 14 and wherever he should enter you say to the master of the house that ‘The Teacher says, Where are My quarters where I shall eat the Passover with My students?’ 15 And he shall show you a spacious furnished prepared upper room, and there you shall prepare it for us.” 16 And the students went out and came into the city and found just as He said to them and they prepared the Passover.

Once again we see the prescience of God in Christ. Without marvel, the accounts as this episode is related here in Mark, and in Luke chapter 22, and in a shorter version in Matthew chapter 26, plainly show that the apostles seem to have even taken His foreknowledge of events for granted.

There is something else to notice in accounts such as these, which is also evident elsewhere in the Bible. We struggle between the ideas of the free will of man, and predestination and the sovereignty of God. In truth, men do seem to have free will, and we must blame our mistakes on nobody but ourselves, because we agree to make them. However Yahweh, being God, cannot help but have known from the beginning every path that we would take in life. He knew long ahead of time all of our actions and all of our mistakes, just as we have Esau for a model, that He hated Esau even before he was born, knowing that – as Paul explains – Esau was a profane man and a fornicator. So in our perception, we have free will and we are responsible for our own sin – and we seek a reward for what we have done well. However in truth, all of these things which we experience have been determined by Yahweh God from the beginning.

It is evident, from Paul's words in 1 Corinthians, written over twenty years after the Resurrection of the Christ, that Christians should indeed still be keeping the feast of Passover. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8: “7 Cleanse out the old leaven, that you may be a new dough, just as you are unleavened. Since also our passover, Christ, has been sacrificed. 8 Consequently we should keep the festival [or feast], not with old leaven, nor with leaven of sloth and wickedness, but with unleavened sincerity and truth.”

17 And with it becoming late He comes with the twelve. 18 And upon their reclining and eating Yahshua said: “Truly I say to you that one from among you who is eating with Me shall betray Me!” 19 They began to grieve and to say to Him one by one: “Is it I?” 20 Then He said to them: “One of the twelve, He dipping with Me into the same bowl! 21 Because indeed the Son of Man shall go just as it is written concerning Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is handed over! It is good for him if that man had not been born!”

Records of this event are found in all four Gospels. The differences in the accounts, reflecting the way in which each of the four recorders not only heard the things that were done and said, but also the way that each of them understood those things, serves to prove the veracity of the Gospels rather than disproving it. These words in Matthew chapter 26 are much the same as they are here, yet in John the version is very different, and – while Matthew may have missed it, and Peter through Mark leaves it unrecorded – Peter urges John to ask Yahshua who it was that he meant.

There are other aspects of this Last Supper recorded in John which are not in the other Gospels. Among them is the washing of the feet of the disciples by Christ. Luke repeats some of the things which Christ said after the washing of feet, concerning servants and masters, which John also recorded, however only John records the washing of feet. This does not mean that the things which John recorded differently did not happen, but only means that John felt that they were important to relate, where the other apostles did not feel that they were important.

There are many places in the Psalms and the Prophets which tell us of the sufferings to befall the Christ. When the Gospel of Matthew was presented here a few months ago, Isaiah chapter 53 was read here. That prophecy not only foretells of His suffering, but also demonstrates that Yahshua suffered these things on behalf of the children of Israel alone, and for none others. Here reading Psalm 22 we shall see that same thing:

Psalm 22: “1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. 11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. 29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation [1755, dor, may also be a dwelling or a habitation - that Yahweh shall set His tabernacle among the children of Israel is promised in many other prophecies]. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

And now to repeat Mark 14:21: “Because indeed the Son of Man shall go just as it is written concerning Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is handed over! It is good for him if that man had not been born!” We have it in 1 Enoch 38:2: “And when the Righteous One shall appear before the eyes of the righteous, Whose elect works hang upon the Lord of Spirits, And light shall appear to the righteous and the elect who dwell on the earth, Where then will be the dwelling of the sinners, And where the resting-place of those who have denied the Lord of Spirits? It had been good for them if they had not been born.”

22 And upon their eating, taking a loaf blessing He broke and gave it to them and said: “You take, this is My body.” 23 And taking a cup giving thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them: “This is My blood of the covenant which is being poured out on behalf of many. 25 Truly I say to you that by no means shall I any longer drink from of the produce of the vine until that day when I shall drink it anew in the Kingdom of Yahweh!”

John did not even think that it was important enough to record this event of Yahshua's breaking the bread and distributing the wine at the table. That alone diminishes any credibility it has a ritual compulsory for salvation, which is a ridiculous Romish church contrivance. The professional priests sought to create necessary rituals out of the Scripture in order to justify their professions, and today most Christians still follow them. The account in Matthew is very much like the account given here by Mark. Here is Luke 22:14-20: “14 And when the hour had come, He reclined and the ambassadors with Him. 15 And He said to them 'With longing have I desired to eat this Passover with you, before that which I am to suffer. 16 For I say to you that by no means shall I eat this until when it shall be fulfilled in the Kingdom of Yahweh.' 17 And taking a cup, blessing it He said 'Take this and divide it for yourselves. 18 For I say to you, by no means shall I drink from the produce of the vine from now until when the Kingdom of Yahweh should come.' 19 And taking bread, blessing it He broke it and gave it to them saying 'This is My body, which on behalf of you is being given. This you do for My recollection.' 20 And in like manner the cup while eating, saying “This is the cup of the New Covenant by My blood which on your behalf is being spilled.” Yet there is nothing in Luke that would make this a compulsory ritual and a commandment relating to salvation for Christians. Rather, Luke only repeated the words of Christ which the other Gospel writers did not even record, which state “This you do for My recollection”.

Now we shall see how Paul interpreted these words. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 Paul asked “16 The cup of eulogy which we bless, is it not fellowship of the blood of Christ? The wheat-bread which we break, is it not fellowship of the body of Christ? 17 Because one loaf, one body, we the many are, for we all partake from the one loaf.” The word translated as communion in the King James Version is the common Greek word meaning fellowship. At 1 Corinthians 11:22 Paul asked “Now do you not have houses in which to eat and to drink? ” This was in response to what he said in verse 20, that “...of your gathering into one place, it is not to eat the supper of the Prince.” Christians did not gather publicly for communion, rather just as with Christ and the apostles, communion was a private meal shared in one's own home with one's own kith and kin! Paul said, from 1 Corinthians 11:23, “23 For I have received from the Prince that which I have also transmitted to you, that Prince Yahshua, in the night in which He had been handed over, took wheat-bread 24 and giving thanks He broke it and said, 'This is My body which is for you; this you do in remembrance of Me.' 25 In like manner also the cup, along with the dinner saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in My blood: this you do, as often as you may drink, in remembrance of Me.' 26 Indeed as often as you may eat this wheat-bread, and you may drink this cup, you declare the death of the Prince, until He should come.” So every meal that a Christian has is communion: we share with our brethren and we give thanks to God, and that is all that is asked of us! The false Romish Church communion ritual only makes an excuse to have a professional priesthood, that they may rule over our faith. None of that is scriptural.

26 And singing hymns they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Yahshua says to them that “All shall be made to stumble, because it is written: ‘I shall smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered’!

Zechariah chapter 13 is an end-time prophecy, however I believe that it describes the last 2000 years. Both Paul, in Hebrews 1:2, and Peter in 1 Peter 1:20, profess that this last age since Christ is indeed the “last times”. Paul says in Hebrews “1 On many occasions and in many ways in past times Yahweh had spoken to the fathers by the prophets. 2 At the end of these days He speaks to us by a Son, whom He has appointed heir of all, through whom He also made the ages.” Peter said in 1 Peter 1:19-20: “but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb blameless and spotless, indeed having been foreknown before the foundation of Society, but being made manifest upon the last times on account of you, those who through Him believe in Yahweh who has raised Him from among the dead and has given honor to Him, consequently for your faith and hope to be in Yahweh.”

Zechariah 13:7-8 says: “7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.”

Remember that Zechariah wrote his prophecies long after the deportations of all of Israel and nearly all of Judah. Much of our race has already been destroyed, all of the former Genesis 10 White nations have been mongrelized, and most of the Revelation of the Christ has already unfolded. Still more of us may yet be destroyed by the enemies of our God, but we are promised a third for a remnant

28 But after what it takes for Me to be raised I shall go before you into Galilaia.” 29 Then Petros said to Him: “If even all are made to stumble, yet not I!” 30 And Yahshua says to him: “Truly I say to you that today on this night before a cock crows twice, three times should you deny Me.” 31 But more exceedingly he said: “If it should be necessary for me to die with You, by no means shall I deny You!” Then likewise also they all spoke.

Peter was evidently the most stubborn of the apostles. He had argued with Christ earlier in his ministry, and Christ had barked at him, “Get behind Me, satan!” Yet even here he has not yet learned to refrain from arguing with his Master. And for this Peter was committed to hearing everything that he was told three times! Three times, as it is recorded in the last chapter of John, did Yahshua ask Peter if he loved Him, and demanded that He therefore feed His sheep. Peter expressed annoyance at the repetition. Likewise, three times Peter had to see the four-cornered sheet come down from heaven in Acts chapter 10. It is the same here, where Peter was told that he would deny Christ and he disputed it, for that he had to endure that very thing three times! Peter remained stubborn. Among Yahshua's last recorded words to him are these, from John 22:18; “Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you girt yourself and walked about wherever you wished. But when you should grow old, you shall extend your hand, and another shall gird and bring you where you do not wish.”

32 And they came into a place of which the name is Gethsamani and He says to His students: “Sit here while I shall pray.” 33 And He takes Petros and Iakobos and Iohannes with Him and He began to be terrified and to be troubled 34 and He says to them: “My soul is deeply grieved, even unto death! Remain here and stay awake.” 35 And having gone forth a little He fell upon the ground and prayed that if it is possible, the hour should pass from Him, 36 and He said: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You! Set aside this cup from Me! Yet it is not what I desire but what You do!” 37 And He comes and finds them sleeping, and says to Petros: “Simon, you sleep? Are you not able for one hour to stay awake? 38 Stay awake and pray, that you should not enter into trial! Indeed the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!” 39 And again having departed He prayed saying the same word. 40 And again having come He found them sleeping, for their eyes were weighed down, and they did not know what they could reply to Him. 41 And He comes for a third time and says to them: “You sleep? Finally then are you rested? It is enough! The hour has come, behold! The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of wrongdoers! 42 Arise, we must go! Behold, he who is betraying Me is near!”

Yahshua Christ is Yahweh God come in the flesh, as one of His Own Sons, and the Gospel accounts and Old Testament prophecies are replete with the proofs of that statement. Yet without a parable, He did not speak to men, and everything that He said and did were an example to Men. So here, where He prays, it is for an example to men, for our edification. He Himself does not need edification! Here He prays that He would rather not suffer, but that whatever is the will of God, that is what he would do. That too, should be our example and our own model for when we pray concerning ourselves.

That the apostles could not keep themselves awake at His beckoning, fully demonstrates the fallibility of man. Not even those who are closest to God could remain alert for Him in His mission. If we do not keep our minds fixed on what God may desire for us, which we may only find through prayer and His Word, then we may easily enter into earthly temptation and trial. And even if the Spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. For that reason Paul told us that we must exercise our bodies for godliness, at 1 Timothy 4:7-8.

This episode of prayer demonstrates how quickly Yahshua accepted the Word of God. Since His circumstances had not changed in a short period of time between the three prayers, He tells us that He must proceed and allow Himself to face the coming hardship, His crucifixion.

Psalm 116, verses 12 through 19, from the Septuagint: “12 What shall I render to the Lord for all the things wherein he has rewarded me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. 14 I will pay my vows to the Lord, in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 16 O Lord, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast burst by bonds asunder. 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of praise, and will call upon the name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, Jerusalem.” We see in the Gospel that Christ indeed fulfilled all of those words of David.

43 And immediately upon His speaking Ioudas arrives, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the high priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 (And he who is betraying Him gave to them a signal, saying: “He whom I should kiss is He, seize and lead Him away securely.”) 45 And having come immediately coming forth to Him he says “Rabbi!”, and he kissed Him.

At one time, men greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek, and nobody thought wickedly of it. Today, in our perverted judaized world, deviant thoughts would rush through the minds of most observers. There is a similar account in Scripture, but with different circumstances, where Joab, the captain of David's army, slew Amasa, the captain of the army of Absalom when he tried to overthrow David his father, found in 2 Samuel chapter 20.

46 Then they threw the hands upon Him and seized Him. 47 Then a certain one of those who stood nearby drawing the sword smote the servant of the high priest and took off his ear.

It is quite likely that Peter's own modesty prevented the entire story from being related here. In John 18:10 this account is related in more detail, and we learn that it was Peter who drew the sword and attacked the servant of the high priest. In Matthew chapter 26, where a longer version of the events here are also described, Christ forebodes the apostles from putting up a defense and asks them that if they were to resist, “Then how would the writings be fulfilled, that thusly it is necessary to happen?”, Matthew 26:54.

48 And responding Yahshua said to them: “As for a robber have you come out with swords and clubs to take Me? 49 Each day I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me! But it is in order that the writings should be fulfilled!” 50 And leaving Him they all fled.

John 16:32: “Behold, the hour comes and has come that you shall be scattered each to his own affairs and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me!” here in Mark 14:27, and also in Matthew 26:31, it is recorded that Christ warned the apostles “You shall all be made to stumble by Me on this night.”

51 And a certain youth who had followed Him had been wrapped in a linen cloth, for he was naked, and they seize him. 52 But he leaving behind the linen cloth fled naked.

This cannot be Peter, or John, since - as we shall see below - they both followed Yahshua to the home of the high priest, and if either of them were naked, well, that would have created a spectacle for which the text does not allow. Some commentators [I think I actually read this long ago in a paper written by Bertrand Comparet] believe that this was Mark himself, who, in that humility often exhibited by other apostles, purposely neglected to mention his own name. This is not proven, but it is very possible, since Mark was indeed an disciple from an early time, if indeed he is the John “whose surname is Mark” of Acts chapters 12 and 15. Peter goes to the home of John Mark, where the disciples had been gathered praying on his behalf, after he escapes from prison, as it is described in Acts chapter 12. Mark later traveled with Paul and Barnabas, and after Paul was dissatisfied with his initiative, he and Barnabas went their separate ways..

53 And they brought Yahshua off to the high priest, and all the high priests and the elders and the scribes gather together to Him. 54 And Petros from afar had followed Him until inside in the court of the high priest and he was sitting together with the deputies and warming himself by the fire.

Matthew's account includes a few more details, where the high priest Kaïaphas is named, but otherwise it is very much like Mark's account here. John's version of this account is much more complete in several respects. There, they brought Yahshua to Annas first, he being Kaïaphas' father-in-law and a former high priest himself. In John's version, an unnamed disciple accompanied Peter, and only by that unnamed disciple did Peter gain access to the court of the high priest, since that unnamed disciple knew the servant of the high priest who kept the door. That must be how that servant later accused Peter of being a disciple of Yahshua's! The unnamed disciple of John's account must have been John himself, who never mentioned his own name in reference to himself, until the Revelation of Yahshua Christ was recorded by him.

Unrecorded by the other gospel writers, from the Gospel of John we learn that John, which is only inferred because the apostle never referred to himself by name, had actually accompanied Peter in following those who seized Yahshua to the house of the high priest, and that John was instrumental in getting Peter inside. Here is John 18, verses 15-18: “15 Now Simon Petros and another student had followed Yahshua, and that student was known by the high priest and he entered in with Yahshua into the court of the high priest, 16 but Petros stood outside by the door. Then the other student, he known by the high priest, went out and spoke with the doorkeeper and he brought Petros in. 17 Therefore the doorkeeper, a servant girl, says to Petros: 'Are you also one of the students of this Man?' He says: 'I am not.' Then the servants and the deputies, having made a charcoal fire because it was cold, stood and they warmed themselves. And Petros also was with them, standing and warming himself.”

55 Then the high priests and the whole council sought testimony against Yahshua for which to kill Him, and they found it not, 56 for many had testified falsely against Him, and the testimonies were not the same.

Even a kangaroo court needs to maintain a pretense of justice, and therefore needs consistent testimony. Psalm 27:12: “Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.”

57 And some arising gave false testimony against Him saying 58 that: “We heard Him saying that ‘I shall destroy this temple made by hand and after three days I shall build another not made by hand!’” 59 Yet not even thusly was their testimony the same.

From the Gospel of John, chapter 2: “18 Therefore the Judaeans responded and said to Him: 'What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?' 19 Yahshua replied and said to them: 'You destroy this temple and in three days I shall raise it!' 20 Therefore the Judaeans said: 'Forty-six years to build this temple, and You shall raise it in three days?' 21 (But He had spoken concerning the temple of His body. 22 Therefore when He had risen from the dead, His students remembered that He had said this, and they believed in the writing and in the word which Yahshua spoke.)” It must be that He planned it from the beginning, that this would be the false accusation by which the jews executed Him. He used those who were His enemies to destroy the real temple – the Adamic body which is the very temple in which He came to redeem Israel, thereby effecting that redemption!

Jeremiah 50:27-28: “27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. 28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.” We await this vengeance today.

60 And the high priest arising into the middle questioned Yahshua saying “Would You not answer anything to what they testify against You?” 61 But He was silent and did not reply anything.

Yahshua made no defense against their false accusations, in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

Again the high priest questioned Him and says to Him: “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 Then Yahshua said “I am, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven!”

The reply of Yahshua here is recorded somewhat differently by Matthew at 26:64, where it says that: “64 Yahshua says to him “You have spoken. But I say to you, from this time you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven!”” Some later manuscripts add the words “You have said that” to Yahshua's statement as it is recorded in Mark 14:62 here, in order to make it agree with Matthew. However those manuscripts have no ancient authority for the interpolation. In any case, Yahshua merely expresses agreement with the words of the high priest, and does not speak them Himself.

The answer given by Christ calls to mind several Scriptures:

Daniel 7:13: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.”

Psalm 110:1: “Yahweh said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

1 Enoch 1:9: “And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

63 And the high priest having torn his garments says: “Why do we have further need of testimonies? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What does it appear to you?” Then they all judged Him to be liable for death.

All throughout, the account of Mark here is very much like that found in Matthew chapter 26. The high priest and those with him wanted to see Christ dead under any circumstances. In fact, Yahshua said nothing that could be construed as a blasphemy. This is why the seed of the serpent is considered to be the devil, which means in Greek the false accuser.

65 And some began to spit at Him and to put a cover around His face and to beat Him and to say to Him “Prophesy!”, and the deputies with blows took Him.

Their challenge to Him indicates that He was indeed accredited with the ability to do such things, as a matter of His reputation. In Matthew 26:67 it is recorded that they said “Prophecy to us, Christ, who is it who is hitting You?” thereby admitting that He was indeed the Christ, yet they still hated Him.

Christ had warned the apostles, at Mark 10:33-34, “33 that 'Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death and they shall hand Him over to the heathens 34 and they shall mock Him and spit upon Him and whip and slay Him, and after three days He shall arise!'”

66 And Petros being down in the court, one of the servant girls of the high priest comes 67 and seeing Petros warming himself, looking at him she says: “You also were with the Nazarene Yahshua!” 68 But he denied it saying: “Neither do I know nor do I understand what you say!” And he went outside into the front yard, and a cock crowed. 69 And the servant girl seeing him said to those who stood nearby that “He is from among them!” 70 But again he denied it. And after a while those who stood nearby again said to Petros: “Truly you are from among them, for you also are a Galilaian!” 71 But he began to curse and to swear that “I do not know this man whom you speak of!” 72 And immediately a cock crowed for a second time. And Petros remembered the word as Yahshua spoke to him, that “before a cock crows twice, three times should you deny Me”, and considering it he wept.

Yahshua was called a Nazoraian after the city Nazareth where He was raised. The word Nazareth is from Hebrew word which means branch. Thus is the literal fulfillment of the prophecy, that Yahshua “the branch”, as it is found in Zechariah chapters 3 and 6. But the word has no direct link to the ancient sect of the Nazarites found in Numbers chapter 6 and Judges chapter 13.

At Matthew 26:73 it is recorded as having been said to Peter that “Truly, you also are from among them! For even your speech makes you conspicuous!” Either way, it is shown by these testimonies that the Galilaians were distinct from the people of Jerusalem.

We see that Peter denied Christ three times, just as Christ had told him that he would – in spite of Peter's own assertions that he would never do such a thing! How many of us, when confronted by the world, would forsake or even deny the true message of Scripture, in order to maintain our comfort in the world? Many of us, even those of us who should know better, those who claim to be Christian Israel Identity, regularly do just that. Sadly, few men can see that.