What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
mark 14, Breaking Vials and Breaking Hearts: The Cost of Devotion
What does genuine devotion to Jesus look like? Mark 14 presents a striking contrast between a woman who gives her most precious possession and disciples who can't stay awake for one hour of prayer.
The chapter opens with an extraordinary act of devotion. A woman (identified elsewhere as Mary) breaks an alabaster vial of pure nard—likely her dowry and most valuable possession—and pours it over Jesus' head. When criticized for this "waste," Jesus defends her actions, declaring she has prepared his body for burial and that her sacrificial gift will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached. Her story challenges us to examine what we're willing to give up to honor Christ.
The narrative shifts to the Last Supper, where Jesus transforms a traditional Passover meal into something revolutionary. Breaking bread and sharing wine, he establishes a new covenant with profound marriage symbolism. In Jewish custom, offering a cup was similar to a marriage proposal—those who drank accepted the proposal. Jesus then predicts his betrayal, and despite their protests of undying loyalty, foretells that all his disciples will abandon him. This tension between intended devotion and actual behavior reaches its climax in Gethsemane, where the disciples sleep while Jesus prays in anguish, "Not my will, but yours be done."
The betrayal, arrest, and mock trial reveal human injustice at its worst. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss; false witnesses can't coordinate their stories; religious leaders condemn him for acknowledging his identity. Meanwhile, Peter—who vowed to die with Jesus—denies knowing him three times before the rooster crows. His bitter tears of regret mirror our own experiences of failing Christ despite our best intentions.
Through these events, Mark 14 speaks to our struggles with commitment, fear, and faithfulness. Listen as we explore how Jesus faced betrayal and suffering with dignity and purpose, offering us a path of redemption even when we fail him most deeply. Have you ever considered what your alabaster jar might be—and whether you're willing to break it for Jesus?
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is What Do I Know? Alright, in today's Bible study we are going to be in Mark the fourteenth chapter, starting at verse one. Now the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread were two days away, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him covertly and kill him. For they were saying, Not during the festival, otherwise there will be a riot of the people. While he was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, he was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume, a pure nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over his head. But there were some indignantly remarking to one another, Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume could have been sold for over three hundred dinari, and the money given to the poor. And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a good deed for me, for you always have the poor with you, and whatever you want you can do good to them, but you do not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the entire world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her. Then Judas Israt, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priest in order to betray him to them. They were delighted when they heard this and promised to give him money, and he began seeking how to betray him at an opportune time. Alright, let's stop here at verse eleven. Mark doesn't name the woman who brings the vial of perfume, but John names her as Mary. She breaks the vial of perfume and anoints Jesus. Now I wanted to understand what Nard was. I've never heard of Nard. So I searched and it's actually mentioned in the Song of Solomon in chapter four as the perfume of his bride. In chapter one it says the smell of her perfume is very pleasing. And when she sits at the table, the smell of the perfume spreads its fragrance. It is believed that she wanted to show her love for Solomon, and to do so, she she wanted the very best, and nothing else would be would be good enough to show her love and devotion to Solomon, except the most the best fragrance, the most expensive perfume. A lot of scholars believe that this vial of perfume might have been Mary's um dowry, and breaking it and giving it to Jesus, she gives her absolute best, the thing that has the most value for her. Showing Jesus that the thanks that she has is worth giving everything. What would be the appropriate gift? Consider not salvation. Let's continue at verse twelve. On the very first day of the unleavened bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, his disciples said to him, Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he sent two of the disciples and he said to them, Go into the next city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. And wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, the teacher says, Where is my guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he himself will show you a large upstairs room furnished and ready. Prepare us there. The disciples left and came to the city and found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening he came in with the twelve, and as they were climate at table eating, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me. They began to be grieved and say to him one by one, surely not I. But he said to them, It is the one of the twelve, the one who dips bread with me in the bowl, but the Son of Man is going away, just as it is written about him. But woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. While they were eating he took some bread, and after blessing it he broke it, and he gave it to them and said, Take it, this is my body. When he had taken the cup and he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And after singing a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives. Alright, let's stop here at verse twenty six. Alright, the Last Supper is a very significant moment in the fellowship with Jesus and the disciples. So many things transpire at this dinner. We have Jesus actually confessing that one of them is going to betray him. And after telling them that one of them will betray him, the one who dips bread in the bowl with him. He then takes and he breaks bread and he gives it to them to eat. And he says, This is my body. And then he takes the cup and he blesses it and he and he gives it to them. And he says, Drink, and each one drank the new covenant paid for in blood. Now the event was very remarkable and significant when the offering of Jesus was made, was not lost on the men who were sitting there with him. It would have been understood that this was a marriage proposal that Jesus was making as he offered the cup. This is how the deal was made in a proposal between a man and a woman, they would have dinner together. Many times a father would make arrangements when a son found a girl or when a father found a girl who was suitable for marriage, he would make arrangements with her father, and they would have a dinner, and a proposal would be made, and he would offer her a cup. And if she drank from the cup, she was accepting the proposal. If she put the cup aside, she was unsatisfied so far with the proposal, and more negotiations were needed. By accepting the cup, they were accepting the proposal that Jesus was offering. Those of us who accept the proposal, we become, so to speak, the bride of Christ, the engaged bride of Christ. It is also in a Jewish custom that after the proposal, the bridegroom would go away. He would go back to his father's house and he would prepare a place. He would actually add on to his father's house to make room for him and his wife. And when he was all done and everything was complete, he would go then to gather his wife, see if she had been faithfully waiting for him. It is much the same way with Jesus. He has gone away, and he says that he was going to prepare a place for us, and when he comes back he would take us with him. Blessed is the one who is found waiting. Let's continue at verse twenty seven. And Jesus said to them, You will all fall away, because it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. But after I am raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter said to him, Even if they all fall away, yet I will not. And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, that this very night before the rooster crows twice, you yourselves will deny me three times. But Peter repeatedly said, insistently, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they were all saying the same things as well. They came to a place named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here until I have prayed. And he took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death. Remain here and keep watch. And he went a little beyond them, and he fell to the ground and began praying, that if it was possible, the hour might pass him by. And he was saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet but not what I will, but what you will. And he came and he found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Keep watching and praying, so that you will not come into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words, and again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say in reply to him. And he came the third time, and he said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let's go. Behold, the one who is betraying me is near. And immediately while he was still speaking, Judas one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he who was betraying him had given them a signal, saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one. Arrest him and lead him away under guard. And after coming, Judas immediately went to him and said, Rabbi, and he kissed him. They laid hands on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and he struck the slave on the high priest, and he cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me? As you would against a man inciting a revolt? Every day I was with you with a temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this is taking place so that scriptures will be fulfilled, and his disciples all left him and fled. A young man who was following him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body, and they seized him, but he pulled free from the linen sheet, and he escaped naked. They led Jesus away to the high priest and all the chief priests, the elders and the scribes gathered together, and Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. He was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the entire council were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put him to death, and they were not finding any. For many people were giving false testimony against him, and so their testimonies were not consistent. And then some stood up and began giving false testimony against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy his temple, that it was made by hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands. And not even in the respect was their testimony consistent. And then the high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, Do you not offer any answer for what these men are testifying against you? But he kept silent and did not offer any answer. Again the high priest was questioning him and said to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? And Jesus said, I am, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, coming with the clouds of heaven. Tearing his clothes the high priest said, What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard this blasphemy. How does it seem to you? And they all condemned him as deserving of death, and some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to beat them with their fist, and say to him, Prophecy. Then the officers took custody of him and slapped him in the face. And while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the slave women of the high priest came. Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You were with Jesus the Nazarene as well. But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are talking about. And he went out unto the porch. The slave woman saw him and began once more to say to the bystanders, This man was one of them. But again they denied it, and after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, You really are one of them, for you are a Galilean as well. But he began to curse himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. And immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And he hurried on and began to weep. Alright, we come to the end of Mark the fourteenth chapter. Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and begins to pray. Grief and fear were so much for the disciples that they fell asleep. Jesus goes three times to pray for the cup of suffering that is coming upon him to pass. He prays to God, all things are possible for you, and if it be possible, let this cup pass by me. But not my will, Father. Your will be done. Many times we we pray that the suffering that we are going through, the pain that we are going through, something that this life has thrown in and seems too much. And we pray to God that it would He would take this moment away from us, that He would save us from this moment, that He would keep us from the pain that we are going through. And I don't always believe it's God's will that we suffer. But God He does allow us to suffer. It is my opinion that one, suffering it brings perseverance. But I don't believe that's why we suffer. I believe life is is cruel and unfair, and suffering comes upon us. If God only shielded those who followed after him from all suffering, how would the world say that was ever fair? After Jesus prays, he tells the disciples it was time, that the one who was betraying him was near. One of the men who had walked with him for three and a half years, that he had called a disciple. He had led men from the chief priest and the scribes to Jesus bearing swords and clubs, as if he was some kind of bad man, one dangerous man who had caused all this trouble. Jesus tells him, Every day I was with you preaching and teaching in the temples. And you did not arrest me. But you come out here like this, as if he was if he was some kind of dangerous person who was causing all kind of trouble. The very fact that Judas had led these men in such a way against Jesus was uh another form of betrayal. As if he believed that he needed to be arrested. For what? For telling the truth? For offering to to die? Jesus had heard the sermons, he had he had been told by Jesus that he was going to suffer and and that he was going to give his life as a ransom. Jesus was so angry at the fact that Jesus wasn't going to fulfill all the things that he believed were supposed to be fulfilled by the Messiah. That he was willing to betray him. A lot of times we uh we get so caught up in what we want to be the truth that we just miss it. And when someone points out the truth to us, becomes so angry that they become our enemy. Why? Because they loved us enough to tell us the truth? I hate that we're so broken sometimes. But I thank God every day that He is merciful and loving and He has a way of bringing us to understanding. Usually much later. And then we look back with regret on how we acted, or what we might have put somebody else through because of our way we act. Jesus is treated like a criminal. They take him and they beat him and they they offer all kind of false testimonies about him. So much so that they couldn't even get that right. So they ask him plainly, are you the Son of God? Are you the Christ? And he tells them right to their face I am. And one day you will see me sitting at the right hand of glory, coming in the clouds. Instead of being overjoyed at the very fact that the Messiah they had been waiting for all their life was among them. No, he ripped his garments. He ripped his garment in an act of disdain. And he says, What more proof do we need? This man blasphemies. And they all condemn Jesus to death. While this is going on, Peter. Peter who loved Jesus. Peter who had walked with Jesus, who promised to die with Jesus. Peter represents us. We're sitting at a distance, we're we're watching, we're waiting, we're wanting to see what's going to happen. But while we're waiting, we we get confronted by the world. They ask us, aren't you with that man? A lot of times in this life, our voices say yes. But our lives say no. I don't know, and I'm never knew him. I don't walk with that man. I don't know what you're talking about. Three times he was confronted on whether or not he knew Jesus. Three times he denied him. And then the realization hit and he ran away grieving. Because he saw his sin and how he betrayed Jesus. That the love he thought he had for Jesus, the devotion he he believed in his heart, had been betrayed so easily. I can guarantee I understand what that feels like. As a Christian, many times we on the other side of our sin or other side of a bad situation where we completely lose our Christian demeanor. We're looking back and we go, how did we get there? How did we fall so far so fast? And we did it knowingly. Then we're left with guilt and shame. But then we remember Jesus' words. How he promised to forgive us. How he promised to restore us. That he was going ahead of us. That he would be waiting. If we were willing to come. I'm on this one here. I'm heading to Panama for a mission strip today. Looking forward to it. Keep me in prayer. And I'll see you guys when I get back. I love you. We'll be in Mark, the 15th chapter, in our next Bible study. Until then. I love you guys. Goodbye.