Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Mark 14 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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A single chapter can change how you see the whole story. We take you into Mark 14—where a costly perfume breaks open, a table is set for a new covenant, and a prayer in a dark garden reveals what perfect obedience looks like. The night is crowded with contrasts: a woman’s bold devotion against Judas’ quiet deal, a chorus of false witnesses against Jesus’ steady silence, and Peter’s denials against the promise that forgiveness is already being poured out.

We start with the plot and the perfume, showing why Jesus calls her act “beautiful” and how true worship never steals from compassion. Then we move to the Passover where bread and cup become a living promise of grace. The Lord’s Supper is more than remembrance; it is the covenant sign that sin is met and mercy wins. In Gethsemane, Jesus prays for the cup to pass and then submits to the Father’s will, carrying both the weight of wrath and the joy set before him.

As the trial unfolds, we unpack how Jesus’ claim to be the Son of Man echoes Daniel 7, why that confession matters, and what it means for hope beyond the cross. Along the way we tackle hard questions: Why did Judas betray? How does God’s sovereignty hold with human responsibility? What does the young man fleeing naked tell us about fear and the instinct to escape? Finally, we draw out practical applications—refusing small compromises, staying awake in prayer, receiving the Lord’s Supper as a promise, and choosing the kind of devotion that outlasts the jar it came in.

If this conversation stirred your faith or clarified something you’ve wrestled with, share it with a friend, subscribe for more chapter-by-chapter studies, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. We're looking at Mark 14, and I'm Pastor Bleck along with Pastor Holland. We're going to outline it. We're going to make some observations. We're going to make some interpretations. And finally, we'll lay it down with an application for you to ponder and implement today. All right, let's get into it. Mark 14, there's this plot to kill Jesus. In Mark 14, 1 through 2, religious leaders scheme to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. Then, immediately following that, in Mark 14, 3 through 9, we have a woman who anoints Jesus with a costly perfume as an act of devotion. Then you've got Judas agreeing to betray Jesus in Mark 14, 10, 11. He does it for some cash. And then last supper, we see Mark 14, 12 through 26. Jesus celebrates a Passover. He institutes the Lord's Supper and then predicts Judas' betrayal and Peter's denial. Then we've got verses 32 through 42, Jesus agonizing in prayer, but the disciples are sleeping, and he's having to sort of submit to the Father's will alone. Then Jesus gets arrested in verses 40 through 52. Judas does the betrayal with a kiss. And then in verses 53 through 65, we've got Jesus before the Sanhedrin or the council of 70, sort of the rulers of the Jewish people. And they get all these false witnesses to accuse Jesus. And that's where Jesus declares himself to be the Son of Man who has come, who will be coming in glory. And then finally, uh we have Peter denying Jesus in verses 66 through 72. Now, let's get into some observations here.

Pastor Holland:

You know, I love when it's Jesus before the council, and they're all bearing false witness against him, and their testimony doesn't agree.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah.

Pastor Holland:

And they can't even get on the same page. It's like, guys, get your stories. Yeah. And then they even try to, you know, quote Jesus and they can't even quote him right. You know, I'll destroy this temple and rebuild. Uh and it just it reminds me of that. Um, you know, they're they're like, Jesus, aren't you gonna say anything? And he's just silent. And it reminds me of, I think it's um like a Napoleon quote never interrupt your opponent when he's making a mistake.

Pastor Plek:

Right, yeah, yeah.

Pastor Holland:

And Jesus is just silent there as they're just stumbling all over themselves. And you know, it's just it makes them look like such fools. And uh, and they're trying so hard. And the irony is it's all God part of God's plan anyway.

Pastor Plek:

Right. And what's really cool, he does self-condemn himself by saying, uh, are you just tell us plainly, are you the Christ? I am, and uh, you've said it, and you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds. And he's quoting Daniel 7. Yes, and so I mean, that was just a clear, like, cry out to scripture that he is the Messiah coming on clouds alongside the ancient of days, which is sort of wild. Yeah, it's awesome. Okay, what about uh what what I know this is probably no way we can answer this, but I gotta ask it. Why does Judas betray Jesus after following him for so long?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't give us a reason. So it's all conjecture here. Yeah. Um, but uh you do know he does it for some money. Yep. Um, you do know that he was uh fearful of the people. Um he he felt he felt guilty about it afterward, right? And he tried to give the money back. Um but uh so you see a fear and guilt and greed. Um, but we don't get a precise reason. We just know those are some elements that we go with another Judas question.

Pastor Plek:

Okay. If Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, and it was sort of God's plan, was Judas really responsible? Yes. Why?

Pastor Holland:

Um He had full agency, he did, um, and of his own will did all the things that he did. What God did is um uh sovereignly accomplished his purpose through the agency of Judas.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. I I think you have God's sovereign. I always use the idea of a big rope being pulled, and you got God's sovereignty on one side and human responsibility on the other, and then that tension is where we live of God's sovereign hand and human responsibility is never, we're never like off the hook, so to speak. Yeah. Okay. Um why would Jesus want that woman? I mean, she's clearly gonna be remembered for all time, wherever this gospel is shared, her story will be told. Yeah. Um why waste the perfume instead of giving it to the poor as Judas suggested? Why well, real quick, did Judas really care about the poor? No, he did not. He just helped himself from the money bag. Yeah, he was stealing from the money bag, but maybe he needed to help the poor too, and he'd already took and take took. Well, you think he's like Robin Hood? Yeah, he's like, I gotta take some money here, help myself, help the poor. Yeah. Um kind of like the mafia.

Pastor Holland:

Kind of like the mafia. Yeah. I I don't think Judas really cared about the poor. I think um he was he was greedy. And um, I think he could not fathom that act of faith and worship. Yeah. As someone who did not have faith in Jesus or worship Jesus and really only thought about himself. And so what she did, which Jesus affirms was a righteous and good thing to do, you know, it's not a waste if you're giving it to God. It's not a waste if you're pouring and this metaphorically, you could take this, you know, to think about your whole life. That you your whole life would be poured out for God. Right. Um, and it's not a waste. And Jesus couldn't recognize that.

Pastor Plek:

Yep. Okay, I got another one for you. Why would Jesus pray for the cup to pass if he knew he was supposed to die?

Pastor Holland:

That is exactly what any truly human person would do in a moment like that, with the weight of the um of the hour, what he calls the hour, the cup. The cup represents God's wrath against sin. The hour represents the suffering that his whole life has led up to um to you know dread um and despise that moment from a human perspective is is the perfectly human thing to do.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. And then what's really cool, I I love what Hebrew says it was the joy set before him, he endured the cross. So the thing that he had to see here is probably joy in serving the Father, but also joy in receiving the elect. Yeah. Okay.

Pastor Holland:

Um you see the divinity and humanity of Jesus really on display in this chapter. The humanity of Jesus asking, you know, for the cup to pass, um, and in his perfect humanity, accepting the Father's answer. The answer is no. Cup will not pass. Drink the cup. And Jesus says, you know, as you wish, your will. And uh then you see his divinity um in that he, you know, he says, Yeah, I'm the son of man coming on the clouds with fire. Um, and uh does not deny that. And he's condemned for his blasphemy uh in their eyes. You know, he's blaspheming by claiming to be the um the divine human king foretold by the prophets.

Pastor Plek:

All right. What are we gonna get into uh some nature of man truths?

Pastor Holland:

Uh okay, there's I don't I don't know what it is, but there's something here in the nature of man in verse 51 and 52. Young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his body, and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. Most people think that's Mark. Yeah, okay, because it's only in Mark's gospel. Right. And but he he doesn't put his name in there.

Pastor Plek:

But he was like, I there's just something in man that has to kind of leave your mark. Dun dun done. Leave your mark. You like that?

Pastor Holland:

Um, so what does that teach what does that teach us about the nature of man? We want to leave our mark. Yeah. We don't leave. He ran away naked. Um we're willing to, I don't know, there's something there.

Pastor Plek:

Well, we're we're willing to to run naked to escape getting crucified. Wow. We would yeah, there's something there. I don't quite know what it is, but how about this? How about something similar? We can betray the Lord for worldly gain. Yep. That's an easy one.

Pastor Holland:

That's an easy one.

Pastor Plek:

Um how about with Peter? Uh, man is weak in the face of temptation. Whether the temptation was to stop praying and go to sleep, or the temptation was to deny Jesus.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. I feel like that's what's going on with Mark running away naked too. Yeah. It's like there was a fear and a temptation to just, I just want to run away from it all. And I don't care if I gotta drop my clothes. Right. If I just want to get away from whatever you know might might come to me because of identifying with Jesus. All right.

Pastor Plek:

Anything else on the nature of man?

Pastor Holland:

No.

Pastor Plek:

How about character of God?

Pastor Holland:

God forgives. Ooh, I like that. Um, institution of the Lord's Supper. This is my blood of the covenant poured out for many. What is it poured out for? Our sins. God is a God who forgives sin.

Pastor Plek:

How about uh God really, really cherished that woman's devotion?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

I mean, and Jesus specifically, like he makes it wherever this gospel is told, her story will be there.

Pastor Holland:

He calls it a beautiful thing. God honors and recognizes the beauty of faith.

Pastor Plek:

Um how about God's will uh is perfect and we must accept it?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. Um, and it's kind of shifting from character of God into application as well. Yeah, it is.

Pastor Plek:

Let's get to some application, shall we?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. His will is perfect, and we need to accept it. There's some knowledge.

Pastor Plek:

Knowledge to believe. Yeah. All right. What about a sin to avoid? Uh, don't betray Christ for worldly gain because it's really small. Don't deny Jesus because you're afraid of what it might cost you.

Pastor Holland:

Don't neglect prayer. Don't go to sleep.

Pastor Plek:

Wait. Okay. When you should be praying. Right, right, right. All right. Uh, how about a promise to claim uh the Lord's Supper? Jesus' blood secures the forgiveness of sins in a new covenant.

Pastor Holland:

Amen. Promise to claim Jesus is coming back one day with the clouds of heaven. Yeah. He will return, and there's a great hope that we have because of that. Claim that promise.

Pastor Plek:

Example follow like there's nothing too great to give to the Lord. Yeah. Like that will pour out your life for Jesus.

Pastor Holland:

Pour out your life or your I mean, that had to have been like a life savings, an inheritance, like something so valuable.

Pastor Plek:

And this was the rain day fund that she went all out on. And said Jesus is worth it all. And it's, I mean, it is worth it. Like her story, like if you want to talk about a lasting thing, like that nard would have gone. Let's just say she kept it for passed it down for like 10 generations. It would have been eventually been gone. But it's now forever because it was poured out on Jesus. It's good. Hey, thanks so much for tuning in with us. We'll see you next time on a chapter a day.

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