Jesus was deserted by his disciples

JESUS WAS DESERTED BY HIS DISCIPLES
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Mark 14:50 Then all His disciplesdeserted Him and
fled.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The deserters
J. J. Davies.
We may take three views of the desertionof our Lord on this occasion;that
event may be consideredwith reference to the deserters, to the deserted, and
to ourselves.
I. The desertion of our Lord may be consideredwith reference to THE
APOSTLES. In this view it affords an affecting instance of the inconstancyof
man. The desertion of our Lord by the apostles affords also a proof of the
melancholy consequencesofthe adoption of false notions. Men are sometimes
found, it is true, both better and worse than their respective creeds;but it is
undeniable that, whatever sentiment we really embrace, whateverwe truly
believe, is sure to influence our spirit and conduct. The apostles, in common
with the Jews generally, had fully adopted the notion of a personalreign of the
Messiah, ofa temporal and worldly kingdom. Hence, ambition, of a kind (in
their circumstances)the most absurd and unnatural, took full possessionof
their minds. They expectedto be the chief ministers and counsellors ofstate of
the largest, and, in every respect, the greatestempire in the world, an empire
which was destined to absorb all others, and to become universal. Think of

such a notion as this, for a few illiterate fishermen of one of the obscurest
provinces of the civilized world! I do not saythat it would have been otherwise
— that they would steadfastlyhave adhered to their Lord, and have gone with
Him to prison and to death, if they had been entirely quit of their false
notions, and had had right views of the spiritual nature of His kingdom; for
temptation, danger, fear, may overcome the strongestconvictions;but it is
easyto perceive that their false notions contributed to render them an easy
prey to the enemy, while more correctviews would have tended to prepare
their minds for the trial, and to fortify them againstit. We may learn from
this how important it is that we should take heed what we believe. Let us
prove all things, and hold fastthat which is good.
II. The desertionof Christ by the apostles may be consideredwith reference to
our LORD Himself; and here it may be viewed in two aspects:as an
aggravationofHis sufferings, and as a proof of His love.
1. As an aggravationof His sufferings. It should not be forgotten that our
Lord was made in all points like unto His brethren. He had all the affections,
passions, feelings, ofhuman nature just as we have; the greatdifference being
that, in us they are constantlyliable to perversionand abuse, while in Him
their exercise was always healthful and legitimate. In the language of
prophecy, also, He complains of the desertion of His friends: "I lookedfor
some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none."
"Of the people there was none with Me." As "bone of our bone," as subjectto
all the sympathies of our common humanity, He felt it deeply, and on many
accounts, whenJudas came, heading a band of ruffians, and betrayed Him
with the very token of affection. He felt it deeply when Peterdenied Him in
His very presence with oaths and curses. He felt it deeply when "they all
forsook Him and fled."

2. This melancholy event may be consideredfurther as a proof of the
greatness ofthe Saviour's love. He met with everything calculatednot only to
test His love, to prove its sincerity and its strength; but also to chill, and to
extinguish it. But as it was self-moved, it was self-sustained. Manywaters
could net quench it. All the ingratitude of man could not destroy it; all the
powers of darkness couldnot damp its ardour. "Having loved His own who
were in the world, He loved them to the end." Perhaps the unfaithfulness of
the apostles was permitted, that Jesus might taste of every ingredient of
bitterness which is mingled in man's cup of woe;that, being tempted in all
points like unto His brethren, He might be able to sympathize with, and to
succourthem in their temptations. It may have been permitted also, in order
to show that there was nothing to deserve His favour in the objects of His love.
Say not that your sins are too greatto be forgiven, or your heart too depraved
to be renewed. Only trust Him: His grace is sufficient for you. And let this
encourage the unhappy backslider, notwithstanding his frequent desertionof
his Lord, to return to Him. Jesus did not disown the apostles, thoughthey
desertedHim in His distress;but after His resurrection He sent to them, by
the faithful women, messagesoftenderness and love: "Go," saidHe to Mary
Magdalene, "go to My brethren, and sayunto them, I ascendunto My Father
and your Father; to My God, and your God." And to the other women, "Go,
tell My brethren that I go into Galilee, and there shall they see Me."
III. We proceedto considerthis melancholy event with reference to
OURSELVES. We may learn not a little from it. We may use it as a mirror in
which to see ourselves.Some may see in it, perhaps, the likeness oftheir own
conduct to their fellow men. When you thought they did well for themselves,
then you blessedthem. When you knew they did not need you, you followed
them, and were at their service. When all praised them, you also joined in the
laudation. But circumstances changedwith them; and you changed too. The
time came when you might really have servedthem, but then you withdrew
yourself. Others may see in the desertionof the apostles, the likeness oftheir
own conduct to the Saviour. Oh! how many desert Him in His poor,
calumniated, persecutedbrethren? How many desertHim in His injured,
oppressedinterest! Many will befriend and applaud a mission, a religious

institution, a Christian church, a ministry, while it receives general
commendation and support; but let the great frown upon it, let the foul breath
of calumny pass over it and dim its lustre, let the bleak winds of adversity
blow upon it, and blast it; and where are they then? They are scattered, and
gone everyone to his own. We may learn from this event to solace ourselves
under some of the severesttrials which canbefall us in the present world.
Surely there are few things more bitter than this — to be deserted, when we
most need their assistance, by those on whose friendly offices we are entitled
to rely. But we may learn from this event not to wonder at it; it is no strange
thing. We must not wonder, then, if when we are most deeply interested in any
greatundertaking, if when our labours and sacrificesfor the goodof our
fellow creatures are most abundant, or when our afflictions and sufferings are
most severe, that is to say, if when we most need the sympathy and support of
our friends, we should be left most entirely to ourselves. Let us solace
ourselves in God. "Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me." Let us live
more in communion with Him. Let us look less to creatures, and more to the
Creator. Let us depend less on outward things, and more on God. Finally, let
us learn to anticipate the hour in which our most faithful friends must leave
us. Oh! to have the greatand goodShepherd with us then!" Though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; Thou art with
me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."
(J. J. Davies.)
COMMENTARIES
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
14:43-52 BecauseChrist appearednot as a temporal prince, but preached
repentance, reformation, and a holy life, and directed men's thoughts, and

affections, and aims to another world, therefore the Jewishrulers sought to
destroy him. Peterwounded one of the band. It is easierto fight for Christ
than to die for him. But there is a greatdifference betweenfaulty disciples and
hypocrites. The latter rashly and without thought call Christ Master, and
express greataffectionfor him, yet betray him to his enemies. Thus they
hasten their owndestruction.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Master, Master- As if expressing greatjoy that he had found him again.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
Mr 14:43-52. BetrayalandApprehension of Jesus—FlightofHis Disciples. ( =
Mt 26:47-56;Lu 22:47-53;Joh18:1-12).
See on [1508]Joh18:1-12.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Mark 14:46"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And they all forsook him and fled. That is, his disciples, as the Vulgate Latin,
Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; and who seemto have
transcribed it from Matthew, and lestit should be thought, that the multitude
whom Christ addressed, were intended.
Geneva Study Bible
And they {l} all forsook him, and fled.
(l) All his disciples.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 14:50. καὶ ἀφέντες, etc., and deserting Him fled all (πάντες last, vide
above): the nine with the three, the three not less than the nine—all alike
panic-stricken.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
50. they all forsook him, and fled] Even the impetuous Peterwho had made so
many promises; even the disciple whom He loved.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 50. - And they all left him, and fled. But soonafterwards two of them,
Peterand John, took courage, andfollowedhim to the house of the high
priest.
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
And they all left him, and fled.
Peter's rash attack upon Malchus was rebuked by Jesus, andthe excisedear
was restored. In the face of his enemies, Jesus proclaimedhimself as God, "I
AM" (John 18:8); from the sudden outflashing of his divine power, the
soldiers faded backwardand lay prostrate. Having shownthe completeness of
his power, the Lord required the arresting group to refrain from taking the
Twelve into custody(John 18:8f), thus revealing the wonderthat had just
takenplace as a work wrought, not upon his own behalf, but upon theirs. The
apostles, true to the Lord's prophecy, and perhaps totally bewildered by the
complexity of events which they, at that time, only partially understood,

forsook him and fled. This actionon their part was probably necessaryfor the
preservationof their lives, because there is every reasonto believe that the
hierarchy would have liked nothing better than to have had the whole group
in custody.
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Mark 14:50". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/mark-14.html. Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
Return to Jump List return to 'Jump List'
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
And they all forsook him and fled. That is, his disciples, as the Vulgate Latin,
Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; and who seemto have
transcribed it from Matthew, and lestit should be thought, that the multitude
whom Christ addressed, were intended.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.

A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Mark 14:50". "The New JohnGill Exposition of
the Entire Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/mark-
14.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
And they l all forsook him, and fled.
(l) All his disciples.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon Mark 14:50". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/mark-14.html.
1599-1645.
The Fourfold Gospel
And they all left him, and fled1.

And they all left him, and fled. All the predictions of Jesus had failed to
prepare the apostles forthe terrors of his arrest. Despite all his warnings, each
apostle soughthis own safety.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website. These files
were made available by Mr. Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 at
The RestorationMovementPages.
Bibliography
J. W. McGarveyand Philip Y. Pendleton. "Commentaryon Mark 14:50".
"The Fourfold Gospel".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tfg/mark-14.html. Standard
Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 1914.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
See Poole on"Mark 14:46"
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon Mark 14:50". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/mark-14.html. 1685.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
All forsook him, and fled; all the disciples, lestthey should be takenalso. In
times of great danger, our dependence cannotsafely be placedon men; not
even on goodmen. They cannot trust themselves. Their goodresolutions may
vanish, and their courage die. There is no safe dependence but on God.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Edwards, Justin. "Commentary on Mark 14:50". "FamilyBible New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/fam/mark-
14.html. American TractSociety. 1851.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
50. ἔφυγονπάντες. See crit. note. The πάντες comes atthe end with emphasis;
and they forsook Him and fled—all of them. Peter, after striking one useless
blow, flees with the rest; cf. Mark 14:27; Mark 14:29. It was evident that He
was not going to use His miraculous powerto prove His Messiahship, and they
left Him to the fate which He had often foretold.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
"Commentary on Mark 14:50". "Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools
and Colleges".https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/mark-
14.html. 1896.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
‘And they all left him and fled.’
This contrasts with Mark 14:46, and leads on from Mark 14:47. His enemies
laid hands on Him and arrestedHim. And once an initial blow had been
struck His friends all left Him and fled. This too was in accordance withthe
Scriptures (Zechariah 13:7). It also contrasts with the words ‘comes Judas,
one of the twelve’, helping to emphasise his betrayal. He alone could remain.
for no one would seek to arrest him.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Mark 14:50". "PeterPett's Commentaryon the
Bible ". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/mark-14.html.
2013.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Mark 14:50. καὶ ἀφέντες, etc., and deserting Him fled all ( πάντες last, vide
above): the nine with the three, the three not less than the nine—all alike
panic-stricken.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Nicol, W. Robertson, M.A., L.L.D. "Commentary on Mark 14:50". The
Expositor's Greek Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/egt/mark-14.html. 1897-1910.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
forsook Him, and fled = leaving Him, fled.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Mark 14:50". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/mark-14.html. 1909-1922.
Treasuryof Scripture Knowledge
And they all forsook him, and fled.
27; Job19:13,14;Psalms 38:11;88:7,8,18;Isaiah63:3; John 16:32; 18:8; 2
Timothy 4:16
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
DANIEL AKIN
Verses 50-52 records the sad defectionof the disciples:all of them!
Those who had a short time earlier boastedthat they would die for Him
now are no where to be found. Verses 51-52 containthe unusual story of
an anonymous “young man” who followedin his pajamas! He was nearly

captured but was able to escape.However, his “linen cloth” was captured
and so he “ran away naked” (v. 52). Church tradition says the young man
was Mark the author of our 2nd gospel. Thatis certainly a reasonable
possibility. And so again, as it was in the Garden of Eden, our nakedness
is exposedas we desertthe God who loves us and has gracedus so
abundantly with His kindness and goodgifts.
6) And Jesus? He is arrestedand He is forsaken. He is all alone to face the
wrath of men and the wrath of God. He will receive all that we deserve
that we might receive all that He deserves. The “GreatExchange”has
begun.
WILLIAM BARCLAY
(iv) There are the disciples. Their nerve cracked. Theycould not face it. They
were afraid that they too would share the fate of Jesus;and so they fled.
(v) There is Jesus himself. The strange thing is that in ill this disorderedscene
Jesus was the one oasis of serenity. As we read the story it reads as if he, not
the Sanhedrin police, was directing affairs. For him the struggle in the garden
was over, and now there was the peace of the man who knows that he is
following the will of God.

BRIAN BELL
All forsook Him & fled (Place yourself there running with them)
1. Legs running, arms pumping, sweatdripping, hard breathing, heart
pounding,
constanthiding, breath catching. Now wondering, definitely pondering, fear
gripping,
thoughts tangling, feelings wrangling, fault finding, Spirit grieving, guilt
swelling,
responsibility owning, much weeping, still confusing.
D. If this was John Mark, as most guess, then he’s saying in essence, all
forsook Him & fled even I.
1. How does this reflect Jesus’warning about the costof discipleship? In
trying to save
himself, the young man loses what little he has.
a) Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoeverloses his life for My
sake and
the gospel's willsave it.
b) If you want to be my to be my followeryou must love me more than your
own father
and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, more than your own
life.
Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.
c) Whoeverdoes not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
d) Whoever of you does not forsake allthat he has cannot be My disciple.

e) No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.
2. Slide#20 “Love so amazing, Love so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my
all.”
E. Run from any difficult discipleship challenges lately?
1. Steelyourself in prayer & submission to the heavenly Father.
F. What is in your hand today...the sword, or the cup?
CHRIS BENFIELD
The Desertion(50) – And they all forsook him, and fled. A very simple
statement, and yet very
profound. We know that Peterwill follow Jesus to the home of the high priest,
and I believe John
November 7, 2018
PastorChris Benfield – FellowshipMissionaryBaptistChurch 4
is also there as Jesus is tried. We do know that John is found at the feet of
Jesus as He hangs
upon the cross, but at this moment, Jesus is forsakenby all the disciples. As
He is arrestedfor
crimes He had not committed, He is lead awayalone!
▪ This reveals two greattruths to us. Many continue to forsake Jesus whenit
comes to the

crucifixion. Many agree that He was a greatteacher, prophet, and man, but
refuse to embrace
Him as the Christ. It also reveals that what Jesus was aboutto do, He must do
alone. No one else
was worthy to die for our sin. No one else could drink of the cup He was about
to taste and drink.
Jesus alone securedour redemption as He offeredHis body the perfect, living
sacrifice for sin.
JIM BOMKAMP
14:50-52 -“50 And they all left Him and fled. 51 A young man was following
Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheetover his nakedbody; and they seized
him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheetand escapednaked.” – All of the
disciples left Him and fled, and a young man was following Him, wearing
nothing but a linen sheetover his naked body, and they seized Him, but He
pulled free of the linen sheetand escapednaked
10.1. It is very interesting that in the abbreviated gospelwhich is this gospel
of Mark, that he alone includes this unusual story. The factthat Mark
includes this story has causedmostcommentators to come to the conclusion
that Mark must be telling the story because he is the young man.

10.2. Some have brought out the point that since this gospelwas really
written by Mark only as Peter’s transcriptionist, that perhaps it actually was
Peterwho escapednakedon this morning. There likewise have been other
people who have been speculatedto be the man in question.
10.3. If the young man in the story really is Mark, it is the case then that
Mark deviated from Peter’s transcription at this point to put in a private
story. He then spoke ofhimself anonymously much as John referred to
himself in his gospelin every accountonly as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
10.4. James D. Jones believes strongly that the man in the story is Mark, and
he compellingly brings out the fact that when you considerthe story of the
secondmissionaryjourney from the book of Acts in which this same Mark
abandoned the work, that you begin to get a picture of his character. He
states that Mark is typical of one who hastily followedChrist and that he was
a man who was impetuous. The fact that Mark only grabs a temporary linen
sheetwhich he wraps around himself shows that he is impetuous. What could
Mark have done for his Masteras he was being arrestedif he only grabbed a
mere linen sheetand wrapped it around him? Surely Mark was hasty and
impetuous in following Christ.

10.4.1.Jesus discouragedhastyfollowing of Himself, He taught His disciples
that one should count the costof following Him before He started out. Often
times people stumble in their Christian walk because they didn’t really count
the costbeforehandand be sure to give their life entirely to Him.
10.5. There is a tradition in the history of the church which called Mark,
“the stump fingered man’. The thinking about this tradition is that there was
something that happened much more than Mark’s linen cloth being torn away
from him. He may have had a finger cut off by the swordof those arresting
Jesus as he ran towards them wrapped only in a linen sheet. He then would
have run off into the night with a bloody stub left of a finger.
10.6. James D. Jones includes this story of Mark in his commentary also, one
which shows how that even though Mark failed the Lord miserably perhaps in
this situation as well as when he abandoned the mission field, that he grew
through these things and ended up a greatand strong man of God:
“Venice boasts of Mark as its patron saint, and there, close to the Grand
Canal, you cansee the pillar dedicatedto his name. And on the top of the
pillar a lion. The lion of St. Mark! That is Mark’s symbol in Art-the lion! He
does not shape much like a lion in this incident. The timid hare would seem to
us a fitter symbol of this man who ran awayat the first onset of danger. But

the Church is right. The lion is Mark’s legitimate symbol. For this man got
the better of his timidities and fears, and developed into a brave and dauntless
soldier of the Cross. Christ changedhim, Christ transformed him, and Mark,
the runaway, at Alexandria laid down his life for his Lord.”
ALAN CARR
When Jesus is arrested, every single disciple runs awayin fear, v. 50. One
unnamed young man, whom many believe to be Mark, vv. 51-52, runs away,
leaving his garment in the hands of the soldiers.
· The disciples never thought this moment would come, Mark 14:31. They
all believed in their hearts that they would stand with the Lord Jesus to the
very end. They all really believed that they would die with Him and even for
Him. Petershowedthe most courage whenhe drew his sword in defense of the
Lord, v. 47.
Yet, when Jesus was arrested, andwhen He did not resist arrest, the
disciples were shakento the very core of their beliefs, and they all ran away.
The word “forsook” means “to abandon someone orto leave them behind”.
The word “fled” means “to seek safetyby flight; to vanish”. These men
literally ran awayand vanished into the night, they were convincedthey
would stand with Jesus, but when the hour of testing came, they melted away
into the shadows and left Jesus alone with His enemies.
· Let’s not be too hard on these men. Let’s not boastabout what we
would do if we found ourselves in their situation. I would like to think that I
would be faithful to Jesus, but you never know!

Ø On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting
rampage at Columbine High Schoolnear Littleton, CO. They murdered 12
students and teacherthat day and wounded 23 other people. Among their
victims was a student named Cassie Bernall. Eric Harris found Cassie hiding
under a computer table. He knelt down beside her and asked, “Do you believe
in God?” When she said “Yes”, Harris killed her. What would you have done?
Ø In the days of the old Soviet Union, soldiers enter a meeting place where
Christians are meeting in secret, worshipping the Lord. The soldiers enter and
yell, “If you are an unbeliever, leave now! If you are a believer, line up against
the wall!” Mostof the crowdleaves. A few faithful believers go to the wall and
to their deaths, refusing to dishonor the Lord Who bought them. What would
you have done?
Ø In the days of the RomanEmperor Nero, there was a band of elite guard
known as the “Emperor’s Wrestlers”.These menhad gained greatsuccessby
wrestling in the Roman amphitheater and pledging their allegiance to Nero
with these words, “We, the wrestlers, wrestling for you, O Emperor; to win
for you the victory and from you, the victor’s crown.”
When the Roman army fought in Gaul, no soldiers were braver or more
loyal. But news reachedNero that many Roman soldiers had acceptedthe
Christian faith. A decree was dispatchedto the Roman Centurion Vespasian,
which said “If there be any soldiers who cling to the Christian faith, they must
die!”
The decree was receivedin the dead of winter while the soldiers were
camped next to a frozen lake. With a sinking heart, Vespasiancalledhis

soldiers togetherand askedthe question, “Do any of you cling to the faith of
the Christians? If so, step forward!”
Instantly forty wrestlers steppedforward, salutedand stoodat attention.
Vespasianpaused. He had not expectedso many, nor such selectsoldiers.
Trying to find a way out of his dilemma, Vespasianannounced, “I shall await
your answerat sundown.” Sundown came and againthe question was asked.
Again, forty wrestlers steppedforward.
Vespasianpleaded with them to deny their faith without success. Finally
he said, “The decree of the Emperor must be obeyed, but I am not willing that
your comrades should shed our blood. I am ordering you to march out upon
that lake of ice, and I shall leave you to the mercy of the elements.”
The forty wrestlers were stripped and marched out on to the center of the
frozen lake. As they marched they broke into the chant of the arena, “Forty
wrestlers, wrestling for You, O Christ; to win for You the victory and from
You, the victor’s crown.” Throughthe long hours of the night Vespasian
stoodby his campfire and listened to the wrestler’s chant as it grew fainter
and fainter.
As morning drew near one wrestler, overcome by exposure, crept quietly
toward the fire; and in the extremity of his suffering he renounced his Lord.
Softly but clearly from the frozen lake came the chant, “Thirty-nine wrestlers,
wrestling for You, O Christ; to win for You the victory and from You, the
crown.”
The Centurion Vespasianlookedatthe wrestlerdrawing close to the fire.
Off came his helmet and clothing, and Vespasianran out onto the ice crying,

“Forty wrestlers, wrestling forYou, O Christ; to win for You the victory and
from You, the crown!” What would you have done?
DANIEL HILL
Mark 14:50
And they all left Him and fled.
Remember what Jesus had said earlierthat
evening when he quoted Zechariah 13:7
Mark 14:27 You will all fall away, because it is
written, I will strike down the shepherd, and
the sheepshall be scattered.
The disciples left him, they ran, in fear of their
lives, and now Jesus was really - all alone with the
Father.
MATTHEW HENRY
All Christ's disciples, hereupon, desertedhim (Mark 14:50) They all forsook
him, and fled. They were very confident that they should adhere to him but
even goodmen know not what they will do, till they are tried. If it was such a
comfort to him as he had lately intimated, that they had hitherto continued

with him in his lessertrials (Luke 22:28), we may well imagine what a grief it
was to him, that they desertedhim now in the greatest, whenthey might have
done him some service--whenhe was abused, to protect him, and when
accused, to witness for him. Let not those that suffer for Christ, think it
strange, if they be thus deserted, and if all the herd shun the wounded deer
they are not better than their Master, nor canexpect to be better used either
by their enemies or by their friends. When St. Paul was in peril, none stoodby
him, but all men forsook him, 2 Timothy 4:16.
JOHN DANIEL JONES
When the disciples saw their Masterin the hands of His foes, they were at first
for making a fight of it. Perhaps we have been too hard on these disciples. It is
true that the story ends with this shameful sentence, "Theyall forsook Him
and fled." But they were not cowards. I have almostcome to the conclusion
that it was not fear that prompted their flight, but despair. I believe they
would have fought for Christ and died for Him if He had fulfilled their
expectationas to the Messiah. Butwhen they saw Jesus meeklysurrendering
Himself, their faith in Him as Messiahcollapsed. Thatwas the cause oftheir
flight. Their faith was shattered. But they were not cowards, these men. They
had only two swords amongstthem, but with those two swords they would
have facedthe soldiers and the Temple mob in defence of their Lord. "Lord,"
they cried, "shallwe smite with the sword?" And before Jesus had had time to
reply, Peter"s swordwas outof its scabbard; he had struck an uncertain and
excited blow, and had cut off the high priest"s servant"s ear. It was done in a
moment. But swift upon the blow came the word of Christ. "Put up againthy
swordinto its place, they that take the swordshall perish with the sword."
Violence had no place in Christ"s scheme of things. The swordwas a useless
weaponto further His interests. The weapons ofHis warfare were not carnal
but spiritual

A. MACLAREN
Cowardly love forsaking its Lord (verse 50). ‘They all forsook Him, and fled.’
And who will venture to saythat he would not have done so too? The tree that
can stand such a blast must have deep roots. The Christ whom they forsook
was, to them, but a fragment of the Christ whom we know;and the fear which
scatteredthem was far better founded and more powerful than anything
which the easy-going Christians of to-day have to resist. Their flight may
teachus to place little reliance on our emotions, howevergenuine and deep,
and to look for the security for our continual adherence to Christ, not to our
fluctuating feelings, but to His steadfastlove. We keepclose to Him, not
because our poor fingers grasp His hand—for that graspis always feeble, and
often relaxed—but because His strong and gentle hand holds us with a grasp
which nothing can loosen. Whoso trusts in his own love to Christ builds on
sand, but whoso trusts in Christ’s love to him builds on rock.
D. MARION CLARK
50 Then everyone deserted him and fled.
51 A young man,wearingnothing buta linen garment, wasfollowing Jesus.
When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leavinghisgarmentbehind.
Fighting Jesus’ enemies? The disciples could have done that. Giving in to
them…watching Jesus so easilygive in…What do you suppose threw them in
a state of panic more – the arrest party or Jesus’submission? They are ready
to fight with the Lion of Judah, but following a lamb meekly walking to his
slaughter– well, they just don’t understand. And they run away. Everybody.
Even the anonymous young man (Mark?)flees in terror.

Lessons
It all falls apart. The movement comes undone. The hopes wrapped up in
Jesus come crumbling down… and so easily. It was as if there was a fate
driving the events and the characters along, and nothing could stop it.
One of my favorite novels is The Once and FutureKing, T. H. White’s
rendition of the story of King Arthur. It is the great story of the king who for
a time is able to overcome wickedforces andestablish a kingdom of justice
and peace, only in the end for it to tumble down under violence. In the last
chapter Arthur sits alone in his tent awaiting the dawn where the final battle
with Mordred will take place. He wearily tries to think through what went
wrong with his dream.
Arthur was tired out. He had been broken by the two battles which
he had fought already…His wife was a prisoner. His oldestfriend
was banished. His son was trying to kill him. Gawaine was buried.
His Table was dispersed. His country was at war. Yet he could have
breastedall these things in some way, if the centraltenet of his heart
had not been ravaged….He had been taught by Merlyn to believe
that man was perfectible:that he was on the whole more decentthan
beastly: that goodwas worth trying: that there was no such thing as
original sin. He had been forged as a weaponfor the aid of man, on
the assumption that men were good….The service forwhich he had
been destined had been againstForce, the mental illness of
humanity. His Table, his idea of Chivalry, his Holy Grail, his
devotion to Justice:these had been progressive steps in the effort for
which he had been bred. He was like a scientistwho had pursued
the rootof cancerall his life. Might – to have ended it – to have
made men happier. But the whole structure depended on the first
premise: that man was decent.
Looking back at his life, it seemedto him that he had been
struggling all the time to dam a flood, which, wheneverhe had
checkedit, had brokenthrough at a new place, setting him his work
to do again. It was the flood of Force Majeur. During the earliest
days before his marriage he had tried to match its strength with
strength…only to find that two wrongs did not make a right. But he
had crushed the feudal dream of warsuccessfully. Then, with his

Round Table, he had tried to harness Tyranny in lesserforms, so
that its power might be used for useful ends. He had sent out the
men of might to rescue the oppressedand to straighten evil – to put
down the individual might of barons, just as he had put down the
might of kings. Theyhad done so – until, in the course of time, the
ends had been achieved, but the force had remained upon his hands
unchastened. So he had sought for a new channel, had sent them out
on God’s business, searching for the Holy Grail. That too had been
a failure, because those who had achievedthe Questhad become
perfect and been lost to the world, while those who had failed in it
had soonreturned no better. At last he had sought to make a map
of force, as it were, to bind it down by laws. He had tried to codify
the evil uses of might by individuals, so that he might set bounds to
them by the impersonal justice of the state. He had been prepared
to sacrifice his wife and his best friend, to the impersonality of
Justice. And then, even as the might of the individual seemedto
have been curbed, the Principle of Might had sprung up behind him
in another shape – in the shape of collective might, of banded
ferocity, of numerous armies insusceptible to individual laws….He
had conqueredmurder, to be facedwith war….
Now, with his foreheadresting on the papers and his eyes closed, the
King was trying not to realize. For if there was such a thing as
original sin, if man was on the whole a villain, if the Bible was right
in saying that the heart of men was deceitful above all things and
desperatelywicked, then the purpose of his life had been a vain one.
Chivalry and justice became a child’s illusions, if the stock on which
he had tried to graft them was to be the Thrasher, was to be Homo
ferox instead of Homosapiens…Whydid men fight?
PoorArthur, if only he could figure man out, and then he would make a
kingdom that would last. But Jesus does have man figured out. He knows
exactly the problem and it is “that the heart of men [i]s deceitful above all
things and desperatelywicked.” Farfrom making the purpose of his life a
vain one, it is this knowledge that drives him on to what appears to be a
horrible crashing of his lifework. The battle to take place the next day is
what his earthly life has been leading up to; if it does not, then his life is in
vain.

Jesus has come to givehis lifeas a ransom for many(10:45). Manneeds to
be saved from himself, from his deceitful heart, his bent to do evil. “The
best laid plans of mice and men” go wrong preciselybecause no matter
how goodmen may appearto be, there is an incurable cancerin the heart
that corrupts them. And so Jesus came to save us. And so he fulfilled all
that was written about him and about us that the rest of the prophecies
might be fulfilled, the prophecies that speak of an everlasting kingdom of
joy and peace.
No, Jesus is not a weary Arthur despairing over a collapse that he cannot
control. He is the warrior prepared for the battle that will literally save
men’s souls. The greatmystery is that he prepares himself with sheep
clothing and marches forward as a lamb meekly heading for his slaughter.
The paradox is that to win his battle, he must give himself up to his
enemies;to win the decisive victory, he must be slain. No wonderthe
disciples run away. Who of us could handle such a plan?
But we do understand the plan now, after the resurrection. It makes sense
(to a degree)now. And this knowledge is what should spur us on to
whateverbattles we might wage forChrist’s kingdom. It is what should
carry us through the trials and sorrows oflife.
Fighting battles is tough. Bearing up under tedious labor is tough. Facing
disappointments, defeats, and other trials is tough. But we canweather
through any difficulty and rise to any occasionif we know that there is a
worthy purpose that we serve. Again, knowing the purpose is what made
the difference for Jesus and not knowing it is what undid the disciples.
They had no reasonnot to know. Jesus hadtime and againexplained his
mission; they did not want to hear.
Jesus achievedhis purpose. Rememberthat. He savedyou. Now, carry
out your purpose. You cannotatone for anyone’s sins, including your
own, but you can serve the kingdom of your Savior. You cando the tough
job of living in obedience to your Lord – of loving your neighbor as
yourself, of praying for your neighbor, even of turning the other cheek
when offended and returning offense with love. You can do the tough job
of battling for the justice of others and for what is good. You can do the
very tough job of being a humble servant and serving whereveryour Lord
would lead you. You can do it, because ofthe Spirit who lives within you

and because youknow that God’s purpose is being served, evenin what
seems to be your defeats.
God is winning, whateveryour limited sight might tell you. The gospelis
going forth; souls are being savedout of Satan’s grasp;the name of Christ
is being exalted in new places;and this is happening despite our weak flesh
and the many spills we seemto take. The purpose of God being glorified
through our redemption is being fulfilled just as it is written, and it will be
ultimately fulfilled through our own glorification.
Let this moment of what seems to be Jesus’defeatand which undid his
disciples, may this moment be to us an inspiration to persevere.
[L]et us run the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down atthe right hand of the throne of
God. Considerhim whoendured such opposition from sinful men, so that
you willnotgrow wearyand lose heart (Hebrews 12:1b-3).
KIM RIDDLEBARGER
Once Jesus uttered the words, “the Scripture must be fulfilled,” that was
when “everyone desertedhim
and fled.” Whether these words pricked the disciples’consciencesornot, this
was the exactmoment that
the disciples panickedand fled into the night. Just as Jesus had said, they all
“fell away” including Peter.
Verses 51-52 have long been regardedas an eyewitness account. “Ayoung
man, wearing nothing but a
linen garment, was following Jesus. Whenthey seized him, he fled naked,
leaving his garment behind.”

That young man who ran nakedinto the dark leaving his night shirt behind is
commonly believed to be
Mark himself. We do know from Acts 12:12, that Mark lived in Jerusalemat
this time, and Christian
tradition held from the beginning that Mark actually lived in the home where
Jesus ate the Passovermeal.
As a curious young man, Mark followedJesus and the disciples out to
Gethsemane. In any case, it was
now clearthat everyone had fled–including the naked Mark–leaving Jesus
alone, and in the custody of
armed guards. Soon, Jesus wouldbe placedon trial before Caiaphus.
PETER PETT
Verse 50
‘And they all left him and fled.’
This contrasts with Mark 14:46, and leads on from Mark 14:47. His enemies
laid hands on Him and arrestedHim. And once an initial blow had been
struck His friends all left Him and fled. This too was in accordance withthe
Scriptures (Zechariah 13:7). It also contrasts with the words ‘comes Judas,
one of the twelve’, helping to emphasise his betrayal. He alone could remain.
for no one would seek to arrest him.

J. C. RYLE
Let us notice, lastly, in these verses, how much the faith of true believers may
give way . We are told that when Judas and his company laid hands on our
Lord, and He quietly submitted to be takenprisoner, the elevendisciples "all
forsook Him and fled." Perhaps up to that moment they were buoyed up by
the hope that our Lord would work a miracle, and set Himself free. But when
they saw no miracle worked, their courage failed them entirely. Their former
protestations were all forgotten. Their promises to die with their Master,
rather than deny Him, were all castto the winds. The fear of present danger
got the better of faith. The sense of immediate peril drove every other feeling
out of their minds. They "all forsook Him and fled."
There is something deeply instructive in this incident. It deserves the attentive
study of all professing Christians. Happy is he who marks the conduct of our
Lord's disciples, and gathers from it wisdom!
Let us learn from the flight of these eleven disciples not to be over-confident in
our own strength. The fear of man does indeed bring a snare. We never know
what we may do, if we are tempted, or to what extent our faith may give way.
Let us be clothed with humility.
Let us learn to be charitable in our judgment of other Christians. Let us not
expecttoo much from them, or set them down as having no grace atall, if we
see them overtakenin a fault. Let us not forgetthat even our Lord's chosen
apostles forsookHim in His time of need. Yet they rose againby repentance,
and became pillars of the Church of Christ.

Finally, let us leave the passagewith a deep sense ofour Lord's ability to
sympathize with His believing people. If there is one trial greaterthan
another, it is the trial of being disappointed in those we love. It is a bitter cup,
which all true Christians have frequently to drink. Ministers fail them.
Relations fail them. Friends fail them. One cistern after anotherproves to be
broken, and to hold no water. But let them take comfort in the thought, that
there is one unfailing Friend, evenJesus, who can be touched with the feeling
of their infirmities, and has tastedof all their sorrows. Jesusknows whatit is
to see friends and disciples failing Him in the hour of need. Yet He bore it
patiently, and loved them notwithstanding all. He is never weary of forgiving.
Let us strive to do likewise. Jesus, atany rate, will never fail us. It is written,
"His compassions failnot" (Lamentations 3:22).
JOHN MARK—OR, HASTE IN RELIGION
NO. 3023
A SERMON
PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1907
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,NEWINGTON
IN THE YEAR 1864
“And they all forsook him, and fled. And there followedhim a certain young
man,
having a linen cloth castabout his naked body; and the young men laid hold
on him:
and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.”

Mark 14:50-52
THIS little episode in the narrative of the evangelistis very singular. One
wonders why it is
introduced, but a moment’s reflectionwill, I think, suggesta plausible reason.
It strikes me that this
“certainyoung man” was none other than Mark himself. He was probably
asleepand arousedby a great
clamor, he askedwhatit was about. The information was speedily given, “The
guards have come to
arrestJesus of Nazareth.”
Moved by sudden impulse, not thinking of what he was doing, he rises from
his bed, rushes down,
pursues the troopers, dashes into the midst of their ranks, as though he alone
would attempt the rescue
when all the disciples had fled. The moment the young men lay hold upon
him, his heroic spasm is
over—his enthusiasm evaporates, he runs away, leaves the linen cloth that was
looselywrapped about
his body behind, and makes his escape.There have been many, since then,
who have actedas Mark did.
And it seems to me that this digressionfrom the main narrative is intended to
point a moral.
First, however, you will ask me, “Why do you suppose that this ‘certain young
man’ was Mark?” I
grant you that it is merely a supposition, yet it is supported by the strongest
chain of probabilities and

will sufficiently accountfor the manner in which he has inserted it. Calvin,
following Ambrose and
Chrysostom, thinks it was John, albeit few modern critics attach much weight
to that conjecture.
I find that the more perplexing critics of the modern schoolascribe this
transactionto Mark for these
reasons—itwas usual, among the evangelists, to relate transactions in which
they themselves took part
without mentioning their names. This commonly occurs in the case of John,
for instance. He bashfully
keeps back his name when there is anything to his credit and he does the same
when it is to the reverse. I
could quote one or two instances of this practice in the Gospelof Luke and it
is not at all remarkable that
such a thing should have occurredin the case ofMark.
Whoeverit was, the only person likely to know it, was the man himself. I
cannot think that anyone
else would have been likely to tell it to Mark and therefore I conceive it to
have been himself—for he
might scarcelyhave thought it worthy of recording if it had been told him by
someone else. And it is not
likely that anyone to whom it had occurred would have felt it was much to his
credit, and been likely to
relate it to Mark with a view to its being recorded.
Again, we know that such a transactionas this was quite in keeping with
Mark’s generalcharacter.

We gatherhis characterpartly from the Book which he has written—the
Evangelof Mark is the most
impulsive of all the Gospels. Youare aware, and I have frequently mentioned
it to you, that the word
eutheos, translated, “straightway,” “forthwith,” “immediately,” is used a very
greatnumber of times by
this evangelistin his Book.
He is a man who does everything straightway—he is full of impulse, dash, fire,
flash—the thing
must be done and done forthwith. His Gospelis of that description. You do
not find many of Christ’s
sermons in Mark. He gives you just a sketch, an outline. He had not
perseverance enoughto take the
whole down and he scarcelyfinishes the narration of the death of Christ.
2 John Mark—Or, Haste in ReligionSermon #3023
2 Volume 53
His Book seems to break off abruptly, yet he is the most picturesque of all the
evangelists. There are
pieces of imagination and there are Hogarthian touches in the sacred
biography he writes, that are not to
be found in Matthew, or Luke, or John. The man is a man of fire. He is all
enthusiasm. Poetryhas filled
his souland therefore, he dashes at the thing. He lacks perseveranceandwill
hardly finish what he takes
in hand, yet there is a genius about him not altogetheruncommon to Christian
men in this age, and there
are faults in him exceedinglycommon at the present time.

Once more, the knownlife of John Mark tends to make it very probable that
he would do such a
thing as is referred to in our text. When Paul and Barnabas setout on their
missionary enterprise, they
were attended by Mark. As long as they were sailing acrossthe blue waters,
and as long as they were on
the island of Cyprus, Mark stuck to them. No, while they traveled along the
coastofAsia Minor, we find
they had John Mark to be their minister—but the moment they went up into
the inland countries, among
the robbers and the mountain streams—as soonas ever the road began to be a
little too rough, John
Mark left them, his missionary zeal had oozedout.
At a later period, Mark was the cause of a sharp contention betweenPaul and
Barnabas. Paulwould
not have Mark with him any longer. He could not trust him—he did not
believe in these impulsive
people, who could not hold on under difficulties. But Barnabas, knowing him
better—for Mark was
sister’s sonto Barnabas—andfeeling a kinsman’s lenity to his faults, insisted
upon it that they should
take John Mark. And the altercationgrew so violent betweenPaul and
Barnabas that they separatedon
this accountand would not proceedtogetheron their divine mission.
Yet Barnabas was right, and I think that Paul was not wrong. Barnabas was
right in his mild

judgment of Mark, for he was a sound believer at bottom, and
notwithstanding this fault, he was a real,
true-hearted disciple. We find him afterwards reconciledentirely to the
apostle Paul. Paul wrote to
Timothy, “Take Mark, andbring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for
the ministry.” And we find
Paul affectionatelymentioning, “Marcus, sister’s sonto Barnabas,”which
shows, onthe one hand, the
apostle’s Christian candorand kindness, and on the other hand, that Mark
had retrieved his characterby
perseverance.
Tradition says that Mark became the Bishop of Alexandria. We do not know
whether that was
corrector not, but it is likely enough that he was. Certainly he was with Paul
at Rome and the latter part
of his life was spent with Peterat Babylon. See what a man he is. He goes to
Rome, but he cannot stop
there long. He has done his work in Rome. He is one of your fidgety people
who do things all of a
sudden, so awayhe goes to Alexandria.
But I think he must have found a very congenialfriend in Peter. He would be
a blessing to Peterand
Peterwould be a blessing to him, for Peter’s disposition was castin something
of the same mold as his
own. You may have noticed that Mark gives the most explicit accountof
Peter’s fall. He enters very

fully into it. I believe that he receivedit from Peter viva voce, and that Peter
bade him write it down.
And I think the modestspirit of Mark seemedto say, “Friend Peter, while the
Holy Ghostmoves me
to tell of your fault, and let it stand on record, He also constrains me to write
my ownas a sort of preface
to it, for I, too, in my mad, hare-brained folly, would have run, unclothed as I
was, upon the guard to
rescue my Lord and Master, yet, at the first sight of the rough legionaries—at
the first gleam of their
swords—awayI fled, timid, faint-hearted, and afraid that I should be too
roughly handled.”
For these reasons the supposition that this “certainyoung man” was John
Mark appears to me not to
be utterly baseless. There is no hypothesis in favor of any other man that is
supported by equal
probabilities. Very well, then. We will assume that he was the man and use the
incident as the
groundwork of our discourse. We have some counterparts of him here, and
we shall try to find them out,
and make use of Mark’s blunder for their correction, in respectboth to hasty
following and hasty
running away.
I. First, here is HASTY FOLLOWING.
John Mark does not wait to robe himself but just as he is, he dashes out for
the defense of his Lord.

Without a moment’s thought, taking no sort of consideration, down he goes
into the cold night air to try
Sermon #3023 JohnMark—Or, Haste in Religion3
Volume 53 3
and deliver his Master. Ferventzeal waited not for chary prudence. There
was something goodand
something bad in this—something to admire as well as something to censure.
Beloved, it is a goodand right thing for us to follow Christ and to follow Him
at once. And it is a
brave thing to follow Him when His other disciples forsake Him and flee. It is
a bold and worthy
courage to take deadly odds for Christ and to rush, one againsta thousand,
for the honor of His dear
hallowedname. Would that all professors ofreligion had the intrepidity of
Mark! Would that all who
have been carelessaboutreligion might emulate his haste and be as
precipitate in flying to Christ by
faith as he was in running to the rescue in that hour of assault!
The most of men are too slow—fastenoughin the world, but ah! how slow in
the things of God! I
declare that if corporations and companies were half as dilatory about
worldly things as the church of
God is about spiritual things, insteadof a railwayaccidentevery three or four
months, we should have
one every hour. And insteadof a revolution every one or two centuries, it
would be well if we did not

have one every year, for, of all the lazy things in the world, the church of
Christ is the most sluggish. Of
all people that dilly-dally in this world, I think the professedservants of God
are the most drony and
faddling.
How slothful are the ungodly, too, in divine things! Tell them they are sick
and they hastento a
surgeon. Tellthem that their title-deeds are about to be attackedandthey will
defend them with legal
power—but tell them, in God’s name, that their soul is in danger, and they
think it matters so little and is
of so small import, that they will wait on, and wait on, and wait on, and
doubtless continue to wait on till
they find themselves lostforever.
Let me stir up those who have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ to look
diligently to their eternal
state. You have tarried long enough. The time that you have been out of
Christ is surely long enough for
the lusts of the flesh. What fruit have you gatheredin your impenitence and
sin? How much have you
been bettered by neglecting Christ and minding worldly things? Has it not
been all a dreary toil? It may
have been deckedout with a few transient pleasures, but putting the ungodly
life into the scale, what
does it come to? “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
Do you not confess this? Why, then, tarry any longer? Have you gotany
happiness in being an

enemy to God? Then, why not be reconciledto Him? Oh, that the Spirit of
God would make you see that
the time past has sufficed you to have wrought the will of the flesh!
Besides, how little time you have to spare! Even if you have much, Jesus
demands that you repent
now. “The Holy Ghostsaith, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts.” The Gospel
invitation is not for tomorrow, but for today. The warnings of the Gospelall
bid you shun
procrastination. Is not this Satan’s greatnet in which men, like the silly fishes
of the deep, are takento
their eternal destruction?
O you dove, pursued by the hawk, tarry not, but fly at once to the dovecote—
to the wounds of Jesus
and find shelterthere! Jesus calls you. Come to Him while He calls you. Why
will you delay? His cause
needs you. Young men, there are some of you who will spend the best of your
days in Satan’s cause—
and when we get you, as we hope we shall—we shallhave to baptize into
Christ your shriveled age,
your palsied weakness. Letit not be so, I pray you.
In these days of error and sin, Christ needs for His kingdom men who are
strong and vigorous,
young men who are strong, as John says, and “have overcome the wicked
one.” Fain would I turn
recruiting sergeantand enlist you for my Master. Oh, that you were on His
side now! You cannotbe too

hasty here. If now the weapons of your rebellion are thrown down, if now you
“kiss the Son, lest he be
angry,” you will have waitedalready too long. You will not—you cannot come
to Christ too soon.
Hark! Hark! I hear the chariot wheels of Death. He comes!He comes!and the
axles of his chariot
are hot with speed. He stands aloft, driving his white horse. The skeletonrider
brandishes his awful
spearand you are the victim. God has sparedyou up till now, but He may not
bid you spend another
Sabbath-day here. I hear the mowers scythe everywhere, as I pass along,
making ready to cut down the
4 Volume 53
grass and the flowerthereof. Death’s scythe is being sharpened now. He reaps
his harvestevery day and
whether you are prepared or not, you must be cut down when God’s time
shall come.
Fly, then, I pray you. And though you are, like John Mark, unfit and
unprepared, remember that you
may come to Christ naked, for He can clothe you. You may come to Christ
filthy, for He can washyou.
You may come all unholy and defiled to Jesus, forHe canput awayyour sin.
Come! The Spirit of God
seems to me to say to you, “Come.” Ipray that He may bid you to come and
“lay hold on eternal life.”

I do not know how it is, I sometimes feelfor many of my hearers—especially
for those of you whose
faces I have seenfor years—anawful earnestness evenwhenI am not in this
pulpit. And I think then
that if I could get at your ear, I would plead with you. Bethink you how many
like you I have buried.
How often do I stand at the grave’s mouth, till sometimes, when, week after
week and twice eachweek,
I stand there, I fancy myself talking to dying men, and not to living men at
all—talking to a company of
shadows that come and go before me—and I stand still, myself a shadow, soon
to flit like the rest.
Oh, that I could talk to you as I then feel, and pour out my soulto you! We
need a Baxter to bring
men to immediate decision—Baxterwith weeping eyes and burning heart—
Baxter, who says, “I will go
down on my knees to entreatyou to think upon eternalthings.” Baxter, who
cries and groans for men till
they cry and groan for themselves.
Why will you die? Why will you let that fatal procrastinationkill you? Why
will you put off seeking
the Savioruntil your day is over? Why will you still waste the candle which is
so short? Why will you
let the day go when the sun already dips beneath the horizon? By the
shortness of time, by the sureness
of death, by the certainty of eternaljudgment, I beseechyou to fly to Jesus,
and to fly to Jesus now, even

though it should be in the hurry of John Mark.
Now I change my note, for there is a haste that we must reprove. The
precipitate running of Mark
suggestsanadmonition that should put you on your guard. He came on a
sudden by his religion and
there are some people who do this who might as well have no religion at all.
That, however, was not the
case with Mark. He was a genuine Christian character, yet, with nine out of
ten of these people, I am
afraid it is far otherwise. Let me address some here who have all of a sudden
come to Christ. I do not
want to throw doubts in their wayas to their sincerity, but I do want to incite
them to examine
themselves.
I am afraid some people make a hasty professionthrough the persuasionof
friends. You walk with
your friend and he says, “Ihave joined the church—why don’t you do so?” He
is not wise enoughto put
to you pointed questions which would let him see whether you are converted
or not, but he unwisely
presses youto make a professionwhen there is no grace in your heart. I pray
you, as soonas you know
Christ, speak out for Him, and come out and show your colors.
But I also beseechyou never profess to follow Christ merely through the
persuasionof friends. I
trust no pious mother would ever recommend you to do so. I am sure no wise
father would ever urge it

upon you. They would bid you fly to Christ at once, but as to making a
professionof faith, they would
have you see first whether the root of the matter be in you—and when they
are persuadedand you are
persuaded that it is—they will throw no stumbling blocks in your way.
Young people, I pray you, do not be deceivedin this matter. How many have
we seen, in revival
times, who have been induced to come forward to “the penitent form,” as it is
called. That night, oh,
how much they felt because their natural sensibilities were strongly wrought
upon. But the next
morning, oh, how little have they felt! When the agencies thatstimulated them
have been withdrawn,
when the meetings that stirred the embers, and the preacher that fanned the
flame no longerexert any
transient spell over them—their disenchanted souls sink down into a profound
stupor.
In many churches there are so few making professionof religion that there is
not much danger of this
evil—but here, where we receive so many every week, there is need for wise
discrimination. I do
beseechyou never to sit down with a religion that comes to you merely
through your being talked to by
your acquaintances.
Volume 53 5
“True religion’s more than notion;

Something must be known and felt.”
Nor are there a mere few who get their religion through excitement. This
furnishes another example
of injudicious haste. They hear religion painted as being very beautiful. They
see the beauty of it. They
admire it—they think what a lovely thing it must be to be a Christian. Feeling
this and misled by a sort
of excitement in their minds, they conclude that this is repentance. A false
confidence they write down
as faith. They eagerlyinfer that they are the children of God, whereas, alas!
they are but the dupes of
their own emotion—and still “the children of wrath, even as others.”
Beware, Ipray you, of a religion which lives upon excitement. We ought to be
filled with
enthusiasm. A fervent love should make our hearts always glow. The zeal of
God’s house should be our
master-passion. Mennever do much in politics till they grow warm upon a
question, and in religion, the
very highest degree ofexcitement is not only pardonable, but praiseworthy.
What, then, is it, which we deprecate? Notthe emotions of spiritual life, but
an exclusive
dependence upon impulse. If you try to live upon the spell of a man’s words,
upon the imposing
grandeur of a multitude assembledtogether, upon the fascination of
congregationalsinging, or even
upon the heart-thrilling fervor of prayer meetings, you will find the lack of
substantial food, and the

danger of an intoxicated brain. As it was with the quails which the children of
Israelate in the
wilderness, God’s bounties may be fed upon to your injury. No, dear friends,
there must be the real work
of the Holy Ghostin the soul or else the repentance we getwill be a
repentance which needs to be
repented of.
I well know a town where there was a certain eminent revivalist, whom I
greatly respect. It was said
that half the population had been convertedunder his ministry, but I do not
think that, if the numbers
were counted at the present moment, there would be found a dozen of his
converts. This revival work,
where it is realand good, is God’s best blessing, but where it is flimsy and
unreal, it is Satan’s worse
curse.
Revivalists are often like the locusts. Before them, it may not be quite an
Eden, but certainly, behind
them, it is a desertwhen the excitement is over. I like rather to see the Word
so preached that men are
brought under its powerby the force of the truth itself and not by
excitement—by the truth of God being
laid down in so cleara manner as to enlighten the judgment, rather than by
perpetual appeals to the
passions, whichultimately wearout the sinews of mental vigor and make men
more dull in religion than
they were before.

Beware, Ipray you, of getting the mere religion of poetry, enthusiasm, and
rhapsody. Many profess
Christ and think to follow Him without counting the costThey fancy the road
to heaven is all smooth,
forgetting that the way is rough, and that there are many foes. Theyset out,
like Mr. Pliable, for the
CelestialCity, but they stumble into the first bog and then they saythat, if
they can but get out on the
side nearestto their own house, Christian may have the brave country all to
himself for them.
Oh, the many we have seen, atdivers times, that seemedto run well, but they
ran in the strength of
the flesh and in the mists of ignorance. Theyhad never sought God’s strength.
They had never been
emptied of their own works, and their own conceits. Consequently, in their
best estate they were vanity.
They were like the snail that melts as it crawls—notlike the snowflake upon
the Alps, which gathers
strength in its descenttill it becomes a ponderous avalanche.
God make you to be not meteors, but stars fixed in their place. I want you to
resemble, not the ignis
fatuus of the morass, but the steadybeaconon the rock. There is a
phosphorescencethatcreeps over the
summer sea, but who is ever lighted by it to the port of peace? And there is a
phosphorescencewhich
comes oversome men’s minds—very bright, it seems, but it is of no value—it
brings no man to heaven.

Be as hasty as John Mark, if it be a sound haste, but take care that it is not a
spasmof excitement—a
mere fit. Otherwise, when the fit is over, you will go back to your old haunts
and your old habits with
6 Volume 53
shame. You will be like Saul among the prophets one day and hating the
anointed king the next. So
much, so earnestly would I warn you againsthasty followings of Christ.
II. It only remains for me to notice briefly THE HASTY RUNNING AWAY.
I do not know that the persons who are readiestto run awayare always those
who were the fastestto
make their profession. I am inclined to think not. But some who do run wellat
first, have hardly breath
enough to keepthe pace up, and so turn aside for a little comfortable ease—
and do not getinto the road
again. Such are not genuine Christians—they are only men-made, self-made
Christians—andthese selfmade Christians never hold on, and never can hold
on, because time wears them out and they turn back
to their formed state.
There are two kinds of desertion which we denounce as hasty running away—
the one temporary, the
other final. To the members of the church, let me speak upon the former. My
dear brethren and sisters,
especiallyyou who are young in years and have lately been added to our
number, I pray you, watch

againsttemporary runnings away from the truth of Christ. Think what a fool
Mark made of himself.
Here he comes. Here is your hero. What wonders he is going to do! Here is a
Samsonfor you.
Perhaps he will slay his thousand men. But no, he runs awaybefore he strikes
a single blow. He has not
even courage enoughto be taken prisoner and to be draggedawaywith Christ
to the judgment seat, and
bear a patient witness there. He turns tail at once and awayhe flies.
How simple he looked!How everybody in the crowd must have laughed at the
venturesome
coward—the dastardly bravo! And what a fool will you seemif, after uniting
yourself with the church
and seeming to be a servant of God, you shall give wayunder temptation!
Some young man in the same
shop laughs at you and says, “Aha, aha, you are baptized, I hear.” And you
tremble, like Peter, under the
questioning of the little maid,.
Or your mastersees something wrong and he makes some rough remark to
you, “Well, this is a fine
thing for a Christian soldier!” Cannot you face the enemy for the first time?
“If thou hast run with the
footmen, and they have weariedyou, then how canstthou contend with
horses? and if in the land of
peace, whereinthou trustedst, they weariedthee, then how wilt thou do in the
swelling of Jordan?”

A religion that cannotstand a little laughter must be a very rotten one. We
know some people, whose
religion is on so unsound a basis, whose professionis so hollow, and whose
position is so shaky, that
they make a greatnoise when we touch them. Their system is of human
construction, and rotten, and
they know it, therefore are they angry if we do but allude to it. Were it sound
and good, then, whatever
we might saywould never frighten them.
But sirs, how many, who have made a fair show in the flesh, have been
personally and individually
tried and found wanting? “Tekel” has beenwritten on the wall concerning
them. Their first setting out
was hasty and they have been turned aside through a little laughter.
Do you not see, dearfriends, that this will always render you very
untrustworthy? If you shrink in
this way, the church will never trust you. I hope you will be a leaderin God’s
Israelone day, young
man. We are looking to you, if not to be a preacher, yet to be a church officer
one day. But who will
ever ask you to do anything when you cannot keepsteadfastand hold your
own position? He who has
not grace enoughto prevent his running awayin the time of tribulation is not
at all likely to be made a
leaderof God’s host. The church will retain you, as it retained Mark, but it
will always look upon you

with a sort of suspicion. We shall always say, “Where is So-and-So? We know
where he was yesterday,
but where is he today?” Therefore, abstainfrom these inconsistenciesforyour
own character’s sake.
Besides, how much damage you do the church with which you are connected!
All the persecutors
and infidels outside the church’s walls can never harm us so much as
inconsistentpeople inside. “Ah!”
they say, “there is one of the people who go to the meeting,” when they see a
man in the tavern-house
who sits at the communion table.
“Ah! there is one of your religious people! He cancheat as well as anybody
else. He knows how to
thumb the yard measure. He knows how to give short weight. He knows how
to promise to pay on a
Volume 53 7
certain day and then get into the Bankruptcy Court. The servants of Christ
are no better than other
people. They make a greatfuss about their purity, but see whatthey will do.”
And then see whatharm this will do to Christ’s church itself. How many, who
love God, will sit
down and weepwhen they see such inconsistenciesin you! Goodcaptains can
endure wounds—they
can even bear defeat—but they cannotbear to see cowardice onthe part of
their troops. They cannot

bear to see their men running away. If “the men of Ephraim, being armed,
and carrying bows, turn back
in the day of battle,” then their leader weeps, forthe glorious cross ofChrist is
dishonored, the
escutcheonis sullied, and the banner is trailed in the mud.
May the Lord so keepus that our garments shall be always white. That
though before God we may
have many sins to confess, we may stand like Job and say, “Lord, thou
knowestthat I am not wicked.”
May your testimony be so clearconcerning the religionof Christ that those,
who watchfor your halting
and who hate you with a perfect hatred, may nevertheless find nothing against
you, but may be
constrainedto say, “These are the servants of the living Godand they serve
Him indeed and of a truth.”
I urge you not to flee or to flinch. Some of us have had much lying and slander
to bear in our time,
but are we a whit the worse? Nay, and if we had to choose whetherwe would
bear it again, would we
not do so? We may have had to be laughed at and caricatured, but all that
breaks no bones and should
not make a brave man wince. Who can be afraid or alarmed when his warcry
is, “The Lord of hosts,”
and when the banner of God’s own truth waves overhis head?
Be of goodcourage, my brethren, and you shall yet win the victory. In the
world you shall have

tribulation, but in Christ you shall have peace. Value the Holy Spirit above all
things. Realize your entire
dependence upon Him. Pray for fresh grace. Venture not into the world
without a fresh store of His
hallowedinfluence. Live in the divine love. Seek to be filled with that blessed
Spirit and then, my
brethren, even if the strong man armed shall lay hold of you, you will not flee
away—shame shallnot
overtake you, dismay shall not affright your souls, but you shall stand in
unblemished integrity to the
end as the true servants of Jesus Christ.
And now, in concluding, what am I to say of a final apostasy? None ofGod’s
people everpursue
their wanderings to this terrible issue. No vesselof mercy was ever finally
wrecked. No electsouls can
run to this fatal length of wickedness.But there are many, in the visible
church, who do draw back to
perdition. Many, who profess to belong to Christ, are branches that bear no
fruit and therefore are cut off
and castinto the fire.
That may be the condition of some here present. It may be the lot of some of
you who “have a name
to live, and are dead.” Let me plead with you. Oh, what a dreadful thing it will
be if you apostatize after
all! Shall I live to see you go back into the world? I would soonerbury you.
Shall I live to see some of

you, who have professedto find the Lord under my ministry, at last sinning
with a high hand and an
outstretchedarm, and living worse than you did before? Godspare us this evil
thing! Let Him chastise
His servantin any way He thinks fit, but O Lord, if possible, let not this be the
rod—to see professors
become false!
Remember that, if you do apostatize, youhave increasedyour guilt by the
professionyou have made
and impressedyour characterwith a more terrible defilement. When the
unclean spirit went out of the
man, and afterwards returned, he brought with him sevenother spirits more
wickedthan himself, and
they entered in and dwelt there, and the last state of that man was worse than
the first. It would have
been better for you never to have known the way of righteousness than,
having knownit, to turn aside to
those crookedpaths.
Think what the dying bed of an apostate must be. Did you ever read, “The
Groans of Spira”? That
was a book, circulatedabout the time of the Reformation—a book so terrible
that even a man of iron
could scarcelyreadit. Spira knew the Gospel, but yet went back to the
Church of Rome. His conscience
awoke onhis dying bed, and his cries and shrieks were too terrible to be
endured by his nurses. And as
to his language—itwas despairwritten out at full length in capitalletters.

8 Volume 53
My eminent predecessor, Mr. Benjamin Keach, published a like narrative of
the death of John Child,
who became a minister of the Gospel, but afterwards wentback to the church
from which he had
secededand died in the most frightful despair. May God keepyou from the
deathbed of any man who
has lived as a professing Christian, yet who dies an apostate from the faith!
But what must be the apostate’s doomwhen his naked soul goes before God?
How can he hear that
awful sentence, “Depart, thou cursedone, you have rejectedMe, and I reject
you—you have departed
from Me, I also have castyou awayforeverand will not have mercy upon
you”? What will be this poor
wretch’s shame, at the last greatday, when, before the assembledmultitudes,
the apostate shallbe
unmasked?
I think I see the profane and open sinners, who never professedreligion,
lifting themselves up from
their beds of fire to point at him. “There he is,” says one, “will he preach the
Gospelin hell?” “There he
is,” says another, “he rebuked me for cursing, yet he was a hypocrite himself.”
“Aha!” says another,
“here comes a psalm-singing Methodist, one who was always at his meeting.
He is the man who boasted
of his religion, yet here he is.”

No greatereagernesswill ever be seenamong Satanic tormentors than in that
day when devils drag
the hypocrite’s soul and the apostate’s spiritdown to perdition. Bunyan
pictures this with massive but
awful grandeur of poetry when he speaks ofthe back way to hell. The devils
were binding a man with
nine cords and were taking him from the road to heaven—in which he had
professedto walk—and
thrust him through the back door of hell.
Mind that back way to hell, professors!You professors ofreligion, who have
been in the church for
years, “examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith.” Examine yourselves,
whether you are deceived.
Look well to your state, see whetheryou are really in Christ, or not. It is the
easiestthing in the world to
give a lenient verdict when you yourself are to be tried.
But oh, I implore you, be just and true here. Be just to all, but be specially
rigorous in judging
yourself. Remember, if it be not a rock on which you build, your house will
fall, and greatwill be the
fall of it. Oh, may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness—and
in no day, howeverevil,
may you be tempted to turn aside. Rather, may you hold fast by God and His
truth—by Christ and His
cross, come whatmay!
My soullongs, howevermany years God may spare me to walk in and out
among you, to find you as

earnestfor God, and as loving towards Christ, as you are this day. I glory in
you among all the churches.
God has given you the spirit of faith, and prayer, of earnestzeal, and a sound
mind. Unto Him be the
glory.
But as a church, do not backslide. Let not our fervor diminish, let not our zeal
die out. Let us love
one another more tenderly than ever. Let us cling fast to one another. Let us
not be divided, let no root of
bitterness springing up trouble us. Firm and steadfast, shoulderto shoulder,
like a phalanx of old, let us
stand fast and so repel the foe, and win the kingdom for Jesus Christour
Lord.
“Now unto him that is able to keepyou from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and
majesty, dominion and
power, both now and ever. Amen.”
The third actionemphasized in this passage is the sudden flight of the
disciples. They all forsook him. I am sure this means that, at that moment,
after three-and-a-half years, all their confidence that Jesus was indeed the
Messiahsuddenly forsakes them. They see now that he is nothing but a man.
His willingness to give himself over without any resistance into the hands of
his enemies and his refusalto defend himself in any way becomes, in their

eyes, tantamount to his renunciation of being the Messiah. Now itis every
man for himself, and so they flee.
In Luke's accountof the resurrection, remember that as two disciples walked
along the road to Emmaus, a strangerappeared, a man whom they did not
recognize, and they discussedwith him the events that had takenplace in
Jerusalem. Theysaid to him, concerning Jesus ofNazareth, "We had hoped
(notice the past tense)that he was the one who would redeem Israel," (Luke
24:21a RSV). Their hope was gone, so they forsook him and fled. And thus the
smiting of the shepherd resulted in the scattering ofthe sheep.
Mark adds a little postscript in Verse 51 that we do not want to miss:
And a young man followedhim, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body;
and they seizedhim, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. (Mark
14:51-52 RSV)
All the scholars agree thatthis is Mark himself. This is Mark's wayof saying,
"I was there." I am sure there are two things at leastthat he is telling us by
this little accountof his presence there. At the beginning of this series onthe
book of Mark, I said that it was my conviction, derived from the Stedmaniac
version of Scripture, that Mark himself was the rich young ruler who came to
Jesus and askedthe way to eternal life. Jesus saidto him, "Go, sellwhat you
have ... and follow me," and that young man went awaysad, because he had
greatpossessions, (Mark 10:17-22). Ithink there is some evidence that this
was Mark. I believe this incident toward the end of the book is Mark's way of
saying, "I did it. I went awayand sold all that I had and gave it to the poor.
All I had left was a robe. That night I followed him, and in the confusion and
abruptness of the arrest, they laid hands on me and I lost even the robe!" And
he fled awaynaked into the night. It is also Mark's way of explaining to us

how we got the accountof Gethsemane. None ofthe disciples could have given
it. Eight of them were in a part of the garden some distance from Jesus. Three
of them were close to him, but they were sound asleepand could not have
heard the crying and the prayers; they did not see the angelcome and
minister to him. But somebody was watching. A certain young man was there
watching the whole thing and gave us the story, that we might have hope in
the hour of our Gethsemane. This accountcanhelp us when we feel that we do
not want to do what God tells us to do, and we are confident that somehow we
can work it out in our own strength. In that hour, we have Mark's accountto
remind us that we can come to a throne of grace and find mercy and grace to
help in time of need.
14:50-52 The utter isolationof Christ
Previous Next
Mark 14:50-52 “Theneveryone desertedhim and fled. A young man, wearing
nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. Whenthey seizedhim, he
fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”
A police carovertook us in London last week;its lights were flashing and it
stopped behind another police car. Two policemen were already standing each
side of a man sitting on a ledge. They had seizedand handcuffed him. I’d seen
policemen talking to drunkards before, but I hadn’t seena man’s wrists being
manacled. It grieved me to see a human being with his wrists chained
together.
1. THE SON OF GOD WAS SEIZED BY HIS ENEMIES.

We are told that “The men seizedJesus and arrestedhim” (v.46); John adds,
“they bound him” (Jn. 18:12). The Bible is full of records of men being taken
by other men. Jacobsentoff his son Josephwith a messageto his brothers,
but when he arrived they seizedhim because they hated his status as Dad’s
favourite son. They planned to kill him, to throw him in a pit where he’d die
of thirst, but when a caravanof Midianite slave traders arrived they seized
Josephagainand sold him into slavery. What could one teenage boydo
againstten tough shepherds? In Egypt it was Commander Potiphar who
seizedhim when his wife accusedJosephof trying to seduce him, and threw
him into prison. What was a slave to do when pitted againstthe head of the
armed forces ofEgypt? The Egyptians seized the baby boys of Israeland put
them to death. What could mothers do when a platoon of Egyptian soldiers
kickedin their doors and killed their babies before their very eyes? The
Philistines seizedSamsonafter Delilah had cut his hair off, and they put his
eyes out. Samsonwas powerless to resist. King Saultried to seize young David
and kill him, but he failed. When the officials of Nebuchadnezzarsaw three
men standing up insteadof falling on their faces before the greatgoldenimage
on the plain of Dura they seized them and threw them into the burning fiery
furnace. How could three boys resistBabylonian soldiers? Saulof Tarsus
seizedChristians, men and women, and threw them into prison forcing them
to blaspheme the name of Jesus.
The Bible is full of examples of evil men seizing the servants of God and
binding them, but no scene is so striking as the one we see in this chapter, the
taking and binding of the Lord Christ. Once when Jesus had preachedin the
synagogue ofNazareththe congregationwas so incensedthat they seizedhim
and frog-marchedhim to the top of a nearby precipice to throw him to his
death, but he slipped through their hands and walkedaway. Nothere. “The
men seizedJesus and arrestedhim” (v.46). Why didn’t he slip through these
hands and make good his escape?Whatare mere men comparedto the Son of
God, the incarnation of Omnipotence? We are pip-squeaks aren’t we? We live
and move and have our being in the Lord, and yet here men seize and bind the

Lord. Imagine our grief and shame is we saw a mob bursting in on our Queen
and rough-handling her and binding her. Now multiply by infinity. Who were
they dealing with in Gethsemane? Theydidn’t know that this was the very one
of whom Jobspoke thus;
“His wisdom is profound, his poweris vast. Who has resistedhim and come
out unscathed?
He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his
anger.
He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals offthe light of the stars.
He alone stretches outthe heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
He is the Makerof the Bearand Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of
the south.
He performs wonders that cannotbe fathomed, miracles that cannotbe
counted” (Job 9:4-10)
The apostle John says that without Jesus Christ was not anything made that
was made, yet sinful men put handcuffs on him and took him away. We all
know the story of Gulliver’s Travels, how this fictional characterwakesup
one day in a foreignland and finds he cannotmove because the Lilliputians –
the tiny men of that country, just a few inches high – have bound him and
stakedhim to the ground with thousands of yards of cotton. We have all seen
pictures in our children’s books of those little men standing on his chestand
looking at him. But their cotton couldn’t hold him, and with one bound
Gulliver was free. So it could have been with mighty Christ – if he so willed it
he could have sentthem crashing to the ground again as he said, “I am he.”
He could have snapped their chains as easilyas a piece of cottonwoolis torn
apart, couldn’t he?

The Lord Christ himself tells us why he didn’t; why he allowedthem to take
him; “the Scriptures must be fulfilled” (v.49). This very hour, when men
would take and bind him, had been determined by God himself. The Messiah,
prophesying in Psalm22, says, “a band of evil men has encircled me” (Psa.
22:16); Isaiahspeaks ofGod’s servant, “by oppressionand judgment he was
takenaway” (Isa. 53:8). That was what God had decreedin eternity, and so
men chose it in time. God had made up his mind, “A day will come when
Judas will lead a crowdarmed with swords and clubs and they will seize my
beloved Son.” Sinners will bind the hands of the one whose powermade the
heavens and the earth. The cosmos is all his handiwork, and yet sinners bound
those hands.
What does that say of those places or relationships in which we feel ourselves
to be pinned down? Men we don’t particularly like have authority over us in
church, in our family, in the armed services, in caring for others, in our
business, in our school. Perhaps we share a house with them, and we cannot
do what we would so. What do we know for our comfort? “It is God who has
bound me here.” That is what we say; “His very hands fashionedthe chains
that keepme here.” Paul in jail in Rome knew that he was a prisoner of the
Lord. The chain that bound Paul to a Roman legionnaire was lockedin place
by God. The bindings of Joseph, and Samson, and Shadrach, Meshachand
Abednego, and Stephen were all decreedby God. Whether Godwills us to be
thrown into slavery, or into the Nile, or into prison, or a fiery furnace, or to
grind corn in eye-less in Gaza – whatever– the whole accomplishmentis
God’s. Men meant evil againstus but God meant the binding for our good.
The Lord reigns. He is in control of life and death, our liberty and
imprisonment. For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accountedas
sheepfor the slaughter, and yet in all such things we are more than
conquerors.

Jesus calledGethsemane and Golgotha ‘the hour of darkness.’Canyou see
the angels around the throne trembling with longing to fly down and deliver
their Lord? But it was not their hour. They must stand back. Their Lord wills
that the angelic legions remain in heavenat this hour. “Foldyour wings and
be quiet ye heavenly hosts. This is the hour of devils not angels, ofdarkness
not light. Michael, sheathyour sword at this hour! Be a mere spectatorof
your Lord being seized and bound.” Can you sense the excitement in hell as
one demon shouts the news to another. “They have seizedJesus and bound
him. He’s not going to getawaynow. We’ve got him. We’ll destroyhim!”
What cheers in the place of darkness. The demons come and go at their will,
but Christ goes onhis way handcuffed. God gives the privilege to move freely
to the pit but not to his own Son. It was their hour, but it was the Scripture
that determined it. Hell could not choose the timing. If it had, it would have
been when Herod’s soldiers entered Bethlehem and killed all the little boys.
Strangle the infant Jesus in his crib! That would have been hell’s choice for
his demise, but it is never hell’s choice. It is always God’s choice. The voice of
devotion recognisesthat all the bestchoices are God’s:
“ChooseThoufor me my friends,
My sicknessormy health;
Choose Thoumy cares forme,
My poverty or wealth.” (Horatius Bonar, 1808-89)
Scripture says that a band of evil men will encircle the Messiah, and so it has
to be. God’s justice, God’s love, God’s truth, God’s revelation and everything
included in the mighty God had designated that this hour is the hour in which
Jesus will be bound, and so it is.
It was a totally new experience for Christ. You read his life and see his
freedom even at twelve years of age when he decides to be about his Father’s

business in Jerusalemletting his parents return to Nazarethwithout him.
Then later he expresseshis freedom from his mother when she seeksto
control him, and from Peterwhen he seeksto control him, and from all the
disciples. Christ goes where he pleases, whenhe please, and how he pleases.
His most mighty enemies cannot control him, but now is the hour of darkness,
and he is seized.
Couldn’t Jesus have brokenthose bonds? The answeris no, he could not.
Couldn’t Jesus come down from the cross?No, he could not. I am not saying
that he didn’t possess the powerto do so. He can do everything he wills to do.
Generally speaking the Lord can break all bonds. He could split the atom
because he is the God who designedthe atom, but such language describing
what Jesus could do is unhelpful. We say, “generallyspeaking” he cando this
or that, but generally speaking Gethsemane does noteven exist. Generally
speaking Golgotha is nowhere. It is fatal for us to travel into the realms
Gulliver entered and say, “Let’s imagine if Jesus had broken the chains that
bound him and escapedfrom these men . . . or, what if Jesus had come down
from the cross and hadn’t died . . .” Get real! Nothing happens in general.
Everything has a specific bearing. Here is the Garden of Gethsemane;it is
locatedin a certain place on our planet on the Mount of Olives outside the
walls of Jerusalem, and the binding of Jesus took place there about 1972 years
ago. It happened once;it could happen only once. The things that happened
there were specific, special, unique events. That is why we don’t try to rewrite
history, our own history, or the history of Jesus. His bonds could not be
broken. If they had been then our own bonds would never have been broken.
We’d never have sung, “My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose went
forth and followedThee.” We’dhave remained as bound as the fallen angels –
those who are reservedin everlasting chains in darkness awaiting the
judgment of the greatday. Christ’s own love won’t break the bonds that bind
him; his love for us preserves his own handcuffs.

Those soldiers left their barracks that evening and their officerensured there
would be weapons and lights and ropes to bind the prisoners. This rope had
been woven in Jerusalemand now it is being used to bind Christ’s wrists, and
all the powers of heaven cannotbreak these cords. God has bound them really
tight. As a soldier grabbed him and held his hands togetheranother man
wrapped the rope round and round his wrists, really tight, and tied them,
pulling on the ends of the rope so that the prisoner couldn’t undo them. But as
he pulled, Godin heavenwas also pulling them tight. The knots were very
secure. Christ was bound for our sins according to the Scriptures. Christ
loved me and was bound for me according to the Scriptures. Behold the Lamb
of God who was bound for me. Divine justice and wisdom and truth bound
him and yet at the same time let the devils free for their hour.
2. THE SON OF GOD WAS ABANDONED BY HIS FRIENDS.
Our Lord saw everything that occurred in the Garden. I mean his large
sensitive heart was aware of everything going on around him. He saw the
disciples taking off into the darkness, crashing through the olive trees like
startled deer. All this was part of the suffering of Christ. Nothing in
Gethsemane was trivial; nothing was incidental; nothing was colourless.
Everything that happened fulfilled Scripture. Smite the Shepherd, said
Zechariah the prophet, and this will happen, the sheepwill have no shepherd
and they will scatter. These elevendisciples had seen Christ raise the dead.
They had been with him in the boat and seenhim command the winds and
waves to be silent. They had been the objects of his pastoralcare, and learners
under his powerful ministry. These disciples were the very men who now ran
off and abandoned him. The perfect number of twelve has already been
shatteredby Judas jumping ship to serve under the devil, but now all the
others are offended at the sight of their Lord agreeing to be bound and
arrested. What did they do? They ran off.

Now do you remember that Jesus has saidto the arresting official, “If you are
looking for me then let these men go” (Jn. 18:8). Going on your way is one
thing. I drove past that man being arrestedand handcuffed by the police in
London; I went on my way. The police had nothing on me. I went on my way
calmly, and sadly. There can be a time when a company of soldiers in a battle
are facing overwhelming odds and losing many men. They organise anorderly
retreat. That is not running off, but these disciples fled for their lives. Fed by
an adrenaline rush of fear they racedaway from Jesus.
Running awayis never an option. It is never a Christian act. Josephheading
for Egypt with Mary and the baby Jesus to escape from Herod is not running
away. It was an act of obedience to a messengerof Godwho told them to do
so. A wife who leaves the family home where her husband is using her as a
punch-bag is not running away. She is preventing a man breaking the
commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ with herselfthe victim he is murdering.
Such actions are a retreat; they are conductedin the strength of the Lord,
after much prayer, by faith, and to God’s glory. The Pilgrim Fathers escaping
from European persecutionand sailing to New England was not a running
away. Their eyes were continually on their Lord, but the eyes of these eleven
disciples were on the clubs and swords and ropes of the soldiers. Theirflight
was without faith. If they had trusted in the Lord they could have walkedout
of Gethsemane like Jesus once walkedcalmly through the crowd on the edge
of the precipice in Nazareth with none able to lay a hand on them. They could
have made an orderly retreat like warriors of Christ, their heads held high, no
one able to touch them.
Jesus had chosenthem so that they would keepwalking with him all their
lives, but before that could happen he needed first to make atonement for
their running away, for the cowardlyhave no place in the kingdom of heaven.
After all these apostles hadexperienced shouldn’t they have trusted him?
Shouldn’t they have remembered the words they’d heard two hours earlier,
“Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me”?

Where was their faith in the strength of Christ? Was this tide of soldiers
coming for them? No. There is no indication that they were in any danger yet.
Here was their Lord who had openedthe Red Sea and then closedit on their
enemies. By their nationality they had been baptized into Moses, but not until
Pentecostwere they baptized into Christ. Where was their faith? It was
dwarfed by the clubs and swords waving in front of them. They fearedthe
ropes that had tied Christ more than they feared the God who had strung up
the Milky Way. So the sheepwere scatteredin judgment, and the Good
Shepherd was totally isolated. All alone Christ will lay down his life for the
cowardlysheep.
Do you know something of isolation, when the children have left home, and
your husband or wife passes awayand one day you go back to a home all
alone? You think to yourself that this is how it is going to be from now on. Did
Christ feelit when they all abandoned him? Wasn’t he more loving and
sensitive than ourselves? Wasn’the a man who loved companionship, and
sympathy? But one by one in the Garden Jesus saw them all disappearing into
the darkness. There they go – Levi, and Philip, and Andrew. Maybe that’s not
so surprising that the lesserapostles ranoff, but now there goes Johnwhom
Jesus speciallyloved running off like a hare, and there goes his brother James
at his shoulder, fearwritten all overhis face. And who is this galloping off? It
is Peterwho said he would never leave him. None of them lookedback. There
seemednobody left. They all tear themselves from Jesus’soul; it broke his
heart.
There was a time in the life of the apostle Paul – the greatestof all Christians
– when the people in Asia whom he had led to Christ and built up in their
faith forsook him. The spirit of anti-Paul had spreadthrough the whole
church, and they all left him. What did Paul do? He prayed in submissionto
his Lord who understoodwhat Paul was feeling because he’d also experienced
total abandonment.

Jesus was deserted by his disciples

Jesus was deserted by his disciples

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