Mark 14:43-54, 66-72

Bringing the sermon home:

As Jesus is arrested at Gethsemane, we see that the disciples were willing to fight for a political Messiah, but Jesus was not a political Messiah. He had not come to liberate the nation of Israel from the oppressive rule of the Romans. And as the Apostle Paul wrote, “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh” (2 Cor 10:4). Rather than taking up arms, the followers of Christ are to advance His kingdom through the proclamation of His Word and through being willing to endure suffering for the sake of identifying with Him.

As it becomes clear that Jesus is not the political Messiah they thought He was, we see that the disciples were willing to flee from a “failed” Messiah, meaning from one who did not meet their expectations for deliverance. What’s at issue for us is not whether we stay or flee from any particular persecution, but whether we flee from our identification with Him when the persecution comes.

We must not fight, and we must not flee. Instead, we must follow the path of our suffering Messiah, who, in love, came to “give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). Because Jesus remained faithful in our place, we can now be faithful to the end, knowing that suffering endured for the name of Christ is never wasted.

Outline:

• The disciples were willing to fight for a political Messiah…
• and they were willing to flee from a failed Messiah…
• but they were not willing to follow a suffering Messiah…
• until Jesus rose from the dead!