Please meet me in the Gospel of Mark chapter 14 and in our time
together we are going to be looking at verse 43 down to
verse 52. I'll wait for you before we
begin reading. Mark 1443 to 52.
And immediately while he was still speaking, Judas came one
of the 12, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the
chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, The one I will
kiss is the man, seize him and lead him away under guard.
And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, Rabbi.
And he kissed him, and they laid hands on him and seized him.
One of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant
of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
And Jesus said to them, Have you come out as against a robber,
with swords and clubs to capture me?
Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did
not seize me, but let the Scriptures be fulfilled.
And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him
with nothing but a linen cloth about his body.
And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away
naked. Lord, in the same way that you
opened the minds of your disciples that they might
understand the Scriptures, we pray for that same mercy to be
granted to us. We trust, Lord, that you will
speak and we pray, Lord, that these truths would translate
into testimonies in our own lives.
We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.
Before Us is one of the most captivating, appalling,
adrenaline pumping episodes in all of the gospel accounts.
It is a scene that describes the heinous and unjustified arrests
of the sinless Son of God. And though the apprehension of
the Lord Jesus Christ is a staggering thought in itself to
contemplate, there are other things related to this moment
that make it even more incredible.
This account appears in every gospel and each of them provide
unique details that have been preserved for our reflection.
But since we have been in the past months and even over a
year, focus on Mark, Mark's account here, Mark's version, is
going to be the perspective that we will be holding to while
referencing other writers in order to have a fuller
understanding of this remarkable event.
And so in this brief introduction, let me let you
know where we're headed. I want us to consider from the
scene 5 features that we cannot afford to overlook. 5 features
and the first one deals with the crowd, the second one deals with
the sword, the third here deals with rather the sword.
The second being the kiss, the 4th being the scriptures and the
5th being the cloth. So let me revisit those.
First, we're dealing with the crowd.
Second, we're dealing with the kiss.
Third, we're looking at the sword. 4th, we're looking at the
scriptures. And lastly, we're looking at the
cloth. And I have a feeling that you
are really looking forward to learning about this young man in
the garden, leaving behind his linen cloth.
We will get there. And I hope that you will never
read this story the same way again.
You'll never be able to explain it the same way again and that
it will cause your heart to erupt in praise when you realize
the brilliance and the genius of our God, namely through the
authorship of the Holy Spirit. The crowd look again with me in
verse 43 and immediately while he was still speaking, Judas
came one of the 12 that that's mentioned there to show us just
how deplorable this is one of the 12 and with him a crowd with
swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the
elders. According to Matthew's account
in chapter 26 verse 47, it wasn't just any crowd that
surrounded Jesus Christ. He adds the word great crowd.
It was a great crowd. John is more specific in telling
us what this crowd was made-up of.
Noting in John 18 verse three that it was a band of soldiers
and with them some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees,
a band of soldiers. Now, the Greek word for band
there denotes a military cohort, and it consists of between, get
this, 500 to 1000 soldiers. Now, right there we are already
confronted with the popular imagination that when Jesus was
surrounded by these soldiers, it was just like a handful of them.
Though we're not given an exact number, we can be certain that
we're not dealing with 5 or 10 here.
Potentially hundreds, hundreds of men have come to ambush the
Son of God. And what is also certain is that
those who surrounded the Lord on this ominous night says
something about what Judas was thinking.
There might be different reasons to why he escorted this large
group. Why have this heavily armed
assembly chaperone him? It could be that Judas imagined
the Lord Jesus would try to flee.
It could be that in thinking that he would flee that there
would be a need for a great search team and so he recruits a
great amount of people to do that.
It's also possible that he anticipated the disciples to try
to defend the rabbi, and so he brings about a great crowd in
order to intimidate them from even entertaining such an
attempt. It could also be, alternatively,
that he might have thought that Jesus could use his miraculous
power. He's witnessed it with his own
eyes. He's seen what Christ can do in
the moment. And so, thinking perhaps that he
might try to resist, he would bring a crowd to bring about
somewhat of a fair fight. Whatever the reasons are, what
are there one or many Judas? Being confident and bringing
this crowd shows us that he did not understand who Christ was.
He didn't understand who Christ was and his power.
He didn't understand who Christ was and his purpose.
He didn't even understand who Christ was and his person.
To think that you can overpower the Lord Jesus Christ shows some
severe ignorance and really the blindness of pride on Judas's
part. And Jesus demonstrates that
Judas didn't know what he was doing.
Judas was going to learn very quickly with this great crowd of
people who was really in control of this event.
Turn with me to John 18 and look here at verse four with me, John
18, verse 4. Then Jesus, knowing all that
would happen to him, came forward.
Don't you love that knowing all that would happen to him did not
retreat, did not turn his back, He came forward.
He came forward and said to them, Whom do you seek?
All What calmness, what authority, what boldness, what
courage, whom do you seek? They answer them.
Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am He.
Judas, who betrayed him was standing with them.
When Jesus said to them, I am He, they drew back and fell to
the ground. Now the significance of John's
vantage points can easily be lost if we don't consider how
sometimes our English translations limit us.
If you have the King James Version, then you'll notice that
the word He, when Jesus answered I am he, is italicized.
I don't know how many people hold to the King James today,
but some still do. And what the King James
translators did is that when words did not appear in the
original language, they would italicize them to let you know
the reader that this is not found in the original text.
And even if you have the ESV, depending on your version, you
will see there beside I am he a footnote, the little number
above the word to indicate to you, hey, we want to show you
that the word he there is not found in the Greek.
So more accurately, when they approached Jesus and Jesus asked
whom do you seek? And they said Jesus of Nazareth.
How did he actually respond? He didn't say I am he, he said I
am I am a clear reference to the name that Yahweh gave to Moses
in Exodus 314. And how fitting is it that John
is the one who includes this detail exclusively?
What is John's goal and bringing about his gospel account to
display and demonstrate the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And on many occasions, what do we have Jesus giving these I am
statements, right? Several of them I am.
I am. In some moments he just says I
am, and this is one of them. I am the door.
I am the way, I am the light. And here we find Christ now
approaching his death before his enemies, and he says, I am.
And not only is that proclamation in itself powerful,
it came with power. Because the moment he said I am,
there was this invisible force that lifted these enemies of
Christ off their feet and put them on their rear ends.
Jesus response is not only a fearless affirmation of His
identity, He's not trying to hide.
He's saying I am the one that you're looking for, but it also
is a statement of his divinity as Yahweh in the flesh.
And something incredible comes with that self-proclaimed
deification. And we see here that when Jesus
did this, it came with power for a reason, to show this evil
bunch, the one who is really in control, the one who is really
the master of this moment was him.
So powerful is Christ. So in control was Christ that
all he had to do was say the word and he could change the
direction of this whole ambush so they fell backwards and he
could overcome them with just the whisper if he chose.
And let me tell you this, this is a preview of a power that the
world is going to witness when the same Jesus comes back to
rescue his bride, to judge the wicked and to establish his
government. Do you remember what Paul tells
us when Christ returns to deal with the Antichrist, how he was
going to kill him? Let me remind you from Second
Thessalonians 28, where Paul says, and then the lawless one
will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with what?
With the breath, with the breath of his mouth and bring to
nothing by the appearance of His coming, just his breath, just
his word, no weapon, no angels needed, no seraphim, no
cherubim, just a whisper and he can render any of his enemies
powerless. So what we learn about the crowd
is that the evil one, who is the invisible Energizer and animator
of all these things, the evil one with the range of his
minions and the great weaponry that was here, was not in
control. He was not determining anything.
He was not dictating Jesus, arrest, trial, and ultimate
death. Christ was.
It's not the crowd that's in control, it's Christ.
And he's still in control and he'll always be in control.
And people who don't believe he's in control are going to
find out that he is indeed. Now we move from the crowd to
the kiss, and in verse 43 we read that there was this crowd
who came, but the betrayer in verse 44 had given them a sign
saying, the one I will kiss is the man sees him and lead him
away under guard. In Middle Eastern culture, it
was, and it still is a common gesture of greeting among
friends, even among men, to kiss.
And if you've been in this church long enough, you've
probably seen it. Arabs in this church welcome
each other in a very similar way.
And so this affectionate act in itself is not strange.
It's not something out of the ordinary, But it was a way for
Judas to differentiate Christ from the other disciples in that
dark scene. And so he says, I'm going to
kiss one person, and that's the person that you need to find and
arrest. This is the signal of choice
that I made, and it was a despicable one.
Despicable not just because it was grossly hypocritical to to
utilize a gesture of affection and endearment and respect to
actually highlight the one you want to see die.
It's more than just the fact that it was deceitful.
It is dripping with damning irony, and perhaps Jesus's
answer in response to Judas as he's approaching him to embrace
him in such a way reveals that there is a deeper significance
to what this man is doing. Do you remember what Christ
asked him in Luke 2248? Judas, would you betray the Son
of Man with a kiss? You know where my mind went to
when I was meditating on this? Another place in the Old
Testament where we're told that the sun would be kissed.
Do you remember the Messianic Psalm in Psalm chapter 2, where
we're told there about in a wonderful hymn, the nation's
plotting against the Lord and His anointed?
And you remember how the psalmist concludes, do you not?
He admonishes the kings and the rulers of the nations in light
of the coming establishment of God's global government ruled
from Zion. Psalm 2, verse 12 kiss, kiss the
son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath
is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge
in him. To kiss in this context is a
Pledge of Allegiance. It's to say, I submit to you, I
honor you, I respect you. And this was a well known song.
This is a Psalm of hope for the nation of Israel, that the Lord
and His anointed will come, rule and reign over the whole world.
I wonder if Judas knew this Psalm, and I wonder, in knowing
a conscience of it, depicting a victorious, kingly, strong,
undefeated Messiah, he mockingly kisses Jesus.
Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?
And he daringly does so. You know what else this Psalm
teaches me in connection to Judas kissing him, kissing the
Son. There is a wrong way to kiss the
Son, the wrong ways exemplified in Judas, an insincere pledge of
loyalty to him. And if there's a wrong way to
kiss the sun, then there is a right way to kiss the sun.
You want to know something fascinating and all of the
gospel accounts. There are only two places where
we read of human lips planting on the Son of God.
The 1st is what you just read, Judas kissing the sun.
The second is when Jesus was invited to a dinner and a woman,
unnamed, interrupts that feast. She comes to his feet, wets
those feet with her tears, dries them with her hair, kisses them
and anoints them with oil. And this so moved the heart of
Christ that he looks to his host.
And he says in that chapter of Luke 7.
When I came in, you did not kiss me.
But she has not ceased to kiss me.
And then she turns. He turns to this genuine woman
from out of the overflow of her heart could not help but kiss
the son. And he assures her, in Luke 7,
48, your sins are forgiven. There are two ways to kiss the
sun. The genuine, sincere, saving
way, in a way that seems sincere but in fact is hollow, empty of
true substance, not coming from the heart.
How have you kissed the sun? You say you believe in him.
Is it a true belief? You say you repented.
Is it true repentance? And speaking about kissing, did
you know that Christians are commanded to kiss not just the
sun, but each other five times across the New Testament?
Are we told that we are to greet each other with this kind of
affection right now? That might be strange to some of
us, but it's not strange to the Middle Easterners in here and
other cultures, may I add. Here's one example of it in
Romans 1616. A very easy reference, and it's
repeated in different ways at the end of some epistles.
Notice what the Spirit of God says through some of the
apostles. And here's Paul, who writes
greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the churches of Christ greet you.
So again, remember, this was normal.
This was normal in the culture of the early church.
But what's more important about determining whether we should
kiss or handshake or hug is the characteristic, the quality of
the reception or the welcome or the address.
What did Paul say? And you'll find this in every
instance about kissing one another, greeting one another.
Did he just say greet one another with a kiss?
What did he proceed the word kiss with?
The word holy. Greet one another with a holy
kiss. Now you know what some have done
with this, OK? This means that we are to greet
one another and if we choose the route of affection to make sure
that it's appropriate and dignified and familial.
Don't make it weird when you kiss each other and greet each
other. I don't think that's what
they're getting at here. I don't think that's the point.
I think with these commands, to greet one another with a holy
kiss has to be set against the backdrop of the most infamous an
unholy kiss ever given Judas. So with that in view, here's
what greeting one another with a holy kiss really means.
Let your greeting be free from deceit, free from insincerity,
free from hidden betrayal, free from a limiting love, a corrupt
love. In other words, let's make sure
that in none of our churches there are Judases who kissed.
But in his heart contradicted what he demonstrated.
What does it look like for us to not kiss with a holy kiss?
Can I tell you what it looks like?
Somebody gossiping about another member of the church throughout
the week and then when they come in on Sunday and see that same
person. Sister, how are you?
Oh, I love you so much. I've been praying about you and
praying for you. Well, Monday through Saturday,
their reputation has been torn to shreds by those same lips.
What does an unholy kiss look like?
It looks like a brother greeting another brother and developing a
relationship with them purely to manipulate them for whatever
reason, to take advantage of them, to come off in a certain
way for selfish gain. That's what an unholy kiss looks
like. So greet one another with a holy
kiss. There shouldn't be any doubt in
our minds that when we look at each other, embrace one another,
wave to each other, sit across a table downstairs, that we are
committed and in love with one another.
No unholy kisses. This is what they're saying, and
this is what we have to understand.
Be real with one another, be transparent.
There should not have be any fear in this place that there is
a Judas in the midst. So we go from the crowd to the
kiss, but now we come to the sword.
Come back with me to mark 14 in verse 46.
And they laid hands on him and seized him.
But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the
servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
John 1810 clarifies who the disciple was that attacked the
servant. And we actually know the
identity of the servant Peter. Are you surprised, Peter in the
name of the high priest servant Malchus.
But it's only Luke. And this isn't a surprise
either. That adds a detail, a couple of
details that would make sense from the beloved physician.
Turn with me to Luke 22 verse 50 and see how specific Luke is and
how Luke adds a note that makes the scene, Yes, heartbreaking
betrayal, but there's beauty in it.
And Luke 22 verse 50 And one of them struck the servant of the
high priest and cut off his right ear.
So he says exactly which ear it was.
Doctors like details and cut off his right ear.
But Jesus said no more of this. And here's here's what you're
going to find in Luke's account. And he touched his ear and
healed him. Behold the last healing miracle
Jesus performs before he goes to his death.
Who does he heal? This was a personal assistant to
the high priest Malchus. This is not an innocent
bystander who just happened to be in Gethsemane and got caught
in the crossfire. It could very well be that Peter
targeted Malchus knowing who he was.
It could even be that Malchus stood there in some of those
scenes in the Gospels where there was confrontation between
the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes being sent off
by the high priest to observe and supervise.
It could very well be that this is not the first time Malchus
was made known to the disciples. Malchus, listen, was an enemy, a
foe, part of this diabolical plot?
And yet when his ear was removed, and don't get it
twisted, Peter wasn't aiming for his ear, he just missed.
Jesus halts his disciple. He looks at Malchus.
I just wonder what that was like.
What was that atmosphere like for Christ to take the time and
to restore Malchus before he would die for Malchus?
Do you know what you have here? You have a preview of a gospel
truth, what we find in Romans 5 that while we were weak, while
we were sinners, while we were enemies, Christ died for us.
That's what you have here. You have a preview, just one
testimony of many of Christ's healing, restoring, reconciling
those who at once were enemies of him.
Let me also say this, that Christ here in this moment also
demonstrates that many times his disciples misrepresent him.
And the best thing to do if you have been disappointed by his
representatives is to look to Christ.
Disciples of Jesus make a lot of mess.
They have throughout history. And you're probably the
recipient of pain and hurt from those who claim his name.
So let me say this, be patient with Christians and never turn
your back on Christ because Christians have failed in one
way or another, even if they failed in a colossal way like
Peter. What happens to Peter here?
I believe that, like him, if we truly belong to the Lord, though
we have done great mistakes, we've performed things that we
thought there was. How did I allow myself to go
there? God will eventually teach you
and mature you and grow you. And I believe Peter learned a
valuable lesson here, Many lessons, I'm sure.
I can't read his mind. We are not a religion that
permits the utilization of the sword as an act of vengeance
against our enemies, right? Nor are we a faith that
advocates that we conquer people in order to make converts.
What Peter is going to learn is that there has been a weapon
provided to us far greater than a sword and that does much
greater work in our enemies. So the same disciple who took
out the sword and cut off the ear of those who oppose Christ
would know another kind of confrontation that would cause a
different kind of bleeding, a righteous 1A praiseworthy one,
and the one that is far more effective in overcoming those
who oppose Christ saying, what are you talking about?
Here's what I'm talking about. Listen to the language of what
happened to the audience that Peter preached to after the
first Christian sermon on that day of Pentecost in Acts 237.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said
to Peter and the rest of the apostles.
Brothers, what shall we do? We don't implement the sword, We
have the sword of the Spirit. We don't attack people, we
challenge them and seek their conviction through the sharpness
of the truth. And so the same Peter who cut
off a man's ear stood before thousands of others who have
also denied Christ, but this time wielding the sword of the
Spirit and seeing all these hearts slashed by the Spirit's
conviction and then being won over in a saving way, Peter
would learn that aren't you grateful for God's patience?
Take some time for us to understand how the Kingdom of
God works. So we cover the crown.
We covered the kiss, we cover the sword briefly.
We now we come to the Scriptures in verse 48 of Mark 14 and Jesus
said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords
and clubs to capture me day after day?
I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize
me, but let the Scriptures be fulfilled.
What is Jesus getting at here? He is exposing their cowardice
and he is reinforcing his innocence.
There are many times that you saw me in the temple teaching,
even flipping tables. Why didn't you arrest me then?
Why are you doing it in secret? Why are you concealing this?
But again, I mean, you see this throughout the Gospels.
Jesus wants us to know, we see it in the writings that this is
not happenstance. This is not a surprise.
Notice the last words he said. But let the Scriptures be
fulfilled. So earlier when when Jesus said
I am, he manifested his power to show I'm the master right here.
I'm the one who's really in control here.
And isn't it amazing that though they were knocked back and
though Malchus ear was healed, they still didn't repent.
Like didn't even reconsider. Maybe, maybe we're dealing with
something who's not just human here.
We're dealing with somebody who was extravagantly gracious and
merciful and kind. They didn't cross their minds at
all. The the the unbelief that's
willing to bulldoze through all hurdles of grace.
Some people will go through a lot.
We'll ignore a lot, we'll reject a lot before they plunge into
hell. Let the scriptures be fulfilled.
He showed his power earlier, but now he's showing with his power.
Prophecy is at work. This has been foretold.
The prophets predicted this in great detail and all.
We can spend the next 5-10 minutes looking at so many
references, but here's one that comes to mind from Isaiah 50
verse 5. The Lord God has opened my ear.
This is Messiah speaking. The Lord God has opened my ear.
This is what we need to know our Old Testaments.
You read that He's open my ear. I don't know what that means.
Open my ear. No, no, there's an allusion here
to Exodus that when a servant wanted to become a permanent
slave to his owner, he would offer his ear and that ear would
be placed against the door and there would be an all pierced
through it to signify as a token this individual now is my
permanent slave. And now with that illusion,
Messiah says I open my ear. I am a bond servant.
I am the perfect servant to God. The Lord God has opened my ear
and I was not rebellious. I turned not backward.
What did he do instead? Verse 6 I gave my back to those
who strike. Was it taken from him?
Was he forced? No, no, look at look at the
language. I gave my back to those who
strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
And that disgrace and spitting was coming.
The prophets foretold this. I'm aware of it, and I'm walking
in it faithfully. I did not turn back.
I was not rebellious. I did not shrink.
I embraced what I know I've come to do.
I could stay here, but I don't want to stay here.
I want to spend the remainder of our time with whatever energy we
have left to discuss the final element of this glorious scene,
the cloth, verse 50 to 52. And they all left him and fled,
and a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth
about his body, and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth
and ran away naked. This has made people feel
awkward, uncomfortable, even confused.
And that has been the subject matter of much debate.
The curiosity from this passage is not unfamiliar.
It is shared among all genuine seekers of the truth.
And here's the main thing that people want to know.
Who is this guy? Who is this young man?
And so there are all these theories.
Lazarus, Joseph of Arimathea, the rich young ruler.
Most people believe that it's John Mark himself, the writer of
this gospel, because it's only found in Mark and in a very
modest way, he's trying to admit and confess his own failure and
denying Christ. We can't know for certain and
any any case you would make is just speculation, but what we do
know is that this young man's nakedness as a follower of
Christ, right? Mark is using very familiar
language and a young man followed him, followed him
denoting discipleship. He followed him and then he
flees from him. So really the scene is a
reflection of the shame of the abandonment of the disciples of
Christ. In verse 50, he's, he's
reflecting that because nakedness in the Bible points to
shame, it's a shameful thing to be naked.
That that's the truth that goes all the way back to the garden
because of sin. It wasn't so from the beginning.
And so the impression that we're supposed to get from this is
that this young man who also followed Christ was unwilling to
be associated with the with the Christ to the degree that he was
willing to be in public naked. That's how much he didn't want
to pay the price to be with Christ, that he was willing to
run out of there without any clothes on.
And so he's left in a state of shame, not just because of the
obvious reason, but because of the internal reason of not being
faithful to his master. And that is true of the
disciples, though they were still clothed.
Now we can end it there that this is a disgraceful lack of
commitment, whoever this young man was.
But I believe that there is a different emphasis that Mark is
trying to to make here. I don't think Mark is as
concerned about identifying who this young man is.
You know why? Because he could have told us.
But he does under score something else that I believe
most people miss. And it's what this young man
wore. Look again here at verse 51.
And the young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth
about his body, and they seized them.
Now look at this. But he left the linen cloth and
ran away naked. This linen cloth, this material,
this garment is brought up twice.
And you know why this is important?
It's not until you realize, and if we all read the original
language, like if we had the ability to read the Greek, it
would be more apparent. But we do have a concordance in
this day of age, we can actually do this kind of research.
We can actually have access to these resources.
So when you look at a concordance, you know what you
realize that the word for linen cloth is only found in one other
place, in the Gospel of Mark. And here it is in Mark 1546.
And Joseph. Joseph brought a linen shroud,
and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him
in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock, and he rolled a
stone against the entrance of the tomb.
How many times did Mark bring up this young man and his linen
cloth? Twice.
How many times do we see this linen shroud, which is the same
original word when Jesus was wrapped in this material?
Twice. Is it a coincidence that the
next and only mention of the Lord Jesus Christ, rather this
linen outfit is placed on the Lord Jesus Christ and it's taken
with Him into the tomb and as we read, it's brought up twice.
Now you may be hesitant to make any kind of application with
that connection, but I am persuaded that this next point
will convince us, will convince us even more because when we
come back to Mark 14, look again at verse 51 and a young man
followed him. We concluded that that linen
cloth is only mentioned one other place in the Gospel of
Mark and check this out. The word young man is only
brought up in one other place in the Gospel of Mark and it is
absolutely incredible where you realize the placement of the
same word. Go to Mark 16 and look at verse
5. This is when the woman came to
the tomb to try to anoint Jesus. And let's actually begin in
verse 2. And very early on the first day
of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb and
they were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for
us from the entrance of the tomb.
And looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled back.
It was very large. And entering the tomb they saw a
young man sitting on the right side dressed in a white robe.
And they were alarmed. It's the only other place where
you're going to find young man in this gospel account.
And what's so amazing by this and because of this is that when
you read Matthew's account of the woman coming to the tomb and
Luke and John, the other gospel writers, you know what they tell
us about who they encountered, Not a young man who an Angel.
Mark has used the word Angel before in his gospel account,
and all the other gospel accounts agree this is an Angel
that gave this news. But Mark says it was a young
man, Same word as Mark 14. What's happening here?
What's he trying to denote? What is he trying to convey?
And I think here we have something of a literary
technique marked by the Spirit is about to blow our minds.
It could be that, yes, in the literal sense, this Angel looked
like a young man. But I don't think that that's
the main point. I believe the main point is that
when you read a young man in Mark 16, five, you were to
recall that young man from Mark chapter 14, that same young man
that was fully clothed but end up becoming naked and fleeing.
And now you come to this point, you read the same terminology
used to describe this person who is sitting in the tomb after the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. You think, OK, what's the point?
I believe that there is a symbolic work being done here,
that this young man who's in the garden is to be bridged with
this young man who's in the tomb after the resurrection.
So let's pause it and consider these clues so far.
Mark mentions someone who is following Christ and he was a
young man with a linen cloth but fled away naked and fell short
like the disciples that OK pay attention now, it's going to be
worth it. The only other place where this
word linen cloth is mentioned is when Jesus was buried with this
material. The same material and the only
other place that this young man is mentioned, the same word is
someone in the tomb announcing the glorious resurrection.
But wait, what was the young man in the tomb wearing?
Go back to verse 5 of Mark 16. And entering the tomb, they saw
a young man sitting on the right side dressed in a white robe,
and they were alarmed. You know what else is
interesting? The word white is only found in
one other place in all the Gospel of Mark.
Do you know where? Let me remind you, Mark Chapter
9. Look here with me and verse 2.
And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and
John and LED them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became
radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.
Here's a young man clothed in linen.
He wants to follow Christ, fear, failure, shortcoming runs, they
seize him, the cloth is removed. He runs naked.
The only other time this word linen cloth is found in the
Gospel of Mark, and may I add, in all the gospels, is when
Jesus was wrapped with it before he was buried.
And the only other time this word young man in the Gospel of
Mark is found, interestingly, is identified with the Angel in
Mark 16, and he's wearing a white robe.
And the word white is supposed to connect us to the only other
place where the word white is found in the Gospel, Mark.
And it's what Jesus wore when he was demonstrating his glory.
This is artistry. These are clues that we have
been granted to put together so that we can see this beautiful
picture. And I am convinced that what
Mark is doing is providing a subplot to the grander story of
the Gospel account. And what is that subplot and
exchange of garments? So you have this man who we see
wearing a linen cloth when he failed Christ.
And that linen cloth that symbolizes such failure was
taken with Christ by wave symbolism into the tomb.
It was worn by Jesus as he was laid in the grave.
But when the same word young man reappears in the gospel, it is
after the resurrection of Christ and he is no longer naked, but
he's dressed in a white robe, one that is linked with the
glory that Christ wore on the Mount of Transfiguration.
So even in this subplot, Mark is 1 to communicate the gospel of
the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
See, this young man, it's, it's not about trying to figure out
who it is. It's trying to figure out what
he represents. That's what it is.
And that's why Mark uses that word about the Angel.
Not to say that they're the same person, but so that you can make
that connection and realize, well, the young man in Mark 14
wore this, but now the same word, young man, now he's
wearing this. And where did this Garmin go?
It went with Jesus to the tomb. And where did this white robe
come from? Well, Jesus had it when he
demonstrated His glory, and so we can be moved by that
connection. But what's more important is you
realizing that this is an invitation that Christ extends
to every man, to take your filthy sin, your filthy
garments, all the mess, even even in your religiosity, and
trying to honor God and work up your righteousness, whatever it
may be. Christ is willing to take all
your shame, all your guilt, all your shortcoming, and take it
with Him to the cross and bury it, never to be brought up and
used against you. And more than that, the same
Jesus is willing to clothe you with the glory of His
righteousness. That is what this is about.
That is what the story is even with this young man with his
linen cloth. It's a gospel truth.
And it's something that I hope that you would consider, if you
have never considered it, that you would actually be confident
to say, if this is what Christianity is all about, why
would I denied it? If he's willing to take all the
stains and all the shame and then give me his perfection so
that I can stand before him faultless.
Is it any accident that this young man wearing the robe was
wearing it after Jesus rose from the dead?
No, it's not an accident. It's to show that your salvation
has been amened by God. Because Jesus rose from the
dead, He didn't stay in the tomb.
And so I invite you to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your
Savior by making that exchange. How do I make that transaction?
Repent and believe, turn to him, give him your sin, receive his
saving pardon, and you will know everlasting life.
Can we pray? Lord, Your word is amazing.
We tremble at Your word, rightfully so.
What kind of book is this? How has it been put together?
You are indeed the author of this book.
So first, Lord, we ask that you open our eyes, that we might
behold the wondrous things out of your law.
We don't want to miss anything. We don't want to think for a
moment that there's one detail in this book that is accidental,
that is void of purpose. So Lord, we, we want to pray for
a revival, for our love for the Word.
Breathe on our hearts to have this appetite for the things of
God in the sacred Scriptures, please and Lord, as we come to
it, to believe that you are willing to teach us and guide us
through it. Lord, we also thank you that in
this word you confirm what Christ said, that it is about
the sun. It is about ultimately what
Christ has done for man. And Lord, you even were able to
tuck it in a brief little vignette of a young man who ran
naked in the garden. And so, Lord, we pray that the
gospel would have preeminence in our thinking and our affections
and our devotion and our love. We thank you and we worship you.
We give you glory and honor. May these things be tied around
our necks, bound in our hearts and the source of our delight.
In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen.
Can we stand? Isn't God amazing?
He is amazing. I'm moved by these truths, and I
pray that you're moved as well. Let's give Him glory and thanks
as we praise Him.