The Evil Before Easter
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“I like bats much better than bureaucrats.” C.S. Lewis writes, “I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of ‘Admin.’ The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut finger nails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”
That’s C.S. Lewis in his introduction to The Screwtape Letters. I wonder if you agree with him - that the greatest evils and crimes that are happening in our day are not done in the dark allies, the slums, or on the streets - but in clean places, by nice people.
James Waller wrote a book called Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocine and Mass Killing. Not your Sunday afternoon relaxation book. It aims to show that the atrocities of the modern world were committed by ordinary people like you and me. We tend to think that the great evils of human history were committed by people who were in a category of their own; there was something radically different about them.
Thomas Merton, a Catholic poet made the point that “calling Nazis insane or crazy permitted us the comfort that normal, ordinary people could never commit the crimes they’ve committed.”
In fact, a couple years ago, a man named Friedrich Karl Berger, who was living an ordinary life in Tenesee for the last few decades, was discovered to have actually served as a Nazi guard at one of the concentration camps that killed 43,000 innocent people. An ordinary guy; the neighbors never even knew the atrocities he was guilty of.
In other words, it’s always tempting to think that such horrific evil can be done by psychopaths, mentally deranged individuals, the few extreme cases. But C.S. Lewis, James Waller, Thomas Merton, and Friedrich Karl Berger suggest that perhaps evil is far more ordinary than we realize. I wonder what you think - is it possible that ordinary people get caught up in extraordinary evil? Could you?
The text we’re going to study this morning is Mark 14:43-52. It tells how Jesus’ ministry came to an abrupt end. He was betrayed and arrested - not by thugs, criminals, or thieves. These were religious men, respected men, honored men. But they are guilty of participating in the most memorable and despicable evils in the history of the world.
For context, it’s the last week of Jesus’ life. Sunday, entered Jerusalem. Monday, he cleansed the Temple, Tuesday he taught, Wednesday, probably more teaching. On Thursday, they celebrate the last supper, they go to the Garden of Gethsemane, and as he’s praying, verse 41 says, “It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
And now we get to our text, where nice, religious men commit one of history’s greatest atrocities. Make sure you get a copy of the Bible and follow along.
Of all the thousands of churches gathered to preach the resurrection, I wonder if we’re the only one that will mention the naked guy in the garden. We’ll get to him later.
But you can see the big idea of this paragraph, can’t you? This is how the ministry of Jesus came to an end. For three years he had ministered all over Israel. He preached the truth about God, he healed the sick, he cast out demons, he raised the dead, he calmed seas and multiplied loaves and fish, feeding thousands. He was immensely popular; the great crowds followed him everywhere he went. But it all comes to a screeching halt here, in the middle of the night, in a quiet, dark garden, as he gets arrested.
To study this text, I want to take a look at the evil of ordinary men.
First, let’s start with the evil of Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot. If you’ve never been to church in all your life until this morning, I’m sure you’ve heard the name. This event is why you all know his name. If we were to quantify how frequently the Bible mentions him, we’d realize it’s not much. What sets him apart is not the number of things he did, but the magnitude of his betrayal.
He was chosen by Jesus back in 3:19, but there’s not much said about him until we get to the final week of Jesus’ life, where he begins to distinguish himself from the others. 14:10 describes his secret approach to the religious leaders, “in order to betray him to them.” You see, the religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus, but since tens of thousands of people had flooded Jerusalem during passover week, they wanted to wait until the people had gone.
But Judas gave them a way to arrest him that week without causing an uproar - he would set up his betrayal in the middle of the night, when the rest of the world was sleeping. In fact, John 18 says that Judas knew that Jesus would be in the garden because he always went there to pray.
Judas arranged it all. Why? The closest we get to an answer is 14:11 when it says, “they promised to give him money.” For three years Judas followed Jesus. He listened to all of Jesus’ teachings. He had access to private instruction. He watched Jesus do miracle after miracle. Judas even did ministry alongside the other apostles. Judas even preached Jesus’ message. But here, he betrays Jesus.
Verse 43 says, “And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve” - I think Mark reminds us that he was “one of the twelve” because it highlights the fact that he was on the inside. He wasn’t a fringe follower. He was a part of the group closest to Jesus. “And with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.” John mentions he had “procured a band of soldiers” - the word “band” is a technical military word denoting close to 500 soldiers. Clearly Judas is a little concerned that Jesus might try to resist, so he brings a fully armed guard to capture him.
Verse 44: “Now the betrayer” - no longer named, but called by his most infamous act - “had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man.” He uses the sign of a “kiss” - which was common those days, and in that culture. One would greet the rabbi with a kiss, signifying respect and love. There were no streetlights, it would have been dark, and Judas would have been more familiar than anyone else, and would be able to identify him easiest. What’s the plan: “Seize him,” some translations say, “arrest him.” The idea is a forced removal, a capture. “and lead him away under guard.”
So what happens? Verse 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, ‘Rabbi!’ He calls him “Rabbi” - an honored title. And he kissed him.” The respect and affection is all feigned, it’s all a fraud. The word “kissed” here is emphatic, he was over-the-top, trying to make it obvious to the guards.
The fact that Judas uses such friendly outward signs to indicate to the guards who they should arrest only heightens the abhorrence of the betrayal. This, my friends, is flattery. Outwardly showing expressions of kindness all for the sake of getting something you want.
I remember reading a poem once that was about Judas, that described what he was like as a boy. The poem presented Judas as something of a demon-child, constantly disrupting and disobeying, greedy and devilish from the beginning. I actually don’t think it was that way. I think he was much more ordinary. In fact, when Jesus predicted that one of the twelve would betray him, it’s not like they all knew who it would be. None of them suspected Judas. In other words, for three years he looked like an ordinary person, with ordinary aspirations, until eventually his love for money choked out his desire to follow Jesus. He was ordinary, like you and me.
And he betrayed Jesus for money. Judas heard all Jesus’ sermons. And he betrayed him for money. Judas saw all Jesus’ miracles. And he betrayed him for money.
You might say, “But I would never commit the same sin as Judas!” Really? Perhaps you were raised being taught of Jesus. You were raised in church. But in recent years, you betrayed Jesus for a career. For pleasure. For money. We look at Judas and think of his crime as particularly repugnant - but how often have you betrayed Jesus for selfish gain? Have you ever preferred money over faithfulness to Jesus?
Judas got the money, but he paid for it dearly. He was so empty, that Scripture tells us he killed himself. I wonder if any of you are on Judas’ path? Maybe you haven’t been to church in years. Maybe you’ve been unfaithful to Jesus for a while now. And if you’re honest, maybe it’s because you, like Judas, prefer to have the world, while forfeiting your soul.
Could ordinary people like us act like Judas? Yes. Yes we can.
The Evil of the Religious Leaders. Notice that Judas did not operate alone. Verse 43 says that “with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.” Those three groups - chief priests, scribes, and elders - were the religious leaders of Israel at the time. Chief priests were over the temple, the scribes were like lawyers, studying the Torah, and the elders were over the synagogue. Together they made up the leading group called the “Sanhedrin.” They were respected, religious leaders in the community. Here, we see how invested they were in arresting Jesus.
Once again, we see how ordinary, respectable people get caught up into great wickedness.
If you trace their relationship with Jesus through the gospels, first, they're interested in him, then they’re offended by him - mainly because Jesus teaches that salvation is for sinners, not those who think they’re righteous. Then they want to discredit him - they say his teaching is demonic, they accuse him of violating the law. Finally they seek to eliminate him - they want him dead.
It appears the slide into atrocious evil is often in unnoticeable degrees. What started out as a distaste for Jesus grew, over time, to a murderous hatred for him.
We have the ones who are supposed to be teachers of God’s word, representatives of God’s message; they’re supposed to be examples for God’s people. And here’s the irony: they hate God - to the degree that when God comes in the flesh, they murder him.
Is it hard for you to fathom religious leaders being behind the murder of an innocent man?
Some of you might think, “Nope. I’ve seen the dark side of religion. I know what they’re capable of.” And you’re not wrong. Religion does not make a person good.
And that is the difference between Christianity and every other religion. All other religions teach that we’re all basically good, and you can do to change, to grow, to be saved, to experience fulfillment - and Christianity comes along and says, well, although we’re all made in the image of God, we’re all sinners, corrupt, twisted, and fallen. And trying to mask that with religion is like putting lipstick on a pig. Christianity says we don’t need more laws, rules, or regulations. We need redemption. We need a savior. We need grace.
But you might be surprised at how many people don’t actually think they need grace. They are unwilling to admit that they’ve fallen short of God’s standard. They’re unwilling to admit that their sin is egregious before a holy God. They’re unwilling to admit that God would be right to judge them for their sins and condemn them to hell. They think that, at the end of the day, they are fundamentally good, and that God is obligated to love them.
Maybe you’re like the religious leaders. You’re very religious. You’re good at being good. And you have no big sins to confess, and thus you feel no desperate need for salvation. You, like these religious leaders, would prefer to have nothing to do with Jesus.
What’s interesting is that Jesus said he did not come for the righteous, that is, for the ones who feel no need to change anything about their lives. He came for those who are sick, he came for sinners. You know your soul is in a dangerous place if it’s unwilling to adopt the title “sinner.” If you refuse that label, you’re refusing to identify as the kind of person Jesus saves.
So that’s what’s happening in our text: Judas was in league with the religious leaders. Verse 46 says they “laid hands on him and seized him.” The words convey a sense of force, even violence. They grab Jesus, strong-arming him to follow them. Jesus does not resist.
But they’re not the only ones on the scene. Remember, the disciples are there. What do they do? Let’s look at the Evil of the Disciples.
Verse 47: “But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.” Mark doesn’t mention the name, but the other gospel accounts tell us that this was Peter. Remember back in 14:31 he said emphatically, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny.” Well, here he’s ready to die fighting. There are likely over a hundred armed soldiers, and Peter takes out his sword - called a machira - probably around 12 inches long - and tries to kill the guy. He ends up getting the High priest’s servant in the ear.
The other accounts record Jesus rebuking Peter and healing the servant. Jesus, verse 48 says, “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.” He points out the absurdity of what they’re doing: Here is Jesus praying, and they barge in on him to arrest him. What wrong has he done? Nothing. But they arrest him like he’s a criminal.
Look at verse 50: “And they all left him and fled.” Not the guards. No, they’ve got him. But who? The disciples. Peter had one last hurrah in him - and then he fled. Peter, James, John - they fled. Andrew and Philip? They fled. Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon - they all abandoned Jesus.
It must have been challenging to have the whole religious elite against you. But it’s more than that. One of his own betrayed him, and then all his people fell away. Here, it appears that even the good guys aren’t that good after all. No one stays faithful to Jesus in their time of testing.
Now let’s look at that weird part. Verses 51-52. We have this young man following with almost nothing on. What, was he bathing, heard a commotion in the garden, and came out to see? We don’t know. And when the guards saw him, they grabbed his linen cloth - and he slipped away! And there we went streaking through the garden that night.
Why is that included? Some say that the young man was Mark, the author. You know how a painter sometimes paints himself into the picture, here’s Mark including himself here. Maybe.
I’ll say this: someone here might be a Christian because they don’t believe the accounts we have of Jesus are accurate. It’s popular these days to believe that these earliest accounts of Jesus are manufactured to create a sort of “Jesus-Myth.” They say, The earliest Christians fabricated these accounts to try to convince people that Jesus was divine. Do you believe that?
But from a historical standpoint, one of the most important proofs of the authenticity of a document is the inclusion of what might be called “Irrelevant detail.” If the gospel of Mark is a fabrication, why in the world would you include this…unless it actually happened? If you’re just making it up, why add a random story about a naked guy running through the garden? You don’t. It is an irrelevant detail - it doesn’t advance the story. But the author included it because he was an eyewitness. In other words, this all actually happened.
Judas betrayed Jesus. The religious leaders arrested Jesus. The disciples abandoned Jesus. All of these people - ordinary people - stood by and allowed this atrocity to take place.
I asked at the beginning of this sermon: Is it possible that ordinary people get caught up in extraordinary evil? Could you?
Now, I must come to the most offensive part of my sermon. In Christian history, what I am about to say has gotten preachers killed. But here we are in church, so hopefully I’m okay.
Did you know that the Bible says that God considers us all guilty of extreme evil? We think of the Hitlers, the Mussolinis, the Pol Pots, the Stalins. We think of the murders, abusers, anarchists, thieves. God recognizes the evil of those people, but he also says we too are guilty.
Listen to what God says:
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“No one is righteous, no not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God.”
All people are “dead in their tresspasses and sins.”
God says the “the human heart is desperately wicked” Jer. 17:9
All humanity is guilty of wickedness and sin before God.
Now, most people will admit that they sin. But here’s the tip of the spear of offense. The Bible says that God would be right and just to punish our sin. Listen to what God says about those who don’t believe the gospel: They “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” (2 Thess. 1:9).
So we have the betrayer, Judas; the self-righteous religious leaders, the failing, fleeing disciples. But the Scriptures say we are all guilty. In fact, Isaiah 53:6 “We all like sheep have gone astray.”
God’s assessment of mankind is different from man’s. We think we’re pretty good. We compare ourselves to others and think we’re doing fine.
But did you know that Jesus actually told us his requirements for heaven? Here’s what he said, “You must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.”
But we’re scared to death of admitting our sinfulness. It’s interesting; psychologists and philosophers like Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, Jung, Adler all agree that people hate looking in the mirror of their lives honestly. It’s an observable human trait - we are loath to truly see ourselves - we are allergic to the facts about who we actually are.
And when we do face it, we have ways around it. It’s not that I am evil. The problem is the dysfunctional family I was raised in. The problem is the broken society. The problem is lack of access to good education. The problem is lack of wealth, if everybody had more money, they wouldn’t lie, cheat, or steal. The problems are out there.
My spouse is my problem, my boss is my problem, my kids are my problem. The reason we fight is because our house is too small. The reason we get anxious is because we don't make enough money. The reason I’m always anxious is because the world is a scary place.
Why are we all terrified of admitting our own guilt? Why is it we’re relentlessly defensive?
The Scripture’s answer is that we’re far worse than we’d ever imagined. And we can’t stand to admit it.
I wonder if you, in a moment of self-awareness, and complete honesty, are able to admit you are capable of great wickedness?
Isn't it true that you can be a Judas - preferring material wealth to Jesus?
Isn’t it true that you can be like those religious leaders - using external performance as a way to mask the wickedness deep within?
Isn’t it true that you can be like the disciples - failing Jesus even though you said you’d be faithful a billion times?
God’s holy, perfectly wise assessment of mankind is this: we are guilty of extreme evil. We are corrupt in our hearts. We are under his just condemnation.
I wonder how you respond to that? There are usually two human responses. First, the response is to agree with God. To recognize your own guilt and sin. To confess it to God. To plead for mercy. And to find forgiveness at the cross, believing Jesus paid the penalty for your sin.
The other response is to disagree with God, and begin the process of trying to convince yourself that you’re actually a pretty good person. How many people are there in the world who are living every moment of every day trying to convince themselves that they’re okay, that everything’s fine, that their sin will not destroy them, that God will not judge them, that somehow, some way, things will work themselves out in the end!
But what if hell was filled with ordinary people, like you and me, who thought they had met God’s standards, though they, in fact, had never actually learned what God’s standards were?
We’ve looked at everyone in the scene. Everyone except Jesus.
Why is Jesus even here? Look at his last statement in verse 49: “But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” Jesus knew that his betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and death, were all part of what he came to do. Just a few hours after this event he will die on the cross. Why? He will die in the place of everyone who trusts him, taking their punishment upon himself.
Three days later he will rise - conquering death and hell, bringing salvation to all who trust him.
Listen, the gospel means good news. It is good news for sinners. It is good news for failures. It is good news for strugglers. It is good news for those who mourn and weep. It is good news for the broken. It is good news for the humbled. It is good news for those who are embarrassed by their sin. It is good news for the empty, the lowly, and the weary.
The whole reason Jesus was there was so he could die for the evil in our hearts, so that he could pay its penalty on our behalf, so that he could rescue sinners. And he rose again to prove his ability to save everyone who comes to him by faith.
To be saved, you don’t need to do anything except to look to Christ. It’s that simple. How are sinners saved?
Not by religion. Not by trying to obey Jesus. Not by going to church. Not by getting baptized. Not by being nice. Not by refraining from big sins.
Romans 10:9 says “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The good news is that Jesus is the Christ who died for sinners, rose from the dead, and is alive right now, ready to pour out his saving grace toward anyone who would trust him.
You might be dead, Jesus can make you alive. You may be filthy, Jesus can make you clean. You may have a past, Jesus will wash it clean. You have be lost, Jesus brings you home. You may not have any idea what your purpose is, Jesus reveals the truth of who you are.
He invites you to put your faith in him right now, like a skydiver puts his faith in a parachute. Entrust your whole soul, your whole self, your whole life, and your whole eternity to Jesus.
Would you, right now, trust in Jesus Christ? Why not this day? Why not this moment? The thief on the cross knew nothing except that he was a sinner, and that Christ was a savior, and he looked to Christ, and was forgiven. That could be you.
Michael comes up. Would you bow your head please, as we close in prayer. Before we sing our final song, I want to give you a moment to call out to God. To repent of your sin, trusting Christ’s payment for sin, and his glorious resurrection.
Would you do that right now? (Pause). And if you want to learn how to get started, be here next week. We’ll have a Welcome Lunch after service and a bunch of people willing to help you get started in the life following Jesus Christ.
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