📖 Mark 14:53-72

Jesus Before the High Priest

Jesus is led to the high priest, where the entire council seeks testimony against Him.

There is irony throughout the passion narrative — even when trying to lie about Jesus, the accusers can't get their stories straight.

They struggle to find consistent witnesses, highlighting the mob mentality and one-upmanship among the accusers.

The temple destruction claim becomes their focus since it was publicly witnessed.

When asked if He's "the Christ, the son of the blessed," Jesus responds with "I am" — potentially the divine name (Yahweh in Greek).

He adds that they'll see "the son of man seated at the right hand of power," a clearly divine Old Testament reference.

The high priest's dramatic response — tearing his garments and crying "blasphemy" — proves that Jesus' contemporaries understood His divine claims.

This refutes arguments that Jesus never claimed to be God.

Peter's Denial

Peter's threefold denial reveals how quickly human courage crumbles.

The same disciple who promised loyalty and drew his sword now denies even knowing Jesus.

Peter represents all believers. We're sinners in need of redemption, not heroes earning salvation.

Mark (possibly influenced by Peter) intentionally includes this failure to show that apostles weren't sinless leaders but redeemed sinners.

This prevents us from viewing ourselves as superior to Peter.

Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial demonstrates divine omniscience without fatalistic predestination.

The appropriate response isn't "I would never do that" but "thanks be to God" that Christ saves sinners.

We need the gospel preached continually, not just information from a book, because we forget our identity and need as redeemed sinners daily.

Contributor Rev. Harrison Goodman is the Higher Things Executive Director of Missions and Theology.

Contributor Eli Lietzau is the pastor at Wheat Ridge Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, CO.

#higherthings #lcms #lutheran #jesus

📖Mark 14:32-52

➡️ Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays with deep sorrow.

“Abba, Father,” He pleads, “remove this cup from me.”

It’s a window into His full humanity.

Jesus knows what’s coming: not just the nails and thorns, but the full wrath of God.

He’ll be abandoned, crushed under judgment meant for us.

It shows that we too are allowed to bring our fears to God.

And yet, Jesus finishes with, “Not what I will, but what You will.”

Meanwhile, His disciples can’t stay awake. This isn’t just sleepiness—it may be despair.

Their bodies shut down under the weight of grief and fear.

Jesus tells them, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

➡️ Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested

Then comes Judas. The Uncultured Saints wrestle with what’s really going on with Judas.

Was it greed? Despair? Misguided hope?

Did he think Jesus would escape again and this was just a push?

He calls Jesus “Rabbi,” not “Lord” — a hint he still didn’t truly see who Jesus was.

The kiss, a sign of peace, becomes a signal of betrayal.

Whether his intentions were confused or malicious, the outcome was the same.

Judas’ betrayal triggers the arrest, yet Jesus remains in control, willingly surrendering to fulfill His mission.

➡️ A Naked Man Flees

Mark describes a young man following Jesus, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. When the crowd grabs him, he escapes by slipping out of the cloth and runs away naked.
Many believe this was Mark himself, quietly placing his own story in the margins.
A confession of fear, maybe shame — but also a witness. He was there. He saw it. And even though he ran, he still wrote it down.
Because that’s the point: Jesus didn’t run. He faced the cross — for them, for Judas, for Mark, for us.
Contributor Rev. Harrison Goodman is the Higher Things Executive Director of Missions and Theology.
Contributor Eli Lietzau is the pastor at Wheat Ridge Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, CO.
#higherthings #lcms #lutheran #jesus

📖Mark 14:22-31

➡️ Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

Jesus gives His disciples bread and wine and declares, “This is my body” and “This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many.”

This moment isn’t just symbolic — it’s sacramental. Jesus isn’t speaking metaphorically; He’s delivering His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins.

As Lutherans confess, Christ is truly present in the Supper, and His gifts are given to sinners in real time. It’s not nostalgia or reenactment. It’s God working here and now.

This meal fulfills the Passover. In the OT, the Passover wasn’t just a remembrance — it was participatory. Israelites didn’t simply recall the Exodus; through the meal, they were joined to it.

Jesus brings that same reality to the Lord’s Supper. No longer are believers just remembering past salvation. In the Supper, they receive it.

Recreating Seder meals today misses the point. Clinging to the shadow when the reality is given every Sunday in the Lord’s Supper turns salvation into nostalgia instead of participation.

➡️ Jesus Predicts That Peter Will Deny Him

Immediately after this, Jesus predicts Peter’s denial.

Though Peter insists that he won’t, Jesus tells him the rooster will crow twice before he denies Him three times.

The disciples all join Peter in pledging loyalty.

This exchange shows the danger of turning Jesus’ words into challenges instead of warnings. Jesus wasn’t testing Peter — He was preparing him.

But Peter, in pride, saw it as a chance to prove himself. Like us, he wanted to be the hero. Salvation doesn’t rest on our performance — it rests on Christ.

The Lord’s Supper isn’t a ritual for the strong. It’s a gift for the weak, the scattered, and the sinful — for Peter, for you, for me.

Contributor Rev. Harrison Goodman is the Higher Things Executive Director of Missions and Theology.

Contributor Eli Lietzau is the pastor at Wheat Ridge Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, CO.