Mark 14:11-15
Mark 14:11 (KJB)
And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he
sought how he might conveniently betray him.
Judas was so blinded by his love for money that his first question to them was
what will ye give me? (Mat 26:15 KJV) And said unto them, What will ye give
me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty
pieces of silver. So they had agreed on a price of thirty pieces of silver.
These pieces of silver were each worth 4 denarii or drachmas which would have
been equal to 120 days wages. The money had not yet been given to Judas as they
just gave him the promise. He would be paid upon delivering Jesus. It was also a
fulfillment of Zechariah 11:12. (Zec 11:12 KJV) And I said unto them, If ye
think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price
thirty pieces of silver. It is absolutely amazing how many prophecies were
fulfilled in that weekend. With the promise of a good bounty awaiting him, Judas
then set out to find an opportune time to betray Jesus. Since Jesus had been
speaking of His death and burial, it might have seemed to the religious leaders
that Jesus would offer no resistance. They remember the Scriptures where Elijah
had called down fire from Heaven and were probably fearful that Jesus may do the
same thing but when they heard that He spoke of His death and burial, their
confidence had soared.
Mark 14:12 (KJB)
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his
disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest
eat the passover?
The Passover feast was on the 14th of Nisan which was the commemoration of the
tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. Then this feast was followed by the
Feast of Unleavened Bread which commemorated Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian
bondage. Both feasts were collectively called either the Feast of Unleavened
Bread or the Passover. According to Josephus, these feasts were combined into
one eight day feast. Preparations for the Passover included finding a suitable
room, a lamb of one year old without defect to be killed in the temple and then
roasted for several hours, then unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a
remembrance of their bondage in Egypt. Since Jesus and the disciples had just
arrived in Jerusalem, they had wondered where they were going to celebrate the
Passover. They had to be ready to celebrate by sundown.
Mark 14:13 (KJB)
And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the
city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
Jesus had dispatched Peter and John. (Luke 22:8 KJV) And he sent Peter and
John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. They were to
look for a young man bearing a pitcher of water. This would have been a special
sign because drawing water was not a man’s job but a woman’s. When they saw the
young man, they were to follow him. This did not require any type of verbal
exchange. Jesus had withheld the location of their Passover celebration until
the last minute to insure that the betrayal would be on Jesus’ schedule and not
that of Judas. The man who carried the pitcher of water was probably a slave of
the owner of the house.
Mark 14:14 (KJB)
And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master
saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my
disciples?
They were to follow this man to a certain home and wherever he goes in, then
they are to contact the goodman or the owner of the house and tell him that
Jesus and his disciples are going to celebrate the Passover there because Jesus’
time was at hand. This man may have been a follower of Jesus and that is why he
obeyed the request without hesitation. It is apparent that Jesus had made prior
arrangements with this man for the use of the guest chamber. In Israel, it was a
rule that if a home owner had a spare room, they were to allow people to
celebrate the Passover in that room. Jesus was to be the host at the Passover
and His disciples were to be the guests.
Mark 14:15 (KJB)
And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready
for us.
This is the famous upper room where Jesus not only celebrated His last Passover
but right on the heels of it, He instituted the Lord’s Supper. The room would
have already been furnished with a table and couches for 13 men to recline
around the table. It was at this time that Jesus was showing His disciples that
the end of the Mosaic law and all its ceremonies was at hand and now the new
Covenant was about to begin. (Jer 31:31-34 KJV) Behold, the days come, saith
the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: {32} Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith
the LORD: {33} But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people. {34} And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least
of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.