Mark 14:12  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?
13  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.
14  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?
15  And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
16  And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
17  And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.
18  And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
19  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?
20  And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.
21  The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.

Jesus knew the time of His crucifixion. He knew when He would be arrested and tried and when He would die. He was and is the Son of God and His Father did not hide these facts from Him, even though He had limited His glory to become a man.
The Passover was an important feast for the nation of Israel. It was instituted just prior to the exodus from Egypt. Unleavened bread was an essential part of that feast. We have noted previously that leaven is used in the Bible at times as a picture of sin. Leaven is made through the process of fermentation. Sin is a corruption of God’s righteousness. Adam was created without sin. He chose to believe a lie and thus disobeyed God and became a sinner. All the descendants of Adam are born as lost sinners in need of a Saviour.
The removal of leaven from the houses in preparation for the Passover was a picture of the need to be cleansed from sin. Jesus did not need cleansing from sin, but we certainly do need that. It was the blood of the Passover lamb that would spare the death of the firstborn.
In our text, we read that Jesus’ disciples asked Him where they should go and prepare for their Passover observance. We read that Jesus sent two of His disciples with instructions as to how to find the right place for them to partake of the Passover.
His instructions to these two disciples would make it obvious where to find the right place. The custom of that time was for the women to carry the pitchers of water. However, Jesus told them to look for a man who would be bearing a pitcher of water. Customs were important back then. Today we have women who want to be men and want to do everything a man can do. We also have men who want to be women. We have men who want to be popular and cannot win against men and they are forcing their way into women’s sports. Our society is accepting abuse against women by promoting this trend. We could spend a lot of time on the entire issue of sports, but suffice it to say that this current trend is an abuse against women that should be condemned by all, but is being promoted by people in powerful positions.
In our text, Jesus knew that there was seldom a mixing of customs at that time. Thus when He told the disciples to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water, He knew it would not be difficult for them to find this man.
God does not make His instructions difficult to follow. Salvation is not difficult to figure out. The devil has been messing this up since the fall of man. Most people have chosen one of many false ways of “salvation”. Most people believe there is some form of work that will hopefully get them into their ‘heaven’. Salvation is necessary for all, and it is clearly stated that it is not of works lest any man should boast. In spite of that clear directive, most people skip over that and try to earn God’s favour. It has never worked and it will never work.
Jesus told the two disciples to follow this man to the house he would go to. At that house, they were to tell the goodman of the house that the Master had a question for him. The Master here is a teacher, instructor. Jesus was certainly that. Jesus told these disciples that the goodman would show them a large upper room that would be set up and ready to be used for this occasion.
Jesus did not prearrange this with this man. This man was a vessel that God used for this particular occasion. The two disciples were told to prepare for the twelve and Jesus to meet there for their Passover observance.
We read in verse 16 that the disciples obeyed the command given to them and they found things just as Jesus had described to them. Jesus constantly revealed His deity to His disciples. They needed to be fully convinced that He was the Son of God. Keep in mind, this is prior to the completion of the Scriptures and it is also prior to the giving of the Holy Spirit in the way He came after Jesus’ ascension.
We read further that Jesus and the disciples came to that room that evening. They had their meal and Jesus used that occasion for further teaching to the twelve. He revealed further to them that one of them was going to betray Him. The disciples had spent some three and a half years together. They had interacted with one another. They had occasion to observe one another. Jesus told them something that surprised them.
They assumed that they had all grown rather close to Jesus. How could anyone of them betray Jesus? Why would anyone of them want to do such a thing. Of course Judas knew he was the one but he was a deceiver. He had put on a good show for the eleven. The eleven began to question their own loyalty to Jesus. They did not have confidence in their own loyalty at this point. They had already learned that the heart of man can be very deceptive.
It is important for us to understand we cannot trust in ourselves. Our hope must be in God. Only those who are truly born again can have their hope in God. The Bible commands those who are truly saved to “walk in the Spirit”. We need to be surrendered to the authority of God in our lives.
Jesus further stated who it was that would betray Him. This too would be obvious, but it was not obvious to them. It would be the one who would dip with Him in the dish. Thus we know it had to be one of the twelve that was sitting close to where Jesus was. We noted yesterday that the Psalmist prophesied that it would be Jesus’ own familiar friend.
Jesus also warned them that the Son must fulfil the Scriptures as prophesied. Daniel wrote that He would be “cut off” from His people. He had to go to the cross and shed His blood for our sins. There could be no salvation without His sacrifice. Jesus came as a man because it needed to be the seed of the woman that would bruise the head of the serpent. It needed to be a sinless man to shed His blood for the sins of mankind. It could not be a goat or a lamb or a bullock. It had to be a sinless man. None of Adam’s descendants are without sin. Jesus came in a special way in order to provide salvation for mankind.
Jesus warned here of the damnation that would be upon the one who would sell himself to the devil to betray Him. The sad reality is that there are many people who give themselves over to serve the devil.
Just this week I conducted a funeral service. After the service, a man whom I know a little, came and thanked me for the service. He said he appreciated it. I acknowledged his thanks. Not long after that, at the reception I was sitting close enough to this man to hear him slandering me to another attendant at that reception. This is a minor detail compared to what Jesus faced. It is not uncommon for people to be two-faced. Our trust in man needs to be guarded. We need to understand that we as people are quite evil in the flesh.
Jesus stated it would have been better for His betrayer to never have been born. Judas did himself no favour in betraying Jesus. He did himself no favour in rejecting Jesus as his Saviour. Judas knows better now, but it is too late for him. He is in torment now and will be for all eternity. His real torment began the day he died. He was already tormented prior to his death and he went out and hung himself to try to get away from that torment. That death did to stop the torment. It simply caused it to increase.
There are people today, some with government assistance, who are taking their own lives. They assume things will be better after they commit this crime. Suicide does not make things better. Turning to God while there is opportunity is the answer. It is extremely unwise to hear the truth over and over again, and dismiss it as less than truth. That is what Judas did. Jesus had already declared Himself to be:

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Judas knew that, but he rejected it. He was not forced to betray Jesus. He chose to reject the truth and the result was that he accepted the lies of the devil. There are thousands of people who vow never to commit a certain sin. However, they refuse to turn to the Lord for salvation and thus they end up committing that certain sin and even others besides.
Without God’s forgiveness and salvation, man is capable of much evil. We see that in God’s Word and we see that in society all around us and we can even see that in our own lives if we are not saved and walking in the Spirit. Be sure you know the true God today and are humbly submitting to His will.
Pastor Bartel