Commentary - Mark 14:1-2

Bird's-eye view

Mark brings us to the precipice of the central event in all of human history. The atmosphere in Jerusalem is thick with religious fervor and political tension. The Passover, the great memorial of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, is the backdrop for the ultimate deliverance. But as God prepares His Lamb, the corrupt leadership of the old covenant order is making their own preparations. This brief passage reveals the stark contrast between God's sovereign plan and man's wicked plotting. The chief priests and scribes, the supposed spiritual guardians of Israel, are consumed with a murderous conspiracy against the Son of God. Their machinations are characterized by secrecy and fear, not of God, but of the people. They are a perfect illustration of how ungodly authority operates: it fears the created and despises the Creator. Yet, in the midst of their scheming, they are nothing more than unwitting actors in a divine script, their every move serving to fulfill the very prophecies their Bibles contained. The irony is palpable; they seek to avoid a festival disruption, yet their actions will ensure that this Passover becomes the most significant festival in history.

The core issue here is a collision of two fears. The religious leaders fear the crowd, a horizontal fear that drives them to deception and stealth. Jesus, on the other hand, is moving toward the cross in perfect fear of the Lord, a vertical fear that manifests as unwavering obedience to His Father's will. This passage sets the stage for the Passion narrative by exposing the utter bankruptcy of Israel's leadership and highlighting the sovereign hand of God, who uses the very hatred of His enemies to bring about the salvation of His people.

Outline

Context In Mark

This passage marks a significant turning point in Mark's Gospel. Jesus has concluded His public ministry and His teaching in the temple. He has silenced His opponents in a series of public debates (Mark 11:27-12:44) and delivered the Olivet Discourse, a prophetic warning of Jerusalem's impending judgment (Mark 13). The battle of wits is over. Now, the conflict shifts from public confrontation to secret conspiracy. The narrative slows down, focusing intently on the final hours of Jesus' life. What follows immediately is the anointing at Bethany (14:3-9), a profound act of worship that Jesus interprets as His preparation for burial, standing in stark contrast to the leaders' murderous plotting. This is then followed by Judas's agreement to betray Jesus (14:10-11), which provides the very means for the leaders' "secret" seizure to succeed. Mark is masterfully weaving together the threads of God's sovereign purpose, human devotion, craven betrayal, and impotent rebellion.

Key Issues

The Fear of Man is a Snare

Proverbs tells us that "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe" (Prov. 29:25). This passage in Mark is a dramatic exhibition of this truth. The chief priests and scribes are the most powerful men in the nation, and yet they are terrified. Of whom? Not of God, whose law they claim to uphold and whose Son they are about to murder. They are afraid of "the people." Their entire strategy is dictated by public relations and crowd control. They want to kill Jesus, but they must do it in a way that avoids a riot. This is the essence of worldly power. It is always looking over its shoulder, polling the masses, calculating the political fallout. It is enslaved to the opinions of others.

This fear drives them into the shadows. They seek to arrest Jesus "in secret" or "by stealth." Righteousness acts in the open, in the full light of day. Wickedness loves the dark because its deeds are evil. Their fear of a popular uprising is what makes them hypocrites. They maintain a public facade of piety while privately plotting murder. This is a permanent warning to the Church. Whenever church leaders begin making decisions based on what the big donors will think, or how the media will react, or what the popular culture will approve of, they are walking in the footsteps of these scribes and chief priests. They have been caught in the snare of the fear of man, and the fear of God is not in them.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how, after seizing Him in secret, they might kill Him;

Mark begins by setting his watch to God's calendar. It is two days before the Passover. This is not incidental background information; it is the theological framework for everything that is about to happen. The Passover was the celebration of God redeeming His people by the blood of a lamb. And right on schedule, as the anniversary of that first deliverance approaches, the religious authorities are plotting to kill the ultimate Passover Lamb. The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. They are preparing for a festival that celebrates redemption, and their way of preparing is to murder the Redeemer.

The conspirators are named: the chief priests and the scribes. This is the religious one-two punch. The chief priests were the Sadducees, the wealthy, aristocratic, politically connected rulers of the temple. The scribes were the theological lawyers, the experts in the Mosaic law, mostly Pharisees. These were the men who should have been the first to recognize and welcome their Messiah. Instead, they are the architects of His destruction. Their goal is not justice, not a trial, but simply a way to kill Him. Their verdict has been reached in advance; all they need is a method. And the method must be one of seizing Him in secret. The Greek word is en dolo, meaning with guile, trickery, or deceit. Their entire operation is built on a lie, which is fitting for those who have rejected the One who is the Truth.

2 for they were saying, “Not during the festival, lest there be a riot of the people.”

Here we see the engine driving their secrecy: the fear of man. They were not saying, "Let's not do this because it would be a sin." They were not saying, "Let's not do this because it would displease God." They were saying, "Let's not do this during the feast, because we are afraid of what the people will do." Jerusalem was swollen with pilgrims for the Passover, many of whom were Galileans who held Jesus in high regard. The leaders knew that an open arrest of a popular teacher during this supercharged religious festival could easily ignite a riot. And a riot would bring the Roman fist down upon them, jeopardizing their own power and position.

So they make a pragmatic decision. They resolve to wait until after the festival is over, when the crowds have dispersed. But in their very resolution, they display their utter impotence before the sovereign plan of God. They say, "Not during the festival," but God has ordained that Christ, our Passover, would be sacrificed for us on the festival. Their careful, cowardly, man-fearing plan is about to be completely overturned. God will use the treachery of Judas to hand Jesus over to them right in the middle of the feast, ensuring that His death aligns perfectly with the typology of the Passover sacrifice. They are trying to write their own script, but they are merely puppets in God's grand drama of redemption.

Application

This passage forces us to ask a foundational question: whom do we fear? It is easy for us to read about these compromised religious leaders and cluck our tongues. But the temptation to fear man is a constant pressure on every believer, every pastor, and every church. We live in a world that is increasingly hostile to the claims of Christ, and the temptation is to trim our sails, to soften the hard edges of the gospel, to seek the approval of the world, or at least to avoid its noisy disapproval.

When a pastor avoids preaching on a difficult text because he knows it will offend certain people in the congregation, he is fearing man. When a Christian stays silent in a conversation at work while Christ is being mocked, he is fearing man. When a church changes its doctrine on sexuality to accommodate the spirit of the age, it is fearing man. The chief priests and scribes show us where this path ends: in secret compromises, deceit, and ultimately, in opposition to Christ Himself.

The antidote is the fear of God. We are to fear Him who, after He has killed the body, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, fear Him (Luke 12:5). This is not a cowering, servile fear, but a joyful, reverent awe before the sovereign Creator of the universe who is also our loving Father through Christ. When we truly fear God, all other fears are put in their proper perspective. What can man do to us? The worst they can do is kill us and send us to glory. The religious leaders feared a riot; we should fear God. They sought to protect their earthly positions; we should seek to honor our heavenly King. Their plot was born of darkness and fear; our lives must be lived in the light and in the liberating fear of the Lord.