MARK 14-15: RICH WITH EMBARRASSMENTS

The day after I decided that the above title might be a good description of these two chapters, I coincidentally came across the phrase “embarrassment of riches” in a novel I was reading. I chose to take it as a sign from God that perhaps I was on the right track in seeing several variations on the general theme of shame encountered in this account of the arrest and trial of Jesus.

I had not noticed until I re-read these verses that it wasn't only Peter who vowed never to deny his Lord. Mark 14:31b says that all the other apostles agreed with Peter. We know how humiliated Peter felt after he had actually done that three times in short succession. Mark 15:72 says that he broke down and wept. And, of course, 14:50 says that the rest of them deserted Jesus and fled.

However, even before the arrest, Peter, James and John were asked to stay awake with Jesus while he was praying in the garden. And they kept falling asleep even after being chastised by Jesus three times. And yet, we hear no word from Mark as to whether they felt embarrassed for their inability to do even that one small thing the Lord asked of them.

The remaining apostle is, of course, Judas Iscariot. He appears to exhibit absolutely no shame for betraying Jesus to the authorities even though he obviously knew what they had in mind. But we learn later that he went far beyond mere embarrassment for his action, leading to utter despair and suicide.

In Mark 14:51-52, we run across this small incident not recorded in any of the other gospel accounts of a young follower running away from the authorities while leaving his clothing behind. The main question is not why the other evangelists ignore this event, but why Mark bothered to include it at all. At this point, I admit that I am not entirely alone in suggesting that the obvious solution is that the young man was in fact Mark himself.

The points in favor of such an identification are as follows:

    The upper room location for the Last Supper appears to have been chosen in advance with secrecy in mind.

    Whoever followed Jesus and the apostles to the Garden had to have done so by trailing them from that house.

    When the apostles returned to Jerusalem waiting for the risen Jesus, we know that they were staying at the house of John Mark's mother.

    It is probable that it is also the house where the Last Supper was held.

Thus, Mark records this highly embarrassing fact regarding his ignoble departure as an act of partial atonement for his actions.

Of all the people present in these two chapters, it is the members of the Sanhedrin who certainly had the most reason for being ashamed of their actions. These spiritual leaders of the nation actually broke three of the Ten Commandments during the trial. They conspired to murder an innocent man, colluded with false witnesses against him, and did it all because they coveted Jesus' sway over the people which robbed them of their own positions of power. Yet seemingly, they showed absolutely no shame for their actions.

But there were two exceptions: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, both members of the Sanhedrin who had presumably agreed with the actions of the others. We know that the two of them later risked their standing in the eyes of their fellow leaders by seeing that Jesus' body was properly buried. This act of love even went beyond that of Mark in attempting to atone for their embarrassing complicity in condemning Jesus.

Then we run into that secular leader Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of the region. In the various biblical accounts of his behavior, I think we can see a person who is intent on freeing Jesus, not so much because he feels that Jesus is innocent of all the charges against him, but probably in order to put the religious leaders to shame. But despite all of his maneuvers to do so, he is forced to condemn Jesus to death anyway. So in a last attempt to disgrace the high priest and his cronies and salvage his own ego, Pilate words the plaque over Jesus' cross in such a way as to cause them maximum chagrin, and the ploy is highly successful. It is a battle of wills in which neither party comes across very well in the eyes of the beholder.

If Pilate was not already acutely embarrassed by the whole incident, I would bet that he suffered even more embarrassment when he went home that day and had to admit to his wife (who had warned him beforehand not to have anything to do with Jesus) that he had caved in to the combined pressure from the Sanhedrin and the crowd. So much for the powerful representative of the Roman Empire!

Speaking of the crowd who clambered for Jesus' execution, I think that it is highly probable that many of them had been among the throngs who had just recently greeted Jesus at his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, hoping that he would rescue them from the oppressive Roman rule. Their turn about face could have been due to the embarrassed feeling that they had been duped by a pretender. However, I would like to also believe that some in that same crowd were also present during Peter's sermon at the Day of Pentacost and responded positively in faith when they realized to their shame what they had done.

There are two more characters in this drama who I have not yet mentioned: Jesus and Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Of course, Jesus has nothing at all to be embarrassed about despite the best attempts of the worldly authorities at the time to hold him up to public disgrace and humiliation. Interestingly, the famous American playwright Thornton Wilder once wrote a little one-act play for performance in churches called “Now the Servant's Name was Malchus.” It is a piece of fanciful fiction, but enlightening nevertheless. Malchus is in heaven and he approaches Christ with a request that his name be erased from the biblical account of the arrest since he feels that every time people read the story of his ear being cut off, he is embarrassed because he comes off as being a ridiculous character.

Christ's reply is that he himself appears to many people to be ridiculous also since they feel that he is suffering from the delusion that he could save people after his death. Jesus concludes by saying, “Malchus, will you stay and be ridiculous with me?” In fact, that is what Jesus says to all of us today. Will we be willing to be counted with Jesus even though it may cause us some embarrassment in the eyes of those around us?