How Do You Know If Your Faith Is Authentic? (Mark 14:12-26)

Here’s the question we’ll be exploring today:
Q. How do you know if your faith is authentic?
We’re going to look at two kinds of spiritual seekers: Judas and Peter

• Both followed Jesus for 3 years
• Both claimed to believe in him
• Both made terrible mistakes
• One of them was a fake

John 6:64 (NLT) But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) John 6:70-71 (NLT) Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
Nugget: He was speaking of Judas, but did Peter know it? Did Judas?
Peter would also betray, and Jesus later called him Satan!? (Mark 8:33)

Jesus himself predicted this kind of thing:
Matthew 7:21 (NLT) Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

So the question for us today: How can I know if I’m a Judas or a Peter?

We’ll get to that. But first let’s get to the text. There are some really cool nuggets on the way to answering our personal question for the day.

Mark 14:12 (NLT) On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

We talked about this meal last week…
They had no clue that Jesus was going to redefine history with this meal
They had no idea we would be talking about this moment 2000 years later!

Mark 14:13-16 (NLT) So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

(Pillar New Testament Commentary) A male water carrier would have caught their eye, for carrying water was normally the labor of women or slaves.

Nugget: (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The hall so described resembles the meeting place of the early church described in Acts 1:13 (Upper Room) and 12:12 (after Peter’s prison escape, “…he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer.”). If it is the same dwelling, then it belonged to Mary, the mother of John Mark, the probable author of the Second Gospel. The suggestion that John Mark was the carrier of the water jar is possible, but without evidence.

Now I want to jump down to v22, the meal itself. We’ll come back to v17-21 at the end. But while we’re talking about the Passover meal, we need to connect some dots here. Four cups of wine were traditionally consumed during the Passover meal, each with a specific significance. The cups represented different aspects of the Exodus story and God’s promises. The four cups are typically labeled as follows:

1. Cup of Sanctification (Kiddush Cup): This is the first cup, and it is associated with the sanctification of the holiday. The leader of the Seder, often the head of the household, recites a blessing over the wine, marking the beginning of the festive meal and the special nature of the occasion.

(Pillar New Testament Commentary) Passover was a family celebration, which means that women and children were a normal and necessary part of the meal. In the course of the meal the youngest boy present asked prescribed questions that the householder answered by retelling the story of the Exodus and by explaining its meaning as symbolized in the Passover meal.

Nugget: (Pillar New Testament Commentary) In 15:41 we are told that “many women” accompanied Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem. It is hard to imagine that women who had followed Jesus thus far would be excluded from a ceremony at which they were a constituent part. Again, a “large room” (14:15) would not have been necessary if only thirteen people were present for Passover. Finally, the clarification that the betrayer was “one of the Twelve” (14:20) would be unnecessary if only the Twelve were gathered for Passover.

2. Cup of Plagues (Makot or Dam – Blood): After the initial ritual handwashing and the breaking of the middle matzah (Afikoman), the second cup is filled. Before drinking this cup, participants recite or sing the ten plagues that afflicted the Egyptians during the time of Moses. Some traditions involve dipping a finger into the wine and removing a drop for each plague to express a symbolic diminishing of joy due to the suffering of the Egyptians.

Mark doesn’t mention these two cups, but Jesus and his disciples certainly drank them together. Then Mark picks up the story:

Mark 14:22 (NLT) As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.”

Two types of ceremonial bread for the Jewish people:

Matzo (unleavened bread of the Passover meal) symbolizes haste, humility, redemption, and the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.
During the Passover Seder, Matzo is often symbolically referred to as the “bread of affliction” to evoke the hardships endured by the Israelites during their enslavement in Egypt and their rapid departure, which left no time for their bread to rise. The Matzo serves as a tangible reminder of their suffering and the miraculous deliverance by God.
(Pillar New Testament Commentary) “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples.” The words of institution occur after the Passover meal is in progress, probably between the drinking of the second and third cups of wine. If Jesus followed the normal Passover rite, the blessing or thanksgiving as he broke the bread (v. 22) and distributed the wine (v. 23) would have been, “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the world, who brings forth bread from the earth.” According to Torah, the bread of presentation that was placed on the golden table in the tabernacle Sabbath by Sabbath was called “bread of remembrance” (Lev 24:7).

Showbread or “bread of the presence” was a sacred offering presented before the presence of God. It was replaced every Sabbath, and the old loaves were eaten by the priests.
Lev 24:8 (NLT) “it is an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant.”
The term “bread of the presence” comes from the idea that the Showbread was placed “before the presence” of God in the Tabernacle or Temple. It symbolized the ongoing fellowship between God and the Israelites.
(Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Abridged Edition (2 Volumes)) The bread represented his body, i.e., his abiding presence, promised to the disciples on the eve of his crucifixion; and the words become a pledge of the real presence of Jesus wherever and whenever his followers celebrate the Supper.

Jesus fulfills both of these! “This is my body” – not the word for flesh (sarx) but the word for being (soma). Jesus was giving himself, his whole being, his abiding presence.

Then we get to the third and fourth cups.

Mark 14:23-25 (NLT) And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

3. Cup of Redemption (Zehut or Hagula – Redemption): This cup is associated with the theme of redemption. Before drinking this cup, a special blessing is recited over the wine, thanking God for redeeming the Jewish people. The story of the Exodus is often recounted at this point, emphasizing the idea of liberation and freedom.
“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”
(Pillar New Testament Commentary) Taking the third cup, Jesus gives it to the disciples. Between the offerings of the bread (v. 22) and cup (v. 23) lay an interval of time required to eat the meal.

(Pillar New Testament Commentary) Verse 25 falls at the drinking of the final cup of the Passover. This saying shifts the focus of the celebration from the origin of the blood covenant in Exodus 24 to its fulfillment “anew in the kingdom of God.”

4. Cup of Acceptance or Restoration (Birkat HaMazon – Blessing of the Meal): This cup is consumed after the meal, particularly after the recitation of the Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals). It signifies the acceptance of God’s covenant with the Jewish people and the hope for the complete restoration of Jerusalem.

So that’s the Last Supper, the final Passover meal shared between Jesus and his disciples where Jesus redefines the most meaningful story in Jewish history in light of his mission on earth. He is the fulfillment.

• It wasn’t just about slavery, it was about sin.
• It wasn’t just about ceremonial bread, it was about his body.
• It wasn’t just about a lamb’s blood, it was about his blood.

All of this would play out in real time the very next day. This meal was eaten on a Thursday; the events to follow would happen on Good Friday.

Notice: “they all drank from it” – including Judas. Including Peter. Note the other times “all” shows up in the chapter – to their shame! (Pillar New Testament Commentary) Mark is the only Gospel writer who adds, “and they all drank from it.” The “all” echoes throughout the remainder of the chapter, recalling both the grace of Jesus and the failure of the disciples: they “all drank” (v. 23), they “all [swear allegiance to Jesus]” (v. 31); but they “all fall away” (v. 27), and they “all fled” (v. 50). The original Last Supper is attended by traitors (v. 18) and cowards (v. 50); it is a table not of merit but of grace!

This brings us back to our question for the day: How do you know if your faith is authentic? It’s one thing to ACT all in; it’s another thing to BE all in.

Let’s read the passage we saved for the end. Here’s what happened right before Jesus broke the bread and drank the cup – along with ALL of his disciples.

Mark 14:17-21 (NLT) In the evening Jesus arrived with the Twelve. As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.” Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?” He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me. For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

Theological Note: This is a powerful example of “concurrence” (see Sys Theo Lesson 3): God cooperates with created things in every action, directing his creatures to bring about his purposes through their choices and actions. Prov 16:9 “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

Peter’s future sermon would shed light on this revelation: Acts 3:17-18 (NLT) “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things.” – But not what the Jews were expecting!

Each one asked in turn: “Am I the one?”

So, Q. How do you know if your faith is authentic?
Judas was a fake, and we know how his story ended.
Peter was a sinner, and he went on to die for his faith.
How do you properly evaluate the state of your faith? We’re all a mixed bag, right?
How do you know if your faith will go the distance?
How do you know if you’re a true believer?
Stories of altar calls every Wednesday night at youth group
Some of those kids seemed so genuine; now they’re godless

To answer that, you need to answer two simple questions:

Have you trusted Jesus for salvation? It’s not about what you’ve done. (Not Lord, Lord look what I’ve done…) It’s not about your ability to keep the rules. It’s about Jesus’ finished work on the cross. That’s what the Last Supper was all about. His body. His blood. His work. Not yours. Have you trusted Jesus for salvation? That’s the first question, and if you miss it you’re done. But if you’ve answered “yes” then you can move on…

Are you honoring God with your life? Notice the question is not, “Are you perfect? Are you sinless?” Judas and Peter made mistakes. You will too. John, the beloved disciple who was at the table that day with Jesus, said it so clearly: 1 John 2:3 (NLT) And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.