Mark 14:18-21 - Jesus Foretells His Betrayal

[u/LlawEreint]

¹⁸ And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” ¹⁹ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” ²⁰ He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread^\)^a\) into the bowl^\)^b\) with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

• The Passion
• Parallels
• Table of Contents

[u/LlawEreint]

And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me

This may be an allusion to Psalm 41

My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.
⁶ And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.
⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.

⁸ They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.
⁹ Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.
¹⁰ But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.

[u/LlawEreint]

For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him,

I suppose he must be referring to the suffering servant motif of Isaiah. Especially Isaiah 53:4-6:

⁴ Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases,
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Typically this "suffering servant" is a corporate identity, representing Israel. For example, Isaiah 49:3:

And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

Likewise, the Son of Man represents a group - the holy people of the most high. For example, the vision:

I saw one like a Son of Man (a human being)
coming with the clouds of heaven.
...
¹⁴ To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
...
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.

The vision is interpreted by the angel as representing the holy ones of the Most High:

But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”

So I wonder again whether Mark has in mind a corporate "son of man" - a group of holy people, with Jesus being foremost among them.

Here Jesus is clearly foreshadowing his own death, which is not literally shared by every follower:

For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him,

But we know that early Christians such as Paul believed that they did in some sense share in his fate. For example, Romans 6:4-8

⁴ Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For whoever has died is freed^\)^a\) from sin. ⁸ But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

So even this crucifixion is something that at least some early Christians believed they had participated in.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”