Mark 14:12-21

¹² Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”

¹³ And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.

¹⁴ Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’

¹⁵ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”

¹⁶ So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷ In the evening He came with the twelve.

¹⁸ Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”

¹⁹ And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”

²⁰ He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.

²¹ The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

Also found in Matthew 26:17-24 and Luke 22:7-16, 21-22.

These preparations came during the daylight hours on Thursday, the fourteenth of Nisan. Lambs were customarily sacrificed in the afternoon in preparation for the Passover supper, which was eaten in the evening. … The Passover meal … took place on the fifteenth of Nisan, that is, Thursday evening after sundown. — Thomas, pages 206-207.

two of His disciples (v.13) — Peter and John (Luke 22:8).

guest room (v.14) — Jesus had apparently made arrangements with this man beforehand, but he wasn’t well-enough known to Peter and John that they could be sent directly to his house. The room was furnished with the carpets and couches used for meals and had been prepared, which probably included removing of all leaven, in keeping with the Passover.

prepared the Passover (v.16) — Supposing the lamb to have been already slain, and returned to the house, there still remained much to be done; the roasting of the lamb, the provision of the unleavened cakes, the bitter herbs, the four cups of wine, and preparation of the room and the lamps; and in the preparation of the food there were many ritual niceties to be observed. For instance, there was the making of a paste to resemble the mortar which was used in the laying of bricks in Egypt. The present day Jews make this paste by grinding apples, nuts, raisins, and mixing this with wine. — Wuest, page 259.

in the evening (v.17) — Jesus probably took this precaution to avoid being arrested before His time.

one of you (v.18) — Mark and Luke do not name Judas as the betrayer, but Matthew and John (John 13:26).

To the oriental, the fellowship of a meal was specially sacred, and hostile action against one with whom one ate bread was absolutely precluded (cf. Psalm 41:9). In this case Judas not only ate with Jesus; even more intimately, the dipped with Him in the dish. The dish was probably the bowl of sauce into which pieces of unleavened bread were dipped [during the Passover meal]. Verse 21 clearly states both the divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and places the latter squarely on the shoulders of Judas. The divine necessity for [Jesus’ death] was no excuse for the free agent who brought it about. — Guthrie, page 881.

Is it I? (v.19) — In Greek, it’s “It is not I, is it?” expecting a negative answer.

The reference [to dipping in the dish in v.20] is probably to a sauce made of dates, raisins, and vinegar, into which the master of the house dipped pieces of the unleavened cake with bitter herbs between them. These were distributed to the company The sign, indicating who the traitor was, consisted of our Lord’s dipping the unleavened cake into the sauce and handing it to Judas (John 13:26). The “woe” of v.21 is not a vindictive one, or of the nature of a curse, but reveals a misery which Love itself could not prevent. — Wuest, page 260.