Mark 14

Mark 14
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Image of page from the 7th century Book of Durrow, from The Gospel of Mark. Trinity College Dublin
Book	Gospel of Mark
Bible part	New Testament
Order in the Bible part	2
Category	Gospel

Mark 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains Jesus' anointing by a woman, the Last Supper, and his predictions of his betrayal and Peter's three denials of him. It then begins the Passion, with the garden of Gethsemane, Judas' betrayal and Jesus' arrest, followed by Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin and Peter's three denials of Jesus.

Mark states that the Passover was two days away. If the Passover was on Friday (Good Friday) then this happened on Wednesday and is celebrated by Christians as Holy Wednesday. Mark says that Jesus was in Bethany relaxing at the home of Simon the Leper, who has not appeared in the Gospel until now. Simon's relationship to Jesus is not explored, but they must have been friends as this seems a social visit. Mark also states that the chief priests were looking for a "sly" way to arrest Jesus. They however determine not to do it during the feast because they were afraid that the people would riot. It is however after the feast that they do end up arresting him.

An unnamed woman, who has a very expensive jar of perfume, made out of "pure nard" according to Mark, comes and breaks the alabaster jar the perfume is in and pours it on Jesus' head. Some unnamed people there get angry and say that this is a waste as the perfume could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor. Jesus however is pleased with her and rebukes her critics:

The anticipation of widespread audiences might mean the book was intended for wide distribution and not written solely for a single community.