14:11
The chief priests were delighted and promised to give him money, the thing that seemed to motivate Judas. They now had what they wanted. They could argue that one of Jesus’ own followers had betrayed Him, so He must really be bad. Thus deflecting blame from themselves and reducing the risk of an adverse reaction from the people.
14:12-15
Mark draws attention to the fact that it was the time when the Passover Lamb was sacrificed. He wanted to make sure people drew a comparison between the Passover Lamb and the sacrifice of Jesus. The disciples wanted to know where to go to make the preparations for eating the Passover. Jesus’ answer demonstrates that everything was already in order. The cross was no surprise, but something that had been planned long, long ago.
14:16-21
The disciples duly found things just as Jesus had said they would. When they were at the table Jesus had more “bad news” for them, He tells them that one of them would betray Him. Imagine how Judas would feel at this point, suddenly realising that Jesus knew everything that was going on inside his heart. A sensible course of action on his part at this point would have been for him to confess his sins, but instead he persisted with his evil course of action. This is a very human response. Sin has a deeply pernicious effect on us and stops us acting in rational ways. People who follow evil course will always at some point do the most stupid of things.
Jesus knew that the betrayal was all part of the plan, and had been foretold long ago, but this did not take away any of the responsibility of Judas (v21). The sovereignty of God and human responsibility are entirely compatible.
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