Mark 14:16

‘And the disciples went out and came into the city and found as he had said to them. And they made ready the Passover.'

All happened exactly as Jesus had described it and the two made the necessary preparations for the Passover meal. The emphasis on the fulfilment of what Jesus had said confirms that we are intended to read behind the descriptions the deeper truths that lay underneath (as with the parables).

We should note in all this how Mark deliberately intersperses the Chief Priests' and Judas' activity with everything else that was going on. Mark 14:1; Mark 14:10; Mark 14:17 are each followed by Mark 14:3; Mark 14:12; Mark 14:22. Alongside the betrayal is the indication of blessing. Both advance together. Mark was concerned with the build up and the contrast, not the chronological order. Mark's thoughts are complex and we make a mistake if we treat them too lightly.

It is true that the early church wanted men to recognise that Jesus was not taken by surprise. But that was because He was not. That is one reason why Mark gives as much space to Jesus' warning to Judas as he does to Jesus' words to the other disciples. But another reason was in order to bring out that Jesus made an appeal to both the unfaithful and the faithful. His concern was with both and He wanted to reach out to them both. And furthermore Mark was also building up an atmosphere. He wanted us to recognise that behind the Last Supper was the shadow of betrayal.

Now Jesus gave Judas his final warning. As mentioned this is not necessarily chronological. Mark's deliberate purpose was to bring out the contrast and then to close with the institution of the Lord's Supper. Contrast John 12:1; Luke 22:21 which probably have the incidents in the correct chronological order.