It contains the plot to kill Jesus, his anointing by a woman, the Last Supper, predictions of his betrayal, and Peter the Apostle's three denials of him.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Mark states at the beginning of this chapter that the Passover was two days away, although Lutheran pietist Johann Bengel argues in his Gnomon of the New Testament that μετὰ δυὸ ἡμέρας (meta duo hēmeras) in Mark 14:1 means "on the following day".

Henry Alford notes that "chronological difficulties ... beset this part of the gospel history".

[6] Mark states that the chief priests were looking for a way "by craft",[7] or "by trickery" to arrest Jesus.

An unnamed woman, who has a very expensive jar or box of perfume, made of "pure", "expensive" or "genuine" (πιστικῆς, pistikēs) nard,[9] or nard from some specific place,[10] comes and breaks the alabaster jar containing the perfume, and pours it on Jesus' head.

Theologian Albert Barnes suggests that she broke the seal of the box, not the actual container.

Some unnamed people gathered in the house become angry and say that this is a waste: the perfume could have been sold for 300 denarii and the proceeds given to the poor.

I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.This story may originally have had a setting independent of the passion narrative: Luke, for example, places a similar story much earlier in Jesus' ministry, in Luke 7:36–50,[4] where a sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet during a dinner with a local Pharisee.

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

(Brown 145) According to John 12:1–11 Jesus' feet were anointed by Lazarus' sister Mary on the previous Saturday before he entered Jerusalem and that it was Judas who objected to her using the perfume because he was stealing from the money they used for the poor.

The website "Catholic Online" states that this incident occurred "six days before" the passover, at Simon the Leper's house.

Mark does not state Judas' reason for betraying Jesus, but has this occur immediately after the anointing, perhaps showing a causal link.

This was an area with a large Essene community, which has led some scholars to speculate about a link between Jesus and that group.

This episode in contrasted with the predictions of his betrayal and Peter's denials, showing the sacrificial nature of his offering.

(Kilgallen 266) (See also John 6:48–66) They then sing a hymn, "in all probability the concluding portion of the Hallel",[22] and leave and return to the Mount of Olives.

(27-28) This is what the man dressed in white tells the two Marys when they find him in Jesus' opened tomb in Mark 16:7.

Paul also gives a description of the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, stating that Jesus gave bread as his body and wine as his blood on the night he was betrayed.

They travel to Gethsemane, probably an olive grove,[24] which is located at the edge of the Kidron Valley on the eastern side of Jerusalem.

(Kilgallen 270) He goes back and finds the three asleep and asks them why they could not even stay awake an hour and tells them to pray to avoid "temptation".

(Brown 145) Matthew has him leave and return three times but Luke seems to say he only went away once, and that he was visited by an angel and his sweat became "...like drops of blood...", perhaps a symptom of hematidrosis.

A kiss was a traditional greeting given to a teacher (Brown et al. 626) All the other Gospels have Jesus respond to Judas.

[25] Mark (alone among the evangelists) then relates that there was a young man who was a follower (Ancient Greek: τις συνηκολουθει αυτω, tis synēkolouthei autō) of Jesus, who was wearing "nothing but a linen garment"; he was seized by the crowd,[26] and he left his clothes behind and fled away naked (see also Naked fugitive).

[29] German theologian Paul Schanz suggested that Mark included this incident out of "a desire to exhibit in a concrete instance the danger of the situation, and the ferocity of the enemies of Jesus".

According to Acts of the Apostles 1:18 Judas took his money and bought a field, where he "fell" and died, which might or might not be hanging.

This body was not fixed during Jesus' time, but usually an ad hoc gathering of aristocrats and important religious officials (Brown 146).

(Kilgallen 255) Peter follows from a distance and goes into the high priest's courtyard and stands around the fire with the guards.

He also argues that Mark might be trying to increase the perception of Jewish involvement in Jesus' death and lessen the responsibility of Rome.

Luke records Jesus being beaten at the high priest's house and the trial starting the following morning.

The high priest, unnamed in Mark but surely Caiaphas, asks Jesus himself about what people have said about him but he does not answer.

(Kilgallen 274) During this trial and the next, Jesus hardly gives any defense at all except his proclamations he is the messiah and the Son of God and the King of the Jews.