Last Week we looked at the woman who anointed Jesus for burial. We learned that as a general rule of thumb all the Apostles and perhaps Judas the betrayer may have been oblivious of Jesus arrest, trial and crucifixion. Judas however we learned was the money man and he was a bit of a rat in the sense that he would use dark means to achieve it. He not only betrayed our Lord but he also betrayed the rest of the disciples. They ate, drank, slept at the master feet for three years. The Apostles and our Lord became a ‘family’ and they looked out for each others needs. The Apostles really felt this betrayal and it is no wonder that the Gospels paint this negative picture of him as the son of perdition. Lets read the text and quickly look at it:
Judas’ Bargain
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
The Last Passover
20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved, they began saying to Him, each one: “Surely it is not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about 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 not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus *said to him, “You have said it yourself.”
Verses 14-16
In these verse the heart and soul of Judas is laid out:
“What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?”
We can see here that our Lord carried a large sum on its head and Judas being a crooked businessman was out to claim his reward. Judas decided to be a rat in the rat race to make some serious money.
They offered him 30 pieces of silver. In those days what could you buy for 30 silver pieces?
30 pieces of silver was about 4 months wages. (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_pieces_of_silver)
I don’t think Judas would steep so low as to want our Lords death even though he was a crook as it says retrospectively in Matthew 27:
3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Judas was remorseful, he regretted what he did. He crossed the line even for his own personal ethics. It was enough for him to take the money back to the elders and then he killed himself. He committed suicide.
Verses 20 – 25
Judas after playing this dirty greedy trick continued with the pretense that he was a devout disciple of our Lord. He was sitting there with all the other disciples at the Passover meal that was going to have a new meaning. All the disciples were deeply grieved except Judas. In that upper room the disciples were searching their hearts. Judas asked the same question:
Judas: “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
Jesus: “You have said it yourself.”
This is on the eve of our Lords crucifixion and our Lord and the Apostles high point of the Jewish calendar. As Jews they were remembering the Jewish nation being saved from Pharaoh. They became slaves in Egypt and this story is how the Lord God had rescued them from slavery. Here now though in this story there is new meaning to it. The Messiah (The saviour of Israel and the world) was going to be the sacrifice to turn God’s wrath away from us so that we could could come into God’s presence as children of God. As the blood at the time of Egypt was splattered on the lintels of every Jewish home so would the blood of Christ be shed at Calvary so forgiveness would be possible between God and Man. This night the most important night was when our Lord told us how we ought to remember him and thus the institution of Holy Communion was established.
This then is the Passover meal for Christians and the highlight of the three years of our Lord with the Apostles. Satan had already entered into Judas Iscariot. Even Judas hasn’t any excuse because in those three years he heard our lord talk about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Judas allowed his heart to fill up with greed for worldly pleasures. Judas’ heart was ripe for the picking and thus Satan entered Judas and our Lord was betrayed.
The other disciples were not perfect either but they still didn’t understand what was happening to them. Even though they also had their faults, they loved our Lord and although they ran away at the moment of the soldiers arresting our Lord… this is basic human fear for self-preservation. I believe they ran away because they were confused and didn’t fully grasp the enormity of this arrest.
This story for the Christian is of enormous importance and the Holy Spirit wants to show us the enormity of this situation. So what can we learn from this. I am going to sum things up in three points;
- Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
- Guard your heart by taking on board the Lord’s teachings.
- As a Christian Holy Communion demands of us to search our hearts and to be thankful
To him for the grace he has poured into us by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the father.
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
God loved us so much that he sent his Son into the world to die for us. From that point of view the Sacrament of Baptism is something we ought to remember on a day to day basis. Yes baptism always refers back to this event of events. The event that the Son of God paid the highest price for us. When we entered into the waters of chaos it represents that we are dying to our old selfish life and when we come out of the waters of chaos we no longer live for our selves but for Christ and in Christ and sharing in Our Lord’s resurrection. For example Romans 8, 1 cor. 15 et al. Although the Apostles at this moment were confused they soon wouldn’t be and by the Holy Spirit in Christ would change history and the final fate of the Roman Empire.
Judas however did not keep his eyes and devotion fixed on the Lord. On the contrary his greed led to his demise. Although he showed regret he did not show that he was sorry or repentant. Although he took his own life; we do not know why he took his own life. It may have been that he was sorry but it may also be that he was ‘found out’. He was a traitor within his community; rejected by the elders that did the dirty job of having our Lord murdered and rejected by the Apostles for his treachery. There was no other place for him to go. Judas built his own gallows always to be known as the son of perdition.
Judas was just an ordinary man but we ought to stop and think that in the right circumstances this could have been my fate or your fate. We only stand by grace.
Guard your hearts by taking on board our Lords teachings.
Our hearts and minds should forever be in the Gospels. Here for example in the Sermon on the mount Jesus lays out a plan for discipleship. The beatitudes are very very deep and if we pray before God with an open and honest heart in Christ by the Holy Spirit we will find full spiritual maturity. For example:
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
When we are brought to a place in which we realize that we cannot bring anything good to God through our own effort, only then can God start to work in us. God has done everything.
Even though we disobeyed and put our pride first:
- God gave us life.
- God gave his Prophets.
- God gave his Son.
- God gave us faith.
- God gave us salvation.
- God gave us love.
- God made it possible in Christ to have an eternal relationship with the Trinity
We didn’t give anything back but from the gift of faith and grace.
We were able to:
- Reciprocate Gods love through out gratitude
- Love our neighbour
- Love God
- Joy
- Friendship trust
- Fellowship
- Et al
Because of the gift of faith we show gratitude to God By
- Loving our Trinitarian God
- Loving our Neighbour
- Loving his creation, animals, plants, rivers, the air we breathe et al.
Reflection
There are no perfect human beings except our Lord Jesus. Although he was perfect, humanity was guilty of crucifying the Lord of Eternity. Even at the Last Passover Christ was still pouring his love out on us. Jesus did not condemn Judas. Judas condemned himself by not seeing the ‘real riches’ that heaven had to offer. When we reflect on Lent it is important that gratitude flows out to Christ and to our brothers and sisters in the Church, and to the whole human race if it is possible.
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