Earlier today I was thinking about Jesus and his Judas
experience. Jesus endured many
sufferings, betrayal of a close acquaintance was one of those sufferings. This is important to remember, because
Jesus’ followers will endure the same sufferings that Jesus endured.
As you read the story about Judas, you see a man who seems
indecisive and influenced by intimidation.
On one hand, he associates with Jesus and admires his ministry, and on
the other, he stands with the religious order that rejected Jesus and sought to
eliminate him. Judas stood right in the
middle smiling at both camps.
The story says that Judas accepted payment of 30 pieces of
silver from the Jewish Sanhedrin if he would betray Jesus. After Judas had given Jesus the Judas-kiss,
Judas saw Jesus going through his ordeal of mockery at the hands of the
Romans. Judas is said to have repented. Apparently, he felt bad about seeing Jesus
being mistreated by the Romans.
The serious character flaws in Judas struck me. Consider what it must have been like in the
days of Jesus. He comes along in a
specific time proclaiming and doing what His Father ordained. Some people loved Jesus and the words he
spoke. Others despised him because
Jesus upset the cart, or, stepped on people’s feet. Jesus was a direct confrontation to the religious order. A religious order that had people with
serious character flaws. Others reacted
to Jesus with no reaction at all. But,
consider the dimensions of this story and reflect on the character dynamics and
the serious ramifications.
Judas attempts to give back the 30 pieces of silver to the
Jewish Sanhedrin. They informed him
that they would not accept the money back because it was “blood money”. They cited in the Scripture the text where
it was not right with God to accept money for the treasury that was from this
source. At this point, Judas had no
affiliation either with Jesus or the Jews who rejected him. He was a chump. He was a hit man. Such a
loser. Judas was the guy who did the dirty work. What a horrible feeling that must have been. Judas leaves and goes and hangs himself.
The Jews, wanted to be proper with God, they took the 30
pieces of silver and bought a particular field for Judas’ burial. It is called “the field of blood” to this
day. Judas felt bad about betraying
Jesus. He wanted to make it right. But, consider, it was too late.
Jesus called Judas the son of perdition. And in the 109th Psalm, it was
prophesied of Judas “bishopric”
(authority position with the apostles of Jesus) being removed. The Psalm continues to call his wife a
widow, his children fatherless and vagabonds…cursed. Wow. And Judas was
sorry…sometimes our actions just can’t be reversed apparently. Serious, serious character flaws.
And the Jews, doesn’t their behavior reveal a religious
paradox? On one hand they present
themselves as seeking to obey God, and not take the blood money back, but they
are guilty of murdering the One sent from God—the Messiah! This is blindness of the heart. Recall that Jesus said there would be those
who would kill his followers and believe they were serving God in doing so.
I write about this story to urge readers to contemplate
the deep inner workings of personality and behavior. I believe there is a lot for all of us to learn from this story.
It is God who can search our inner heart and reveal any
type of seed that would manifest itself in such horrific behaviors that may
never be reversed.
Trevor Davis
God, I call on you now and believe you gave Jesus your son
to die for my sins on a cross. I
believe he was raised from the dead as it is written in scripture. Please forgive me. I repent. Teach me and
have your way. My life is your
life. Your life is my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Sincerely,
Trevor Davis