WARNING PREACHY…
Matthew 27:1-8
Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders
of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So
they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was
condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver
to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he
said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your
responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he
went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is
against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So
they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for
foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood
to this day.
Over
the years, I have had many discussions about Judas hanging himself. I’ve heard people portray him as a monster
and inherently evil person who deserved eternal damnation, and I have heard
people have compassion on him as a victim of God’s Sovereign Plan. I’m sure through the years I have been on
both sides of the issue, but right now I just feel sorry for him.
Judas
was named after the Jewish cultural hero Judas Maccabeus[1]. Judas Maccabeus was called The Hammer and his family revolted
against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Ultimately the Maccabee rebellion is why the
Jewish holiday Hanukkah exists today, and with it all happening just 150 years
before the birth of Jesus, there were many people in the Jewish culture that still
held to the spirit of the The Hammer.
I
believe that Judas was brought up with a certain mindset and expectation of
what the Jewish Messiah was supposed to be.
I suspect that Judas was expecting (as many Jews did) that the Jewish
Messiah would take the throne of King David with King David-like ability; with
cunning warrior skills that would make the Jews dominate the current Roman rule. But when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey
(Matt. 21:1-11), the image was anything but valiant like a king proclaiming his
rule from a war-horse.
I
feel bad for Judas, because the expectations of Messiah that were taught him all
of his life were not being fulfilled in what Jesus was demonstrating or teaching. And so in the end, Judas cut his losses and made
a few dollars for his trouble.
Yes,
my portrayal is simplified, but I’m feeling the disappointment that Judas must
have felt at the time. Yes, he
experienced and witnessed many miraculous things from Jesus that should have
convinced him of Christ’s Messiahship by that time, but they didn’t, and Judas
made a very poor choice based on his expectations of his world. I suspect we are all a bit like this. That’s why I am very cautious at listening to
people tell me what to expect when Jesus returns: I’m afraid of missing Him if my
expectations aren’t met.
When
I was in college I worked at a hospital sitting with patients who had tried to
take their own lives. I sat with many
people who were obviously mentally ill and required physiological medication,
but most others were just normal people like me who had narratives that proved to be different
than the lives they were actually experiencing.
I felt bad for these folks, because someone had created in them a false
expectation, and the only way they could think to handle it was
by ending their own lives. Like Judas,
the devil entered in (Luke 22:3) and convinced them that suicide was the best
choice. I feel for them, because I know
that this could be my fate (any of our fates) if I don’t hold to the narrative
of Jesus alone.
At
some moment Judas made the decision to betray our Lord, but he realized his
mistake. Yes, I feel bad for Judas,
because I too have made too many decisions only to realize my error afterward. But after betraying Jesus, Judas went to the
Jewish leaders to do what, fix it? However,
when he discovered he couldn’t undo it, he was plagued by guilt and took his own life. Criticize Judas if you must, but I feel bad
for him because I know it is only by the grace of God that I have not been to
this point in my own life.
Judas
only understood the wrathful Old Testament God, and what you and I have is a graceful
New Testament God. Through Jesus who
died on the Cross to forgive us our sins, we have a new narrative to guide our
lives. This narrative may be a major
shift in our thinking, but really, a major shift is generally what we all need.
This
Easter Season, let’s look to the Cross of Jesus, not from the vantage point of
our own expectations, but from the position of people who accept that His
narrative is what we need.
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