|
|
Matthew 26:47-56: Mark 14:43-50; Luke
22:47-53; John 18:3-11.
Historical setting:
Time: Friday, April 7, A.D. 30,
around twelve midnight.
Place: Just outside the
Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of Olivet.
Persons:
Judas, Roman soldiers, officers of the temple guard, chief
priests, and teachers of the law, Jesus, and the eleven
disciples.
As Judas leaves the "Last
Supper" gathering in the upper room he knows in his heart
what he is going to do. He has a mission to accomplish, a
mission instilled in him by Satan. He hurries to the high
priest and tells him that he knows exactly how Jesus can be
captured without a fuss. He knows Jesus' habits, and he knows
where He will be this night, as he had heard Him discuss it at
the supper table.
The priests have been worried that if they were to take
Jesus in the daytime it would incite a riot amongst the
people. They know that there are many Galileans who are
devoted to Jesus; therefore they need to come up with a plan
to capture Him in a non-public place. Knowing that many people
gather around Him wherever He goes, they have been in a
quandary as to know just how to perform their dastardly deed.
And now Judas has come up with a perfect solution: Take him at
night, in fact, this very night.... He will be in the Garden
with His friends. But the priests don’t want to make a mistake
and take the wrong man, since it will be dark. So this is
Judas' plan, as presented to the priests: Mark 14:44, 45
- "Now His betrayer had given them a
signal, saying, 'Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and
lead Him away safely.' As soon as he had come, immediately he
went up to Him and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi!’ and he kissed
Him." Judas had prearranged this, and his pay was
to be thirty pieces of silver. John 18:3... And
gathered from other Gospels, it is suggested that among those
who come with Judas are Roman soldiers, officers of the temple
guard, chief priests, and teachers of the law.
Many times during the three-plus years that Judas has been
with Jesus and the other disciples there had been friction
surrounding certain activities connected with Judas. He was
the treasurer of the group. Not that there was ever much money
to deal with, but there were meals to buy and odds and ends to
purchase, and at one time there were taxes to pay. Judas had
looked after this end of things. Recently he had become very
upset when Mary had used expensive oil to anoint Jesus with.
All of a sudden he became aware of the poor. Normally he could
have cared less about the unfortunate. Hadn't he been one of
the ones who had tried to push the poor, the maimed, the blind
and the children away when they got too close to Jesus?... But
now, at last, he has become rich by his betrayal of his
Friend. He has led the arresters to the Garden. They can
capture Jesus. He can go on his way, forgetting about the last
three-plus years. He can go out and buy what he wants. He has
thirty pieces of silver in his possession.
As it turns out, however, Judas would not have been needed
to identify Jesus. Jesus does this Himself. After Jesus has
returned from His third communication with His Father in the
Garden, and again finds Peter, James and John all asleep, He
says to them, "Arise, let us be going. The
one who is going to betray Me is coming." They walk
back to where the other disciples are. They are all sleeping
too, but He awakens them. And then the group leaves the
Garden, just to wait. Now Judas is approaching, followed by
his band. Jesus addresses him, "Friend, (you would think that
this alone would have sparked guilt and shame in Judas' heart)
"do what you have come to
do.” And then Christ identifies Himself. John
18:4 & 5 "Jesus, knowing all that
was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is
it you want?’” ... (I think that Jesus was
giving Judas a final opportunity to repent. Judas could have
backed away, not following through with his arrangement of
kissing Jesus. If He had, although he would have lost the pay,
he would have saved his soul from damnation. However, by that
time Satan had already entered into Judas. He had sold his
soul to the devil--for thirty pieces of silver)
When the soldiers reply that it is Jesus of Nazareth whom
they are seeking, Jesus answers them, “I
am He.” Surprised that He should expose Himself to
being arrested, the soldiers draw back and fall to the ground.
Immediately the disciples step forward to defend Jesus.
They ask Him if they should smite the soldiers with a sword.
Before Jesus has time to answer, Peter takes his sword and
cuts off a soldier's ear.... Matthew 26:51 & 52; Mark
14:47; Luke 22:50 all refer to the one who cut off the
servant ear as “one of them”; however, John
18:10 names the disciple as being Peter. True to his
personality, Peter is quick to defend his Lord. Jesus
reprimands him for his impulsive act and mends the ear....
John identifies the servant who lost his ear as Malchus....
(The NIV footnote on the account in John tells us that the
sword that Peter uses is a short sword. To me that explains
why it wasn't noticed. He would have been able to conceal a
short sword under his garment, pulling it out suddenly when he
saw the need. Perhaps he took the sword with him that night
because he knew that there was going to be trouble. Or perhaps
he carried it all the time. After all, he was a fisherman.)
Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away.
Christ has already reached the crisis. In the Garden He had
sweat drops of blood in agony over what He knew He had to do.
Satan had already been defeated. Now He tells Peter, "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given
me?" To the soldiers Jesus says: "Do you think that I am the leader of a
rebellion or something? Why bring your swords and clubs? I was
with you every day at the temple and around your streets.
Could you not have taken me then? But go ahead. Do what you
have to do. After all, it is dark now, and your faces can't be
seen."
Many things happen in quick succession after this. Peter's
denial and the other disciples' abandonment will be left for
another study. This story is about Judas. Let's see what
happens to him.
When Judas sees the Lord not only in the hands of His foes,
but condemned to death, he regrets what he has done. He could
have backed away from his diabolical plan. He could have
chosen Christ's forgiveness. Greed, and loss of face, prevents
him. After he sees that Jesus is condemned to death, he goes
out and weeps bitterly. However, his tears are tears of
remorse, not of repentance. Judas has already crossed the line
of no return. Jesus had given him every opportunity to repent.
His remorse leads Judas headlong to destruction. His aim now
is to put an end to his miserable existence. The first thing
on his mind is to get rid of his ill-gotten silver. Those
thirty pieces of silver no longer have any appeal for him.
They are scorching his hands and his soul. (Ironically,
on one side of a coin was an olive branch, a symbol of peace;
on the other side was a censor, a symbol of prayer. On the
coins were the superscription, "Jerusalem the Holy." Yet this
is what Judas had been given, in exchange for his Lord!)
Rushing to the temple, Judas cries out, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent
blood!” I wonder if he hoped for help or sympathy?
Was he looking for a way to expiate his crime? If so, he had
gone to the wrong place and the wrong people. The priests look
at him coldly, then turn away. They despised this traitor. Who
wouldn't despise a traitor? He is one who cannot be trusted.
He could just as easily become a traitor to them. The priests'
retort is, "What do we care? That's your problem!
Judas can't believe their cold response. He becomes crazed
by their indifference and scorn. He stands for a moment. He
feels that awful, cold silver in his hand. He flings it from
him, rushing from the temple. Out the city gate he flees, down
into the Valley of Hinnom. He races up the steep, jagged sides
of the mountain. At last he is alone and he can put an end to
his misery. He unwinds his girdle, tying it around his neck.
He fastens the end to a branch of a tree, which hangs over the
precipice. Then he throws himself from the rocks he had been
standing on. But the "rope" gives way, and he falls upon the
jagged rocks below. And there ends the man who, through all
time will be branded as THE ONE WHO BETRAYED HIS LORD.
© Helen Dowd.
Continue
with Study 4
| |