14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. (Matthew 26: 14-16)
be·tray
verb
past tense: betrayed; past participle: betrayed
- expose (one’s country, a group, or a person) to danger by treacherously giving information to an enemy.
“a double agent who betrayed some 400 British and French agents to the Germans”
This week, as I was prepping for all of my Holy Week obligations, and reading the accounts of the last week of Jesus’ life, I was brought up short with the reminder of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. There’s some conflicting accounts of this betrayal between the Matthew story, the Luke story and the John story, and there appears to be some conflicting motives for why Judas betrayed Jesus. The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John both cite ‘Satan’ as the influence in the betrayal, and John goes even further to suggest that Judas had some issues with ethics before hand; was the treasurer for the movement and had stolen money from the common purse. Matthew is a little simpler in his motives; and says that it was just greed.
Regardless of the motives of Judas, the Bible suggests that this act of betrayal was the catalyst for the rest of the week; the arrest, the trial, and the crucifixion of Jesus. A single decision made for who really knows what reason that sparked the most pivotal story of our faith.
Which all has me thinking about the decisions that we make in life; ones that seem to be fairly small, that spark a whole chain of events that we weren’t anticipating. You know, things like a moment of jealousy over someone else’s accomplishments that leads to the severing of the relationship. Or maybe a moment of greed – of wanting ‘more’ of something for yourself, and not considering the impact that your ‘more’ has on those around that have ‘less’. Sometimes its as simple as being jealous that someone else seems to be ‘managing’ life better than you, and so you either sabotage their efforts, or you angrily engage in a smear campaign.
Sometimes its so subtle, your actions so covert, that the consequences seem random and surprising, and its easy to deny responsibility. “I never INTENDED for that to happen”. “Why don’t they trust my INTENTION?”
Intention.
Motives.
We don’t know why Judas betrayed Jesus. All we know is that he did.
Often we don’t know why we respond with greed or jealousy, or even anger.
But we do.
And the unfortunate truth of the stories of our faith is that sometimes, we respond to the world in less than stellar ways and it results in pretty catastrophic consequences.
And I wonder if that was what Jesus was trying to say when he sat with his friends on the night before his trial. I wonder, when he shared his bread and his wine with his friends, knowing that one of them was going to betray him, if his intent in saying “this is my body, broken for you”, that he was reminding them of our universal brokenness. That none of us are beyond some pretty awful motives and intentions. That none of us are immune from the consequences of jealousy, greed and anger. That if it wasn’t Judas, then it could be anyone else in the room.
But we are still called together – to share our lives and our meals. And to work out relationships with each other. And to ultimately, share in daily Communion with each other. Because its is in recognizing our universal brokenness that we can offer each other salvation. It is only when we see ourselves as Judas that we can offer life beyond the crucifixion; a life of Resurrection.
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the
same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Blessings my friends, and remember you are Loved.
~Rev. Lynne
