Theme: Betrayal and fake faith
Wednesday during the Passion Week has been difficult for commentators to deal with, because while other days are specifically noted through entering and leaving Jerusalem, or the relation of the day to Passover, or some other detail as to what Jesus did, nothing is specifically assigned to this day. As Sherlock Holmes would say, "When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" (Doyle, 91). Now if we can assign all of Jesus' other recorded activities to other days, then the conclusion is that Jesus spent Wednesday in private fellowship with the disciples and the family of Simon the Leper: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, in Bethany. The next day would be the second most painful of his life.
But that doesn't mean everyone was idle. Only on a day when everyone was left to themselves would Judas have the freedom to make a quick trip (probably less than a 30 minute walk) to the Temple precincts where he could arrange to betray Jesus.
The actions of Judas are epic in scope, and have led to all sorts of speculation. How could one who had seen all he had seen come to such a point? There had been no mistreatment by Jesus or the disciples--he had even been made treasurer of the group (Jn. 12:6). Some have thought he had tried to orchestrate a move that would force Jesus to act against Rome. More liberal scholars have even suggested that he acted with Jesus' covert blessing to bring things to a head. And others have suggested that after discovering that Jesus would not fight Rome for independence, he had become disenchanted and disgusted.
Ultimately, we don't know his lesser motivations. But Jesus offers a number of clues. Here is a list of what He, John, and Matthew have told us about Judas:
- Judas was not "clean"--cleansed from his sin. "You [the disciples] are clean, but not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." John 13:10-11
- Judas was led by Satan--"...the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray [Jesus]" John 13:2
- Judas was "the son of destruction" who is specifically said to be "lost" John 17:12
- Judas was "a devil" John 6:70
- Judas was a thief John 12:6
- Judas' sorrow over betraying innocent blood lacks any expression of repentance toward God or toward Jesus Matt. 27:4-5
If we simply take what the Scripture says, we must conclude that Judas was, from the beginning, a fake. He was known from the beginning by Jesus as the one who would betray Him. His only comments recorded are lies--whether about Mary's expensive ointment for Jesus, or denying that he was the betrayer, or greeting the Lord with a kiss.
But he was a good faker. None of the rest of the twelve knew he was the betrayer until he did the deed. Even when he left the upper room, they thought he was on a mission for Jesus.
Such fakers are still among us. God, by his grace, will open the eyes of some of them (or you, if you are a faker reading this--and this may be His warning to you to repent). Others will continue to deceive everyone else until they do something to reveal their loyalty, or maybe they will go to the grave deceiving us, and be exposed only at the Judgment. They may even join the chorus of those crying out, "Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name (Judas did), and cast out demons (Judas did), and do many might works in your name (Judas did)"(Matt 7:22).
And they will hear what Judas will hear, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."
Faking faith is deadly, and it can't succeed before the one Judge who matters.
Let's pray that God opens the eyes and hearts of fakers we may know (even if we don't know they are fakers). And perhaps we might need to ask the Lord Jesus the question even his true followers asked that next night when he told them betrayal was coming, "Lord, it's not me, is it? I'm not faking, am I?"
No comments:
Post a Comment