Jn 12:1-8
Story: A Quaker once posted a sign on one of the choicest fields of his farm.
It stated,
"This land will be given to the first truly satisfied person who passes this way" .
He no sooner arrived back at his house than a man knocked at his door.
“Sir," he said, "I just saw your sign and I want you to know that I am a completely satisfied man.
I have a devoted family, a successful business, financial security for the future and I am in excellent health."
The old Quaker looked his visitor over very carefully and then said
"Pray tell me, friend, if thou art a completely satisfied man, why dost thou want my land?"
Introduction
There are a number of villains in Scripture, that I can think of
i) Cain who murdered his brother Abel,
ii) Jezebel who had Naboth murdered,
iii) King Manasseh who it is believed had the prophet Isaiah sawn in two, as well as killing many Yahweh worshippers and leading Israel astray
iv) Herod the Great who murdered all the children 2 years old or under in Bethlehem
But the top spot in villainy in the Bible goes to
Judas Iscariot
who betrayed his great friend Jesus which leading to the horrific death of a Crucifixion.
This morning’s Gospel reading is basically about 2 characters Judas Iscariot and Mary of Bethany
And had you asked Judas and Mary if they were satisfied simply with being in Jesus’s presence, you would have got two totally different answers.
But let’s start with
1. What do we know about Judas
1.1 Who was Judas?
He is known as Judas Iscariot
Some scholars think that the name Iscariot comes from a corruption of the Latin word sicarius meaning “dagger man”
If Iscariot is derived from sicarius, then Judas was a member of a terrorist group called the Sicarii.
The Sicarii was a group of rebels who were known for committing acts of terror by assassinating people in crowds with long knives hidden under their cloak.
They would happily walk up to a Roman soldier and stab him in the back.
If Judas was a member of the Sicarii, that would explain for me why he betrayed Jesus.
Judas wanted Jesus through his popularity to lead a rebellion to throw the Romans out.
And there was a precedence for this
In 167 BC, Judas Maccabeus had led an uprising against the Seleucid King Antiochus IV king of Syria who was ruling Judea at the time.
The Jewish uprising was so successful that Judas Maccabeus overthrew Antiochus in Judea and established the Hasmonean Kingdom that lasted for about 100 years.
That would fit in well with the popular idea in Judea at the time of Jesus that the Messiah would be a Judas Maccabeus style figure – freeing Israel from the oppressors -the Romans.
But whatever is true about Judas’s name it is clear that Judas wanted to get Jesus to throw the Romans out.
Another suggestion is that the name Iscariot is derived from the Latin scortea meaning “leather bag” which Judas as treasurer would have carried
John tells us that Judas was the treasurer for the disciples and he was also a thief.
St Paul warns Christians in 1 Tim 6 verse 10 that
10 …. the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Is that what happened to Judas?
Comment: I have often wondered why Judas’s remorse was different to Peter’s regret.
After all, you could say both betrayed Jesus?
And why Judas was offered no chance of repentance, whereas after the Resurrection , Peter was given a second chance
And the key to me seems to be in the attitude of Judas and Peter.
1. Judas actively set out to betray his friend.
I think his motive was to get Jesus to do what he wanted.
I think he betrayed Jesus to force Jesus’ hand
2. On the other hand Peter doesn’t set out to betray Jesus, to get his own way but simply through fear denied Jesus.
The attitudes of Judas and Peter are different
And Judas’ decision to betray Jesus had a serious effect on the events in Holy Week a real “Sherlock Holmes style mystery” – but I will look at that next week
But I would like to contrast the attitudes of Judas with that of Mary of Bethany today.
2, What do we know about Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany was the sister of Lazarus and also the sister of Martha .
She is unlikely to be the same Mary of Magdalene, since Bethany is Judea and Magdala, the region from which Mary Magdalene came is in the region of Galilee
Luke records that it was Mary of Bethany who had sat at Jesus’ feet rather than helping her sister Martha prepare a meal for Jesus and his disciples (Lk 10:38-42) and when Martha blew her top, Jesus commended Mary’s attitude.
She wanted to learn from Jesus and be a true disciple.
It would never have crossed her mind to betray Jesus for money.
She hung on every word Jesus said.
Was it, by sitting at Jesus feet, that she listened and understood more than anyone else that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die?
She really listened to Him and took it into her heart
Knowing of his impending death, she wanted to express her love of him by anointing Him with a jar of nard that cost a year’s wages.
Perhaps equivalent to about £20,000 in today’s money.
Her attitude was that of love for Jesus and so he commends her for anointing Him for burial.
Conclusion
Just yesterday (01-04-2022) I read this story
When the legendary composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) was young, a hunger for approval drove him towards success.
Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) wrote of him
”When Verdi produced his first opera in Florence, the composer stood in the shadows and kept his eye on one man in the audience – the great Rossini - Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868).
It mattered not to Verdi whether the people in the hall were cheering him or jeering him; all he wanted was a smile of approval from the master musician”
(quoted from the reflection by Bill Crowder in My Daily Bread 23 November 2019)
Whose smile am I looking for – that of the crowd or that of the Master - Jesus . For that will determine my attitude in life
May I leave you with a thought
If you drew a linear line across a piece of paper starting on the left with Judas and his selfishness and then marked Mary and her selflessness and servanthood and love of Jesus on the far right, where would YOU lie on the line
