"is It I?"

Have you ever been betrayed? Has someone revealed a secret confidence of yours? Perhaps the worse case of betrayal, which is far too common, is having an affair and betraying the trust and love of your partner. Such betrayal is a dagger in the heart, an earthquake that topples ones world into dust, often without recovery. For the anguished soul it is a dark, turbulent time for crying out to God in pain. Some of you have experienced such betrayal. But how would you treat the betrayer if you knew in advance that he or she would betray you? Jesus knew his betrayer beforehand.

John Piper wrote;

“The most spectacular sin that has ever been committed in the history of the world is the brutal murder of Jesus Christ, the morally perfect, infinitely worthy, divine Son of God. And probably the most despicable act in the process of this murder was the betrayal of Jesus by one of his closest friends, Judas Iscariot.”

Judas: The infamous name that will always be linked to betrayal and the highest treachery. The 22nd chapter opens with a look at this man named Judas.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread or Passover was approaching. This was one of the three feasts, Shavuot (or Pentecost) and Sukkoth (or Tents) being the others, that required pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate as stated in Deut.16:16;

““Three times a year all males must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.”

Passover, was a big deal. It was everyones ambition to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast at least once in their lifetime. Last week I spoke of just how magnificent, even other worldly was the splendor of the Temple and how befitting to actually be there to celebrate. There were extensive preparations made for the feast and to accommodate the crowds. Roads were repaved, bridges reinforced and gravestones whitewashed so pilgrims would see them and avoid accidentally touching them and become unclean. Weeks before the synagogues began teaching about the meaning of the Passover. Yet, how ironic that while celebrating the Passover, which was to celebrate their salvation from slavery, at the same time they are plotting to kill the Savior who brings salvation from slavery to sin.

“and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people.”

A few people saw Jesus as the Messiah, most saw him as a prophet of God and they thronged about him to hear his teachings. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead large crowds followed him during the “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem. The efforts of the religious leaders had not stopped him or diminished his popularity which threatened their positions and influence. In Jn.12:19 we hear their frustration;

“So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

So they plotted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus. But how? They feared that any public arrest would infuriate the people setting off a riot. Whenever there were feasts held in Jerusalem for pilgrims, Rome would fortify their presence by sending in more soldiers to maintain order. A riot would be meet with iron-fisted violence and ultimately the religious leaders would be held accountable before the Emperor, in this case the half-mad Nero. So arresting Jesus publicly was out of the question, but they needed to “get rid of him.” We then read that they receive some help in their diabolical scheme.

“Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.”

As we saw in the Job class, for those involved, Satan himself is under the sovereign rule of God. He cannot do whatever he wants. He had to have God’s permission to touch Job. Martin Luther said that God has Satan on a leash, allowing limited freedom but always under His control.

When we read, “Satan entered Judas,” most scholars feel it is reading too much into the words to label this as possession. However, we should not underplay that Satan had a strategic role which shows the cosmic implications of Jesus’ life and death. We also must understand that Judas had a to make a decision. Without delving too deeply into the complex subject, it seems that those who were possessed lived lives that opened them to the devil and ultimate possession. However, as Jesus went about and cast out demons from such people, He never held them accountable for their actions while they were possessed. He cast out the demon and restored the individual to family and community. He never took them to task for actions they committed while possessed. However, just a few verses down in v.22 at the Last Supper, Jesus says;