Key Verse: "I
told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep
it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver."
Zechariah
11:12
Matthew, Mark
and John all seem to agree that the anointing of Jesus' feet with the expensive
perfume was the breaking point for Judas. We must remember that all of these
accounts were written in hindsight, as the Apostles pieced things together. At
the time, however, no one seems to have suspected Judas of anything. To them,
he was one of them, a special follower of Christ. He had been with them when
Jesus prayed and preached. He had been sent out, two by two, to do the same, as
an imitator of our Lord. He was assumed to be so trustworthy that he was the
keeper of the purse for the entire group.
It is only in
hindsight that John mentions that Judas was a thief who often took from the
purse for himself. He must have remained above suspicion because this job
wasn't taken away from him and given to, say, Matthew, the known accountant and
tax collector. In Judas, we see most clearly what it means that "The Lord
does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart." (1
Samuel 16:7B) Only Jesus was not fooled by Judas, yet, in grace, Jesus
allowed Judas to continue with Him in His master plan.
Isn't it
amazing that a beautiful act, such as the anointing of Jesus could create such
evil in the heart of a disciple? If this was the tipping point, however, who
knows when his doubts began, or if they ever did?
There are two
common explanations that I have heard for why Judas betrayed Jesus. Some
speculate that Judas was frustrated that Jesus wasn't being given a fair
hearing by the leadership. By forcing this meeting between the leadership and
Jesus, Judas was hoping that Jesus would finally declare Himself to be the long
awaited Messiah and the leadership would come on board and lend Him their
support. The strength of this argument lies in the remorse Judas seems to
display when the leadership also does not behave as Judas may have expected.
The weakness in this argument, of course, is that Jesus was constantly butting
heads with the leadership throughout His ministry and, while we learned
yesterday that some were secretly convinced, the power brokers were not, and
just wanted to get this Jesus problem out of the way.
For me, the
other speculation seems more plausible, especially considering the negative
comments about Judas, given by his own peers as they wrote the gospels years
later. They seem to be convinced that Judas was not well meaning, but that he
probably thought more like the leadership himself and agreed that this,
"Jesus problem," had to be dealt with for the good of the Jewish
people. Jesus’ ministry was not headed in the direction that Judas believed the
Messiah should go. He may have even worried that Jesus was blaspheming, which
couldn't be tolerated. Wasting expensive perfume on a carpenter's feet
certainly wouldn't be condoned by God the Father. How could it?
So, for thirty
pieces of silver, the price of a common slave, Judas sealed his own fate and
did not turn back. The leadership could not believe this fortunate turn of
events and the stage was set for the redemption of the world. How interesting
that the leadership wanted to wait until after the Passover to strike because
they feared the crowds. As we shall see, however, Jesus’ death had to take
place during Passover because He is the Lamb of God who came to take away the
sins of the world. This reminds us, once again, "In the fullness of
time," (Gal.
4:4-5) how God is in control no matter what man's plans may be.
Hymn: "Yield Not to Temptation”
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