Matthew 26: 14-25
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 hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
If you are a veteran of Lenten services, then you’ve met Judas. He’s the bad guy in all of this, right? He sells out the Son of God for silver. There are other bad guys. Caiphas, that hypocrite in priestly robes; Pilate- that politician trying to save his own skin. Well they’re unbelievers anyway, right?
And the disciples. Well they caved in. They let the Savior down like we all have. And we can understand why they did. We’ve seen it in ourselves at times. Their good intentions turn to cowardice and denial. Been there. Done that ourselves We too have failed Jesus in a moment of pressure and decision.
But Judas. He’s different. He didn’t cave under pressure. He stole, deceived, planned, plotted and betrayed the Lord. For silver. It’s a sad story, isn’t it. We wonder why. WHAT DID HE SEE IN JESUS? Not what he should have. Not what he needed to.
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ ” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. The Passover meal was and is a special time for the Jewish people. It celebrated that night centuries before when the angel of death passed over the homes of God’s people, sparing their firstborn sons. What saved them from death? The blood of a sacrificed lamb painted on the doorposts of their home.
But this night there was another Lamb besides the roasted lamb on the table before the disciples. The Passover lamb whose blood had saved the firstborn from death was a shadow of this Lamb. He sat with his disciples, the Lamb of God who was about to shed his blood and sacrifice his life for us all.
But Jesus has something else not just for these disciples but also for his disciples of all time. A new meal in which he comes to us in bits of bread and wine with his true body and blood. He sits down with his disciples to celebrate the Passover and then institutes a new meal we call Holy Communion.
We Americans have a hard time understanding what it meant in Jesus’ day to sit down with someone and eat with them. Folks back then didn’t go to Applebees or McDonalds and sit in the midst of strangers. They ate at home in a close knit circle of family and friends. An invitation to eat was something very special, not a casual thing. That’s why the Pharisees were scandalized when Jesus sat down to eat with prostitutes and tax-collectors. To this day in the Mideast, it is saying, I am your friend. I will never hurt you.
Here Jesus sits down with those closest to him. Surely he should be able to count on their loyalty. It makes it all the more despicable that one of them had already decided to sell him out to his enemies. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
To sell someone out, you have to have a place of trust in the first place. One of YOU, Jesus says. Whose blood does not run cold to think of someone we thought was close to Christ finally show his/her true colors. It knocks the wind out of us especially when it’s a pastor or teacher or very involved member of God’s family. That person joined us at the Lord’s table, listened to the same sermons, heard the same Bible readings. But inside was a heart alien to Christ. It was all a mask to cover a heart willing to abandon the Lord when the time comes.
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” For all their failings, this question speaks well of them. They could have acted like people in one of those crime scenes where the detective announces that the murderer is in the room. They look around suspiciously asking, is it you..or you? But no, instead they each look inside themselves afraid that they could fall, that it might be me. Jesus relieve my fear.
I would suggest that’s a healthy fear. Think of Judas. The Bible says nothing of the way his parents or society treated him. It simply says he was a pilfering thief that stole some money from his friends. Maybe that was the place where Judas cracked open the door to Satan. Isn’t that how Satan works? There may have been a time when Judas would have laughed at the idea that he would betray Jesus. But Satan is content to come at us in small ways. Maybe with little peeks at the computer screen, maybe as we excuse ourselves from worship. What is it for you? Little ways that he uses to push the door open to our hearts a little wider all the time. Then the day comes when that door is wide open. And Jesus. Who cares about him? He looks different than he once did, like he did to Judas. Surely not I Lord. Yes it is I Lord. Forgive me. Help me. Save me. And he does.
Jesus does not identify his betrayer by name. 23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” They all eat from the same dish. This makes it all the worse. He sits at the same table, saw Jesus up close and personal for three years. Jesus knows what is in Judas heart. It was foretold in Scripture, but Jesus is clear. To betray the Lord in unbelief is a terrible thing. But Jesus warning falls on deaf ears. Satan already owns the turf of his heart. And anyone who does not believe in hell should listen to Jesus’ words. better for him if he had not been born.”
Was there a pregnant pause, a give away moment of silence. If there was no one seemed to notice. Finally Judas says: “Surely not I, Rabbi?”. Remember how the others had asked: Surely, not I, Lord? Was Lord too hard for him to say? Too hard for one about to betray him for 30 silver coins. “Surely not I, Rabbi?
Maybe Jesus said it with a whisper but this gospel reports that Jesus said, Yes it is you. Jesus gives the piece of bread to Judas. And Satan now calls his heart his home. The gospel of John simply reports: And he went out. And it was night. Yes night in the soul of Judas Iscariot.
So what did Judas see in Jesus? Not what he should have. Not what he needed to. He saw some awesome things with his eyes. Jesus calm a violent storm with just his voice. He saw Jesus restore crippled limbs and give baby soft skin to leprous, disfigured faces. He saw Jesus halt a funeral by giving a widow back her son. He saw Jesus evict demons from people whose lives they were destroying. Judas saw all this with his eyes, but not with his heart. At least not now.
What did Judas hear? The same sermons the others did. He heard the parables that one about the seed of the word that was choked out by the thorns. He heard that one about the prodigal son wrapped in the arms of his forgiving Father. He heard Jesus say to people struggling with dark secrets: Take heart son, your sins are forgiven. He heard it with his ears. But not with his heart. Surely he must have seen Jesus differently at one time. But something had changed. What once comforted, strengthened and even thrilled him, is no longer enough…now even a disappointment. His heart is on earthly things.
Two people can sit in the same church for years. They can go to the same confirmation classes, say the same prayers and creeds. They can listen to the same sermons, see what Jesus did in his Word, hear the things he said. One wanders and turns away. The other stays. One see all his life differently because of Christ, even the dark times with a faint glow of a glory to come. The other sees nothing.
By nature, we are no better than Judas. By grace, we can see Jesus as we do. That from this table he would go to suffer and die for us all, even Judas. That from this table he would offer us a supper of forgiveness and life.
How blessed we are to have a place at his table. How blessed we are to see him as we do. To look across the table at him who created us all. And from there to follow him to his cross where we see a love that would not give up on us. Amen.