Judas Iscariot
John 12: 1-8
Today’s gospel from John is set in holy week, the anointing of Jesus with precious ointment – a poignant scene; but Judas reacted that it was a terrible waste, the ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor.
John's comment is that Judas said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, he kept the common purse and stole from its contents.
Judas plays a leading role in the passion of Jesus.
The problem that the Jewish authorities had, was how to get Jesus into their hands without a riot, for Jesus was very popular with the common people.
It was Judas who solved their problem.
So Judas on that Thursday night knew where Jesus would go; there was limited space in Jerusalem and very few or no gardens where Jesus could go.
Well-to-do people had their private gardens on the Mount of Olives and Judas knew that some unknown friend had given Jesus the courtesy of their garden during the Passover season, and Jesus would go there.
So Judas led the Jewish authorities there.
At the time of Passover there would be a full moon, and the night would be almost as clear as the day.
But with such a crowd there was always the chance of confusion.
So Judas had arranged a signal, so that he might identify Jesus to the soldiers and to the Temple police.
When a disciple met a Rabbi, it was the custom for him to place his hands on his master's shoulders and to kiss him…… That was to be the sign.
And then tragedy engulfed Judas as Matthew tells us Judas went back to the priests, told them that he had sinned against innocent blood, and begged them to take their money back.
When they wouldn’t, he flung the 30 pieces of silver back at them, and went out and hanged himself.
Is there any significance in the 30 pieces of silver?
The OT prophet Zechariah worked as a shepherd and when he went for his pay they gave him 30 pieces of silver, which he sarcastically calls a “handsome price” because it was such a small amount, the price paid for a slave’s accidental death.
The employers meant to insult Zechariah with this amount of money and returning the insult, God tells Zechariah to “throw it to the potter,” and Zechariah tossed the money into the house of the Lord to be given to the potter.
Judas in his turn was so overcome with guilt for betraying Jesus, and, fulfilling Zechariah’s vivid prophecy, that he threw the 30 silver coins into the temple.
30 pieces of silver, the compensation for a dead slave that is what the Jewish Authorities considered Jesus to be worth.
The Jewish leaders used the thirty pieces of silver to buy a field from a potter, again as Zechariah had predicted; it was in that field that Judas hanged himself.
But why did he do it? Why did Judas betray Jesus?
None of the other apostles realised what was going on in Judas' heart and mind except Jesus.
Unlike the other disciples that called Jesus “Lord,” Judas never used this title for Jesus and instead called him “Rabbi,” which acknowledged Jesus as nothing more than a teacher.
While other disciples at times made great professions of faith and loyalty, Judas never did so and appears to have remained silent.
As early as the feeding of the 5000 Jesus saw in Judas' heart - the germ of the traitor’s spirit (John 6:70,71).
It is thought by some that Judas was a violent, fanatical nationalist, pledged to use any means to drive the Romans from Israel, possibly he was a Zealot.
The Jews never ceased to believe that they were God’s Chosen People and the idea of holding worldly power and domination.
It may be that Judas saw in Jesus his dream fulfilled, with his powers of speech and action, the leader of a band of freedom fighters.
The Zealots were ruthless and determined in their fight with Rome to free their country from the oppressor and they believed that a Messiah, a warrior king would come to lead them to victory.
The parallels today are with ISIS but they weren’t so barbaric but it’s strange how the English language has adopted the word Zealous in our vocabulary as someone who is: ‘To be filled with eagerness and ardent interest in the pursuit of something.’
But NOT at the expense of human life and NOT at any cost!
It was that dream that Judas attached himself to Jesus; and it was that dream that collapsed.
Judas, like most people at the time, believed the Messiah was going to overthrow Roman occupation and take a position of power ruling over the nation of Israel.
Judas may have followed Jesus hoping to benefit from association with Him as the new reigning political power.
No doubt he expected to be among the ruling elite after the revolution but by the time of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus had made it clear that He planned to die, not start a rebellion against Rome.
So Judas must have assumed—just as the Pharisees did—that since Jesus would not overthrow the Romans, He must not be the Messiah they were expecting.
And it soon became clear that Jesus was driving on, not to world power, but to a Cross.
There were two crucial moments in the life of Judas - One came immediately after the people wished to take Jesus and to make him king (John 6.15).
In that moment Judas saw the death of his dream.
And then the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem on that 1st Palm Sunday, it must be the moment when Jesus could raise the standard of revolt and storm as warrior king into Jerusalem.
Instead of that it was the moment when Jesus began the last mile to the Cross riding on a donkey and NOT on the warriors stallion.
Again Judas saw his dream being crucified; and this time he took action.
He had not the slightest doubt that Jesus could make that dream come true, if He wanted to.
He saw that Jesus was strangely and inexplicably slow to act, and Judas decided to force His hand, and to compel Him to act.
If that is so, the last thing in Judas' mind was any desire that Jesus should be crucified.
The only thing in his mind was to create a situation in which Jesus would be compelled to unleash His power.
And, if that is so, there is real drama set out in what happened in the garden at the time of the arrest.
When Judas kissed Jesus, maybe there was a blaze of excitement on his face and a flame of expectation in his eyes.
Hail, Master! ' he said (Matt. 26.49). On to victory! Unleash your power!
Perhaps that is why Judas betrayed Jesus as it would certainly explain:
• Why Judas then vanishes from the scene?
• Why is it that he did not appear in court to give evidence against Jesus?
• What more effective evidence could there have been than evidence from one of Jesus' closest supporters?
• Why did he commit suicide?
The reason may well be that Judas saw how tragically wrong his carefully thought out plan had gone wrong, and that he had killed the man he loved.
The tragedy for Judas was that he refused to accept Jesus Christ as He was, and sought to make Jesus Christ into what he wanted Him to be.
When we feel like condemning Judas Iscariot because he betrayed Jesus let us remember that Jesus once said: ‘He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone’.
