When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 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.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
It is surprising and perplexing to think that Jesus knew who was going to betray Him. In fact, it safe to assume that Jesus knew when He chose Judas as a disciple that Judas would one day betray Him. In fact, it is an even safer assumption that as God knit Judas together in his mother's womb, He was aware that this tiny child would grow up and betray Him. And yet, knowing all of this, Jesus treated Judas with the same dignity and respect that He treated all the other disciples. Jesus loved Judas just as much as the others. Jesus gave Judas every chance possible. But Judas, relying on his own best thinking, made a choice -a bad choice.
I believe Judas had a choice. I don't believe that Judas was merely "pre-destined" to evil. If God hardened Judas' heart, it was only hardening it and locking it into a position that Judas had already decided upon. So, the question is, how did one of Jesus' chosen 12 come to this awful decision?
It seems unthinkable that Judas could have so misunderstood Jesus. It is difficult to imagine that Judas was so completely clueless as to Jesus' identity and purpose. So, it is possible, as some scholars believe that Judas was simply tired of waiting. He may have betrayed Jesus simply to force His hand. If so, Judas, no doubt, fully expected that Jesus would defend Himself at trial -that Jesus would use the opportunity to reveal once and for all His identity to the masses and would then raise His army and overthrow the Roman oppressors and re-establish Israel as God's chosen people among the nations. But that didn't happen. Judas was sadly mistaken -not about Jesus' identity, but about His purpose.
Jesus was, indeed, the long awaited Messiah, but He did not intend to overthrow Rome and establish an earthly, political kingdom. His purpose was, instead, to establish a New Covenant (a new agreement between God and man) and in the process, bring God's Kingdom (spiritual kingdom) here to earth.
I think that Judas' sad mistake was natural. He simply did not understand what Jesus had been saying. He heard the words, but missed the meaning. Judas entire relationship with Jesus was built upon some preconceived notions about what the Messiah was supposed to do. In a sense, Judas already had a messianic theology. He was not willing to set aside his own best thinking for the reality of the actual Messiah.
I wonder how often we do a similar thing? How often do we come to God in prayer, or come to His Word with our preconceived notions of what it all means -with our pre-established systems of theology -and fail to hear what God is actually saying? What would happen, I wonder, if we listened when we prayed expecting God to answer? What would happen if we quit relying on our own best thinking? What would happen if we set aside what we think we already know when we sit down to read the Bible, and let the Bible itself tell us what to think and believe instead using the party line of whatever theological camp we belong to determine how we interpret Scripture? I'm guessing we would all be surprised. Very surprised.
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