Judas walked with Jesus for 3 and a half years, and he saw the integrity, the purity, the ingenuity of Jesus’ ministry and mission on the earth. Yet something grew in Judas’ heart, as he is not known for anything else within the 12 than a thief and a covetous man. This would culminate with the ultimate betrayal, the handing over of Jesus to the authorities.
Betrayal is usually felt by us because the one who betrays is always the ones close to us. The pain of it is very poignant, yet it is the intimate knowledge of us that is used to betray us with. There was a sentiment of revolution within that company of 12, and ambitions were thought and expressed. What in the myriad of currents of thought concerning Jesus is that the mission would culminate in revolution. I am surmising from all the texts I study and the motivations may be suppositions, but they strike us all the same. Somehow Judas saw Jesus as an obstacle to his own advancement, and hearing how the chief priests had their eyes on Jesus as a prized possession, to be seized and done away with as any other man.
The very thing that had Judas imprisoned was mammon, and it would be this that Satan would appear to play on. And this is a very important lesson to all of us, because it is our weaknesses that can produce the most destructive in our lives. In this Easter week, Wednesday sees a secret meeting between the sanhedrin and Judas, hatching up a plan to seize Jesus. 30 pieces of silver are weighed out.
This was not ordinary money. This was a sizeable sum. It was on receiving this money that Judas began to perceive the way that money had him by the neck.
It is not by chance that even today money has the neck of the ministries and Churches, and with it, many betrayals of our Lord are committed. I believe that in reading yesterday’s message we understand Jesus’ zeal for His own House, and His war against the power of money and the worship it attracts. It is not enough that billionaires have money, today control and betrayal of innocents is the run of the mill of daily life. Wars are fought over money, and control that comes with it. It is the same with a threat of nuclear war that is so evident today. And as ministers are in the snare of money, they are also in the river of control and destruction. Jesus will visit and make war against their machinations.
We need to see that betrayal will be a part of the end time age. The true Church, its witnesses will be betrayed. They will not be betrayed because they are believers but because their gifting is a warfare against greed, power and control. Are we willing to betray virtue with our vices? It is this point in this Easter week we face this question. Which side do we fall on?
The sad thing is, when the Last Supper to celebrate the Paschal Lamb, comes around Jesus exposes Judas as a betrayer, handing him the bread. Satan enters Judas, and is the only man in the Bible who has Satan himself to possess a human being. The satanic plan had to come off in perfection. Once Jesus is handed over, Satan leaves Judas, and he sees the enormity of what he has done, the demonic plan being revealed to him. He tries to give back the silver but is left in ridicule as the Sanhedrin now had their prize. Both Satan and the Sanhedrin work together to torment Judas and kill the Lord.
Being a believer does not shield us from betraying the Lord and His saints. We need to walk deeply in love with Him and discerning His Purpose each day. That way our vices will not betray virtue.
Maranatha!
Leave a Reply