Matthew 26:14-25 (ESV)
Judas to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
The Passover with the Disciples
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
I always find it very difficult as I read through this part of the narrative because I’m hit hard by the word “betray”.
Have you ever been betrayed by someone? I’m not talking about a broken promise or being cheated by someone. Betrayal cuts deeper than those things, wounding us to the bone. We may never fully recover from a moment of betrayal. We can forgive, but the mark of betrayal affects us so deeply that trust for that person, or for others in similar circumstances, is always something that we question from that moment forward.
Judas betrays Jesus. There is no getting around this. There is no sugarcoating it or trying for a nice outcome. There have been many theories that tried to explain Judas and his actions throughout the years. Some have suggested that Judas wanted to force Jesus’ hand, to be the military king which everyone wanted. Some suggested that Judas’ behavior falls in line with addictive behavior, offering the explanation that Judas was a drunkard. There are other theories swirling around Judas, but the truth is that we can’t know his rationalizations or what was in his heart. All we know is that Judas betrayed Jesus.
I’m also always caught off guard by the disciple’s response to Jesus when Jesus tells them that “one of you will betray me.” It’s surprising to note that everyone one of them asks, “Is it me?”
You see, up until that moment, all the disciples had been on the same journey with Jesus. They’ve heard Jesus’ teaching, they’ve seen the miraculous signs, and they were there when Jesus came into Jerusalem with everyone cheering. Right up to this point, Judas was just like the rest of the disciples. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by their question, “Is it me?”
Perhaps we need to consider that we’re not all that different from the disciples. As N.T. Wright wrote, “When we say that Jesus died ‘because of our sins’, we don’t just mean that in some high-flow, abstract sense. We mean that what put him on the cross was precisely the sins that we all not only commit, but wallow in.
We like to use words that don’t feel so heavy with guilt when we talk about our own betrayal of Jesus; “stumbled”, “fallen”, “wandered”, “slipped”, and “messed up.” There are others, but the truth is that we’ve betrayed Jesus, just like the disciples, and just like Judas (remember that soon Peter will deny he even knows Jesus, and all the disciples will abandon Jesus as well when He is arrested).
“Is it me?” Yes, but, and this is massive, remember what Jesus said before in Matthew’s Gospel, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28).
Jesus loves you and is ready and willing to forgive you if you will simply and humbly come. Jesus did die for our sins so that all of us can be reconciled.
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers!
Scott