Matthew 26:47-51
The betrayal of Judas is laced with
mystery. It is impossible to understand what was going through his mind; it is
equally impossible to not wonder. How could he think for a moment that the grip
of death’s hold on Lazarus could not prevent Jesus from taking him out of the
tomb but that after a hypocritical kissing of Jesus and threatening Him with
clubs and swords could secure the outcome of the night?
How could this man walk for three years
in the shadow of the Healer and watch His generosity and power revealed on a
daily basis and then sell Him for thirty coins? How could he kiss the One he
was on a mission to kill? Is it possible that he expected Jesus to fight? Is it
possible that he expected Jesus to defend Himself? Is it possible that he could
forget three years of non-violent behavior and think he could force Jesus into
aggression? We have a great mystery in this garden on the other side of the
world from Eden. We have a mystery that must remain unsolved until we stand
before His throne.
The power that overcame the disciple who
held the purse is an unexplainable mystery, but it is not beyond the realm of
experience. It only takes one look into a mirror to realize that the image of
Judas kissing Jesus is all too similar to the image in the mirror. How is it
that we can become convicted of sin and be aware of God’s love and receive His
forgiveness and then stumble even in a small way thereafter?
Our task today is not to attempt to
understand what is beyond our reach, but rather to look into this piece of
history with questions about our own performance and commitment to the Master.
We must never forget that Judas gave Jesus virtually three years of his life.
He followed Him from Dan to Beersheba with all of the signs of devoted
allegiance. When the betrayer was anonymously announced at the Last Supper, all
eyes did not turn toward Judas. He appeared no more conspicuous than any of the
other eleven. With no preconceived expectations from anyone, Satan enters into
Judas [Luke 22:3], and the plot of betrayal thickens.
We must look at the passage and ask some
hard questions about ourselves, our security, and the power of evil on this
planet. Three years of faithfulness could not outweigh a night of failure. Are
we all to live beneath a sword of Damocles suspended from moments in time? Must
we be terrorized by the possibility of ourselves becoming capable of a kiss of
death? These are hard questions
deserving of an answer.
There is hardly room for humor in the
accounts concerning Jesus’ arrest, but how could anyone not smile at Judas’
self-deception to think that grabbing Jesus with the support of an army could
prevent Him from doing what needed to be done. The flea kissing the elephant
and then attempting to restrain its movement contains far more probability than
the man with thirty coins in his pocket restraining the Creator and Sustainer
of the universe from doing what He decided needed to be done. Judas must have
thought that he was kissing a pawn on the chessboard of humanity and failed to
recognize that he was actually kissing the face of God.