(This is the final of 7 posts on the Easter Judas had to have. The text is Luke 22:3-23.)So Judas is a problem, yes. But in many ways, he represents the whole world gone wrong, and overrun by evil. Judas is a manifestation of Evil. Evil that will be dwelt with. Like John said: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him." And yet Jesus says in V22 "Woe to him who betrays the Son of Man." For Messiah Jesus will defeat evil.
But -- Judas is us. We are, by nature, Judas. And we need someone to separate us out from him and bring us forgiveness, and give us a new start. We need to avoid the 'Woe' – the curse of being found unfaithful like Judas.
Like John said: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But to those who received him, he gave the right to become children of God."
The story of Judas ended badly. It ended in suicide. It ended with the deep despair that comes with infidelity. Especially the infidelity to your creator. We need a different path.
Where will we find this path?
The answer here is in the middle section of our text (Luke 22:3-23): The Lord’s Supper. The Last Passover. A celebration of forgiveness in the person and work of Christ.
Tom Wright said of this text: "For the blend of betrayal and celebration at the supper is preparing us for blend of tragedy and triumph in the cross itself."
(Then the rest of the sermon is a reflection of Christ's work on the Cross as an answer to sin and the problem of evil...)
Thoughts?
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Pic on Flickr by Pastorbuhro's.
1 comment:
From the very first sin in Eden, blood was shed as skins were taken to clothe their nakedness. In Leviticus 1 and 16, attempts to remedy both ignorance and sin entail the sacrifice of an unblemished animal. Even after it was slain, it was commanded that it be cut up into many pieces...a heavy rebuttal to Freudian deinal and rationalization.
Blood soaking the priest's garments, the stone...washing off blood once it sets is hard...so is casting off an addiction...
The wages of sin is death...and disintegration...of relationships not just with each other but with God.
We know the blood of the lamb turns back the Destroyer, and on the cross the Lamb delivers us from the penalty of sin...
I read in Exodus 12 after following up on something I saw on the Jews for Jesus website that Jesus entered Jerusalem 5 days before the feast of unleavened bread because it was on that day that the lamb without blemish was selected to be made a sacrifice on the passover.
However, I do believe it is not in the Gospels but in Revelation, that the Lord is most frequently referred to as the Lamb when he comes again to deliver us one and for all from the power and the presence of sin. Sin is defeated and its sting death is cast into the lake of fire!
"Your gift of love, they crucified
They laughed and scorned Him as He died,
The humble king they named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God."
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