Final-- Judas' Easter: Separating from Judas.

(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.

#6- Judas' Easter: There is a Goat in the Tank

(7 Posts on the Easter Judas had to have. The text is Luke 22:3-23.)

So Judas has his hand in the till.

I know a gentleman who has a phrase to describe this phenomenon in all of us. He calls it the 'Goat in the Tank'. Now, this is a little crude, but it makes the point.

My friend went away to a farm once for a vacation. And noticed that the water tasted funny. He noticed it over several days. So he got the farmer to look in on the problem. And the farmer took a look in the tank and fished out -- you guessed it -- a dead goat.

I presume from then on they decided to buy bottled water!

But my friend thought about it, and he realized that our hearts are like the tank. There is something wrong in all of us. There is, what we might call, a 'goat in the tank':
Sin inside each of us.

A deep frailty.
A devastating flaw.
A predilection to hurt.
A selfish thing going on.

There is, in short, a goat in the tank. And Judas’ love of money was what eventually lead him to betray Jesus.

One post to come...

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Pic on Flickr by Bevoman03.

#5- Judas' Easter: Was Judas a pawn in a game?

(7 Posts on the Easter Judas had to have! The text is Luke 22:3-23.)

And you may say, "Well, Judas is just a pawn in a cruel game; an innocent in the hands of cosmic powers. This all this unfair".

But earlier in the life of Jesus, the Apostle John records an important insight into Judas’ character. (And it also provides a snapshot on how the post-resurrection disciples viewed Judas' own heart.)

It's recorded in John 12:4:

The context here is that a woman has lavished expensive perfume on Jesus out of love.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages. " He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Like Pharaoh in Egypt, Judas was no 'saint' being overtaken unfairly by God. Or by Satan. No – he has something within him that eventually lead to the betrayal. He was like a gambler, who eventually HAD to sell his friends.

Because, like us, his heart was orientated a certain way.

2 Posts to come...
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Pic on Flickr by Auntie P.

#4- Judas' Easter: 'To betray, you must first belong'

(7 Posts on the Easter Judas had to have. The text is Luke 22:3-23.)

But something more is being said here from Luke:

That evil comes not just from an external and/or hostile source. But that evil also comes from within. And specifically, from within the friendship group of Jesus. It does not come from 'those bad people' outside, those who aren’t our friends; it does not from the Gentiles; and not from a group you could easily demonize.

In Jewish history, there is always this undercurrent that the enemy is outside: Other nations; other people are to blame. But the gospel makes it clear that sin is HERE as well as THERE. (and Judaism itself makes this clear as well). That sin is on the inside, as well as outside.

Jesus says that from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. Paul says: all have sinned. Jew, and Gentile; slave and free; male and female. Us and them.

It is no surprise, then, that the betrayal happens within the disciple-group.

Harold "Kim" Philby, high-ranking member of British intelligence and a Soviet Spy said this: 'To betray, you must first belong'. Yes. And we belong to God in creation, and yet we have all been unfaithful to our God.

3 Posts to come...

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Pic from Wiki of Kim Philby.

#3- Judas' Easter: The true enemy of God is Evil itself.

(7 Posts on 'The Easter Judas had to have'. The text is Luke 22:3-23.)

What is it about Judas?

The text tells us that Satan entered Judas: V3

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.

Like you, I have a lot of questions about this verse. There are many who are troubled over a verse like this. But at least this much is being said: Judas represents all that is wrong with the universe.

The true enemy of God is not any one person (it was not Judas acting alone). The true enemy of God is not the government. The true enemy of God is not Egypt (it was the time for Passover) or Rome. The true enemy of God is Satan himself. Evil itself. And at this point in the Gospel, St Luke is making that clear to us.

It was Satan acting against Jesus.

Satan is present in the Garden of Eden, seeking whom he may devour; and evil enters the Upper Room on that Passover Day, intent on the life of Jesus. It is Satan who means ill. It is Satan who seeks to destroy all that is good and of God. It is Satan who seeks God's destruction.

And the Scriptures make clear that you and I are both victims and agents of that evil. We, too, are 'in Adam'.

We need a Savior...

4 More posts...

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Pic on Flickr by EcoSnake.

#2- Judas' Easter: Dante's Inferno

(7 Posts on the Easter Judas had to have. The text is Luke 22:3-23.)

What is it about Judas?

In Dante’s Divine Comedy, written in the 14th Century, the Italian poet 'paints a picture' of the layers of Hell. (A picture, it is worth saying, that is far far far beyond anything said in Scripture.)

Who does Dante place at the very center of Hell? Perpetually held in the jaws of Satan?

Judas. For betraying the Messiah.

Throughout History, Judas has come to represent all that is wrong in a world lacking fidelity. Even today: We may call someone 'Benedict Arnold' if we want to hurt someone who has betrayed us. But to call someone 'Judas' is to cut to the heart.

5 More posts...
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#1: The Easter Judas had to have.

7 Posts on the Easter Judas had to have! These are some reflections on Luke 22:3-23. This was a part of a sermon I did on Maundy Thursday night.

Judas represents a world gone wrong.

Judas has always been a mysterious character in history: Appealing and repulsive at the same time. And notice that Luke 22:3-23 is framed by references to Judas: V3-6 begins our text, and v21-23 ends our text. Judas' Easter is the 'bookends' surrounding Jesus' last Supper before his death. That, in itself, says something interesting about the person and work of Jesus.

What is it about Judas?

What about the others? Peter troubles us for his denial. Thomas troubles us for his doubt. Everyone else ran away. But Judas? Heck, Judas betrayed the Lord our God. He was close to him for 3 years, and yet sold.him.out.

Jesus, who is worth more than the universe he created, was sold out for a mere 30 pieces of silver. Scary.

6 More posts...
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