Passion Week XXII

While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.  But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”  When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”  And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.  Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber?  While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.” (Luke 22:47-53 NASB)

The arrest is the “Garden Scene” all four Gospels record.  Yet, again, all record different details.  Together they give an interesting picture of the event.  Even so, the details in Luke and John are my favorites.  The character of Jesus is so completely at odds with the event it’s startling.

In Matthew and Mark the account is nearly word-for-word the same.  But in Luke, while similar, there are some important differences.  In Luke, Judas approaches to kiss Jesus, but Luke never says Jesus let him.  In stead, there’s a “…but Jesus said to him…” response, and we’re left wondering if Judas ever did.  I like to think that he tried but Jesus didn’t receive it.  It’s not clear from Luke he failed, Matthew and Mark say Judas kissed Jesus, and John ignores the whole attempt.  Luke alone records Jesus’ reply to Judas of betraying with a kiss.  Matthew has the enigmatic, “Friend, do what you have come for” reply of Jesus.

John has Jesus going to the soldiers and Judas first, and asking who they have come for.  They are so startled they fall back, some to the ground.  He then repeats the question and His answer and says to let the disciples go since they’re only after Him.  This picture of Jesus is the beginning of John’s depiction of Jesus leading everyone involved to the cross.  In John alone, Jesus goes to the cross, He is not taken to the cross.  If you’ve seen the movie, The Passion of the Christ, this is where that quality of Jesus is derived, from John.  It’s actually hard to watch, from the beating all the way through to Jesus crawling to the cross to lay on it, Jesus leads the way.

At this point of the arrest, all four agree someone (in John it’s Peter) cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest.  In John we also learn the servant’s name was Malchus.  In Luke and John, it’s Malchus’ right ear that gets cutoff.  So, if you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes,  Criminal Minds, or some other cop show, you’re probably already going, “Hey! Peter’s left handed!”  There are other explanations actually, and that’s probably not the right one.  Left-handedness was so unusual that it would have been noted before (like in Judges of Ehud, Judges 3:15).  All that we can know for sure is that the blow resulted in a glancing cut.  Even so, it’s hard to say that Malchus was “fortunate”, that had to hurt.

At this point, Jesus’ response to the attack is different.  In Mark, Jesus doesn’t address it at all.  In Matthew, Jesus rebukes the attack, states that those living by the sword die by the sword, claims to have twelve legions of angels if He wanted them, and then states this fulfills Scripture.  In Luke, Jesus simply says, “stop it!” and heals the servant’s ear.  In John, Jesus tells Peter to “stand down”, that this is what is supposed to happen (the cup the Father has given Me).  I love that Luke includes the detail that Jesus heals Malchus.  The love of Jesus does not take a break in this dark time.

Jesus’ comment to the guards is great, but Luke’s version is greatest.  In Matthew, Mark, an Luke, Jesus points out they come to him as if against a robber, even though He was with them in the Temple all week.  But Matthew and Mark point out the fulfillment of Scripture, where Jesus simply says, “…but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.” The literal construction in Greek is, “…, but this is of you the hour and the authority of darkness.”  It’s an economy of grammar where the pronoun is feminine singular, and, in Greek, so is “hour” and “authority”.  This is the time (hour) when the authority of darkness reigns.

The word for authority or power is a compound Greek word made up of the preposition, “out of”, and the word for “existence”; so out of the fact it exists.  In other words, the basis of this power or authority is that it is.  It’s existence is it’s explanation or support.  It’s kind of like God saying, “because I said so.”  We don’t like that as post-modern Americans, but that’s just the way it is.  At this point, can you hear Huey Lewis singing the response, “…Oh, but don’t you believe it,” while playing his piano?  I hope you can, because in this particular instance, the time of the authority of darkness truly is only an hour.

That’s my view through this knothole.  What do you see of God through yours?

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Passion Week XIXc

“But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table.  For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”  And they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing.  And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.  And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’  But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.  For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” (Luke 22:21-27 NASB)

In Luke, after the inauguration of Communion, there are a lot of elements before the thirteen men leave for the Mount of Olives.  I was going to skip to one of my favorites where Jesus addresses Peter’s later failure, but I think I’ll have an opportunity to get into that next week.  For those who are not familiar with this blog’s use in my own life, this is where I process a Scripture passage I’m using in a Bible study I lead each Thursday.  So, on Fridays, the passage jumps to the next.  But I think I’ll be in the upper room for more than one week.

This passage is also a great one, particularly because it illustrates human nature so well.  Jesus is overcome with grief over His betrayer that He reveals the existence of this man.  We, from reading so far, already know it’s Judas.  The disciples don’t know that yet.  And they begin to discuss which one of them it might be.  This discussion then devolves into an argument about which of them is the greatest.  That’s the basic framework in which Jesus says some pretty amazing things.

Have you ever wondered if there was hope for Judas?  In a previous post, I discuss Judas in some detail, and I refer to what Jesus says here.  Jesus admits that the cross is necessary, and that betrayal is part of how He gets there, but He also condemns the betrayer.  Think about that.  Judas is integral to the plan of God, the God he is betraying.  Jesus makes clear that where He is going “…has been determined…”, but that does not exonerate His betrayer.  As I said in that post, I still believe, Judas was never really a disciple, he was an opportunist.

Now, the second element here, where the disciples’ discussion of which one of them might betray Jesus devolving into an argument about greatness, keep in mind that Luke gets this from a disciple who was there.  What I mean is that, while we think of Paul being Luke’s source, that’s really not possible.  Luke is a “close associate” of Paul, and that gains him entrance into the canon.  But Paul wasn’t Luke’s source.  Rather Luke’s source was also in Jerusalem, like the other sources, and Paul gained Luke access to those sources.  My point is that this account doesn’t put the disciples in a great light, but they “told on themselves”, so I believe it.  Which, by the way, is a consistent feature in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.  Both bodies of writing bring out weaknesses of the exemplary characters.

Jesus corrects them with familiar words, used in other places in Matthew and Mark, and resonating vaguely with John’s 3-chapter account in his Gospel.  If you think through what Jesus says, there are some interesting elements unique to Luke in this.  First off, the greatest is as the youngest.  Jesus doesn’t point to a child and a different word is used here tan for “child” or even “young man” or “infant”.  Instead Jesus refers to status among adults.  The “youngest” would be the less experienced, and therefore the least wise, regarded with less honor than the “elders”.  So, Jesus is saying the “elders” (as in the role of elder as leader) are to become as the youngsters, seeking less honor or esteem.  I’m an elder in my church, and this is for me and my fellows.  This is for us, and we need to heed this or fail our church.  Ouch.  Okay, moving on…with crushed toes.

The point to all of this is that we too struggle in the midst of important movements of God.  We miss the point, the importance of the event, the cosmic battle raging around us, and the historic spiritual change about to happen.  God prepares to knock the world on its head, and we’re arguing over carpet, curtains, pews versus chairs, or whether we like sister so-and-so.  We do that.  It might not be chairs, curtains, or carpet, but we do that.  We miss the cosmic spiritual event rising to crescendo because of the earthly physical distraction.  We go there.  It can’t be my failure because, well, I’m not like that, I’m great!  The wheels have fallen off, the train derails, and the catastrophe is just a matter of inertia.

But the alternative exists.  Jesus says that we are to be different.  He says He was at the table as one who serves.  Luke doesn’t say how, but John does.  Jesus began the evening washing their feet.  His point is that those who lead wash feet.  The greatest among their fellow disciples serve with a towel around their waist and a water basin in hand.  In a sense, the elders clean toilets.  They mix it up with people, willing to descend into their messy lives, and bring hope and healing.  It’s Jesus’ directive for every leader, including you.

What’s your view through your knothole this morning?

Passion Week XVII

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.  The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.  And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.  And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.  They were glad and agreed to give him money.  So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd. (Luke 22:1-6 NASB)

It was really hard not to drop the passion week numbering and call this entry “Sold Out”.  In terms of what those words mean, it can be positive or negative, especially in regards to our relationship with Jesus.  In Judas we see the clear negative meaning in someone who should surprise us.

Judas was chosen just like the others.  Judas was one of those who were familiar with Jesus from the time of the baptism until His death.  He had seen Jesus heal, raise the dead, feed five thousand, walk on water, and calm storms.  He heard demons cry out in terror at Jesus’ approach, seen them flee and loudly leave those whom Jesus cured.  Judas knew Jesus was Master of the natural and spiritual realms.  And Judas sold Jesus out for silver.

I believe that, in retrospect, the disciples saw in Judas the worst of human character.  But at the time, suspected none of it.  It’s one of the ironies of Scripture that this man can be so close to the Savior of the world, be so accepted and loved by Jesus, and then betray Him.  John especially has no good thing to say about Judas, even about his conduct while among the disciples (6:70,71; 12:4-6, 13:2, 26-30).

This character then, when viewed as the disciples looked back to tell the story of Jesus’ life, was rotten from early on.  He was one of those who no one would have picked for holy service. And yet Jesus, who knew a guy with a jar of water would go to a house ready to use for the Passover, looks at Judas and invites him in.  In John 13, it’s clear Jesus knows exactly what Judas is doing.  Any theories that Judas is a close friend, ally, or some other inner-circle sort of character clearly has a lot of Scripture to ignore.  He wasn’t seen that way by the disciples.

So why?  Why did Jesus pick this thoroughly wicked looser?  Why did God-in-the-flesh call this twisted and deviant version of His beautiful human creatures?  In Lord of the Rings, he’s Gollum.  In Star Wars, he is portrayed in the betrayal of the good by Anakin surrendering to be Darth Vader.  All good fairy stories have a betrayer character, and Judas is the penultimate betrayer in the one fairy story that’s actually true.  He had the best of all circumstances available to him, but he chose silver instead.  He saw it all, he heard it all, he was a witness of the Fullness of God in bodily form; yet, in the end, it was all for sale.

Even so, Jesus celebrates His memorial supper with Judas.  Jesus washes Judas’ feet.  Jesus gives Judas the preferred morsel of “friendship” at the Passover.  Jesus gives Judas every opportunity to stop the train wreck of his life.  But Satan entered into Judas.  Satan had put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2), so in a sense, he had already possessed this sorry puppet, as Luke says in verse 3.  But when Judas accepts the morsel of friendship, Judas accelerates down the disastrous rails to his doom.

A great Communion message I heard this past weekend said that Judas was interesting, not as a pattern to follow, but as a warning of what working for salvation looks like.  I thought that was an odd thing to say until the gentlemen explained that, after he betrayed Jesus, he then tried to repent by giving the money back and, in despair, committing suicide.  In other words, Judas tried to earn his way back in, when the very thing he caused was actually the only means of his salvation.  Once again, Judas completely missed it.  I thought that was an amazing observation to make.  The tragic figure of Judas is as important as the malevolent evil one.

I learn two lessons from the character of Judas and his relationship to Jesus.  On the one hand, I see that the danger of missing who Jesus truly is, is a danger even the ones closest to Him face.  I can’t stop focusing on my Master, loosing sight of His face for a moment, or thinking I’ve figured Him out.  But the second thing I learn is from Jesus’ choice to hang with this tragic creature. Who is so evil that I can’t love them?  Isn’t that true even though their life may be a train wreck coming on at break-neck speed?  Even if I know I can’t change them, should I too love them and accept them, and give them every chance to jump from the train of disaster?  But I typically find them too risky or not worth my time and effort.  I don’t want to jump on their train, but I should be willing to wait at the next whistle stop to invite them to get off.

What’s your view through your knothole this morning?