Going Out Into the Night

[i][ii]

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”  The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean.  The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.  Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?”  So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”  Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.”  And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.  When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him.  Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”  None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.  Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor.  So Judas left at once, going out into the night.  As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him.  And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once.  John 13:21-32

I always worried about that exchange of bread; Jesus dipped the bread into the bowl, gave it to Judas intentionally, and then John (an eyewitness) records Satan entered into him.  My mind goes to possibilities such as whether Jesus caused Judas’ fall.  Did Judas know what he was doing?  Was he somehow duped into betraying Jesus?  Was Judas just a pawn in God’s game? 

But all these questions work against free will.  At the moment Jesus held forth the piece of bread to Judas it was still an offer of friendship; one man holding forth the gift of sustenance to another.  On a deeper level, the bread was the symbol Jesus had used earlier…the bread of life, which was being offered; Jesus was saying, my life is in your hands, brother.  This makes receiving the bread truly, as Jesus’ friend, or falsely, as traitor, a ball that was still in Judas’ court.  When Judas took the bread with betrayal still in his heart, it opened the path to his soul for Satan to take charge.  Inviting that, Judas went out into the night.

The epilogue to Judas’ treachery could’ve been written differently had his heart been bathed in repentance for even thinking of selling Jesus to the religious leaders for 30 pieces of silver.  Later Apostle Paul would write about this moment taking place in the hearts of would-be followers of Jesus:

So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.  For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.  That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.  1 Corinthians 11:27-30

It gives a whole new perspective on the importance of communion to think in these ways about the possibility of our own connection with Judas when we treat God’s loaf and cup lightly. 

The opportunities are only two:

           ·      Life in the light of Christ

           ·      Death going out into the night.

For You Today

Sometimes “holy week” can turn our attention to details that miss the weighty center of what God is doing.  We can scurry around getting ready for the Easter parade, bonnets, colored eggs, and such, when the real target is eternal life.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   Judas being paid - Capella dei Scrovegni - Padua (Public Domain - via Wikimedia Commons)

[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

This Holy Week - Part 3

[1]

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”  The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean.  The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.  Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?”  So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”  Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.”  And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.  When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him.  Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”  None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.  Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor.  So Judas left at once, going out into the night.  As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him.  And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once.  

John 13:21-32^(NLT)

The mere fact that Judas was at the table with Jesus should tell us volumes about the depth of the kind of love Jesus possesses and offers.  He knew Judas was on the verge of giving-in to his sin-nature; Judas was about to sink into irretrieveable darkness, and yet Jesus shared this momentous and intimate meal with even this betrayer.

I’ve always been intrigued and captivated by the moment of Judas’ fall:

When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him.  Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”  John 13:27^(NLT) 

There are so many questions:

·       Was it something about the bread that paved the way for Satan to take Judas’ mind? 

·       Was it Judas’ sinful heart combatting Christ’s blessing on the bread?

·       Is this what Paul meant[2] about eating and drinking damnation to yourself at the Lord’s Table when you haven’t examined your heart for wrong motives, or sin against others?

·       Was there something physically-noticable that happened when Satan entered Judas?

·       Why did Jesus urge Judas to do what he was going to do?

Of course we have questions.  Each of us has spiritual blind spots, but we also have curiosity and a hunger to know this Christ we follow.  Without questions, how will our spirit and soul grow into the likeness of Him?

I’ve always been a little gun-shy of asking questions in public.  I got burned a good bit when I was young and asked some questions that were a little on the dumb side (imagine that)…and the effect silenced my inquisitiveness…at least in public forums.  But the need-to-know still, and always has, boiled beneath the surface.  This is the life of a disciple – to walk with Christ, and find out who we are in Him.  As Paul wrote:

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,  Philippians 3:10^(NLT)

For You Today

We are close to this meal Jesus and Judas shared; the cycle of the Christian year is coming to its’ amazing climax with the passion of Christ about to begin.  Get ready to put on the sackcloth and ashes of mourning of Good Friday.  His suffering and death are about to be on bloody display; his suffering because He knew us, and loved us anyway; just like Judas!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] 1 Corinthians 11:28