Ambushed Again

 

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss.  But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”  When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight?  We brought the swords!”  Luke 22:47b-49

If you’ve ever gotten ambushed by a friend you understand something of the sorrow Judas brought to the garden that night.  An ambush is when there exists an unfair advantage.  Because the discussion, skirmish, event, or whatever has been planned, without one side being given opportunity to consider and prepare, makes the playing field unlevel.

When betrayal is plied by the hand of a friend, it may be the harshest form of deception possible.  I have been blind-sided by betrayal before: 

     ·       A co-worker who smiled at me every day, but secretly spread rumors

     ·       A staff member’s wife who stoked those rumors

None of that is nearly like what the Son of God endured at the hands of those he came to save and befriend.

Wile E. Coyote has been trying to ambush the Road Runner for decades.  He never seems to get it, that his plans are doomed.  But that’s a cartoon, right?  That doesn’t happen in real life, does it?  Sometimes the bad guy wins, eh?

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to ask Judas.  Judas was planning to ambush Jesus for awhile.  He decided, researched, and executed his plan.  What Judas left out of his contingency plans was the God-thing.  Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart. So it came as no surprise to Jesus that Judas was going to turn.  Whatever Judas hoped to achieve fell flatter than unleavened bread.

But, you’d say, didn’t Judas’ plan work? 

Didn’t they execute Jesus? 

Didn’t Judas get the price he asked? 

Of course it looked like Judas came out on top…at first. 

     ·       Jesus got taken away by soldiers, then out of the tomb by the resurrecting power of God.

     ·       Judas got the purse, then realized blood money stinks.

The plan worked…at first…just not in the way Judas expected.  It fell victim to the Wile E. Coyote syndrome…evil comes, but God overcomes.

For You Today

Being betrayed is hard to take. 

And, when a devotion ends with just that thought, you’re left to ponder what to do next on your own.  Kinda like betrayal’s aftermath.

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

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When Judas Brings Darkness

 

Wednesday of Holy Week, March 31, 2021

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.  John 13:21-30

When you’re very familiar with a story, having read it many times before, you can miss some important phrases.  This morning they jumped off the page to grab me by the heart and throat. 

Satan entered into him…is a chilling reminder of how someone who chooses to believe in Jesus can turn on a dime if their belief is mixed with self-serving.  Judas was the treasurer, and being too close to the money was too much of a temptation for him.  (This, by-the-way, is not a blanket indictment of those who handle the financial necessities of church organizations.  I have known, and worked with treasurers of many churches – my own father included…mostly they are humble, honest, and only willing to serve God).  I believe Judas let the growing purse influence his understanding of God’s Kingdom.  He idolized the cash flow, and it began to pave the way for Satan to open his heart’s door.

So Judas left at once, going out into the night.  Going out into the night wasn’t just describing the time after the sun went down in the sky, but how the light of Christ’s love was forsaken in favor of following after the purse.

The fact that Judas was still with Jesus at the Last Supper indicates he still had a choice.  Scripture records that Jesus offered the piece of bread after dipping in the bowl, a sign of friendship and an offer of shared intimacy between close friends.  Taking the bread was the response of welcome, and shared joy.  This was the choice Judas made to betray Jesus.  His actions declared love for Jesus; his heart was counting on filling the purse with 30 pieces of silver.

And this is the danger for any of us who openly bear the name of disciple; our hearts are not hardened bastilles, they are vulnerable.  Our compassion makes us so, willing to be servant, helper, doers of good.  Satan is more than willing to use that against us.  This is why we are cautioned to be on guard, vigilant against the evil Satan wants to carry into the open doors of our hearts.

Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8

Most of us would not name a child “Judas”.  The name carries too much weight of betrayer, or not-to-be-trusted.  As such, when we hear that name, it is too easy to simply think of the despised cheat.  We miss the greater threat we each face, understanding that we are also following the same master and subject to the same temptation as Judas. 

·       It may be the purse, like Judas

·       It may be ambition like James and John wanting inner-circle privilege

·       It may be cowardice to witness like Peter, denying his Master at trial

It could be any of our little weakness proclivities that Satan knows how to exploit and nurture into full-blown betrayal. 

Is there any wonder we are called to a daily walk, a moment-by-moment conversation with our God that never really puts an “amen” to the end of our  prayers…but remains an open line of short accounts?

For You Today

A good check on how close to being Judas, (for any of us), is to set an hourly alarm reminder to consider if we’ve been on the alert to share Christ with someone, or thinking of that person who needs a word of encouragement, or if we’ve been mindful of God’s leading in every area of our life and relationships.

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

[1] Title Image:  By Nikolai Ge, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons                                                              Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

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©

When the Fragrance Remains

[i][ii]

Monday, April 15, 2019

Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead.  A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him.  Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair.  The house was filled with the fragrance.  But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.  It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”  Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.  Jesus replied, “Leave her alone.  She did this in preparation for my burial.  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”  When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.  Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.  John 12:1-11

John tells us that the house was filled with the fragrance Mary used to anoint Jesus’ feet.   I don’t know a whole lot about perfume, but I do know you don’t use a whole lot.  

Especially if it’s Clive Christian Imperial Majesty.  You have to be a serious buyer to get a price quote, but when it was introduced 15 years ago the price tag was $215,000 for a 500ml bottle (16.9oz)  “The bottle’s design is meant for royalty with a collar made with 18 carat gold. It does not even end there, a five carat diamond is stuck to the fabulous golden collar. Each bottle is delivered in a Bentley. Interested buyers ought to order one now since it is a limited offer.[iii] 

I think Judas would have been interested in that perfume.  He was the keeper of the purse, and, according to the Gospel writer, he helped himself to the purse’s contents often.  When Judas objected to Mary’s lavish gift of anointing Jesus’ feet with some of the most expensive perfume, he was sticking up for the treasury, not really concerned about the poor.  He wanted to make sure something like this never happened again.  All gifts had to go through Judas…this was the rule.  Judas used the poor to make sure the cash kept flowing through his sticky fingers; by the tone of his answer, Jesus was having none of it!

The meal they ate that day was to honor Jesus in Lazarus’ house.  Freshly back from the tomb, it made sense for it to be a joyful occasion.  But the loss of a pricey perfume that would have kept Judas’ Ponzi scheme going strong, and the crowds showing up to see a formerly-dead man, which made the Pharisees jealous over the increased attention towards Jesus (and the lack of attendance at the temple) made for a different kind of fragrance hanging in the air. 

The lingering odor of greed and jealousy don’t mix well with extravagant scents of loving gifts poured at God’s feet.  Of course, it all depends on what’s important to you.  For Mary, the gift of her brother’s life was an occasion to open the floodgates of thanksgiving as she gave the costliest possession she had.  For Judas and the Pharisees, the greed and lust for power slipping away like a lost opportunity to fill their pockets with pride was a cause to resent this unlicensed phony of a prophet from Nazareth.

Whether you’re talking about perfume or a Savior sent from heaven, some people just can’t recognize an Imperial Majesty even when the fragrance fills the house!

For You Today

What would it take for you to be extravagant towards Jesus, just like Mary?

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

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com

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

[iii] Top 10 Most Expensive Perfumes for Women by Sammy Said, 6-5-13

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

Cleaning-Up After Peter

[i]

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”  When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.  The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.  When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.  John 21:7-9^(NLT)

Peter has always struck me as impulsively brash, always charging ahead without thinking; especially never thinking about the wake he leaves behind his actions.  This is the wake others must navigate (and clean up) when Peter goes all reactionary!

In this post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to the disciples by the seashore, we read that it was Peter’s idea to go fishing in the first place.  But, like a puppy catching sight of something new, when Jesus is sighted, the big fisherman makes a beeline for the shore, leaving the others to lug the boat back with 153 large fish.  I can just imagine the look on Thomas and Nathanael’s faces – …there he goes again; first one at the breakfast line; he never hangs around to finish the job!  Why do WE always get to clean up HIS mess?

Of course this was not the first time Peter’s actions created a mess for someone else (or for the grumbling disciples to complain about maybe wanting a different leader).  Jesus wanted to know what the crowds were saying about him.  Then, after they talked about what the crowds were saying, Jesus wanted to know what his followers were thinking:

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Matthew 16:15-16^(NLT)

That unguarded wild statement of Peter’s probably caused the wondering disciples, particularly Judas, no end of worry.  If Peter couldn’t keep his mouth shut, all the plans they had for Jesus were going to be hung on Roman swords or (shudder) crosses!

It was that way with Peter; you never knew what was coming next.

Frankly, though, it’s that way with Jesus, isn’t it?  Every time you think you’ve got a handle on things, God puts some wild idea in the way to mess it all up…

Ø Like putting your reputation on the line to feed a crowd of 10,000 with just a few sardines and Kaiser rolls…

Ø Like cutting open a fish to find your tax payment…

Ø Like rolling the stone away from a tomb because he wants to speak to the corpse

Ø Like bailing out that irresponsible nephew for the fifth time

Ø Like forgiving that kid who ran through the sanctuary and disturbed your quiet meditation…again!

Like Peter, Jesus is hard to figure out, and, if you’re the responsible type, there’s always lots of bumpy wake to navigate while you’re cleaning-up someone else’s messy details.

But I guess that’s what you get when you hang-out with God, or people like Peter, who love God so much they forget the details.  It’s hard being the responsible one who always does the real work, like Martha in the kitchen, or Judas figuring out how to pay all those bills, and Thomas, trying to make sense of it all.

It seems following Jesus just isn’t all that easy after-all, is it?  Especially if you have your eyes on Peter or James, or John, or any of the other disciples in your path that make it more confusing with the mess they leave for you to clean up.

For You Today

Problems, mess, and details; sometimes you just want to forget it all and go fishing.  But, then you remember about those messy details of YOUR life HE took to the cross.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons