Judas, Part III
In Matthew 27, we have what I consider to be the clincher for the
arguments that I made about Judas in my blog post for Matthew 26. We are told Judas hangs himself. Notice when it is that we are told this. Judas hangs himself after finding out that
Jesus was to be handed over to be crucified.
If Judas was truly a betrayer of Christ and in on the plot to get rid of
Jesus, why would this decision have impacted Judas so greatly?
You see, Judas doesn’t just kill himself. Judas goes back to the temple and tries to
undo what he’s done. Judas tries to give
back the money. Notice that Judas even
confesses and owns his sin. This is a
sign of repentance. Judas acknowledges
that he has done something in error and contrary to what he should have done.
Judas was no betrayer.
Judas was a tragic figure who got caught up in his own image for the
Messiah and he made a horrible judgment call.
It cost Jesus His life. It also
cost Judas His life. But I believe he
demonstrates genuine repentance as best as he could knowing his world for the
last three years was crumbling around him and he had a significant part in that
process. Judas is a figure I have grown
to pity and have compassion towards. I
do not believe he deserves our wrath. As
we saw yesterday, Jesus didn’t believe that Judas deserved His wrath, either.
Furthermore, I believe he can be studied productively. Have any of us ever made a tragic judgment
call? Have any of us ever hurt a brother
or sister in Christ? Have any of us ever
denied Christ only to realize too late what we’ve really done? To know these things is to know Judas. We need to study Judas so that we can
understand the importance of recovering from our spiritual mistakes and
receiving grace from God. We need to
understand Judas in this manner so that we can help people learn to not give up
all hope after they have made a horrible judgment call.
Jesus is Silent Once More
Again we see Jesus silent.
This time, Jesus is silent before Pilate. Why is Jesus silent again? I think it goes back to why He was silent yesterday. Jesus is silent here because His fight is not
with Pilate. More generically speaking,
Jesus is silent because His battle is not with the Gentiles. This moment is about the relationship of the
Jewish religious leaders and the Messiah.
So Jesus is silent before Pilate.
On an interesting note, there is an ancient tradition not recorded
in the Bible regarding Pilate. The
tradition is that Pilate himself converted to Christianity. We know from this passage that his wife was
sensitive to Christ and His suffering.
As the tradition goes, Pilate’s wife converts to Christianity and
eventually leads Pilate to confess his sins and repent before the actual tomb
in which Jesus was laid. He would, after
all, have known those details! When
Pilate is called back to Rome, Pilate takes his new faith with him. Pilate confesses Christ before Emperor
Tiberius. While Tiberius doesn’t ever
become a Christian, we do know historically that Tiberius did make an edict
that the Christians were not to be attacked.
That was an edict that Emperor Claudius , Tiberius’ successor, would
revoke. Pilate is also said to have
become a missionary not unlike Paul, except that Pilate went into Africa. The tradition holds that when Christianity fell
out of favor in the Roman Empire that Pilate is himself crucified in the same
manner as they crucified Jesus.
Understand, of course, that this is historical tradition and not
Biblical tradition. But it is still
pretty cool to know. It leads much credence
to why Jesus would be silent before Pilate.
Jesus knows God has called Him to be crucified. Jesus also knows that Pilate himself would
eventually turn to Him. Why lift up an
argument when He knows that what is being done is exactly what must be
done? Jesus’ fight is not with Pilate;
it is with the Jewish leaders.
This point is furthered by the fact that Pilate later washes his
hands of Jesus’ blood. He can find
nothing wrong with Jesus, certainly nothing worthy of condemning Him to
crucifixion. So Pilate washes his hands
of the blood. Yes, Pilate still is
guilty of signing the death order. But
we can see that the fight is truly not between Jesus and Pilate here.
Barabbas
As we move forward in the story, we hear the familiar tale of the
crowd choosing Barabbas. I have two
interesting things to note about this story.
This is in addition to the comment about Pilate’s wife that I noted
earlier.
First, note that the crowd is persuaded by the religious
leaders. Again we see that Jesus’ battle
is with the religious elite. Jesus’
battle is with the leading Jews. This is
a moment in history to which we have yet to see the end of the ripples created. The orthodox Jews and especially their
leadership continue to be antagonistic to the idea of Jesus of Nazareth as the
Messiah.
Second, note the name of the man chosen over Jesus. Barabbas.
“Bar” is a word meaning “son” or “young man.” Hence, a bar mitzvah is a celebration of a
young boy becoming a man. The word “abba”
is the word for “father” or “daddy.”
Thus, the name Barabbas literally means “son of the Father.” How interesting that the religious leaders
evoke the crowd into choosing the “son of the Father” instead of the “Son of
the Father.” You can’t make this stuff
up. Only God can weave this kind of
irony into a true story. How often in
life do we choose the imitation in life instead of the real thing that God
desires to give to us!
The Greatest Story Ever Told
You know the rest of the story.
Jesus is mocked, beaten, dressed up, mock-worshipped, spit upon, forced
to drag His own cross through the city He came to save, crucified, and then
buried in the tomb. Simon of Cyrene is dragged
into the process. Jesus’ clothes are
divided up among the guards.
What caught my attention today as I read through this story was
how the people around Jesus interacted with the crucifixion event.
- The Roman soldiers treated it as business as usual – until the temple shook and the centurion confessed.
- The Jews passing by Jesus mocked Him and taunted Him. They had once called out to Him in triumph as He entered the city. Now they doubted His identity because they couldn’t see why God would allow Himself to be crucified. In their blindness, they could not see that Jesus was on the cross because that was exactly where the Father wanted Him. He was there to atone for all the sins of those who will humble themselves before God. Because of their desire to see the world through their own eyes and their own understanding, many of the Jews missed out on the greatest story ever told. It makes me think about how many people in this world are truly “sheep.” They believe whatever is easiest to believe given what they can see happening on the surface. So many people in this world don’t even know how to dive deeply into life and discover the truth that lies below the surface!
- The religious leaders who had stirred up the crowds stood by, justified in the result. They saw proof of their righteousness in the fact that Jesus remained on the cross. They saw the crucifixion of Jesus as God’s stamp of approval upon their deed. Again, how quick human beings are to justify their own actions by their own understanding. Truth is not found in our own observation and our own understanding. Truth is found in observing what God is doing. Yet, how sure are they? They demand a guard to be posted at the tomb just to make sure. Funny thing, isn’t it? When we seek our own truth, we have to make sure we win. When we humble ourselves to God, winning no longer matters because it no longer is about us.
- The female disciples of Jesus ministered to one another. In their time of sorrow, they comforted one another. They didn’t know exactly what God was doing, but they were willing to see one another through it. These women are right up there with the centurion in this story. They are the faithful responding faithfully to God. They even sit by the tomb when it is all finished.
- Then there are the male disciples. Yes, they aren’t in this story. That’s the point. They’ve fled. They are hiding. They assume – rightly so – that they are next. They are regrouping. They are waiting. They are trying to overcome their own terror about what has just happened.
- Finally there is Joseph of Arimathea (and according to the Gospel of John, Nicodemus, too). These men take Jesus off of the cross and bury Him in the tomb. Imagine the blood. Imagine being literally coated with the blood of your savior. Talk about literally being washed in the blood! But these were not just ordinary men. We know that these men were members of the Sanhedrin. These were 2 of the most powerful Jews in the world. They come in contact with a dead body. They come in contact with blood. By the Law, they are unclean through this act. By Christ’s blood, they are cleaner than they’ve ever been. In this one act, they demonstrate that they choose Christ’s righteousness over anything they could possibly ever have hoped to achieve through the Law. What an incredible statement.
Jesus Yielded
I think this is becoming one of my favorite verbs in the
Bible. Yes, my favorite will always be “estauromai”
– I have been crucified (εσταύρωμαι). However, the verb apheken (ἀφῆκεν) –
yielded – is a potent word as well. It
is the ultimate word of submission used in the ultimate context of
submission. If you want to know what
made Jesus great, it is this verb.
On the cross, Jesus literally “sent away His spirit.” He yielded and submitted to the will of
God. He gave up His life. He voluntarily ceased to live because the
Father asked Him to do it. He needed no
other justification than that. He submitted,
yielded, and died. He did it for the
Father. We reap the benefit, but He did
it for the Father. Simply awesome.
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