May the mumbling commence!
Have you ever been in the position where you were thinking, “What went wrong? This is not the way I envisioned things turning out.” I have been there, and I would guess that you have too.
It is the same position that Judas was in. Yes, Judas’ plans did not pan out the way he anticipated. Yes, I am talking about Judas the Betrayer. Read from Matthew chapter twenty-seven:
When the morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people met in council to decide how they could get Jesus executed. Then they marched him off with his hands tied, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
Then Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he was condemned and in his remorse returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders, with the words, "I was wrong – I have betrayed an innocent man to death."
"And what has that got to do with us?" they replied. "That's your affair."
And Judas flung down the silver in the Temple and went outside and hanged himself. But the chief priests picked up the money and said, "It is not legal to put this into the Temple treasury. It is, after all, blood-money."
So, after a further consultation, they purchased with it the Potter's Field to be a burial-ground for foreigners, which is why it is called "the Field of Blood" to this day. And so the words of Jeremiah the prophet came true:
'And they took the thirty pieces of silver,
the value of him who was priced,
whom they of the children of Israel priced,
and gave them for the potter's field,
as the Lord directed them'. (Verses 1-10)
Judas had thirty silver coins worth of remorse. Thirty silver coins is the amount that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery for. Jesus was sold for a slave’s sum. What a large debt!
When Judas saw that Jesus was to be executed, he knew at once that he was wrong in betraying Jesus. “I was wrong.” What did Judas expect? Perhaps, Judas expected Jesus to fight for his earthly kingdom. Judas did not realize that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world.
How many of us make the same mistake? How often to do operate in this world of ours as if the kingdom of Jesus in a part of it? Can we, after all this time, still believe in the myth of redemptive violence that most likely motivated Judas to betray Jesus – to force Jesus to take his throne by force?
You may think about the violence and suffering that Jesus went through in his flogging and crucifixion. Mel Gibson’ movie The Passion forever changed the way some people think about that sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us. If violence cannot be redemptive, then how can the cross of Jesus be redemptive?
The human (or should I say inhuman violence) of the cross has its roots deeply sunk into the lies of this world. The violence of the cross is NOT redemptive. It is a part of what needed to be redeemed. And redemption came through the resurrection of Jesus. Resurrection is redemption in the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.
Resurrection is essential. Without resurrection, we are still lost in our sins (1 Cor. 15:12ff). It is the reason that the Jewish leadership tried to have the tomb of Jesus watched (Matthew 27:62ff). These religious leaders thought that the prediction of resurrection was a lie, so they tried to prevent the apostles from following through with the lie.
When you live your life as a lie, all things look like lies to you – even the truth of God’s Word.
And there is justified hope in God’s Word. Let us not lose hope as Judas did when he utterly failed. Let us move beyond the senseless cycle of violence to the redemption of new life and complete health for everyone.
All of us will serve something. What choice will we make? Will we serve the violence and destruction and death? OR will we serve the resurrection of new life that encompasses complete health for everyone? As for me, I choose to serve the latter – resurrection and new life. I am happy to be a pawn or slave of God. There is no better chess champion or master!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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