Fields of Blood ...

As crop choices go, attempting to plant blood is not going to yield much, except perhaps a harvest of horror.  So when a field anywhere in the world earns that title, it typically means something horrible must of happened there, and what is remembered most about this place, is death, and blood.  Back in Roman times blood was fairly common place.  The value of life perhaps at its lowest throughout history.  People died, so many the numbers are beyond the counting.  Not just soldiers who stood on the battle fields in opposition to the iron kingdom, but slaves because the whim of their masters took the slightest offense.  Those who did not pay the exorbitant taxes Rome demanded to fund the excess of a few, died without notation in lands far and wide, and again without the slightest hesitation.  The manner of death was as varied as Roman imaginations could invent in those times.  Death was never a mercy.  It was a final punishment meant to inflict pain on the dieing, and terror on those who were left behind and forced to witness it.  In this context, for a field to stand out above the others, and still earn the title to be known as “the field of blood”, something extreme must have occurred.  It did.

The story of this field begins with dark notarity.  The prophet Jeremiah foretells the tale of woe many centuries before it will come to pass exactly as he predicts.  In its own time, the field is seeded with silver.  It is silver steeped in betrayal, not just of one man to another, but of one species to the God who created them.  Blood money gives way to buy a field to be used as a cemetery.  And none of us will ever know just how much that cost took from the universe to purchase.  We caused God the Father, to watch us murder His Only Son, to shed not just innocent blood, but divine innocent blood, a thing no being ever thought possible.  This field would truly be a place where people would go to rest in death.  There would be no hope in this place.  And its title would stick with it for centuries, even in a Roman time, when that name might have been at best redundant.  Still it stood out.  For it is where our actions to kill God were noted.

Matthew penned his gospel to his contemporaries.  His goal was to meticulously outline to any believing, studying Jew, how all the prophecies of the Old Testament met their fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.  Even when those foretellings were dark, steeped in blood and betrayal, and would appear to condemn us all.  Jeremiah was not a light-hearted comedian of his day.  He was a gloom-and-doom, truth-to-power teller of his day.  And let’s face it, nobody likes gloom-and-doom on any day.  Matthew continues detailing the story of the betrayal of our God, of his murder, and of our weakness and horror on display throughout the process.  He picks up in chapter twenty-seven in verse one, continuing from where the church leadership has taken the story to this point.

In verse 1 it continues … “When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: [verse 2] And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.”  Irony of ironies.  The church decides to hide all of the other Jews who had visited violence on their Roman oppressors.  But to the One who loves His enemies, they bind Him, beat Him, and take Him to Roman authorities in order to have Him executed by the power of the state; thus attempting to hide who was truly responsible.  But in truth this was Jews, killing the God of the Jews, because He loved too much, and hated not at all.  It is not how bitter you are, that puts you at odds with the world around you, the world is used to bitter.  It is not how much you hate, that puts you out of tune with society.  Society has more than enough hidden hatred to go around to consider any one hater a particular problem.  But love like Jesus, and you will be too much of an odd ball to ignore.  The world cannot understand that kind of love, and frankly would prefer to kill it, than have to accept it.  A pattern that dates back to before the beginning of our world in the first war ever in heaven; and now finds it ultimate fulfillment in the death of Jesus.

But Jesus did not just get here by accident.  A man put Him here.  Not just any man, but the most respected man of His fellow followers.  The disciple all the others wanted to be more like.  The popular, natural leader, the good-looking guy it would be easy for any of us to follow – all things being equal.  But Judas did not just put Jesus here by accident.  He did it on purpose.  He sealed it with a kiss.  He took money for his deed of betrayal.  Even if his motive was to force Jesus to become the King He was supposed to be, that did not work.  Judas saw all of this up close and personally.  Judas was allowed in to the trial by the High Priest because he was on “their” side.  He watched them put a bag of sorts over the head of Jesus, then hit Him, and ask Him to prophecy as to who did it.  Jesus knew who did it.  But despite their crimes, He still does not offer any of them condemnation.  For those who believe it is our job to point out the sins of others, they miss the example of Jesus who was silent while being sinned against.

Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, [verse 4] Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.”  Now Judas does one last act to see if he can undo what he has done.  He comes and makes a public confession of his sin.  He reminds these men, that Jesus is innocent blood.  By telling them Jesus is innocent, Judas hopes that those who live by the law, will be constrained by the law, to release the innocent and punish Him no further.  But these religious leaders who claim to live by the Law, in no way understand the Law, or the Law Giver.  The use manipulation of the Law, to accomplish what they already set about to do.  They do not wish to be led in their interpretations, they wish to be the sole authority by which men understand any interpretation.  They want control.  And they will kill to get it.  There can be no opposition.

This is human nature on display – even inside the church of God.  And it is no different for the centuries to come even inside of Christianity, nor of the churches who evolve from the reformation.  Men still kill, punish, and excommunicate, any who stand in opposition to their control.  It is a contest of man vs. God that began long ago and will see no end, until God Himself ends it at the end of all things.  The priests acknowledge the words of Judas, and respond in a chilling voice, “what is that to us?”.  The leadership does not care what Judas has done.  Nor do they care that Jesus is innocent.  Jesus is marked for death.  Judas helped get Him there.  If Judas is having second thoughts, that is his problem, not theirs.  They remain committed to seeing Jesus die.  Who cares what Judas thinks?  But Judas has now pushed himself over the edge of brokenness.  His plans have failed.  His last ditch effort to stop this farce has failed.  Jesus will die, and history will record the name of Judas as His betrayer, even though Jesus still called him friend when he was in the middle of betraying Him.  It is too much to take.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”  Judas sees no way out.  How could anyone forgive this level of greed and betrayal?  How could anyone love him after what he has done?  He deserves death, plain and simple.  So Judas does to himself, what all of us are equally deserving of.  He kills himself.  And there is a critical lesson to be learned here.  Judas, still in isolation from any that might have comforted him, or reminded him how much Jesus loves, even murderers, or betrayers (like Peter); makes a rash decision he cannot undo.  While there is life there is hope.  When life is gone, there is only the waiting.  Judas lost faith in the power of salvation, and the power of re-creation of Jesus Christ.  If he had held on to that faith, that hope, Jesus would have done for Judas, what He does for you and I every single day. 

Suicide is not a shortcut to the heavenly gates.  It is a statement that no one else in the world matters more than me.  It happens in loneliness, when faith and hope are lost, and isolation keeps you from getting the comfort you need.  It happens because the victim decides he is of no value to anyone else, and does not test this theory by serving others and letting history decide his value.  It is usually not born of sacrifice (like Samson), but of a break in trust (like Judas); with the God who longs to give you a better life if you would just let Him.  If we are ALL not careful, we may find ourselves on the same road as Judas, sprinting to the same destination.  Not because God will’s it, or is trying to punish us, but because we believe in God’s vengeance more than His mercy; and see ourselves of no value to a Savior who would sacrifice EVERYTHING to save just you, or just me.  This is why loving each other is SO important.  Your tangible demonstration of love might be just the thing, that keeps a suffering one from losing all hope.  And you may never know it throughout your life.  It is not important for you to know it, only to show that tangible love.  When you love like this, you demonstrate to the world, what the real character of God looks like, not what they have been taught to believe.  Anyone can condemn.  Jesus could have condemned Judas, but He did not.  He longed to save him.  But Judas refused to be saved.  Instead he fell to common sense, not divine power.

Meanwhile, the priests who care nothing for Judas, cannot leave money lying around.  Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.”  Does the irony meter have a ceiling?  The priests were the ones who just paid Judas (a detail they seem in a hurry to forget).  But they recognize this is still blood money.  And “according to the Law” they are not allowed to put the money into the treasury (where it belongs to them once again).  A wonderfully strange interpretation of the goings on of this evening.  They are driven to use the money in some other way.  But hmmm … how to spend 30 pieces of silver paid to kill innocent blood?  In this case, the innocent blood of God Himself, by the murderers who intend to kill Him.

Matthew continues in verse 7 saying … “And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. [verse 8] Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.”  How incredibly random.  First, that a potter’s field would be for sale at just that time in history.  Second, that the price of the potter’s field would be exactly 30 pieces of silver, just the exact amount of money they had, forced to use for some purpose, they interpreted.  And then, to use this field to bury strangers in.  A usage that would immediately associate death with the field.  And because of how it was purchased (the blood money that is), that it would be called and known for many centuries later as … wait for it … “the field of blood”.  Now to the non-believer, this is nothing more than series of coincidental events with no major significance by a group of people who hated Jesus so much they wanted Him dead, enough to make this price in the first place.  But Matthew has a different take on these events.

Matthew continues in verse 9 saying … “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; [verse 10] And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.”  This was the prophecy of Jeremiah.  This was the dark foretelling, of betrayal of our Lord, and how the money used in that betrayal would come to its final disposition.  And the priests (who did nothing but study scripture) walked right down the list of things required to fulfill this prophecy – something they would have NEVER done because they hated Jesus so much.  If they had remembered these words.  If they had thought about it.  They would have paid hookers rather than use the money this way just to avoid fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah about the One they were in the process of killing.  This field of blood existed because of the actions of the priests who hated Christ.  Those very priests insured the prophecy was fulfilled.

And they could not undo what they had done.  They did not even think to.  Instead the field of blood was born not because the potter came up with this idea, but because the priests did.  There was nothing random about it.  This was orchestrated.  This was the foreknowledge of God, NOT because He forced anyone to do anything.  Only because He knew what each of them would do, before they chose to do it.  It was not pre-destination, it was free will.  But those free-will choices were known by God, centuries before they were made.  Jeremiah notes it.  Jeremiah may not have even understood fully what he was writing.  But his words came true, to the letter – made so by the very ones who hated Jesus the most.  These priests were already sensitive about allowing prophecy to be fulfilled by Jesus.  When he rode on a colt into Jerusalem (fulfilling yet another prophecy), the priests complained, trying to shut the whole thing down.  Jesus told them if they did, the stones would cry out in praise instead of the people they were trying to shew away.  And those priests knew He was telling the truth.  So they left them in peace, and only broiled more in anger.  Yet despite this, here they were acting out their part to fulfill the dark words of Jeremiah.

In the world to come, there will be no more fields of blood.  Blood will be something no longer shed or lost.  Blood will stay inside of you where it belongs, where God made it to be.  Blood, like everything else God touches will be perfect.  But its price will never be forgotten.  That we made our God the Father, sit still, having all the power of the universe, and watch while we did, what we did to His only Son.  This price is beyond reckoning.  A single tear from the Father’s face is worth more than I will ever be.  A torrent of tears from the Father’s heart, is a thought that would crush me forever.  But He did it.  He allowed it.  Because God the Father loves you, loves me, and yes even loves Judas and those priests, SO MUCH; He wants only to see each and all of us reconciled to His throne.  His love is greater than our blood.  His love is greater than our worst deeds, and not a single one of us, is beyond His ability to save.  The dark words of Jeremiah bad as they are, should cement our faith in Jesus, because they happened.  Every detail that was supposed to happen, happened.  If God promises to save you.  You have only to let Him, and He will do it, just like every other prophecy He makes, or promise He offers.  And for you, fields of blood, will be no more …

 

Helping God [part 2 of 2] ...

In our previous study, we examined how we might have been a positive part of helping God in the form of providing Him comfort when He needed it most.  All we needed to do was to pray to avoid temptation.  But instead we slept.  By contrast Judas may demonstrate what it looks like when man helps God accomplish what man thinks needs to be done.  For not all the disciples were sleeping that fateful night.  None were aware of the stakes for mankind.  But one would play his role in the story.  For motives we may never fully understand.  Greed (i.e. pieces of silver) may look like motive, and certainly it plays a part in it, but simple greed may be too simplistic an answer as to why.  Think of it, Judas healed the sick, cast out demons, and testified as to the divinity of the Messiah in his own commission while partnered with another disciple.  Judas in fact was most admired by the other disciples (not Peter, he was the loudmouth).  Judas may have been the best student or perhaps most educated.  He was less common, and more like the one we would all aspire to be.  The disciples did.  But appearances are unimportant.

Judas may have developed his own ideas about how to help God.  The Messiah was supposed to be throwing off Roman oppression and bringing about a kingdom that would have no end.  Jesus had all the tools needed to do this, but was not getting it done.  Judas may have reasoned, that if Christ were in real jeopardy of losing His life, He would do what all humans do to survive, but He would do it in divine fashion with power and glory.  Judas would see himself has being the catalyst to bring all this about, even if this plan needed deceit and betrayal to get it going.  And if you could take money from priests who stole it from the poor themselves, why not add that into the mix.  Judas had it all reasoned out.  His plan made sense.  It would help God do, what God promised to do.  All God needed was a little properly placed motivation (like survival) and a little push.  If nothing else Jesus might be forced into defending his disciples and become the King He was destined to be.

Now keep in mind, everyone shared these beliefs about the role of the Messiah in the time of Christ.  It was not just Judas.  Matthew, Peter, pick your disciple, they all hoped for this.  They were even making plans about who would sit where when the Jesus administration took over.  Judas might have thought that doing this would make himself the right choice for the number two position – or at least head of the intelligence agencies.  After all there was a war coming with the Romans in this scenario.  A war long over due and easily winnable, but a war none the less.  And then what?  Perhaps a war with Egypt?  A war with Ethiopia? Or Greece? Or India or England at the far stretches of the world.  The Jesus administration was to be a worldwide power with no end in land or time, and Judas perhaps thought to be a key part of it.  The only thing that needed to be done was to get Jesus up and going, finally.

Of course Matthew did not care for the “why” Judas would betray Jesus.  Only that He did.  Picking up in His gospel in chapter 26 and verse 46 he continues with the words of Jesus saying … “Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.  [verse 47] And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.”  Jesus had hardly finished waking up his sleeping disciples than the one who had no sleep enters the scene.  Not fresh from prayer, but fresh in his own ideas about how to help God fulfill the promises God has made to us, according to the vision of Judas.  And he brought with him a sizeable crowd of armed men in order to insure Jesus takes the threat as real.  The fact that his disciples were just waking up, unprepared to mount a defense was just perfect.  Judas could present Jesus with a threat to Himself and to the others in order that Jesus might have to defend them as well.  No better way to kick off a kingship that was long overdue.

Matthew continues in verse 48 saying … “Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. [verse 49] And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.”  It was dark out.  Hard to see who-was-who in the darkness, even with torches.  Judas knew the logistics needed to be insured, thus he set up a sign for his soldier to take note of.  After all they did not want Jesus to just disappear like He had done before, and wind up grabbing the wrong disciple thinking it was Jesus.  So Judas decides to betray Jesus with a kiss.  This should help Jesus see that Judas still loved Him, and was only doing this for Jesus’ best interests.  Jesus responds in verse 50 saying … “And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.”  Jesus greets Judas (despite knowing all of this) with the term “friend”.  He does not condemn Judas even now.

And here is where comparison is worth making.  How often do we “the church called by His name” treat others even in the act of public sin with greetings of love and brotherhood?  More often, we are like Matthew, obsessed with calling out Judas as the betrayer in chief, wanting to make sure everyone knows what evil he has done, and seeming far less forgiving in the process.  Judas’ ideas of helping God were completely wrong and misplaced, but Judas the person was still precious to Jesus even then, even in the act of betraying Him.  Jesus still reaches out with a term of reconciliation (not in ignorance) but by intent.  For Jesus still wants Judas in His kingdom.  But do we?  Matthew didn’t.  We are all too content to leave the public sinner on display for all to ridicule and condemn – none to love or reach out despite what they do.  Jesus does not stop for a minute and call out Judas for all the wrong he is in the middle of doing, instead He reaches out to try once more to reclaim Judas with a term of friendship and love.  Judas thinks he is helping God.  Jesus knows better.  Judas needs to stop helping, and get help, and so do we all.

The analogies of Judas and Abraham’s attempts to help God are stunningly close to what we do with respect to our own salvation.  We too attempt to help God, by doing what we think He wants us to do, and has promised to do for us.  We too break trust in God, because God does not do things in our timeline, or how we think they need to be done – so we take action instead to help.  And our “helping” only makes a mess of things with lasting consequences that might otherwise have been avoided if only we had trusted in God, instead of trying to take over ourselves.  There would be no salvation for us at all, if Jesus had not submitted His own will to that of His Father, trusting His Father instead of trusting Himself.  Yet we take all these examples of man’s intervention, discard them, and then instead try to find things in them we can use as an example of what to do, instead of what to avoid doing.  We follow the footprints of Judas with our own salvation, and think this is what scripture demands.  Just as he thought when all this was occurring.

The analogies continue in verse 51 saying … “And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. [verse 52] Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”  Peter decides to defend Christianity with his sword.  How often this path has been repeated over the last 2000+ years, with nothing but death and woe as its legacy.  Christ and Christianity do NOT need a sword to defend it, or to push it forward.  Only love can do either.  Only God can truly defend it.  Yet American Christians are as married to their guns, and their ideas of self-defense, and self-reliance as they have ever been.  How few would put down both, and trust in God no matter what the outcome.  And ALL ignoring the second half of the cause and effect of swords, that to live by them, is to die by them (regardless if there is another opponent in the equation).  To extend that just a little; to kill anyone else, is to die inside – and to repeat this is only to make it worse everytime, until there is nothing left of you inside anymore.  Helping God, by drawing the sword, is only helping Satan instead.

But then things take a remarkable left turn.  Jesus continues answering in verse 53 saying … “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? [verse 54] But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? [verse 55] In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. [verse 56] But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”  The plans of Judas to “help” Jesus become the King He is destined to be have been completely on track right up until this.  Jesus plainly states He is ABLE to call down from heaven more than 12 legions of angels (an army no man could even contemplate defeating).  But He does not call it down.  Instead He heals the wounded servant’s ear (continue to show love).  He asks them the cutting question of why now, why in the dark, and in secret?  He reminds them that ALL of this was prophesied in scripture and is now being fulfilled.  And when the disciples see first hand that Jesus has no intentions of avoiding death, they ALL flee, including Judas.

Plans to help God do what we think He should, end as they always do, with us making a huge mess of things, and God not performing as we expected.  This has never been more true than with our own salvation.  Our role, is NOT to save ourselves, that is the work of Jesus alone, and we must trust Him to do it.  We must submit our will to His, despite what we want to do.  Just like He did in the garden.  Or we wind up looking back on a series of unfortunate events no different than Judas did all those years ago.  Membership in the church is no defense, Judas was a founding member.  Spiritual gifts are no defense, Judas had a full measure of the Holy Spirit when he followed the directions of his Lord.  Faith in scripture is no defense, as Judas was well read, well educated, and following devoutly a set of beliefs everyone shared (even though they were mistaken about them).  Only submission of your will works, as it did for Jesus.

The plans of Judas would read soundly to any military general in our intelligence agency in today’s world.  Humanity would see them as completely viable.  It is only that divinity has different ideas, much greater ideas, ideas beyond our limited imaginations that keep us from seeing what God sees.  God does not fault us our limitations, instead He asks us to trust Him to know better, to do better, and to make things so, which we could never make so.  It is NOT the plan of God to leave you in your sins, or struggling with your sins, but to releieve you from your sins entirely.  You cannot do this.  But God can and will as quickly as you submit your will to Him.  Learning that submission should be your life’s goals.  Learning how to get better at it, your greatest ambition.  Because trying to do it yourself, is like becoming Judas, and picking up a pencil to sketch out “how to betray a God and create a King”.  Only to find the execution resulting in how to break a man, and lose all hope, to the point of death.

While we may glorify the mistakes of Abraham, or Jacob, or David – those mistakes were not written for this purpose.  They were stories to teach us not to break trust with God, and do what we think should be done.  At least Judas gives us pause.  But does it take this much to get it right?  Can’t we learn from Jesus Himself, in the garden, submitting what He wanted, in favor of the will of the Father.  It is that submission we are looking for.  It is that submission we need.  It is that submission that will save us.  By contrast our ideas of helping God, could put everything at risk as it did for Judas, and create consequences we will live with forever.  Let us hold firm our trust in the divine to accomplish what God promises, having no need to help Him, only to be grateful that He does what He promises.  As it turns out, human ideas about helping are just not all we thought they might be.

 

One Last Meal ...

What if your next meal was to be your last.  If you knew this to be true, would you make it something spectacular?  All your favorite proteins.  All your favorite breads and veggies.  And hey, go crazy on the butter and seasonings because, well you know, it won’t be your cholesterol that finally gets you.  Most of us cannot get our heads around this idea.  If for some reason we knew our “last” meal was coming, food would likely be the last thing on our minds.  It is a rare soul who gets ravenous at the idea of not eating ever again.  Most of us would want our closest family as close as they could be.  The precious moments we spend with them would likely far outweigh even the most inventive cuisine and menu.  But hey, I did not propose you eat alone.  Bring as many as you can.  Make it a feast.  Include those long-lost relatives you have been reluctant to make time for.  Invite your boss who does not care much for you at work.  Not to impress him/her, but to bury the hatchet and show love even to the hard to love.  You might delegate the work of picking that final meal, but even then, I cannot imagine most of us ordering fast food.

Jesus did.  If there had been a chain of McDonald’s in ancient Israel the fastest food you could make would be the foods they made on Passover night.  It was literal fast food.  It was made quickly because they did not have a lot of time that night in Egypt so long ago.  They needed to eat and be ready to run at a moment’s notice.  And hey, for the folks who were too ashamed to post the lamb’s blood on the door frames – whatever meal they did eat, was the firstborn’s last one, Israelite or no.  The institution, the feast, the remembrance of the Passover came from that night in Egypt nearly ~1200 years before the time of Christ.  It was preserved through the writings of Moses and handed down father to son throughout the life of the Israelite people until the days of Jesus, even to our own.  Jesus knew the timing the events that were to befall Him.  His death would come at the culmination of all the Jewish high holidays (such as the year of Jubilee that only happened once every 50 years where all slaves were freed, all land returned, and all debt was forgiven).  His death would come at Passover, so the Passover dinner was to be His last.  Take out.  Fast food, ordered 1200 years before it would be delivered to Him.  Not much of a celebration in terms of fine dining.  Fine dining, even then, takes time to prepare (perhaps more so back then).  So this last meal was to be simple, and easily prepared.

Part of the tradition of that meal was to eat bitter herbs.  Yeah, nobodies favorite there.  But it was done to remind them of the bitterness of slavery from which the Israelites were freed (by Jesus by the way).  Perhaps it would not hurt our modern day Christians to remember Passover and join our Jewish friends in its keeping.  The bitter herbs we eat would symbolize the exact same thing as they did in Passover – Jesus freeing us from the slavery of our sins.  Pharaoh has nothing on the addiction of sin, and Jesus remains the only power able to beat sin in you.  A few bitter herbs to remind us of that is not a bad thing.  The unleavened bread, or the bread of haste, has meaning in our world as well.  Our Lord is coming back, sooner than we may care to admit, and needing a bread made in haste could remind us of the haste in which He returns.  I know people have been saying that forever.  And for all those souls who have tasted their last meal, that saying remains true (just not how they expected it).  For us, the pattern may be a little different, but the bread of haste is not bad symbolism when you look forward as well.  In any case none of this would be the traditional choice of someone who knows it would be their last meal, at least no one I can think of today.  But it was His pick.

Matthew tells the story in his gospel to his contemporaries in chapter 26 picking up in verse 17 saying … “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?”  Already one feast was dovetailing on the next, and since Passover is most important (and perfectly symbolic), the disciples are more concerned about preparing for that one for Jesus.  None of them have let the thought sink into their heads, that this will be His last meal.  They cannot bear the thought of Him being the condemned.  He is perfectly innocent.  And as it should be; the perfect lamb without blemish.  Jesus responds in verse 18 saying … “And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. [verse 19] And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.”  The first McDonald’s in history perhaps.  But even then, preparations had to be made.

Matthew will not record the entire foot-washing incident.  Perhaps it still stung too badly in his conscience.  Perhaps he just did not think that was the main point we should be focusing on.  Matthew spends his time outing the betrayer.  Is it so with you and me?  Are you and I so obsessed with pointing out the sinners in our church fellowship, we have forgot we owe that same sinner a debt of loving service, done in humility.  It is quite hard to criticize a sinner, and forcefully recommend their disfellowship, while girding a towel around your waist and gently placing their feet in a warm bowl for washing.  Just as Jesus did ~2000 years ago.  The King of Kings thought it not beneath Him to do the lowest work of a servant for each of the disciples at that gathering.  Including Judas, including Matthew, including Peter, even though Peter was not too fond of accepting this humiliation (he got over it).  Perhaps we like Matthew are so focused on identifying the traitors to Jesus, we lose all sight of the service we owe those very same traitors.  Sin is not driven away through accusation.  It is lured away only by the transforming love of Jesus, our loving those same sinners was meant to reflect His love, and give them a reason to seek change in the first place.

We underestimate the power of our love.  Most often because we ration it out so sparingly.  But Jesus was a fountain of love with no end in sight.  What we give away in tiny tiny increments, flowed out of Jesus with the force of Niagara Falls.  Exactly whose servants are we?  Matthew continues the story picking up in verse 20 saying … “Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. [verse 21] And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.”  Matthew pounds on the traitorous theme.  Perhaps he still worries it might have as easily been him.  The truth is that every disciple at that table will betray their relationships with Jesus as the night continues.  Most will run, hide, and stay as far back as their hearing will allow as the horrid events unfold.  No hero’s in this room.  No one ready to even be honest about who Jesus is to them.  When they see Jesus is headed for death, they ALL will doubt if He truly is the Messiah.  So I ask, are any of us free from this traitorous blame?

Jesus has declared one of them will betray Him.  Whatever Jesus says always comes true.  So it is certain.  The weight of it begins to sink in.  Matthew continues in verse 22 saying … “And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?”  Think of this for a moment.  We are talking about a betrayal that has not happened yet.  And each one of them is forced to ask, Lord is it me?  Am I your betrayer?  This should give you an insight into sin that no other scripture has the weight of.  This is an act only one disciple has contemplated and acted upon so far.  Yet ALL of them are unsure if it is them Jesus is talking about.  They are all capable of it.  They are all horrified by the idea, but no sin is beyond them, and they all see that.  If Jesus prophesies it must be true.  They cannot imagine each other as being the one – so that only leaves – me.  Lord is it me?  A heinous sin still in their future, one none of them wants to commit, but all are scared they might.  Lord is it me?

We read these texts as story.  But is the ultimate betrayal of our Lord in your future, and are you humble enough to go to Jesus and ask – Lord is it me?  If you refuse to admit it could be you, it is likely already you.  No one wants to be Judas.  But Judas was Judas.  He was as righteous and as failing as Peter, but most of us would want to be Peter, none want to be Judas.  The difference was not the sin, but where we look to see sin taken from us.  Judas stopped looking at Jesus for the removal of sin.  Peter though completely broken by pride and unforgiveable action still looked to Jesus no matter what.  The weight of the sin was the same.  But where we go to see it removed was wholly different.  Matthew continues in verse 23 with the answer of Jesus saying … “And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. [verse 24] The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”

The heart of Matthew is so far from food or feasting he could have been eating dirt right about then, and not even known it.  It was comforting to have those he loved around him.  These other disciples were his family by choice and brotherhood.  Having them there helped.  But the answer of Christ shook Matthew to the core of who he was.  He that dips his hand with Me in the bowl.  They were ALL dipping their hands in that same bowl of olive oil to season or spread across the unleavened bread.  Olive oil was a precious tasty nectar full of health properties and delicious as a spread.  They all had dipped.  They all had used it on their bread.  Matthew no different than the rest.  But Jesus did not stop there, He continues saying it would have been better for the betrayer NOT to have been born.  Was Jesus talking directly to Matthew? 

Was He talking to me?  I have betrayed Him too.  I have cast aside His victories, choosing to mire in my sin, like a pig does in his own filth.  In my sin I betray Him.  Would it be better for me not to have been born?  That is a pretty dark and heavy thought.  It is meant to be so.  We need to understand where the weight of sin leads, and there is but one destination – this one.  There are no “petty” sins.  There are no light sins, there is only the addictive nature of sin that leads here and no where else.  To the joining of the conspiracy to kill the son of God and take His place running the universe.  It will be the final rallying call of Satan in the final assault against heaven destined to fail, yet all will join it without reservation.  The saved hear another call.  For the saved have been freed from their sins, like the Israelites were made free from Pharaoh so long ago.

Judas now feels like the whole room is looking at him.  He had his hand in the bowl at the same time as Christ when He made that saying.  He feels pressured.  Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.”  Matthew has unveiled Judas.  But his account omits the words of Jesus to Judas to go and do what he must do quickly.  Perhaps Matthew still cannot get his head around the idea that the best of the disciples admired by all, might be the very one who will betray Jesus.  And for Jesus to wish him speed, Matthew just cannot understand.  But with all this focus on betrayal, the focus turns back to the meal.  Passover will remain important, but will be altered for us to look forward, not backward anymore.

Matthew continues in verse 26 saying … “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. [verse 27] And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; [verse 28] For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  For the remission of sins.  This meal is about the removal of the addiction of sin and our slavery to it.  It is only the life of Jesus, the love of Jesus, the sacrifice of Jesus, that empowers Jesus to re-create in you what needs to be re-created.  A new creature.  A new person.  A person devoid of sin.  A person who no longer craves sin, or wanders into it mysteriously.  A person who loves others so passionately they become in harmony with God, with His Laws, and with His heart.  This is the very core, the very power of the Gospel.  The power of Jesus does not end at forgiveness, it only begins there.  The power of Jesus carries through to ending sin completely, in you.

But so that we would have an idea of how special we are to God.  Jesus creates a new tradition even for Himself.  Matthew continues in verse 29 saying … “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.  [verse 30] And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”  Jesus will deny himself the taste of our grape juice, even the perfected version of it heaven alone can offer, until He drinks it again with us.  You can bet He has likely worked up quite a taste for that now.  And given the symbolism of drinking that drink when we are ALL back together at home in His kingdom – that is going to be some world class grape juice not a one of us can avoid loving.  I am not much of a grape juice fan here.  I have it on occasion, mostly prefer Kadem sparkling version.  But up there, you can just leave me a few pitchers of that stuff, I want a belly full.  They sang a hymn.  And they moved on.  The last meal was now a matter of history …

 

Conspiracies Uncovered ...

It is really hard to watch the news (pick any channel) for any length of time, and not begin to see a conspiracy behind a given event.  We used to call those folks conspiracy theorists (or nuts), now we just call them uncle 😊.  But where once we believed in the “good” of our institutions, or at least in the attempt to do good by our institutions; now we lose faith them in from the barrage of what we see on any news channel at any given point in the day.  Happy stories on the news are hardly even imagined.  If it bleeds, it leads, is still the mantra (perhaps a horrible reflection of who we are).  And this has never been truer since the advent of cable news (thanks Ted).  So to join the ranks of the conspiracy “team” (trying to be polite uncle), all you really need to do, is connect some of the relatively obvious dots.  Getting anyone to admit there actually was a conspiracy; or trying to prove one in the face of constant denials, keeps most of this stuff where it started out – in the backrooms, and dimly lit nocturnal abodes of the less-than-savory. 

And frankly, there has been a lot of practice to get a conspiracy right since the first one launched in heaven itself more than 6,000 years ago.  Imagine a pristine environment where a lie had never been told.  Imagine having the complete trust of anyone you came in contact with, because they did not know even what a lie was.  This was the condition, when Lucifer invented lies and began to dabble to perfect his new craft.  Before you know it, nearly a third of the heavenly angels (his peers), were convinced that God was an ego-maniac who would kill you for disagreeing with Him.  The first conspiracy was to overthrow God and take His place running the universe.  It failed.  But it has taken nearly 4000+ years for the Truth to come out to the rest of the universe, and the clock is still running here on planet earth for humanity.  The universe has made up its mind about the character of God.  We can’t seem to get our act together on that topic.  We are not quite sure Satan is wrong.  Just look at the imagine of God most Christian churches present when they talk about hell fire and eternal torture.

Assaulting God’s character and trying to overthrow Him may have been the first conspiracy against God, but it would not be the last.  Oh sure most of us have heard about the one at the Tower of Babel, when man decided the first time, to take his salvation in his own hands and build a tower so great not even God could flood it again.  Yeah, that one did not do well either.  But then comes one of the most dastardly conspiracies of all time against God.  The one where the religious leadership of His church, decided (under Satanic inspiration, but not much needed there), to kill Jesus Christ – just not on feast day – in case the people might get a little upset.  Yeah, it sounds a little crazy on a lot of levels.  But it was a conspiracy.  And of all things, Jesus knew every detail.  He did not nothing to stop it.  But He did unmask it, and try to warn the ones who would be impacted by it, perhaps to offer a last hope of salvation for them (even if it would be rejected again).

Matthew records this conspiracy for us, in his gospel, picking up in chapter 26 and verse 1 saying … “And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, [verse 2] Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.”  Catch the key word there that reveals the conspiracy, the word betrayed.  Someone Jesus trusted was going to turn Jesus over to someone else who hated Him and had in mind to kill Him.  Where there is more than one person working towards a nefarious goal, you by definition, have a conspiracy.  But here is the kicker, Jesus knows it is coming.  He even knows when.  Not because He has a spy keeping Him up to date, but because you simply cannot do anything that God is not aware of, even if it is still just an intent in your heart.  That’s scary.  At least, that is scary for those of us who think we actually have “secret” sins.  The only thing secret about them, is that for a while they may still be in dark from our peers here, but eventually the Truth will out.  And for God, even before we take action, our thoughts, and our motives were known.

Matthew is not subtle about it as he continues in verse 3 saying … “Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, [verse 4] And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. [verse 5] But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.”  This just blows my mind.  It was NOT the Romans who started this conspiracy.  Everyone likes to conveniently blame them because eventually they played a role in it.  But that is just convenient memory.  The truth is that the head of the religion handed down by Jesus Himself to Israel, to Moses, to David, to Solomon, to all the Prophets and Kings that preceded Him – that One true religion – was determined to kill its Author.  Can you imagine the Pope, and the archbishops of the Catholic church, just determined to kill anyone that ever disagreed with them?  Too soon?  Or can you imagine on a more personal basis, what the leaders of your church might do to hang on to power and money even today?  People have always killed to hang on to power or money.  We just seem to forget when they do it to the least of these, they do it to Christ.  However in this case, these Pharisees were just “actually” doing it to Christ.

Matthew wastes no time connecting the dots of the warning of Jesus, with the reality of what followed it.  Even though Jesus had unmasked the conspiracy, that conspiracy formed, and continued to plan and carry out its goals.  Notice too, they were not out to just assassinate Him, instead they wanted to take Him with subtlety (and not on feast day).  Hypocrites to the end.  We must kill our God, but not on one of His special days.  Not much different than folks today I know of, who have no love of the poor, and would be happy to see them go anywhere “else”, even if that means they go away to die in hunger.  As long as they are not here in our church on our “holy” day while we are trying to get our worship on.  We are busy “worshipping”, we have no time for the inconvenient distractions of people who are hungry.  We have on our “good” clothes, and don’t want to get messy.  Get a job.  Go away.  Anywhere else.  Just don’t disturb us while we worship.  And we have the audacity to call what we are doing “worship”.  But it is so easy for us to see the “least of these” and just not see Christ.

The disciples just seem oblivious to what Jesus said.  It’s like they went deaf for a few sentences or something.  There is no record of any reaction to it.  They don’t start buying swords to defend their Lord, (but perhaps Peter did, or at least he got his sword out of storage).  They don’t start looking to find the culprits and reason with them, perhaps diverting them to another course of action.  They don’t start praying for them.  Just nothing.  Life goes on, like if no warning had been given.  How eerily familiar.  But someone heard what Jesus said.  Someone who was listening, like perhaps what all women do, even when men think they don’t.  Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, [verse 7] There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.”

How incredible.  We would like to think this woman was Mary Magdalene.  It is convenient for men, that all the heroic things that take place in the New Testament scriptures are done by Mary Magdalene, that way there is only “one” exception to rules.  But Matthew (who knew Mary Magdalene) does not name her so.  Ok so if not Mary Magdalene, then perhaps it was Mary or Martha one of the sisters of Lazarus who were also devout followers of Jesus.  But Matthew knew them as well, and did nothing to call either by name here.  Which by process of elimination, means this woman was a devout follower of Jesus, and unnamed to history – that would mean there is more than one exception to the rule, or perhaps better still there was never any rule in the first place where it comes to the roles of men and women as they follow Jesus Christ.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit is in charge of that, or should be.  Nonetheless, this woman was listening to the sad proclamation of Jesus, and she did something about it.  She did all she could.  She likely spent as much as a year’s wages (maybe more).  In short, she gave everything she had.

But no good deed goes unpunished, even within the church it seems, even the new church.  Matthew continues in verse 8 saying … “But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? [verse 9] For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.”  Given what will follow with Judas in only a few verses further, it is easy to assume this was at his instigation.  Judas was likely the one who carried the money for the poor, so putting a few gold coins in his purse might have appealed to him.  Again convenient memory.  Matthew is careful to use the word “disciples”.  When there is more than one person engaged in a nefarious action there is by definition a conspiracy.  If it were only Judas, everyone would have been all too happy to cast the blame solely on Judas.  Keep in mind this gospel was written well after the facts.  But it was not just Judas.  Peter, Matthew, perhaps John and yes, perhaps Judas too – were ALL too happy to complain about this woman’s good deed.  They were collectively guilty, not singularly so.  And they had the nerve to be angry about it.  Here is the “new” leadership of the church angry with a woman, for giving all she has to Christ.  How eerily familiar. 

Matthew continues in verse 10 saying … “When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. [verse 11] For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. [verse 12] For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. [verse 13] Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.”  Jesus defends the woman, and her act of love.  He testifies that this act should be remembered as the gospel itself is remembered (and so Matthew records the entire incident, even to his own shame).  Jesus also calls out the hypocrisy of false motives if “anyone” intended to pocket some of the gold coins in a purse they might be carrying for the poor.  The leadership of the new church is rebuked for criticizing the act of love a woman has done for our Lord.  So strange that our modern churches remain so steadfast on a course of criticizing any woman for how she may be gifted to serve her Lord through love.  We still do it, and read these passages as if they are nothing more than history – no lesson for us here.

Matthew again is not too subtle about connecting the dots as he continues in verse 14 saying … “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, [verse 15] And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. [verse 16] And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.”  People have always killed to hang on to money or power.  If Judas must bear the rebuke of Jesus over a few coins this woman wasted, there are other ways of making money, money he will not have to share with the poor either.  And here is where our hearts should break.  Judas cast out demons.  Judas healed the sick.  Judas was a missionary in partnership with one of the other twelve, commissioned by Christ to spread the gospel in earlier days.  That means Judas was a witness, who spoke, who healed, who had the Holy Ghost within him while engaged in these actions.  And yet it is Judas who throws his whole relationship away, and for what?  A few coins?  A perception of an insult or rebuke?

Judas would rather give up his role in church leadership and join a conspiracy to kill his Lord and ask yourself for what?  What would you give up a close relationship with Jesus over?  What conspiracy would you want to join?  Is it a conspiracy for wealth that drives you.  Would you focus more on career to bring you what you think you need (like Judas may have done) – than to sacrifice your job, or your promotion, or your career trajectory - in favor of time with Jesus Christ, even if only revealed through the least of these?  Judas is a cautionary story for us.  Not of betrayal, that’s too easy.  It is of forsaking victory in favor of self-service.  Even when he was directly warned by Jesus that “someone” close to Him would “betray” Him.  The conspiracy was already unmasked.  There was already a light shining in the corners.  Yet Judas ignores the warning and joins it anyway.  As usual this conspiracy against God did not work out well, nor would any other.  They may have appearance of success in some limited fashion.  But in reality, they continue to fail.  Because to fight God, is by definition, to fail.

It is also worth noting that “group think” does not make you right.  There was an entire array of church leaders engaged in the same conspiratorial plot, the same ideas.  They may have had varying motives, but they nearly all wanted Jesus dead.  And the ones who might have disagreed with this stance were certainly quiet about it before time.  Having your entire church leadership of one mind on any given topic is great for unity, until they are united in doing the wrong thing.  To try to determine the right or wrong of a thing in our by-design very-gray-world, ask yourself – what love will this thing show to the least of these, or what love might it take away.  Don’t try to hide insults and hate speech behind the wall of doctrines, claiming you are merely doing God’s work.  That same excuse came right out of Caiaphas’ home that night word-for-word in the matter of trying to kill Jesus to protect the church and “save” the people from His incessant focus on love.  If you find yourself already in the conspiracy, drop out.  Look up.  Go back to Jesus and ask Him what He would do.  Then try to listen and do what He leads you to do.  That might be the distinction to tell if you are in a conspiracy or not – are you following Jesus’ lead; or are you deciding what must be done next.

 

Best Intentions; Deadly Consequences ...

We make plans.  We spend time considering possibilities, evaluating finances, and hoping for outcomes; and then we plan.  In my life, I cannot tell you that my plans could have ever been more considered, more wise, and yet completely unable to reach fruition.  It is not as if every conceivable impact is not considered or taken into account.  Yet somehow, some way, the unforeseen infects the reality of your execution.  What was planned is no longer possible.  Something new must occur, or perhaps nothing will occur.  Yet despite a vivid history of plans that went awry, we continue to make plans.  If this insanity were constricted to our personal lives, to our vacation planning perhaps, then perhaps the impact of our repeated attempts at forestalling the variety of life would not be so dangerous.  But the thinking, the mindset of planning, happens in our religious lives as well.

As planning collides with our spirituality, we decide we will pray for “x” amount of time, on these three days, at 5:00am before our routines begin.  But when the day arrives, the time slips by.  Or when the prayers begin, our desire to sleep overwhelms us, and we find ourselves hitting a snooze alarm rather than in deep conversation with our Lord.  So we decide to change our plans.  Morning prayers must now become evening prayers.  We forecast new days and times for prayer.  At first our new routine seems to work and then subtly, with barely a notice, something else changes.  Our ability to pray for as long as we wanted gets reduced.  For Christians who believe they are saved by the amount of time they spend on their knees, this creates a crisis.  Their continued failures either results in guilt they can scarcely live with, or an acceptance that perhaps prayer is not needed at all.  Yet through all of this, we continue to make plans.

Our ministries at church are far from immune from our desires to make plans.  We decide to raise “x” dollars, to send “x” people, to participate in “x” ministry.  And so we set out to accomplish in our corporate life what we have failed at so miserably at in our personal lives.  And similar results ensue.  Perhaps the finances we intended to raise is just not meeting the timeline we had laid out.  Perhaps the people who initially volunteered to participate in the ministry just do not show up.  Perhaps the ministry we initially envisioned is not the one truly needed for the community we wanted to serve.  What is different in our corporate spiritual lives than in our personal ones, is our ability to compromise with our compatriots.  In so doing, our plans become flexible.  And in our flexibility, God is able to work His will, most often, in spite of, and in direct conflict with, our original plans.  Yet even in church, we continue to make plans.

The most dangerous spiritual plans however, are not the ones made in response to the call of God, but are the ones made to position God with “no other choice” than support what we have planned to do.  It would be as if Noah built an ark on his own, according to his own thoughts about how big it needed to be.  Hunted and gathered only the animals Noah thought were worthy, and stocked his ark, with his crew, and his spoils.  And then begged God to send a flood to wipe out his neighbors for their lack of following God, never having preached a single sermon, to invite them to escape the disaster that was on the horizon, Noah believed would come.  This kind of presumption would not have been a story about the patience of God, or the love of God in repeatedly trying to reach a people who hated Him.  It would have been a story about Noah, who took it on himself to do what he thought should be done.  And it would have failed, even if rain had descended.

Had Abraham taken Isaac up that mountain alone, without the call of God, to sacrifice his son.  There would have been no Israel, only another dead human sacrifice, slain to the spiritual pride of a man who did what he thought was right to do.  Both Noah, and Abraham, followed the plans created by God, the calling laid out by God.  They did not invent these plans.  They did not actually want to follow these plans.  But they laid aside human desire, and did what God had called them to do, regardless of what they wanted.  This should have been the lesson for Judas to learn.  For Judas made plans as well.  Judas knew the stories of Noah, and of Abraham, and Judas knew many of the rest of scriptures as well.  Judas knew what the Messiah was supposed to do.  And Judas saw that the Messiah was clearly not living up to what scriptures had foretold, at least not according to what the Pharisees, and scribes said, that the Messiah was supposed to do.

Judas, like us, had the right religion.  Judas, like us, had the right scriptures, which he believed he interpreted correctly.  The leadership of the faith, agreed with Judas, NOT with Jesus Christ.  So what was to be done to reconcile this discrepancy between what Jesus actually did, and what Jesus (or God) was supposed to be doing?  Judas, like us, made a plan.  Those who make plans ahead of the calling of God have the very best intentions.  They are also completely blind to the idea that they have put themselves in a leadership position that belongs only to God.  God is no longer in the driver’s seat.  He is now a passenger in the planning machine of the Christian who decides what is to come, and how it will be handled. But our plans cannot foresee what only God can foresee.  And sometimes as much as we want God to do something for us, what we want, is not what is best for us, or for our world.  Judas wanted Jesus to become the King that Judas knew He could be.  If Jesus had done this, the Israelite world would have been better for a time, but our ability to be better would have been crushed by the greed-of-the-moment hatched in the plans of Judas.

No matter what, Judas had a plan.  He did not betray Jesus from a random whim.  He did it to force a reconciliation between scripture (or his interpretation of it), and the actions of Jesus.  Judas reasoned, that once the life of Jesus was truly in jeopardy, Jesus would use His true power to escape the traps set for Him, and rise to become the King He was meant to be.  No one with the power to fix something, with the power to save themselves, would ever not use it.  Nobody, who could save themselves, would choose not to, and endure what was coming.  That had never happened before Jesus, so there was no reason to think it would be any different now.  Judas thought his plan was near perfect.  Jesus would rise to become King and thank Judas for helping Him see the light and wisdom of this plan.  Judas had it all worked out in his plan and in his mind.  Just like we do, as we set out to make plans that do not follow God, but attempt to lead Him.

Peter recalls to John Mark, the boldness of Judas’ plan.  Picking up in the Gospel of Mark, chapter fourteen, beginning in verse 43 saying … “And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.”  It was a small army sent to capture one Man.  Judas reasoned these first armed men could be converted into the first army of Christ.  It was sure to happen.  For how could Jesus allow Himself to be captured and face death, that He could easily preach His way out of?  The Temple had emptied its guard, to come to capture the owner of this building, the author of this faith, the inspiration behind every word of scripture, and the central player in every story.

John Mark continues in verse 44 saying … “And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.”  Notice the direction of Judas.  Judas will kiss Jesus just in case in the night lighting they mistake who their target is.  The kiss will be a sign of respect and of betrayal or identification.  This mini-army must not become confused in the dust up.  They must capture Jesus, and in the event they are successful, they are to lead Jesus away safely.  The safety of Jesus is still uppermost in the mind of Judas.  The plan of Judas is not actually to kill Jesus, or hurt Him in any way.  The plan of Judas is to force Jesus to do what He is supposed to do, according to scripture.  How like us.

How often do our interpretations of scripture lead us to make plans that are as far from God as night is from day.  The Westboro Baptist church comes to mind.  In a zealous effort to warn sinners of their ignorant participation in sin, they spend tedious hours creating posters and banners that carry only the words of hate and condemnation to those in need of salvation.  The members of this singular church do not sit quietly and pray for Lord of love to make changes in the hearts that need it.  No, they would rather lead the charge in the fight against evil, never for a moment recognizing the evil that infects each one of them.  Hate banners proudly displayed in times and places where love is needed even more so.  Slogans of hate and condemnation screamed at those in need of love, until their voices and the voices of demons are indistinguishable.  But they have scripture on their side, don’t they?  They have the history of the Old Testament on their side, don’t they?  They certainly have their own interpretation of it, that somehow allows them to carry out their plans.  So did Judas.  So do we, anytime our interpretations lead us to think we can lead God.

John Mark continues in verse 45 saying … “And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, master; and kissed him.”  Judas executed his plan.  He did not pray over it, or at least listen for the response of the Lord.  The plan of Judas involved betrayal, it risked violence, and Judas put those risks and realities aside to execute his plan.  The plans of Christian organizations and members, who would espouse condemnation as their method of salvation are no different than the plans of Judas.  Hate in any form is still hate.  Calling attention to the pain of sin, does not redeem the sinner, it only states the reality of his pain once again.  Redemption begins with forgiveness.  Redemption begins with God loving us in spite of our denial of who He is, and His love for us, that happens in spite of the choices we have made and are making.  Love that reaches out to us, even in our state of sin, is the only love that can draw us out of our sin.  Quiet testimony of how Jesus did this for you, would do more to redeem another who is still struggling with the pain Jesus brought you out of.  Any other words are meaningless.  A lack of love is meaningless and will accomplish nothing in someone else.

John Mark continues in verse 46 saying … “And they laid their hands on him, and took him. [verse 47] And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.”  Peter witnesses these events from a different perspective than John, and so his recollection comes from a different perspective.  The small army sent to capture Jesus does exactly that as Jesus submits.  But while Jesus is willing to be taken, the violence Judas has started will not end with him.  Peter responds by drawing his sword and cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant.  An inch to the left and he might have split the head of the high priest’s servant in two.  Violence has come to Jesus, and violence will be used to stop it.  Peter has not thought through the odds, or the numbers.  The guards greatly outnumber him, but he is undeterred.  Peter need only make a distraction so that Jesus can escape.  Peter is ready for blood.  At this point Peter is ready for the blood of Judas most of all.

And so Christians who incorporate violence into their planning, find that violence is ready to be used against them.  Peter could argue that others drew the sword first, that others came with violent intent first.  So do we.  We argue that the world, under the watchful eye of Satan, has drawn the sword first against us, and against our faith.  We are not wrong.  The world is not above using violence against the faith.  But what does it say, when we are willing to take violence to them, when we initiate it.  The people who Westboro protests against, did not first come and protest against them.  The women who in their desperation find themselves at an abortion clinic did not come to our churches before they were pregnant to hurl stones and accusations against the faithful for their hypocrisy and their spite.  It was before they were pregnant that our love to them might have altered the course of their lives.  It is now in their time of greatest need when ONLY our love might still have a chance to alter it, to redeem it, to provide a consistency of love no matter what course they choose.  Will they meet that love from us, or will they meet something else?

The response of Jesus to Peter is not recorded here.  Nor is the miracle of Jesus restoring to the servant of the high priest the ear that was just cut off.  Perhaps Peter did not see or hear this.  Or more likely perhaps the rebuke of Jesus to Peter for using that sword still stings in the ears of Peter as it should in ours.  Peter does however, hear the rebuke of Jesus to this small army intent on his capture as John Mark continues in verse 48 saying … “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? [verse 49] I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.”  Jesus points out that He carries no sword or spear.  Jesus has not been calling an army to Himself, He has been here to redeem all men and women instead.  Jesus points out that He was in the Temple very recently teaching, if they wanted Him, they could have taken Him there very easily.  But then, scriptures must be fulfilled.

It is with this, that the vows of men are recorded in the gospel.  John Mark states in verse 50 saying … “And they all forsook him, and fled.”  This includes John.  This includes Peter.  Even Judas may not have had the stomach to see where the best of intentions is now going to lead.  But there was another witness.  In the strangest of epitaphs, Peter recalls to John Mark beginning in verse 51 saying … “And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: [verse 52] And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.”  Who was this?  Scripture does not record, nor would it seem that Peter knew him by name.  Why was he there?  Could this person have been there all the while Jesus was in agony?  Could he have been staring through the mists watching the Son of Man become separated from the Father God?

To be naked in front of others is considered a high sin in the days of Peter.  It is clear in this exchange that the man had few clothes on to begin with and is clearly willing to leave them behind in the escape.  Perhaps this was yet another demoniac who stays in silent witness.  Perhaps this was the devil himself in human form.  Or perhaps this was a silent disciple awakened from his bed in the night, who has come to the garden in nothing but his pajamas.  We may never know until we reach that infinite kingdom of our Lord.  But what this man saw, what they all saw, was the results of a very finely crafted plan reaching its unintended fruition.  Judas crafted a plan he reasoned had only one outcome, when in reality the outcome was something completely different.

When we plan, when we consider possible outcomes, we must ask ourselves the only question that matters … do we plan in response to the call of God, or ahead of it?  It is far better to follow the plans of God, even when they make little or no sense to us, then to craft our own plans with the best of intentions and the deadliest results.  When we include violence, or the risk of violence in our planning, we step away from the path of our God, and enter ground we were never meant to tread.  For it is love alone that redeems, love alone that can change the course of a person’s life.  Violence cannot accomplish this feat, but love can.  Perhaps our best course of action is to be willing to be led, instead of constantly thinking it is our job to lead. 

The fight over sin happens in the heart of man, where only the Love of God can transform and give us hope.  Banners that state our condemnation, offer us no reason to escape this fate other than fear.  They do not picture a loving God, but only a vengeful one who delights in our time in the flames.  This is not the God I serve, nor the picture I find in these scriptures of Jesus who would rather suffer torture and death than to see us have to do it.  Perhaps the better poster to construct would look something like those old weight loss ones of a few years back … “End sin and pain now, ask me how”.