PREMEDITATED MURDER: AN OPPORTUNE TIME!
Matthew, Mark and Luke give us a glimpse of what preceded Jesus' betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane on Passover night. It did not 'just happen' on the spur of the moment. To give perspective to the discussion that follows, here is what Mark wrote in chapter 14:1-11:
"Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; for they were saying, 'Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.'
"While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, 'Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.' And they were scolding her.
"But Jesus said 'Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.'
"Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time."
JESUS IS WORTHY!
While Jesus and His disciples were dinner guests in the home of Simon the leper, an unnamed woman broke a container of very expensive nard and poured it over Jesus' head. She anointed Him for burial even before His death. How she knew to do it we're not told. She did it anyway out of great love and exultation for Him.
The disciples were vocally upset, but not because Jesus was going to die soon. No, they growled at the waste of such a valuable perfume. Rather than their being alarmed at what the woman had prophetically demonstrated was going to happen, the nard's fragrance immediately alerted the men to its costliness. Jesus wasn't worthy of such extravagance. He did not deserve such a demonstration of His immense value. After following Him for three years, that is all they cared for or knew about Him! Little wonder that they fell asleep in the Garden and deserted Him at the Cross! Human nature is notoriously fickle!
From the disciples' complaints, we conclude that Jesus' ministry included giving to the poor who came where He was preaching and healing. Their poverty was so great Jesus must have instructed Judas, keeper of their ministry money bag, to give coins to certain of the needy. The sale of the nard would have filled that bag. Why such waste on Jesus' head when their ministry could have been enhanced instead? Were their works more important than Jesus Himself?
PREMEDITATED MURDER!
The devil, also present at the meal though hidden from view, seized the opportunity. Luke's account says satan entered Judas on the spot. Just two days before the feast of Passover, Jesus' company and many more Jews were in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival. While outwardly Judas complained with the rest about the wasted nard, he foresaw another way he could fill his own pocket. He would arrange Jesus' arrest and eventual murder for money that would not have to go into the bag. All of it would be his alone! Being the miracle worker Jesus was, He could masterfully evade or elude His captors, but Judas would be the richer for it.
Probably making some excuse to his fellows of needing to 'go to town', Judas left the group and went to the temple. Evidently, word on the street was that the priests wanted Jesus dead. It was Judas who proposed that he be the one to identify Jesus to the religious leaders, so they could take Him prisoner. It was his proposal, not theirs. He initiated it, an inside job, sniveling rat that he was. In return, they promised him money for doing his dirty work!
Judas possessed no loyalty to either Jesus or God. He was greedy for money, money he stole regularly from the bag to spend on himself. No CPA audited that bag, no financial accountability was made to the group or, at the least, to Jesus. Judas was consumed by his hunger for coinage. Whether or not he believed Jesus would actually die as a result of his actions was not foremost in his thinking. With all the miracles he had seen Jesus perform, He could wiggle out of this one, too, but Judas would be the richer anyway. Or at least that's how he justified his plan.
Just like the majority of people who walk this planet, Judas thought he could mess with God and get away with it. What a fool he was! An unabashed fool!
THE WORK OF COVETOUSNESS
What is most awful about this whole scheme is that Judas premeditated Jesus being taken into custody. He made his initial trip to the high priest and company two days before Passover. That gave him two days to coordinate the opportune time and place for the religious leaders to arrest Jesus. He must have made more than one trip to the temple to work out the details for the betrayal, using Jesus' plans for how and where the group would celebrate the Passover and what He would do afterward. The religious leaders had plenty of time to organize, ready for the 'kill.'
A striking and horrible fact lay between Judas' introductory trip to the religious leaders and the actual night of betrayal. He had ample time to repent and absolutely forsake his traitorous deed. One wonders if he ever felt guilty as he mingled with the other disciples and Jesus. Did he fight off conviction for the treason he had already committed? Did he cover lie after lie with more lies to avoid exposing his plan? We're not told that. But repent he did not do. Instead, he masqueraded as one in motive and spirit with the traveling troop. He was a traitor and a liar! All his ways were duplicitous.
While we consider this scenario from over 2000 years ago, we need to know that even today in churches across the world are people who look like, sound like and act like they are good Christians. In reality, they are not true believers. They may think and say they are, but they do not have an intimate relationship with Jesus. They control their own lives, rather than surrendering themselves to the Holy Spirit, His holiness and His guidance.
When hard times come, and they are coming soon, persecution is certain for those who truly know God. Those camouflaged sinners who sit with you on Sunday will betray fellow church goers and report them to the law in order to preserve their own hides. They will save their own necks from certain torture and death by betraying true believers. They will be modern-day Judases. So beware if you are a true believer or are a Judas in the camp!
What is even more obvious in Judas' story of betrayal is that Jesus never exposed his heinous plans nor did He try to restore him. He allowed Judas to carry out his ugly scheme from start to finish--and it worked! It sealed Jesus' fate, and it certainly sealed Judas', as well. The Word says he bought a field where he committed suicide. Judas hastened his entry to hell through his despair and anguish at what he had done. But it was a done deal not to be undone by throwing the coins at the feet of the priests. Judas had passed the point of no return when he purposely accepted the Passover bread soaked in juice from Jesus' hand during the Passover meal. Satan took control of him at that moment and Judas' fate was sealed.
LESSONS TO LEARN
All people, believers in Jesus or not, are posed during their lifetime with a line they must not cross. Most do not recognize its serious relevance when it is their time to face it, but by making the wrong decision, they forever seal their destiny in hell. If only they knew how dire the consequences of their decision will be, they would immediately turn their back on sin and humble themselves before God in repentance. It is that serious, Jesus cried on the Cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing." No one who lets Jesus' death for them be in vain can comprehend the seriousness of their failure to embrace Him as their Lord! Once in hell, they will know, but then it will be too late!
That is the lesson we should learn from Judas. In fact, here are several pressing lessons we ought to seriously consider:
- When you hear truth, do not pass it off lightly, but apply its meaning to your own life and obey it. Do not sit in church and hear the Bible preached week after week without letting it absolutely change you from the inside out. Examine yourself to be sure you are in the faith. Quit looking and acting like you're one of the members without being one with them in heart. Judas sat at the feet of Jesus Himself for three years, but did not change! He ended up in hell. So will you!
- When your motives go contrary to what Jesus looks like and would do, stop and repent. Turn around. Flee sin that lies at your door. Judas stole for three years, but thought he was safe. Instead, he opened himself to the devil and was an accomplice in causing the murder of Jesus. If you continue to nurse a secret sin, you will ensnare yourself in an action or lifestyle that will ultimately damn your soul.
- If you make a wrong decision and realize it, run from it regardless of what it will do to your reputation or status in life. Confess your sin, no matter how publicly it exposes you. Do not fear man and what people will think of you. Instead, fear God and hell. God will honor you if you honor Him.
Obviously, Judas did not learn, though he spent so much time with Jesus and the other disciples. His regular stealing from the common purse without repentance led him down the dark road to betraying the Son of God. Jesus never condemned Judas nor exposed his plot. Judas condemned himself by not heeding all that he heard and saw from God Himself.
Ravi Zacharias once said: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay."
Do not let Judas' fate be yours, as well. Turn from your sin while you have time. When you cross that line of no return, it will be too late! You hold the key to your soul's destiny. Make it heaven!