Judas Iscariot
Passion Week Series: Wednesday & Thursday (Last Supper, Judas’ Betrayal, Jesus Prays)
We’re continuing a series on the final week of Jesus’ life. We’ve already covered the events of Palm Sunday, and Monday where He cursed the fig tree, cleansed the temple. Last week we talked about Tuesday, a day where Jesus was attacked on all sides by every group in Jerusalem who wanted to trap Him in His words, so they could arrest Him as a traitor or a blasphemer. But none of it worked.
He spent the rest of the day as a sort of teaching tour-guide of the Temple, walking throughout and explaining many things, even taking time out to pronounce seven woes upon the Pharisees, eventually ending his tour with just his closest followers seated on the Mount of Olives with a spectacular view of the entire Temple. One of them comments on how beautiful it is and Jesus spends a long time telling them about the soon coming destruction of Jerusalem and expands his teaching all the way until the end of the world.
Wednesday
They leave the Mount of Olives and return for a well-earned sleep to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. We don’t know much of what happened on Wednesday, but there is one event that cannot be missed – Judas’s bargain with the leaders the Temple Police, who report to the Sanhedrin, to betray Jesus.
Though there has been much speculation as to why Judas did this, scripture doesn’t really give us a specific answer. We know that Judas was never really a follower of Jesus – and Jesus knew that (John 6:64, 70) – though the disciples didn’t seem to notice.
One solid theory was that it was for the money. Judas’s name is often associated with wanting money. He kept the purse for the group and liked to dip into it for personal reasons. This seemed to give the devil a foothold in his life and was what Satan leveraged to turn him from Jesus. Just a few days before Judas was very upset when Mary had anointed Jesus feet with an ointment that would have cost a year’s wages. He saw it as a waste and would rather have sold it and kept some of the money.
On Monday Jesus overturned the marketplace tables of the money changers. On Tuesday Jesus told them that everything was God’s and that they had to honour the government with their taxes. On Tuesday evening Jesus warned them that because of their faith, they would lose everything, be hated by all, and go through great tribulation on account of Jesus.
No doubt all of this sat very poorly with Judas. Jesus was supposed to be his key to an easier life, not a harder one. The plan was to ride into Jerusalem, conquer Rome and set themselves up as lords of all the world – and all this talk of loss, suffering and pain wasn’t what Judas had bargained for.
In Mark 14:1-2 we get a glimpse of what’s going on behind the scenes:
“It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.’” (vs 1-2).
Mark places some of these stories thematically and next tells the story of Jesus’ anointing by Mary the night before Palm Sunday, emphasizing Judas’ problem with it and contrasting his heart with Mary’s. This gives us insight into what is about to happen next:
“Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.” (Mark 14:10-11)
Perhaps when he walked up to the Temple Guard, Judas was simply looking for a payout. He figured things were about to go sour and he needed cash-out ASAP. He is given 30 silver coins – not an insignificant amount – maybe $10,000 in today’s money. With that action, Judas sets in motion the final day of Jesus’ life as a free man. He comes back to sit with Jesus and the Twelve, waiting for his moment.
Thursday
Thursday is an incredibly busy day, by biblical standards. And, to get technical, we have to remember that the way that we mark days, and the way that the Jews marked days, is different. The Jewish understanding of a “day” is almost opposite to ours. The day begins when the stars come out at night. So technically, the events of Thursday mostly happen in the Upper Room during the Last Supper. Then when Jesus and disciples leave the room, it’s already Friday when they get to the Garden of Gasthemene – which we will talk about next week.
So the events of Thursday also bleed a little into the events of Friday, and lots happens. Mark’s Gospel whips through Thursday in only a nineteen verses, Matthew takes 32, Luke takes 38, but Gospel of John takes five chapters to go through it, 154 verses, most of which is Jesus talking. It’s almost all red letters.
Let’s read how Mark speaks of the events of Thursday, and then we’ll fill in the gaps from the other Gospels.
“And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.” (Mark 14:12-16)
So here’s what’s happening: Jews were expected to return to Jerusalem and stay there for the Passover meal, and plans had already been made for where they would take it together. So now they make their way to the room where they will spend the evening, and during supper Jesus does something remarkable. John 13 tells us what happens next:
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:1-5)
Jesus is teaching them about humility and the importance of serving one another by doing something only a servant would do – wash their dirty feet. This is where we get the term Maundy Thursday, by the way… Maundy is the traditional term for Footwashing. Him doing this proves to be somewhat ironic since in about half-an-hour they’ll be arguing about who is the greatest among them. But He does try to explain it to them.
“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.’ After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.’” (John 13:12-21)
Jesus washes the disciples’ feet – including Judas’. He speaks of His love for them and demonstrates His willingness to serve them. He implores them to serve one another in humility, but He knows the heart of the one who has already sold Him out. Jesus gives every possible invitation to Judas to change his mind, and every reason to turn from the path He was set on… but he would have none of it.
And then they return to the table, each disciple confused about what Jesus had just said about being betrayed. They sit down and only the one closest to Him, John, has the courage to quietly ask who would do it. Jesus says that it was the one sitting so near Him that they were even sharing the same food at dinner. Jesus then tears off a piece of bread, dips it and shares it with Judas. More irony. Judas sold Jesus out for a pile of money, and was being offered food from Jesus’ table, a sign of friendship.
“Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the feast,’ or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.” (John 13:27-30)
Many theologians wonder what happened when Judas took that piece of food from Jesus’ hands. Why was Satan able to get a hold of his heart right then? You’d think that would have been the time when he felt closest to Jesus and least likely to betray him. We know that Satan had been working on him already, but what made this the moment of decision?
Perhaps it was that Jesus seemed to already know what Judas had done. He had announced someone would betray him. Perhaps Judas was close enough to hear what Jesus had told John. I wonder if what pushed Judas over the edge was the very fact that Jesus had offered to wash his feet, be his friend and a share his meal. Judas didn’t want to serve a servant – he wanted servants! He didn’t want a friend, he wanted a conquering king! He didn’t want scraps from the table, he wanted to rule nations! He didn’t want a small purse, he wanted a treasury! Perhaps it was the very act of offering friendship that tipped the scales. And Jesus knew… and sent him out to get it over with… His heart growing heavier every minute.
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
The rest of the meal is an amazing series of events. Judas gets up and leaves to find the Temple guard, and Jesus begins to speak to the disciples for a long time. And his speech begins like this in verse 31:
“When he [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’” (John 13:31-35)
Jesus will speak a lot about love this evening. The word “Love” will come up 31 times before the end of Jesus’ lesson. Next, Jesus will institute the Lord’s Supper and tell Peter that he will betray Him three times.
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” (John 13:36-38)
The disciples are visibly upset. Jesus has been talking about his death a lot this evening, he has said someone will betray him, Judas got up and left, and they just watched Jesus and Peter have a very disturbing conversation. I can’t imagine what was going through their minds.
But Jesus speaks words of kindness, strength and promise to them. It is from this discourse, in the final hours before Jesus is arrested, that we get some of the most amazingly helpful and comforting quotes of our faith. He’s agonizing inside, but Jesus begins by saying:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)
When they panic that they don’t know how to get to the Father to be with Him again, He says:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
When they worry about how they will be able to go on without Him, what if they forget his teaching, what if they don’t know what to do, Jesus says:
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you…” (John 14:25-27)
He reminds them of the critical importance of depending on Him for everything — because He loves them:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends…” (John 15:5, 8-14)
He prepares them for what is about to happen, and what will happen for the rest of their ministry:
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you…. ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:18, 20)
Yhen He makes them a promise:
“…you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:22-24)
At the end of this teaching time, after He has tried to prepare them for what will come, the disciples look at Him and say:
“‘Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’” (John 16:29-33)
His concern for them, despite the fact that they have such little clue about what He is feeling – no one asks Him – and despite the fact that in only a few hours, they will scatter in fear and leave him alone to face a false trial and then death at the hands of their enemies – is staggering. He really, really, loves them.
Jesus Prays
And then Jesus prays. He prays for Himself, His disciples, and all of us believers that would come later. All of chapter 17 is a prayer Jesus spoke in the Upper Room during His last meal with the disciples. He’s only a short time away from His betrayals, arrest, false trials and crucifixion, and He calls out to God.
First, Jesus prays for Himself:
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:1-5)
Next He prays for his disciples, staring in verse 6:
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:6-19)
And then, Jesus prayed for you, me, and all believers who came before and will come after us:
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:20-26)
After His prayer, He looked at them, and got up to leave. He warns them again that they will all fall away from Him, and Peter again states the He never will… and Jesus reminds him that He will deny Him three times. Words spoken in love, knowing what will come – and the disciples are starting to understand how much pain their Lord is in.
They leave the Upper Room and walk to the Garden of Gethsemane in the Kidron Valley, where Jesus wants to go to continue to pray and prepare His heart for the immense trial and suffering that would come very, very soon. And He wants His followers to pray for Him and to pray that they might not be afraid or betray Him that evening.
“Jesus went out [as was his custom] to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’” (Luke 22:39-46 [from the NIV])
In moments, Judas will come with a group of armed guards from the Sanhedrin, and return Jesus’ act of friendship from earlier that evening – He will give Jesus the kiss of friendship, which was designed to tell the guards exactly who to arrest.
Application
Drawing an application from Thursday is no easy task. There is so many places we could go. A whole series’ of sermons couldn’t mine out all the wonders of what was said and what happened on Thursday. But I take this away:
Jesus loves His people so much. All the promises of Thursday are promises to us too.
He loved them enough to prepare a place for them in heaven.
He loved them by washing their feet and humbly serving them.
He loved them by preparing their hearts and minds for the trials that would come, and never lying about how hard it would be.
He loved them by warning them about the weakness of their hearts and convicting them of their sins.
He loved them by making them not only His followers, but His friends.
He loved them by promising them the Holy Spirit, a union to Him and the Father, that would never leave them.
He loved them so much He would be willing to listen to and answer their prayers when He went away.
He loved them by giving them each other to lean on.
He loved them even though He knew they would keep turning away from Him.
He loved them though they would betray Him.
He loved them though they would scatter.
He loved them even though they didn’t understand and were often disobedient and argumentative, grasping at power and refusing humility.
He loved them by praying for them and interceding on their behalf to His Father.
And, in His most amazing act of love, He loved them so much, that He was willing to take all of their sins, to suffer and die in their place, taking the wrath of God on Himself, exchanging His Righteousness for their sinfulness, so they could inherit eternal life and be with Him forever.
That’s the love of Jesus for us.
