To read: John 13:21-32
New Revised Standard Version Bible,After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples - the one whom Jesus loved - was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do."
Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
To think about:
Sometimes
I think longingly of the earliest days of television. Yes, it was simplistic in many respects, but it gave the average viewer a certain comfort in knowing that it was as easy as looking at the color of the Stetsons to tell the good guys and the bad guys apart. I've always automatically consigned Judas Iscariot to the black hat club. The Italian poet Dante, after all, reserved a special place for Judas in the innermost zone of the innermost circle of the Inferno, his famous depiction of hell. To top it off, Judas was condemned to the most horrible punishment Dante could devise - an eternity spent with his head in the mouth of the central one of Satan's three heads.
As I read over today's verses from John, however, a single phrase - in fact, a single word - I'd hardly noticed before struck me and made me re-think my "black hat" label for this most vilified disciple. The single word is "after." Think about it: "After he had received the piece of bread." There's a timeline here that I hadn't processed before. "After he had received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him." Even before Jesus gave Judas the piece of bread, verse 2 of this chapter says that "The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas &to betray him."
Maybe Judas didn't have a chance. Maybe Judas was just like the rest of us. He didn't set out to betray someone he loved. He came to supper with Jesus as just another disciple. It was only after the devil had done his work that the name of Judas would become synonymous with betrayal of the worst kind. It was only after the devil had done his work that the black hat of villainy was jammed on Judas' head forever in the eyes of those of us who have come after.
To pray:
Strengthen us, Gracious Lord, for the times when the devil, in whatever form, lurks on the edges of our lives. And when, as with Judas, he enters our hearts and we sin, give us the courage to accept the gift of your forgiveness and move on with our lives, so that we may serve you all our days. Amen.
Coordinator for Communication
Delaware-Maryland Synod