A Thought or Two About Judas

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: Mark 14:10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.

Observation: What precedes the “then’ in this verse is key. A woman had just anointed Jesus with some very costly ointment which some considered to be a waste of a valuable resource. Jesus scolded them and said that she had “performed a good service for [him].” The verse I picked above is what happens next.

Application: It has been said that every person has his or her own breaking point. Each of us can only bend to a certain extent from our principles, beliefs, and assumptions before we either jump ship or go on some sort of a rampage. We reach that point where we say, “enough is enough.”

Judas had reached that point. He’d been with Jesus a few years; he was one of the original twelve. No doubt he had seen some of his traditions questioned and some of his assumptions challenged. And so perhaps things had been building in his mind for some time. And here it appears that Jesus’ praise of this woman who had just anointed (some would say “wasted”) this expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet seems to be the last straw. Judas has had enough. He’s ready to switch sides. He’s ready to turn Jesus in.

Which brings up a very thorny question. How can we distinguish the difference between something going awry and Jesus simply leading us to see things differently?

Honestly, I’m not sure we can always see the difference. I mean think about it; Judas had the advantage of being a hand-chosen disciple of the best teacher of all time and he still didn’t get it. How are we to fare any better?

It occurs to me that we do have one significant advantage over Judas; we know that Jesus was/is the real deal. His ways might, at times, seem unorthodox, but we can see that he is still the way, the truth, and the life. He offers a way that we might not otherwise consider, a truth that we are encouraged to see, and a life that we will most surely need at some point I the future and, on another level, even now.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the witness of Judas. It is not, of course, a perfect witness. But it is indeed an important reminder that we are not always perfect witnesses either. Still, your will is done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings for today included Job 25 and Mark 13-14)