Scarlet Thread – Judas, Betrayal, and Blood Money
Scarlet Thread – Judas, Betrayal, and Blood Money.
“Glory be to Jesus, Who in bitter pains, poured for me the life-blood, from His sacred veins.
Grace and life eternal, in that blood I find, blest be His compassion, infinitely kind.
Blest through endless ages, be the precious steam, which from endless torments, did the world redeem.
Lift ye then your voices, swell the mighty flood; louder still and louder, praise the precious blood.” (Friedrich Filitz).
Glory Be to Jesus – Christian Song with Lyrics (youtube.com)
The scarlet thread that is sewn into Holy Scripture from beginning to end is unmistakable. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Bible is blood-centric, that there is an overriding theme of blood wherever we look. We don’t need to be super-detectives to discover blood patterns in the Word. The Scripture seems practically preoccupied with blood, and one could be excused for observing that God seems to be out for blood. We find out why this is the case in Leviticus 17:11 and 13… “The life of all flesh is in its blood. The life is in the blood.” The Word of God seems preoccupied with blood only because God is preoccupied with life. God is out for blood only in the sense that He is out for Life. The Bible is blood-centric only because God is life-centric. In fact, the term “scarlet thread” is not strong enough. Instead, the Bible has a powerful crimson tsunami flowing through its pages from Genesis through Revelation, from before creation to the New Creation.
In this Bible study we will take a good look at the blood-stories in Scripture, from the divine sacrifice before the foundation of the world, to the animal sacrifice in the Garden of Eden; from the bloodshed in the first family, to the blood-themed covenant between God and Noah; from the Nile River, to the Passover in Egypt; from the bloody mess in the Tabernacle, to the Scarlet Worm that hinted at Jesus, and yes, even to the bloody betrayal of Judas. Yes, there seem to be blood-splatters all over the floors and walls of Scripture. Through it all, the precious blood of Jesus is the centerpiece.
“Father, forgive Judas, for he didn’t know what he was doing.”
Judas and Blood. At the end, Judas was defined by blood: He received 30 pieces of silver as blood money to betray his friend Jesus, and ever since that term has been a symbol of the betrayal of innocent blood. The chief priests refused to put that blood money back into the temple treasury after Judas threw it back at them in his remorse, so they purchased a field that belonged to a potter and turned it into a burial ground for Gentiles. That cemetery was soon known a “Akeldama,” the Field of Blood. There are a couple of biblical traditions about how Judas Iscariot died. According to Matthew 27:3–10, Judas felt remorse after seeing Jesus condemned to death, and after he tried to return the silver, he went out to a field and hanged himself. According to Acts 1:18, that field was purchased with his blood money, and he proceeded to dive headfirst into it, and “all his bowels gushed out.” His suicide was bloody and gruesome and tragic, and Judas has gone down I history as belonging to the lowest levels of hell.
Before the Arrest of Jesus. Thursday night was the beginning of the Passion of Christ. The following occurred, in order, before His arrest: The Passover meal with the disciples, what came to be known as the Last Supper; Judas departs the Supper to meet with religious authorities; Jesus predicts Peter’s denial; the prayer and agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane; an angel is sent to strengthen and encourage Jesus at His lowest in the Garden; while still at the foot of the Mount of Olives, a mob arrives, with Judas in the lead, to arrest Jesus. The disciples were falling asleep earlier in the Garden. They now seem fully awake.
The Mob. This was not your ordinary little group of enforcers. Various versions describe this group in different ways: a contingent; a detachment; a multitude; a cohort; a mob; a huge group. Scholars estimate that there was anywhere between 200-600 men in this mob. They were all carrying torches and weapons, with swords, clubs, spears, whatever they could get their hands on. Judas, the official accuser, was in the front, along with Temple priests, elders, Roman soldiers and Temple police. The religious authorities had issued a warrant for Jesus’ arrest. They were to seize Jesus, arrest Him, and bring Him to the religious court for trial. The Temple leaders knew full well that Jesus was quite popular in the general public, so didn’t want to arrest Jesus in the Temple, even though He taught there every day, for fear of inciting a riot.
The Power of I AM. A dramatic scene is developing. Jesus is surprised at the numbers of people involved and their weaponry. “What am I, some dangerous revolutionary?” He asked them. Jesus asked the mob who they were looking for, knowing that He was the target. They said they were looking for Jesus the Nazarene. Without hesitation, Jesus confidently blurted out, “I AM He!” There was so much spiritual power and authority that accompanied those words that the whole multitude fell backwards, flat on the ground. His claim to be deity, the Great I AM, was scandalous, but also filled with overwhelming divine energy. Jesus simply overpowered the mob with His spiritual presence. They literally couldn’t seize Him. Instead, He allowed Himself to be taken. He submitted. He gave them permission to take Him to His death. As Jesus told them to their face, “This is your moment, when the power of darkness reigns.”
The betrayal of Judas. The official accuser paid by the Temple authorities, Judas had a pre-arranged signal with the soldiers… He would give a kiss of greeting to the guilty party, to this man who was to be arrested. So that’s what he did. Judas greeted Jesus warmly with “Rabbi, Rabbi!” Jesus, gracious to the end, responded with, “My beloved friend.” Jesus followed that up with, “Is this why you have come to me? Are you really going to betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” With His poignant response, Jesus brings us back to the prophecy of Psalm 41:9, “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.‘” And Psalm 55:12-13 as well, “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in the throng.”
“So Judas came straight to Jesus, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ he exclaimed, and gave Him a kiss. Jesus said, ‘My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.’ Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested Him.” (Matthew 26:49-50).
The tragic life of Judas Iscariot is well documented in the Gospels. After praying all night to the Father, Judas was hand-picked by Jesus to be in the original group of twelve disciples. He was soon the treasurer of that group’s common purse as they traveled from place to place. Judas was greedy and dishonest, though, and he occasionally stole from the purse when he wanted money. Judas followed Jesus for three years, listening to all His parables, witnessing the countless miracles, observing Jesus in his interactions with everyone from the Pharisees to the lepers. Judas was with Jesus around the campfires at night, at meals, in synagogues, on the road. But Judas never really believed in Jesus. He was going through the motions of following Him without actually taking Him in. Nonetheless, just before the betrayal, Jesus had the grace to wash Judas’ feet. What was Jesus feeling as He so tenderly cared for Judas the betrayer? What was Judas thinking while his feet were being tenderly washed by the Man he would soon betray?
Why did Judas betray Jesus? Judas had some type of agenda for Jesus, and the Lord never followed it. Judas finally gave up on Him. Judas’ betrayal could have been for any number of reasons: maybe he wanted a political savior instead of a spiritual one; maybe he wanted a new government instead of the Kingdom; maybe he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be offered a plum position in Jesus’ new order; maybe he wanted status and favor from the religious establishment instead of being rejected around every corner with Jesus; maybe he simply rejected Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah; maybe it was just a matter of simple greed, a desire for money, 30 pieces of silver at that. We don’t know the initial motivation exactly, or the convoluted way he arrived at his treachery. But Judas committed the gravest sin in human history. He betrayed someone who loved him, he betrayed his friend and his Lord.
With all these spiritual complications in Judas’ psyche, he became ripe for manipulation in the hands of Satan. The enemy used Judas, plain and simple. Satan gleefully moved Judas from one square to another on his checkerboard. But while the evil one was playing checkers, God was playing chess. And Judas chose to become a pawn. Judas used his free will to become a fulfillment of God’s sovereign plan:
In the end, Judas was filled with remorse. He finally realized that he had betrayed an innocent and good man. Instead of seeking forgiveness, though, he sought self-destruction. He committed suicide and left no room for redemption in his guilt. The tale of Judas and his treachery is completely tragic. As Jesus said on that fateful night, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.” (Mark 14:21).
How did Jesus respond to someone who could literally be called the chief of sinners? What was Jesus’ reaction as He saw Judas start spinning a small web of dishonesty until it became a giant web of betrayal? Through the whole process, Jesus displayed forbearance, friendship, and forgiveness.
Forbearance. Jesus knew at the start that Judas was stealing from the common purse. And He knew Judas wasn’t about to change. There are no secrets from Jesus, because no one can look into the human heart quite like Him. (John 2:25). “Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and He knew who would betray Him.” (John 6:64). Jesus knew of Judas’ early thievery, but He didn’t do anything about it. As Jesus said in Luke 4:19, quoting Isaiah 61, this is still the time of God’s grace and favor, “the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus’ kindness here towards Judas was intended to give Judas a chance at turning his life around. “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). Alas, Judas continued hardening his heart, and repentance was not forthcoming.
Friendship. Jesus knew what was going on in Judas’ heart, and yet He continued to offer Judas acceptance and friendship. Jesus never wavered in His commitment to Judas. On the one hand, early in His ministry He called Judas “the devil.” (John 6:70). But on the other hand, Jesus remained faithful to Judas throughout their years together in ministry. Just before His betrayal, Jesus actually washed the feet of Judas! (John 13). How could Judas have allowed that to happen in good conscience? By that time, Judas had no conscience. Shortly later at the Last Supper, Jesus dipped a piece of bread into a bowl and offered it to Judas. This was an extraordinary gesture in this situation, because in their culture to perform that simple act in particular was a display of intimate friendship. It was at this point that Satan entered Judas’ heart for good. (John 13:26). And finally, when Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus addressed Judas with, “Friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” (Matthew 26:50). There are two Greek words for friend. One word, philos, means true friend and intimate companion. The other Greek word is hetairos, which means false friend, someone who attaches himself to a one-sided friendship for selfish reasons. Aware of all the dynamics in this complex situation, Jesus called Judas hetairos. Jesus acknowledged that with Judas He indeed had a one-sided friendship.
Forgiveness. As Jesus gasped for breath on the cross, He uttered this famous intercessory prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). Jesus could very well have been fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12, which declared that the Suffering Servant was “interceding for the rebellious.” Jesus seems to be asking the Father not to charge certain people with the depravity involved in killing the very Son of God in all His innocence and purity. Overlook the wrongs of these perpetrators, Jesus is pleading, since they do not understand the profound role they play in this cosmic drama. They can’t grasp how they are part of God’s grand scheme of prophecy fulfillment and eternal salvation. Some biblical scholars claim that the Greek text implies a repetitive action, that His prayer on the Cross was not a one-time prayer. Evidently, Jesus kept asking the Father to forgive all those who had done Him wrong during His Passion. Can we even begin to imagine the amazing love displayed by the Lord as He in His depleted and tortured state, hanging on the Cross, mentally goes through an inventory of who needs to be forgiven? Certainly, at the top of the list, was none other than Judas, His betrayer… “Father forgive Judas, for he didn’t know what he was doing.” There is a deep mystery here… Did the Father comply with Jesus’ request to forgive Judas? Or was Jesus accurate when He earlier said that “none of my disciples are lost except the son of perdition, the one headed for destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12).
Judas had treachery in his heart from the start, he seemed to tolerate blood on his hands until his tragic end. And yet, and yet, during His time with Judas, Jesus put up with him, befriended him, and ultimately forgave him. That is the very definition of agape love.
J S Bach – O Sacred Head Now Wounded (St. Matthew Passion) – YouTube