Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Wednesday of Holy Week
Luke 22:3-6 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
JESUS RESTS, JUDAS BETRAYS
Tuesday had been a long day for Jesus. His enemies had assaulted Him with questions designed to topple His good reputation. After withstanding this barrage, Jesus silenced His opposition with questions of His own. Questions which revealed that the Christ would be God Himself (see Matthew 22:41-46). Then Jesus denounced the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites.
They had lost. Their ammunition against Jesus was used up, and not a single hole had been made in His character. But then, on Wednesday of Holy Week, an unexpected opportunity arose. One of Jesus' own disgruntled disciples came forward and offered to sell the Master to them.
From the Scriptures we know that Judas was a thief. Serving as treasurer for the inner circle of Jesus' followers, he had helped himself to the money when he wanted to (John 12:6). But greed alone was not the only reason Judas betrayed Jesus. The price he received for his treachery was only the price one might pay to buy a slave. A decent amount, but not really that much in the grand scheme of things.
At first, Judas had been delighted to be chosen as one of Jesus' inner circle. But before long it became clear to him that Jesus wasn't going to lead a rebellion against Rome. Nor was he going to use His popularity to establish a lucrative stream of income for His closest associates. On the contrary, Jesus advocated fair dealing, actively loving your enemies and living a life of service to all people.
Jesus spoke of FUTURE glory, but Judas wanted it NOW. It was time to cut ties with this Teacher.
