Lent 2023 post 6

 Matthew 26.14-16

(Judas)

I thought Jesus would help our cause

I want the Romans overthrown 

I’d hope He was the Messiah 

It’s time He made Himself known 

Instead He keeps getting in trouble 

Every day it’s something new 

What if they suspect His disciples 

Are guilty of heresy, too?

It’s time someone did something!

Someone has to take control 

I’ll go and talk to the Pharisees 

Ten pieces, twenty, thirty, SOLD!

It hurts to be betrayed by anyone, but no betrayal hurts more than that of a friend. Judas, Jesus' close companion of three years, chose to secretly himself with avowed enemies of Jesus. How did Judas reach the point of turning Jesus over to the chief priests and Pharisees for some silver? It’s impossible for us to know. Some speculate that it was pure greed, after all, he had dipped into the group’s treasury at times. Others think that as a militant, he was frustrated that Jesus wasn’t doing anything (as far as he could see) to deliver the Jews and thought his betrayal would force Jesus to act. There may be still other possible explanations. I guess the bottom line is not why he did it, but that he did it. He’s a reminder to me that putting anything above God, my greed or my personal philosophy, is betrayal. It hurts Jesus and, when I can see things as they really are, it will hurt me, too.

Lord, help me not to betray You by putting anything above You. Help me trust You in all things.

In Jesus’s name, Amen