One of the most common traits about God that lurks in the minds of men is that He is above. How far above? The Bible answers, “As far as the heavens are above the earth.” The prominent theme of the New Testament is; God came down to earth, walked in our shoes and looked us in the eye, revealing God – The Father. The notion of God Incarnate moves my heart as much as any idea I have ever encountered. God in the flesh makes the entirety of Jesus’ life a beautiful and mysterious revelation. This Son-of-Man move separated my God from all other contender gods.
During His 33 year stay, He experienced all the trials and temptations we do. Our passage accounts for one of the most painful – betrayal. We don’t know when Jesus chose Judas – the betrayer. What did that look like? Did Jesus come upon him as he filed out of some political action meeting and think, “Here is one rotten egg. I shall choose him because he will be very handy in betraying me when my time comes?” If Jesus had perfect foresight, He would not have been tempted in every way that we are. Clairvoyance would have cheated Him out of the temptations we would face with the sickening and sudden shock of betrayal.
I believe Jesus loved Judas and had the highest of aspirations for him, just as He did for the other eleven. I believe Jesus saw into the dark parts of Judas’ heart just as He did with Peter and his other intimates. None of the disciples had righteous motives. James and John wanted to be Jesus’ left and right-hand men. And then there was Peter who had become “The Rock.” Peter probably had no use for the Sons-of-Thunder in the co-rulership of Israel. So, was it being overly zealous as an Israeli nationalist or was it his petty theft that made Judas the scoundrel that he was? It was neither; it was unbelief – the most besetting of all sins.
Jesus exposed Himself to the ultimate of human sufferings; rejection, being misunderstood, torture and assassination. Betrayal though has its own special sting; it is one of the vulnerabilities of love. Someone has said; All sins are sins against Love. I agree and betrayal may be the grandaddy of them all. In betrayal, a heart is, at one moment, basking in the warmth of shared trust and affection when it discovers that it has instead been basking in delusion. The beloved friend or lover had in fact not been reciprocating, they had been plotting to switch sides!
I believe the pain to Jesus’ heart upon realizing what Judas had done was no less excruciating than the lashes of the Roman whip or the piercing of the Roman spikes. Jesus was betrayed by one but He was abandoned by us all. Only the Holy Spirit can facilitate this but, at some point, we have to locate ourselves in this story. We might think (like Peter) that we would have even died with Jesus but we are deceiving ourselves.
We cannot say our sin is less just because we are guilty merely by association (with Adam). In a very real sense (in Adam), we were there; it was our shared nature that facilitated the execution of God’s Son. All of us sinned against Love and fell far short of our call to love Him with all that is within us. That is why we were created and we have all gone astray from this primary call.
There is so much mystery to the heart of God! I cannot get my mind around Him. The longer I live and try, the more insane the proposal appears to me. I will never fully grasp who He is and what He has done. I am with King David on this one; “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” That is not the same as saying, I do not aspire to it or that I will not lend my heart to the possibility. Love may decide of His own accord to reveal Himself!
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. (John 18:37)
I began to say that God executed His plan in spite of Judas’ betrayal and our abandonment. The mystery is actually greater than that. God’s grace utilized betrayal and abandonment to facilitate His plan. God’s heart is in the middle of this mystery. God’s heart is itself the mystery – a heart that accomplishes its objectives with man’s weakness and sin as His servants. Welcome to the Kingdom of God – a place where…
God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? (Romans 8:28-31)
Perhaps, a heart-level “Thank you” is in order.
Father, we do thank You. While we were helpless sinners – slaves to a host of lies, you rescued us. Thank You. In the midst of our filth you made us as clean and innocent as Jesus. Thank You. Even now, when we stumble, Your powerful right arm is there, ready to lift us up. Thank You. Even though our minds may fail in their calculation of Your glory, may our hearts pause and be filled with revelation. May our spirits concur in wonder and awe at the astonishing thing You have done, in Christ. Thank you!