THE JUDAS ENIGMA
Matthew 26:17-25
"Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me...Surely not I
Lord?"
Jesus' journey to
Jerusalem has come to an end. As we read
the story of the Passover spent with his disciples in the Upper Room we know
that by tomorrow evening Jesus will be dead.
But Jesus' disciples did not know that, even if they had premonitions of impending
doom. They still hoped that Jesus would
save Israel from despotic Roman rule and those religious authorities who
connived with Rome to oppress the people. But one of Jesus' disciples sharing that Last
Supper had already decided that Jesus' was a failure. He should never have followed Jesus in the
first place. His name was Judas, a
central character in the unfolding drama.
For it was on the night in which he was betrayed, that Jesus took bread,
blessed it and gave it to his disciples.
Judas' proverbial kiss of
betrayal stands in stark contrast to that of Mary Magdalene who kissed Jesus'
feet a few days earlier and wiped them with her hair. Unlike the twelve male disciples, she intuitively
knew that Jesus had to suffer and die in order to complete his mission.
In his Inferno Dante condemns Judas to the
deepest place in Hell for all eternity.
Yet if you read the many accounts that have tried to explain what Judas
betrayal of Jesus, you will know that it is not as straightforward as we might
think. In fact, no one amongst the
disciples has caused more controversy than Judas; no disciple has been
scrutinized by scholars more than him. The
story of his betrayal of Jesus is, in short, a disturbing one. After all, why did one of Jesus' own
disciples turn out to be a traitor?
Surely Jesus would have been more careful in choosing his inner circle
of followers. Or did Jesus choose Judas
knowing full well that he would betray him, hand him over to the authorities to
be put to death, and then commit suicide?
That certainly seems the case if you take the gospel texts
literally. "One of you will betray
me..." and "woe to the one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed."
In any case, why was
it necessary for Judas to betray Jesus? Was not Jesus going to be arrested
anyway? Was Judas simply doing what God
had long planned? If so, he could not
have done otherwise. He was only doing God's will and surely cannot be blamed
for doing so. He was a pawn in the hand
of God, which makes God was responsible
for Jesus' death, God using Judas to betray and kill his son. What a frightful understanding of God. But such a view also undermines human freedom
and responsibility because Judas could not have chosen any other path. It's like saying that the Germanwings plane
crash was God's will irrespective of what the pilot did, irrespective of his
mental state or his decision to commit suicide and mass murder.
Or is there another
possibility that helps us understand the Judas enigma? I think there is, and that the clue lies in
the Matthew's comment that this happened "so that the scriptures of the
prophets may be fulfilled." The
problem is that there are no texts in the Old Testament that foretell Jesus'
betrayal. So what did Matthew mean? I am not sure. But I think he could be referring to the fact
that the prophets who proclaim God's kingdom of justice and peace are
invariably rejected, persecuted and sometimes murdered by the rulers of Israel.
This was something that Jesus himself declared.
We recall his words on the day he arrived in Jerusalem: "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who stones the prophets and kills those sent to
you!"
Prophets come
proclaiming God's justice and peace, as they have done in South Africa and in
many places over the years, but those in power generally refuse to listen to
them. In fact if you want to know why
there is so much intrigue, nastiness, corruption and betrayal in politics, you
do not have to look further than the events of Holy Week and the Crucifixion. Just as in Jesus' day the crowds could cry
Hosanna one moment and Crucify the next, so today the crowds can cry "we
will kill for Zuma" one day and then do everything to destroy him the
next. If necessary bribery, betrayal,
and corruption are all acceptable in gaining and keeping power. It's the prophets who see through all this
political backstabbing and thuggery; it's the prophets who are concerned about
justice and peace, not those who win elections on dubious promises or by
violent means. If you don't believe me
just think about what is happening in Egypt, across north Africa, in
Israel-Palestine, in fact throughout the world.
Peacemakers are crucified by those who wish to keep power. So back to Judas.
Judas was an
idealistic young revolutionary in search of an authentic leader when Jesus
called him. He really believed that
Jesus would lead a successful revolt against Rome. He really believed that utopia was around the
corner and that the Kingdom of God could be brought into being through Jesus,
by force if necessary. Judas was
committed to getting rid of the corrupt political and religious establishment of
the day, and by whatever means possible. And Jesus seemed to be the one who
would make this come true, But as Jesus' ministry unfolded, as Jesus spoke
about the need for his disciples to be agents of God's justice and peace, about
suffering love and service, and as he finally rode into Jerusalem on a donkey
rather than a warhorse, it dawned on
Judas that Jesus' way of going about things would not work, it could not
achieve the goal to which he, Judas, was passionately committed. And in his disillusionment Judas was seduced
by the voices of those who wanted to get rid of this would-be Messiah. Judas became the victim of failed
expectations. He was not a pawn in the
hands of God, but a dispensable pawn in the hands of corrupt and violent
rulers.
But Jesus' fate was
sealed long before Judas decided to betray him.
From the moment he began his ministry proclaiming God's kingdom of
liberation for the poor and the oppressed, from the moment he challenged the
abuse of religion and power until he finally drove out the money lenders from
the Temple. Jesus' death on the cross was
not a religious event, it was a political act. He was put to death because he challenged the sins of the world that dehumanize people, the
sins of violence and war, the sins that lead to poverty, the sins of greed and
corruption, of falsehood and hatred, and the sins of those who used religion to
justify all this -- these are the sins that crucified Jesus, and continue to do
so. And we betray Jesus not when we miss going to church or fail to say our
prayers and read the Bible, but when we act in ways contrary to the way of
Jesus. And God alone knows how often the
church and Christians have done that in the course of history. We have all been caught up in the betrayal of
Judas.
But the good news
of Good Friday is that Jesus' way is God's way of salvation, liberation,
justice and reconciliation. The message
of the cross may seem to be foolish and weak, but in fact it is the wisdom and power
of God that stands in vivid contrast and contradiction to the way of the world. Mary Magdalene was right. Jesus had to suffer, but that was not because
he had failed as Judas thought, it was because he was faithful to his mission
to redeem the world.
John de
Gruchy
Volmoed 2 April 2015
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