Matthew 26:20-25

Matthew 26:20-25

And after becoming evening He reclined to eat with the Twelve.  And while they ate He said, “Amen, I say to you all that one out of you all will hand me over.”  And while being greatly saddened, each one began to say to Him, “I am sure not it, Lord?”  And the one who answered said, “The one who dipped the hand with me in the bowl, this one will hand me over.  In one case the Son of Man departs just as it has been written about Him.  But in another case woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is being handed over.  It was better if that man was not being born.  And after Judas – the one who hands Him over – replied he said, “I am sure not it, Rabbi?”  He says to him, “You say it.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I think it is interesting that Jesus tells the disciples the plans of Judas beforehand.  I’m not completely sure why Jesus does this.  He could do it as a demonstration of his divinity in proving that He knows what others are doing even if He isn’t physically present when it is done.  He could be gently preparing the rest of the disciples for the emotional rollercoaster upon which they are about to embark.  He could be speaking it for Judas’ benefit to give him one last chance to repent and come clean.  He could be doing it as an object lesson to the disciples to teach them that often pain comes from people to whom we consider ourselves close.  There are a myriad of reasons that make sense here – and there is no way to know which ones are right and which ones are wrong.  In fact, there may be elements of truth in all of these.  But whatever the many reasons may be, we see Jesus having this moment for the disciples and for Judas.

Have you ever had a moment when Jesus prepared you for something?  What about a moment where Jesus clearly revealed the darkness in your heart in order to give you an opportunity to repent?  How do you handle situations like these?

Second Thought:

I also love the disciples’ reaction.  “Who, me?”  “Lord, tell me it isn’t me!”  They are genuinely confused!  They don’t even know if they are the one who will hand Jesus over to the enemy!  How is that for having an honest evaluation of yourself!  The truth is, most people would have outright denied it.  Most people would have said, “Not me, I’m not capable of handing over Jesus to the enemy.”  But by this point in time the disciples have an honest understanding of their own sinfulness and their own depravity.  There is no arrogant “I would never!” stance within them.  There is genuine doubt and concern that out of their own sinfulness they might be the one who is responsible for Jesus falling into the hands of the enemy.  I think that this story may be the most genuinely humble we ever see the disciples as a group.  I think this may be the point in the whole of the Gospel story that we truly understand what it means to truly know yourself.  When we can come off our arrogant platform of denial and embrace that we might just be flawed enough to hand of Jesus to the enemy, then we have finally arrived at understanding our own depravity.

Where are you in your self-understanding?  Do you still dwell in the land of self-denial and believe you could never hand over Jesus?  Or are you willing to look into your life and realize that you might just be capable of stumbling into a moment where you hand Jesus over to the enemy?

Third Thought:

One more point that I want to bring out but I don’t want to make too big of an issue over.  Notice that the disciples call Jesus Lord.  But when Judas speaks, he calls Jesus Rabbi.  There is a difference here, and I do believe that this is an intentional difference that Matthew is bringing out.  Judas has slipped a bit in his allegiance.  His faith has faltered.  How he conceived of Jesus was starting to be shaky.  But let’s also not forget how everyone also swoons when Mary calls Jesus Rabbi in the garden after the resurrection.  So we should not forget that Rabbi is still a term of great respect and even endearment.  So Judas is not the angry betrayer here that many paint him out to become.  What I think we really need to see here is that in Judas’ moment of weakness and wavering, he isn’t turning to the Lord for strength.  He’s trying to do it on his own.  I think that’s where he really gets into trouble.

Have you ever had a moment of weakness of wavering?  Why are those difficult times?  How do you get through them with your faith intact?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 26:26-29