The Final Straw
Matthew 26:14-16, NIV - Then one of the Twelve—the
one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you
willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him
thirty pieces of silver. From then on
Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
There has always been a cloud of
mystery surrounding Judas. The four
gospels portray him in different ways, suggesting different levels of evil in
the betrayal of his Master. In Mark,
Judas does what he does with no expectation of money. In Luke, there is no remorse in Judas for his
actions. John’s Judas is cold and
calculating. But in Matthew’s account,
Judas’s betrayal is prompted by what has just happened. A woman has anointed Jesus with expensive
perfume and Jesus not only let her but defended her actions. Judas reaches a “last straw” moment and
decides to pursue a way to betray Jesus.
The implication is that Judas’s exasperation and anger has been building
for a while and the waste of an expensive commodity finally pushes Judas to a
breaking point.
It seems that Jesus wasn’t
following the script that Judas had in his mind about how the Messiah would
act. Jesus wasn’t the revolutionary
Judas envisioned. His pre-conceived notions
about Jesus had been dispelled one by one and now, Judas can’t take it anymore;
he seeks to put an end to this farce of a Messiah. The others don’t see it, but Judas will make
them see it. As a bonus, he’ll get some
of that wasted money back.
That’s the problem with pre-conceived
notions; they pre-program our response.
If the notions play out as we expected, we are affirmed in our
beliefs. But when things don’t go as
expected, we are thrown into negativity.
That negativity can prompt us to act in ways that we might never have
considered before, but now seem justified.
There are examples of this throughout our lives. Marriages never begin with the expectation
that betrayals will happen. We never see
our best friend letting us down. We
can’t imagine why God would have allowed that terrible thing to happen. When our expectations are shattered, we are
vulnerable to making choices we might never have considered before. Perhaps this is what happened with Judas;
perhaps he was feeling betrayed and so he justifies betrayal in return.
To be clear, feeling betrayed is
not the same as being betrayed. Judas
was not betrayed by Jesus even if Judas felt that was the case. And often, we feel slighted by others when
they were doing nothing of the sort. At
times, we might even feel slighted by God even though God has always proven
faithful. In such times, it’s important
to be aware of our feelings and that it’s important to investigate whether or
not our feelings are grounded in reality.
It’s important to check whether or
not our expectations are in line with God’s.
Judas acted out of his misinformed feelings and expectations. He was at odds with what God was doing in the
moment. It’s a mistake to believe we
could not ever be capable of finding ourselves in that very same position.
God is constantly up to something
new. Those new things often confront and
confound our old expectations. Holding
on to the possibility that we could be missing something actually helps us be
more open to new movements of God’s Spirit.
Question: Have you
ever been disappointed with another person or even God only to find out that
you were missing something important because you were stuck in your feelings
and expectations?
Prayer: God, we
acknowledge that you will always do what is best for us in the long run while
confessing that it doesn’t always feel that way. Help us be open to new possibilities that we
may not have ever considered before. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for those who are facing a terminal diagnosis.
Song: Your Will be
Done – CityAlight
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