Monday meditation: His Final Days, Part 3: A selfish betrayal
Why did Judas betray Jesus?
Was it just for money? Judas knew the Jewish hierarchy was looking for a way to eliminate Jesus. Did he simply see a way to get paid for giving them what they wanted?
Or was it to force Jesus’ hand? Judas realized Jesus was unlike any other leader he’d ever known. He may have wondered why Jesus didn’t use his skill, his power, and his popularity to overthrow the oppressive Roman government. Maybe his plot was to push Jesus to do what Judas was sure he should.
Whatever his motives, Judas was guilty of a shortcoming most of us have experienced. With his eyes on himself—his understanding, his wishes—he betrayed the one he had always worshipped.
Whether he felt pressured by personal finances or driven by political hatred, the only solution he could imagine was to act. He realized all too soon his choice was wrong.
We caregivers understand pressure. If life wasn’t going for Judas the way he anticipated, we can relate. Our lives aren’t turning out the way we ever wanted or imagined, either, and we may want to change outcomes we simply cannot control.
Maybe we can see Judas acting instead of waiting, plunging forward instead of quietly listening, and find a lesson for ourselves.
Judas needed far more than the 30 pieces of silver he received. And Jesus was planning something far larger than the outcome Judas was seeking. How would it have turned out for Judas if he hadn’t decided to take things into his own hands?
Perhaps in our situation, too, God is doing something larger than we can imagine or control. Sometimes the most proactive thing we can do is to handle the simple obligations of today, give up all our notions about how things ought to be, and just wait. God will be with us regardless of the outcome. And that’s enough.
Read: Matthew 26:47-56
Pray: Help us, Father, to trust you, to remember all we’ve seen from you, and not to betray you by trying to handle our lives on our own terms, in our own way, with our own power alone.
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