The intrigue continues. In Jerusalem, religious leaders - we've come to recognize them - are looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him.
Meanwhile, in Bethany, Jesus receives the lavish outpouring of love by an unnamed woman. Jesus, did you know how soon you would die and be buried?
The scene shifts. We see Judas, awaiting his opportunity to betray the Master. (For insights into his motives, see Brian Quade's "Beyond Betrayal" on February 9th.)
Mark's gospel is so compact, compared to Matthew's account. Yet, here is a detail we didn't find before - a man carrying a pitcher of water. What man would be doing women's work? It hits me like a scene in a spy movie. Everything has been planned in secret. This is how you will recognize your contact.
We know now that Jesus is indeed in control of the situation. Victim, yet divine screenwriter. He sends two of his companions ahead. Go into the city. Watch for the pitcher of water. Follow the man. Speak to the owner of the house. He will show you the room. Prepare our Passover there.
It's clear. Jesus, at Bethany, already knows when and where he will share his final meal with his disciples.
I imagine the group of men as they enter the city that evening. Each thinking his own thoughts, sensing the tension. Things seem usual, yet not. They have been together for some three years, have taken the Cup of Redemption before. But this night is different from all other nights. This night, one of them will betray Jesus.
"The Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago..." Does this leave Judas off the hook? Or was he acting by his own volition? "...But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!" (Mark 14:21)
Here is an enigma. The ultimate paradox. Jesus' death is part of the divine eternal covenant between Father and Son. But this doesn't mean the betrayer is guiltless. Jesus says Judas is responsible for his actions. Therefore, just because God's servants - centuries before -
prophesied the betrayal, we must not conclude that Judas was forced to do what he did. I believe that if it hadn't been Judas, there would have been someone else. For the holy Son of God could not come into an unholy world without provoking the response of violent opposition. A response still present today.
As for Jesus, the choice to live or die is his. We will revisit the garden. We will see his agony in prayer. We will hear him say, "Put your sword back into its place... Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will immediately put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?"
Recall Pastor Paul's blog (February 19) on the seed parables. He lifted up for us to ponder, the tension between God's sovereignty and the response of the human heart. We see the paradox again in today's reading. God is in charge. We are responsible for the choices we make. Both are true. But how can they be? It remains a mystery I can't comprehend, yet I know it is crucial to my life in Christ.
My part is to believe that Jesus chose to die so that I might live, to trust that God is in control, and to remain faithful and fruitful through the strength he provides by his Spirit.
Deetje Wildes
2 comments:
Thank you Deetje! Well done.
You have raised an important question. There had to be someone who betrayed Jesus. There had to be an insider. What if there had not been? What if Judas did not make that choice? Would it have all fallen apart and the story would have been very different? I have a feeling that this would not have been the case. There was a plan here.
It leaves us with recognising the details that God goes to make something happen. I wonder about that it in my own life. Have you ever just heard about something by accident. You were not looking for the information, but it answered a question or addressed a situation in your life. It made a difference. If you had not accidentally heard it, saw it, been there at that moment, would you have found the solution? You satnd back a bit amazed. How did that happen that way?
God's walking along side of us everyday.
Hi Deetje & All!
Deetje writes, "The ultimate paradox. Jesus' death is part of the divine eternal covenant between Father and Son. But this doesn't mean the betrayer is guiltless."
The hymn's line comes to mind:
"Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain."
The responsibility for all saving belongs to Him, that for all sinning to me.
"Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace."
Post a Comment