The Planned Betrayal

This morning, we come to one of the saddest and most debated parts of the Gospel – the betrayal of Jesus by his disciple, Judas Iscariot. The betrayal of Judas is so infamous that his very name has become a byword. Even those raised outside the church know that to call someone a Judas is to insult them as a betrayer. And, you will not find Judas in the list of baby names for any generation. Yet, while his betrayal of Jesus is certainly a tragedy, to focus on Judas and his act and ignore the purpose of God in it all is really to miss the point. To see what I mean, let’s read Mark 14:10-21. From this passage, see two points: The Motivations of the Betrayer and the Mastery of the Lord.

First, from verses 10 and 11, see the Motivations of the Betrayer. Mark tells us that, following the anointing of Jesus by Mary in Bethany, Judas hatches a plan. As we studied last week, Judas objected to the waste of money in the oil that was poured over Jesus. John’s Gospel tells us that the reason he objected was that he was a thief and skimmed money from the ministry’s treasury. When I was a teen, back in the 1900s, there was a movement among theologians to reevaluate Judas’s motives. These theologians argued that maybe Judas misunderstood. Maybe he really wanted to call Jesus out, to create a conflict where he could not help but reveal himself as the Messiah and take the throne of David. This idea is nowhere to be found in the Gospels. Rather, the Gospels very clearly give the reason: he was a thief, and he was upset that he wasn’t able to get rich off of the ministry. I know, in our day, we want to have sympathetic villains. I know there can’t be a clear-cut distinction between good and evil. But, in the Gospel, there is. Judas was greedy, and that sin destroyed him.

So, he goes straight away from the house of Simon the leper and seeks out the chief priests to help them in their stated goal of killing Jesus. Remember, we were told back up in verse 1, that the chief priests were looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus, but they wanted to do it by stealth and avoid a scene. This explains why they need Judas. They need to know where Jesus is staying, where he sleeps. They want to have a safe, quiet way to arrest him in the dead of night when no one will be there to object. This way, they can control the narrative. So, when Judas shows up, verse 11 says, “they were glad”. The Greek word for “glad” there means “rejoice”. It’s the same word used in Matthew 2, when it says that the wisemen rejoiced and were glad at the sight of Jesus. How disgusting and perverse is that? They should have rejoiced because Jesus had come to save them, and instead, they rejoice because Judas came to effectuate their plan for the murder of the Son of God. All sin, at its heart, is an exchange – a rejection of God’s way for that of Satan. Adam and Eve chose the wisdom of Satan over the word of God. Abraham chose the compromising plan of his wife over the promise of God. The Israelites chose Baal over Jehovah. In Rom. 1:18, Paul says that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness, because they exchanged the truth for a lie and worshipped the creation rather than the creator.

This betrayal is not unique or unexpected, though. The betrayal of the righteous by the wicked is a regular theme of the OT. Ham betrayed his father, Noah, by mocking him in his vulnerability. Laban betrayed Jacob by giving him Leah instead of Rachel. Joseph was betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers. We also find the theme of betrayal in the Psalms. Psalm 22 paints a picture of the betrayed Messiah, hanging on the cross. Psalm 41, which we read earlier, prophesies of the moment of betrayal at the Passover table. Psalm 55 mourns the betrayal of a friend. All of this points forward to the ultimate betrayal of the Son of God by one of his disciples.

It could be easy to think that this is all an unfortunate accident. Jesus is caught up in the conniving plans of deceitful men, and he cannot help but fall into their trap. Yet, that is not the case at all. That brings me to my second point: The Mastery of the Lord, from verses 12-21. In studying for this sermon, I found it interesting, from a literary point of view, that Mark arranged the note about Judas’s betrayal right before Jesus’s instructions about the Passover meal. After learning that Judas plans to betray Jesus, we are immediately told of this masterful plan of Jesus to have the Passover meal with his disciples. I’ll say more about the meal itself next week, but for now, recognize that there are two ways that Jesus proves that he is in control of all things, even his own betrayal.

First, for the second time in a week, Jesus directs two of his disciples to go find something, and they find it exactly as Jesus said. He’s already done this with the colt on which he rode into Jerusalem. Now, he tells them to go find a man carrying a jar and then follow him to a house. There they will find the master of the house, and they are to ask him, “The teacher says, ‘where is my guest room.’” It is amazing how detailed this is, but even more amazing is the fact that the disciples go and find everything just as he said. Can you imagine what those disciples were thinking? I know what I’d be thinking. For one, I’d be worried about getting all the details right. But, I’d also doubt that any of these details could be just so precise. Yet they were.

Second, once the twelve are in this room, enjoying their Passover meal, Jesus prophesies, “One of you will betray me.” At this, Mark says that the disciples are all grieved by it and ask, “Is It I?” To that, Jesus says, “It is the one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.” John’s Gospel reveals how exactly this happened, saying that Jesus directly calls out Judas when they dip the bread in the same dish together. But, I think there is a reason Mark leaves things vague. After all, anyone could have dipped their bread with Jesus. Most of the disciples probably did, at some point. I think it is left vague here because, in reality, all of his disciples, except for John, betrayed him. When the soldiers come to arrest him, they all will scatter like cowards. When asked if he is a disciple, Peter will deny him. Even after his death, they will quake in secret behind a locked door. Certainly, their betrayal was not done in malice. It was a betrayal of faithlessness, not rejection. But it highlights a truth we should all take to heart. We all betrayed Jesus in the rebellion of our sin and hardheartedness. As Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – everyone – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

These experiences between Jesus and his disciples prove one important truth: Jesus is the master of this situation. The priests may have plans to kill him, but Jesus has already prophesied three times that he will die and rise again. Judas may have plans to betray him, but Jesus knew before the foundations of the world who Judas was and what he would do. He purposed his betrayal so that the will of God might be done for the salvation of the world. Satan may plan to use Judas to kill the Son of God and take possession of his kingdom, but it was God’s plan to wound Jesus so that he might crush the head of the serpent and set free those who were captives to sin.

Our Lord Jesus is the Master of History. And, he has redeemed us, even though we betrayed him with our sin. He is also the master of this world today. It may seem that the plans of evil men will win the day, but God’s purpose will prevail. So may we leave this place in faith, knowing that we worship the Master of all things.