HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him. But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled. And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
As we consider Mark’s account of Jesus’ arrest, I want to focus on Judas, the betrayer of Jesus. He had been a hand-picked apostle of the Lord. He had spent every day of three years with Him, witnessing His love, compassion, and wisdom, learning from His teaching, and experiencing His power. But Judas’ heart belonged to the world, and he had sold His Lord for a mere thirty pieces of silver. As he leads the mob into the garden to take Jesus, notice that Judas addresses Jesus as “Rabbi Rabbi,” a term of respect and reverence. He then identifies Jesus to the mob with, of all things, a kiss—a show of love and friendship. Oh, the depths of Judas’ betrayal! To not only lead Jesus’ enemies to Him, but to make a mockery of the friendship and tutelage that Jesus had extended toward Him was the very epitome of disregard and betrayal. What a powerful force greed and sin can be when they are allowed to take root in the heart!
What can we learn from Judas and his betrayal of Jesus?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!
