I made a comment a few days ago about Judas… tempted to make this blog not wwjd? but wdjdwhd? Why did Judas do what he did? Not quite as slick and don’t think it would really take off.
The conventional thinking is of Judas as evil throughout, the betrayer from the beginning. Maybe – but maybe there is another reading that fits better. I have long been provoked by the similarities between Peter and Judas. One denied Jesus – and not once but three times; the other betrayed him. One was heartbroken at his own failure – oh, yes, so was the other one and took his own life as a result. One lived to be restored – the other…
Could it have been different? (Now, please all flower lovers of the ‘T’-type allow me a little slack.) I think it could have been different. That gives me hope. Hope because there is a bit of Judas in us all – and dare I say it a little more than a bit.
So let me track a few days with this disciple that Jesus chose.
It was my good friend Johnny Barr (I still miss him) who was the first one to speak about the connection of Judas weakness and the task Jesus gave him.
A love of money and looking after the money bag. Great choice for a church treasurer!
What is taking place? Many things: 1) Jesus is showing that he trusts his Father as his supply, not simply good stewardship; 2) that people are valued higher than money -people cannot be valued in monetary terms; 3) he is discipling Judas. I will pick up on this last point tomorrow.
Really looking forward to your thoughts on this one!
By the way, I wouldn’t start marketing the wdjdwhd bracelets just yet.
Just wondered if you had come across Nick Page’s answer to the question “How did Peter get into the courtyard?” based on Jn 18:15 – 17? He argues and concludes that the “other disciple” is actually Judas. He also conjectures that this might have been the first signs of regret at what he had done, maybe an answer to wdjdwhd!
Bracelets on hold!!
Tim: if you have a page link could you add it in a comment – I / others will be interested.
Thanks for this Martin. I do sometimes wonder if our harsh traditional “judgements” of these bible characters are quite the same as God’s. As you say – Judas showed the deepest remorse for his choice. (and yet he must have been amongst the 72 who went out healing the sick!) Pontius Pilate, who correctly discerned he was involved in an act of injustice, but just couldn’t find a right way out – though he was obviously desperately looking for one. Thomas, who expressed his doubt so firmly, seemed to have believed the very moment he recognised Jesus and threw away his need of further detailed proofs – Jn 20:28 does not say “and then Thomas put his finger….”. Whereas 1 Jn 1vs1 makes an interesting reading when we expand the Greek – “we have gazed upon with amazement, and touched like blindmen” – the same word is used by Homer to describe the freshly blinded Cyclops! Yes we can relate to some of them at some level in our lives.
The book I mentioned is called “What happened to the ark of the covenant? and other Bible mysteries” by Nick Page pp177-188 (2007, Authentic Media). Doesn’t sound like deep theology but there is good research within and his arguments are generally convincing.
I’ve always been struck by the similarity in the greek between the words we translate as betrayal, delivered and tradition. They all seem to be a variation on ‘handed over’. Does the Father betray all things to Jesus (Matthew 11:27)? Surely not, why are the chief priests and elders not called ‘betrayers’ (Matthew 27:1,2) for ‘delivering him to Pontius Pilate’? What of the ‘tradition that you (pharisees) have handed down’? What are we handing over and to whom?