PrintToday's "Moment with Mark" (84)
13 February, 2013
In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. As they were sitting around the table eating, Jesus said, "The truth is, one of you will betray me, one of you who is here eating with me." Mark 14:1
Talk about dinner conversation with a difference!! As they were eating this special meal, Jesus dropped an absolute clanger! One of them would betray Jesus. He had taught them that betrayal would be one of the many terrible things that would happen to Him. Now He tells them that the betrayer is one of their own number. Keep in mind that these men had been bonded together over some 3 years as they followed their Master. What fascinates me is that each of them asked the question, "It isn't me, is it?" (even Judas asked the question).
How did Jesus know about the conspiracy between Judas and the religious leaders? Was this awareness the result of divinely imparted knowledge? Had He simply heard a rumour? Did He deduce this conclusion by reading the Scriptures and, more especially, those parts that prophesied the sacrificial death of God's own Son?
I am at rest with any one or any combination of possible avenues of that awareness reaching Him. That's because I see in this divine drama a mix of human and divine interaction. For example, a few verses further on Jesus says,
For I, the Son of Man, must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer. Far better for him if he had never been born!" (Mark 14:11)
The Scriptures make it very clear that this unfolding cosmic drama is the fulfilment of prophecy and, in that sense, was inevitable and irresistible. That's the divine component. However, Judas makes a series of choices for which he is entirely responsible.
Judas might try to escape his culpability by laying the blame elsewhere: "The devil made me do it"! However, the rattling of 30 pieces of silver in his pocket suggests otherwise.
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