April 13, Maundy Thursday

Lesson: Mark 14.10-25

Sermon Title: Betrayal at Last Supper

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. The way Mark tells the story Judas went to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus.

    1. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

      1. Why would he do this.

      2. Judas was one of the original twelve.

      3. He had spent three and one half years living, listening, observing, and participating in the life of a disciple.

      4. Judas was one of the twelve sent out two by two who were given authority over unclean spirits.

      5. The disciples went out and proclaimed that all should repent.

        1. They cast out many demons

        2. They anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

    2. They rejoiced in their new-given mission as representatives of Jesus.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. Why did Judas betray Jesus?

    1. Either there is something missing in his character or he has a different agenda.

    2. Of course, if you listen to the special reports on the Gospel of Judas, you will find another scenario.

The Judas We Never Knew Disgraced disciple actually conspired with Jesus, according to newly released Gospel of Judas. Should we believe it? by Collin Hansen | posted 04/06/2006 04:30 p.m.

"The text, a copy of the document written during the second century, reveals some big news. Turns out Judas wasn't the renegade disciple who betrayed Jesus and committed suicide after remorse overwhelmed him. No, this Judas was just doing what Jesus told him to do. Jesus explained to Judas that he would "exceed all of [the disciples]" by getting Jesus crucified."

XXX

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4882420.stm Published: 2006/04/07 09:42:04 GMT © BBC MMVI

Judas 'helped Jesus save mankind'

Judas Iscariot's reputation as one of the most notorious villains in history has been thrown into doubt with the translation of an ancient text.

For 2,000 years, Christianity has portrayed Judas as the treacherous apostle who betrayed his divine master with a kiss, leading to his capture and crucifixion.

According to the Bible, Judas received 30 pieces of silver for the act, but died soon afterwards.

However, the Gospel of Judas identifies him as Christ's favourite disciple and depicts his betrayal as the fulfilment of a divine mission to enable the crucifixion - and thus the foundation of Christianity - to take place.

The text quotes Jesus as saying to Judas: "You will exceed all of them [the other disciples] for you will sacrifice the man who clothes me."

XXX

Did Jesus Ask Judas to Betray Him?

Discovery of 'Gospel of Judas' Raises Questions

April 6, 2006 -- - It is a mystery 2,000 years in the making, buried in the desert and fueled by centuries of debate and doubt, theft and deceit. The question: Was there ever a Gospel according to Judas? And if there was, what did it reveal?

The mystery began to unravel almost 30 years ago, according to a new National Geographic Channel documentary.

Get more information from National Geographic by clicking here.

"You can't fake a codex like this," said Elaine Pagels, a professor at Princeton University and one of the world's foremost experts on ancient religious texts, especially the so-called Gnostic or secret Gospels, which include the Gospel of Judas, all written in the first and second centuries and banned by the early church.

"It's crumbling; it's a particular kind of papyrus; it's a particular kind of script," Pagels said. "It would be absolutely not worth anyone's while, and far too difficult, to try to fake this kind of text. This is a genuine ancient text."

So what is in the Gospel of Judas? It is a dialogue that claims to be a conversation between Jesus and Judas in which Jesus asks Judas to betray him.

"Judas has the terrible task of taking it upon himself to turn him over to the authorities for this reason," Pagels said. "Now, the Gospel of Judas also has Judas say to Jesus in fear and terror that he has a dream that the other disciples will hate him and will stone him to death, will attack him.

"And Jesus says, 'Yes, in fact, they will think that you are a terrible person because of what you did. This is part of the burden that you bear. But they will be wrong about that.' So it is an extraordinary transformation of the ordinary understanding of Judas Iscariot."

Pagels said the text shows that Christ, in fact, asked Judas to betray him for an undisclosed reason. "The Gospel of Judas does suggest that the betrayal of Jesus is not a reprehensible act, not the act of a traitor, you know, the worst villain in the history of the world, but that it's a secret mystery between him and Jesus," she said.

    1. Startling new information, NO!

    2. Judas is generally portrayed as evil

[Note: We cannot vouch for the authenticity of this well-known story. It smacks of legend. Still, it teaches a powerful moral lesson, one you might find useful.]

The painting of The Last Supper is said to have taken Da Vinci seven years to complete. Starting out, Da Vinci wanted to find the perfect Christ caricature for his portrait. Da Vinci always used real people in all his portraits and paintings, so he always searched for just the right actors to portray the realism he wanted to capture for his canvas.

According to the story, hundreds and hundreds of young men were carefully viewed in an endeavor to find a face and personality exhibiting innocence and beauty, free from the scars and signs of dissipation caused by sin. Eventually, after searching for weeks, a young man of 19 years was found and selected. For the next six months, Da Vinci worked on the portraiture of Christ as he, the artist, saw him, the Messiah, in the face and demeanor of this young subject.

Now completed, Da Vinci settled himself into the task of searching for and capturing the faces of the other disciples around that table in the upper room. One by one, over the next six years, Da Vinci searched and worked.

Finally, the work had progressed to the point that there remained but one face left to find - that of The Traitor himself, Judas Iscariot. It was a face that the old master had purposefully left for last for any number of reasons. Now, near the end of his task, he went on a search not unlike the one he had at first - looking, scrutinizing, studying faces in endless crowds for just that one face - the face - that would tell the story behind the story.

His travels finally took him to a dungeon in Rome, where he had heard resided a man who was thought to be the epitome of what the artist was looking for. Upon introduction, Da Vinci realized his expectations were not disappointed. Indeed, here was a man of dark soul - a wretched, unkempt and vicious human. Yes, this was the perfect Judas!

By special order of the king, the prisoner was released into Da Vinci's care for the next several months. For both days and nights, the portrait was crafted into the scripted scene. The moment finally came when the portrait was completed and the prisoner was returned to the care of his incarcerators.

Turning to leave, Da Vinci suddenly found himself in the clutches of the prisoner crying out, O, Da Vinci, look at me! Do you not know who I am?

Upon studying the poor man closer, Da Vinci exclaimed that he did not know the man. O, Da Vinci, the man cried louder, I am your Christ!! I am the man you painted seven years ago as Christ! O, God, have I fallen so low?

  1. Judas ought to be seen as a sympatric character.

    1. He is from Judea.

    2. He is a Zealot.

    3. He has a different agenda.

    4. He wants the overthrow of the Roman domination and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.

      1. He has his way of bringing this about.

      2. Jesus has his was of bringing it about.

      3. The two visions clash in the Upper Room and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

  2. Judas has the opportunity for repentance and restoration.

    1. He does not believe that he can be forgiven.

    2. So he takes his own life.

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CONCLUSION

  1. Congregational Church pastor L. Alexander Harper makes a remarkable observation about Johann Sebastian Bach's musical representation of the Passion story in the Saint Matthew Passion (1)

"Judas' question to Jesus had always been a solo in other cantatas, because Judas is an individual. Not so for Bach. Breaking all tradition, he has the whole chorus instead sing that guilty question, 'Is it I, Lord?' The chorus represents you, me, the whole world. Judas is within us all, not 'out there' or 'back in history' somewhere comfortably remote. Judas is our brother.

  1. This is why we come together on this evening.

    1. This is why we observe Maundy Thursday.

    2. This is why we share in the elements of the Lord's table.

    3. We know that: "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness," (1 John 1:9, NRSVA.

1. L. Alexander Harper, Judas, Our Brother, St. Luke's Journal of Theology 29 (1986),102.

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