14:10 - The woman who poured the expensive oil over Jesus head, was the last straw for Judas. He was a zealot - a man passionately, often violently opposed to the Roman rule, and he had signed on with Jesus the Messiah to be on the front lines of the revolution. He became treasurer of the disciples (A great position since the Messiah was believed to bring economic prosperity to the Jews), expecting to become a man of incredible wealth and power (I believe). And then, all his master Jesus ever talks about is how he is going to fail! He is going to die - that would be the ultimate failure in the eyes of a zealot. Jesus lets crowds hang around and feeds people for free and then this woman is allowed to waste a jar of ointment that cost a years worth of wages...enough was enough - this Messiah was not the one he was looking for, and so he went to the high priests. It is dangerous to try to make Jesus what we want him to be, instead of let him mold who we are.
14:41 - Three times Jesus came to Peter and found him asleep after he had asked him to stay awake and pray to fight temptation...interesting that Peter also fails three times to stand up for his belief in Jesus, as his disciple, a few verses later. If we are going to overcome our own battles with doubt and fear, we have to turn to the father for strength as Jesus did. Jesus cried out to God and had the power to accept death on the cross. Peter fell asleep and would not even acknowledge his love for Christ to a little girl. Which one of these is a better picture of your prayer life?
14:65 - In the ESV, verse 65 says, "And the guards received him with blows." Just days before they had received his with cheers and songs of praise (When they thought he was their Roman conquering hero), and then...they received him with blows.
3 comments:
The first part of verse 21 from the Message - In one sense, it turns out that the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. Jesus knew of His betrayal because He is God and because of Scripture. No surprises.
I guess what I got out of this – when we sin, it shouldn’t be a surprise. We can be quick to follow Christ and just as quick to follow our own selves. Even with being a new creation, old habits unfortunately do not just go away.
It just brings home to me the power of forgiveness. Our sin is not a surprise to our Lord. Yet He loves us anyway, died for us, rose for us, and is waiting for us. Words do not do that kind of love justice…
j
Good thought - it is almost as if God the Father is constantly entering into betrayal by continuing to love us, knowing that we are going to turn our backs on Him. But He continues to walk the path of love for us just as Jesus did.
Totally and completely amazed by this God I serve. How he continuously says "I am here whenever you're ready." Also, great insight on Judas and his background. Brings to light the situation from a new perspective.
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