The Scope of Jesus' Betrayal

 

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” (Mark 14:1-2 ESV).

 

The betrayal of Jesus was much more than one man’s dissatisfaction with Jesus. Judas was not alone in his betrayal. In fact, we see from the prophesy in Psalm 2:2 that “the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed.” This prophecy is fulfilled when the priests and teachers of the law form an unholy alliance to bring Jesus down. The religious leaders of the day want Jesus dead. They wanted him crucified in order that they might brand him as cursed and unfit for any religious following.

 

Judas was the tool the religious leaders used to accomplish their evil plot. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ closest followers, secretly turns his back on Jesus and aids the enemy (vv. 10-12). He decides that he has had enough talk of Jesus’ crusade to establish the kingdom of God.

 

This is a powerful plot. The leaders with their temple soldiers and an insider who can lure Jesus into their net—what chance does Jesus have? But as Psalm 2:4 reports, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” God’s ways triumph in the end.

 

Through this event God wants us to know that human schemes cannot thwart God’s plans. We, as followers of Jesus, often feel overmatched, puny before cultural movements that might appear to threaten Christianity and betrayed by insiders who abuse the teachings of Jesus for their own gain.

 

But God has a surprise for us. Even enemies accomplish God’s plan. Even in suffering and death Jesus is King. God uses everyone, even those who are evil acting in unexpected events, and even the struggle of suffering to accomplish his purposes. That is our confidence in Jesus Christ. All things are woven together in God’s plan and purpose to bring about His good in our lives (cf. Romans 8:28).