Holy Week Count Down – Day Five

Judas was stunned!

When he first went up to Galilee to hear this new preacher everyone was raving about, Judas had been skeptical. Nobody could be that good, that insightful, that engaging, that mesmerizing.

But Judas was taken in.

Against his own self-warnings and inner promises not to get caught up in all the paparazzi hype, Judas found himself shouldering through the crowd to get close to Jesus. And Jesus saw him! Really saw him! Saw his soul! Knew his passions! Echoed his love for God and God’s people and the Kingdom once so great and now so cruelly trampled upon by these horrid Roman legions.

Jesus locked eyes with Judas and beckoned him: “Follow me!” And Judas did!

He knew it was the only thing he could do! He became part of Jesus’ inner circle, Jesus’ primary band, Jesus group of constant followers. Others even whispered in awe a name for him and his comrades: “The Twelve.”

Judas was a man of God, and a man of Israel. He proudly identified with the Zealots, who promised to remove the Romans and restore God’s kingdom in their lifetimes.

In fact, Judas was secretly an assassin, carrying his “sicarii”, a small, curved-blade knife, to use when he might find himself alone with a despised Roman. Because of this, among the Zealots, he was known as “Iscariot”.

Judas knew that Jesus was sent by God, and that through Jesus the time of Israel’s restoration had come. Judas was pleased and proud to be part of this core team, strategically preparing for the imminent moment promised by the prophets as the great and terrible “Day of the Lord.”

Yet lately Jesus had seemed off his game.

Instead of taunting the Romans, Jesus played with children. Rather than urging fellow Jews to rise up in rebellion, Jesus sat and laughed and ate with prostitutes and tax collectors.

Something was wrong, and somebody had to do something about it. But what? Judas had connections everywhere. He was a salesman/politician, friend to everyone but known by none.

So he sidled up to some in Jerusalem who could move the Romans to action. He arranged an encounter with Jesus that Judas knew would scare Jesus back onto the proper path. Who could tell, but it might even be the sparking incident of the coming revolution?!

If things went as Judas planned, Jesus would jump back into command mode, order his Twelve to strike back the Romans, and lead the Jews on to victory! Yes!

But things do not always go as planned…