The Betrayal: A Place of Eternal Love

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Rev. Ronald Burcham

Typed from audio transcript

Thirty pieces of silver. Seems like a paltry amount for a man's life. It seems even smaller for the cost of your soul. And yet Judas one night slipped away from the rest of the disciples and, under the cover of darkness, slipping through the alleyway, staying to the shadows so no one would see him, he made his way to the rendezvous, the place where he would discuss with the chief priest and the teachers of the law. He negotiated a deal with them. How much would they give him if he handed Jesus over to them in a quiet way, not in a public way, not with crowds around? What would that be worth? The price was set. The payment was made. Now all that was left was to wait, wait for the cover of darkness of another night.

And that brings us to this place. This place that was a place of solitude, a place that Judas knew well because Jesus came here often. He came to speak with His Father, to check in with Him, and he knew tonight that He would come here and He would pray to the Father. But now this garden that was a place of peace and solitude would be no more. Now swords and clubs would be brought out to this place. We know it, as recorded by Luke, as the place of His arrest. Or maybe we recall it each time we celebrate the sacrament of the altar when we say, "On the night in which He was betrayed," because that's what this place is. It's a place of betrayal.

And there's more betraying going on here than originally meets the eye. There's more than just one person who is betraying here. There is more than one person who is being deceitful. If we look a little bit closer, as Luke reveals it to us, there are many things that are happening under the cover of darkness, this darkness that is reigning over the night.

How about all of the disciples? You know, disciple, by definition, is one who follows. A disciple is one who signs on to a leader, and he says they are going to learn from that leader and their life would actually mimic the life of their teacher, their leader. They would follow them, and their teachings would become their lifestyle. But the disciples, were they following tonight? They see what is about to happen, so one of them draws a sword and he says, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" But he doesn't wait for an answer, does he? He doesn't wait for God to object. He doesn't wait for Jesus to say, "Put your sword away." He goes from a follower of Jesus to a leader. He has his own agenda. The revolt starts tonight. So he quickly slashes off the right ear of Malchus, and it drops to the ground. Pretty soon, a bloody battle is going to ensue because, instead of being a follower, tonight they're going to leave being a disciple behind. They're going to be a leader. So the revolution against Rome begins now in a garden.

But what of Judas? Luke says of Judas that he was one of the twelve. Was he really one of the twelve? For the life of him, he looked like one of the other disciples. He looked like he was one of the twelve. Judas had been there fore three years, going around with Jesus. He sat at the feet of Jesus. He listened to His teachings. He was even there when Peter made the astonishing proclamation that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. He is the Messiah. He is the Christ. And yet Judas, when he shows up, still masquerading as one of the disciples, trying to show respect to Jesus and greet his master with a kiss, but his companions betray why he's really there. Judas is no disciple. His actions betray what he's really all about, and he's not acting anything like a follower of Jesus.

And what of the crowd that came out with him? We have the chief priest and we have the elders, but we also have the temple guard. The chief priest and the elders are the religious leaders of the day. They are the experts on God's holy word, the experts on God's law. If you wanted to come and find God's will, you would talk to them. If you wanted to know what God had to say about your life, you would talk to them. They were the religious leaders of the day. They should stand for compassion and for God's love and for peace. During the day, they would debate with Jesus in the synagogue, and they would debate with their scrolls rolled out quoting scripture to Jesus and Jesus quoting it back to them. But tonight, when they come out, they don't bring with them the rolls of scripture. They bring with them swords and clubs and shields. Their companions betrayed their true intentions. They have complained openly about the oppression of the Romans upon them. And yet tonight they come out to silence an uprising. They come out to silence Jesus. No, they may be called religious leaders, but their actions are far from that of a religious leader. Jesus was very right when He says, "This is your hour when darkness reigns."

It doesn't happen in the daylight when they can be seen for what they are. It doesn't happen in the temple courtyards when people can identify them and see the actions that are taking place. No, under the cover of darkness, as darkness surrounds them, then the evil intent comes out. And under the cover of darkness, an evil comes through. It comes through in a kiss. It comes through under the guise of discipleship. It comes through under the disguise of religious leaders.

Perhaps you've experienced that darkness also, that darkness sometimes that encroaches on your life. For the life of you, you think you are a follower of Jesus. You are a Christian. But then, when you least expect it, almost as a surprise to you, the darkness creeps into your life. You're very zealous for God, and you're very committed to His church. And you're working so hard for His church to make sure things happen and that the ministry is accomplished. And so you're assigned to a special project, but you need to gather around some people with you. So you start dialing the phone looking for other volunteers who will help you. But after the fifth rejection, you decide on the sixth phone call, you'll take a different tactic. You'll go on the offensive this time. Before they have a chance to object and to tell you they can't help out, you interrupt them and you say, "I know you're busy. Well, I'm busy, too. But you know what, I make time for my God. Can't you make time for yours? You know, if you don't help me out, I'm going to get a whole lot busier than what I already am. Everyone in this church needs to pull their weight." All of a sudden, the darkness encroaches. All of a sudden, we don't sound like a follower of Jesus.

Perhaps it's at work. Everyone in the office knows you to be a Christian. They know you are very committed to your congregation. They don't ask you to play golf on Sunday morning because they know where you're going to be. You're going to be here. They don't bother you on Wednesday nights, because they know you're coming to the Wednesday night activities here. They're also aware of the fact that you're involved in some sort of bible study, but they can't remember which day. They know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are committed to your faith and committed to your congregation. They know you're a Christian. And then as you walk out of the big meeting where you had your presentation, the guy next to you kind of chuckles and says, "Well, so much for the meek will inherit the earth." And you turn and you say, "What do you mean? I did what I had to do. I said what I had to say. Anyone would have done the same." And he looks at you and he says, "That's my point." And all of a sudden you realize you weren't behaving like the name Christian would suggest.

The darkness happens unexpectedly, even surprisingly. It happened on the night in which he was betrayed. I doubt that any of them saw it coming. I doubt they sensed the evil that was around them on that very dark night, but yet it was there. And I doubt, at times, that you've seen it coming when it's encroached upon you and yet you know it's been there.

But in this place of betrayal, there's something else going on. The gospel writer, John, puts it this way. He says, "A light has come into our world, a light that shines into the darkness." So on this night of His betrayal, on this place in the garden where there is deception, where there is betrayal, where everybody is not quite who they seem to be, there stands Jesus shining into that darkness, shining with His constant and eternal love. There stands Jesus unchanging, always the same. Never a betrayal. Never a deception. For example, one of the disciples pulls out a sword and he slices off the ear of the servant. Pretty soon, a battle is going to ensue. There's going to be bloodshed. It's not going to be pretty. What is Jesus' immediate reaction? Jesus walks over to the servant and heals his ear. In that instant, Jesus reveals who He really is. He reveals that He is the Son of God, that He is the Creator who is intimately concerned with all of His creation. And when one of His creatures is hurting, Jesus went over there to heal, to remove the pain. Instead of defending Himself from the battle that's raging around Him, He comes to the defense of the servant and removes his pain. Does Jesus object when they arrest Him? No, He only asked them why do you do it at night. Why not do it during the day? Jesus would not back away from the mission He was sent to accomplish. Jesus would remain the same. He would remain true to who He was, and He would remain true to the mission that He came to accomplish. No matter how much the darkness would encroach around Him, Jesus would never waver. He would never be detoured off the path that would lead Him to the cross. In fact, even as Jesus is being nailed to the cross, He is more concerned about those who are nailing Him than Himself because He prays to the Father that He would forgive them because they didn't know what they were doing. Jesus never wavered. Even though the darkness of evil surrounded Him, the light of Jesus' love comes shining through. Jesus never changed.

And Jesus is the same this evening, and He will be the same tomorrow and He will be the same forever. Jesus knows the time that the darkness is encroached upon you. Jesus knows every instance when you've acted anything like a Christian and yet Jesus' only desire is to heal the hurting in your life and to remove the pain. The light of Jesus' love shines into your heart tonight and all He offers to you is forgiveness, and He wants to remove the guilt and He wants to give you His peace. It happened here on the night in which He was betrayed when darkness was encroaching. But we can't stop there, because on the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and said, "This is My body and I give it for you." And He took wine, and He said, "This is My blood, and I will shed it for you." Even in the darkest moments, the light of Jesus' love shines through.

I pray that the light of Jesus' love shines in your heart tonight, tomorrow, and forever. Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church