On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 12 - 18, 2013
Lesson 571
Scene Two: The Arrest.
Judas. A tragic
figure. He is mentioned 22 times in the
Christian Testament. Father Raymond
Brown makes an interesting observation.
In the Gospel tradition, remembering that Mark is chronologically the
earliest of the four, note the frequency of reference to Judas:
1.
Mark mentions Judas 3
times. (3:19, 14:10, 14:43.)
2.
Matthew mentions Judas
5 times. (10:4, 26:14, 26:25, 26:47,
27:3. He is also listed among the 12 in
13:55, but with no reference to his act of betrayal.)
3.
Luke/Acts mentions
Judas 6 times. (6:16, 22:3, 22:47,
22:48. Acts 1:16-17, 1:25.)
4.
John mentions Judas 8
times. (6:71, 12:14, 13:2, 13:26, 13:29,
14:22, 18:2, 18:3.)
Fr. Brown wonders if this doesn't suggest an interest in
Judas that grew over the decades as the gospel story came together, represented
by the increase over time of the mention of Judas.
Did Judas “betray” Jesus, or “hand him over”? Is there a difference? Recalling that Jerusalem and surrounding
areas were busy during the time of the feast, and recalling that Jesus managed
at other times to evade the crowd, Judas agrees to do two things (Brown). He knows where Jesus will be, so he can lead
the authorities to him. And, in a crowd,
he can quickly pick Jesus out, assuring a valid identification.
Swords. Such
irony. The “Prince of Peace” is arrested
in the midst of the threat of increased violence. The crowd came with swords and clubs; the
followers of Jesus were armed (?). With
tempers fueled by a curious mix of fear and self-righteousness, the situation
was extremely volatile. Would that the
authority of Jesus – and his word to “Put away your sword” (Matthew and
John), and his even stronger command – “No more of this!” (Luke) – would that
his word might ring in the streets of Cairo and the halls of America’s
congress. It is hard to imagine Jesus
being anything but thoroughly disgusted with the United States’ arsenal of
weapons. In Luke’s telling of the
arrest, Jesus doesn’t just give a command; he reverses the effect of
violence. That is both the example to us
and the way for us – We must say: No
more! to the violence in this world; but we must also be diligent now to
reverse the effects of the violence that erupts every day.
Abandonment. What
happened to the impulse to stand their ground and fight? The disciples of Jesus, so ready at first to
draw their sword, are now looking to put as much distance between themselves
and Jesus as possible. It’s not likely
that Jesus wanted them to put away your sword and then run
away as fast as they could. So
frightening has the present and future become, and so toxic is it to be in
proximity to Jesus that it is preferable to be naked. Being “naked” in the Bible is never a good
thing. Is this what it has come to? Are we like the proverbial emperor, refusing
to acknowledge just how naked our sin is to the world? Jesus takes hold of us, and we run. Indeed, he 'stands his ground' - armed with nothing but love.
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