“As you know, the Passover is two days away-and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Matthew 26:2 (Matthew 26:1-16, Mark 14:1, 2,10, 11, and Luke 22:1-6)
Maybe Judas was tired of waiting for Jesus to become an earthly king, or maybe he was so greedy his avarice made all his decisions, and then there is the possibility that he was jealous of the circumstances. He wasn’t the rock star, nor was he part of Jesus’ inner circle. Perhaps he didn’t think they would actually kill Jesus, just force Him to show His hand. Where the seed of sin began does not matter, that it found fertile soil to sprout and grown in Judas’ heart does. As a result he sold Jesus for the price of a slave.
The church leadership’s strongest motivation was to see Jesus dead, but as Passover approached and Jerusalem filled with celebration, they knew it would be risky to openly arrested Him. The approach of one of His disciples, with a plan to secretly disclose Jesus’ location, so He could be quietly taken into custody, was a delightful turn of events. Their evil, in the face of such righteousness, will never cease to astound the believers, throughout the ages, as they ponder, “How did Jesus restrain Himself in the situation He saw Himself in?” The answer is simple. He saw beyond the pain to His future glory, and in that vision, He saw your glory too.
When life is at its very worst, look beyond the cross. It kept Mary, His mother and Jesus going, because at this time, they are the only two that truly knew He was born to die.
Love,
Gretchen