How quickly the Praying hour became the Betraying hour! Of all the Crucial Hours of Jesus' Passion, the Betraying Hour was by far the most shameful Hour of them all. In this Hour, we see a man sell his soul and sell out his Savior. To this day, his name is associated with betrayal. Shakespeare once wrote: “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” Traitors like Benedict Arnold and Judas are not heroes, but their infamy lives on because of the horrific nature of their crimes. While he may be the subject of this Crucial Hour devotion, Judas is not the most important figure in this Crucial Hour of Jesus’ Passion. Jesus is. Jesus always is. This truly was another Crucial Hour of Jesus’ Passion. For Jesus. For Judas. For us. This is…The Betraying Hour.
I. The Betrayed
Jesus had no sooner uttered the words of our text than the flicker of distant torches and the tramp of approaching feet signaled that Jesus’ next Crucial Hour was upon Him: the Betraying Hour. As the Master gathered His men together, they moved toward the Garden’s entrance, even as those flaming torches pierced the darkness of the Judean night. The din of the approaching delegation fractured the quiet of Gethsemane. At the Garden gate, Jesus and the eleven disciples came face to face with the ragtag mob assembled and commissioned by the chief priests, scribes, and elders. Not one of those “worthies” was in the crowd, however. They were safely concealed within the confines of Jerusalem’s walls, plotting their next move to take Jesus down and to get Him forever out of their hair. This was no disciplined garrison approaching Jesus to arrest Him. This was a motley crew made up of temple guards, servants of the high priest, and shiftless thugs.
And who was leading this pathetic procession? None other than Judas Iscariot. One of His own. One of His friends. One of His most trusted friends, the one entrusted with the finances of the little band of brothers. How did it come to this?
Just minutes ago, in the Praying Hour, Jesus had been reassured by an angel from heaven that He was doing His Father’s will. He was given the confidence and courage to face the ordeal ahead. With the arrival of Judas and company, the future was now. His ordeal had begun. And what a beginning! Betrayed by one of His own! He was stabbed in the back. His former friend was now His deadly enemy.
Oh, Jesus knew all along that this was going to happen. Jesus had spoken of it earlier in His ministry as being a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. This very night He had mentioned it in the Upper Room, much to the chagrin and consternation of His disciples. Jesus knew what was happening. He demonstrated His divine knowledge when He said to His former follower: “Judas, are you betraying me with a kiss?” Judas thought that he could buffalo Jesus into believing that things were pretty much business as usual. Same old Judas. Same old greeting: a kiss. Same old relationship: “Rabbi.” He just happened to have an armed gang in tow. No, Jesus knew what was going on, what was lurking in Judas’ heart, and what Judas was setting in motion with his kiss. He was betraying the Son of God.
Once again, Jesus showed that He was in complete control of the situation by dictating the terms of His surrender. He made it abundantly clear that He wasn’t going to do anything that He wasn’t ready to do. He addressed the crowd with the question: “For whom are you looking?” When they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth,” He quietly said, “I am he.” With those three little words, He unleashed the power of heaven and hurled the whole lot of them to the ground onto their backs. Permitting them to get to their feet, Jesus told them again that He was the One for whom they were looking, and that they should let His eleven disciples go free and take Him only.
Trying to make up for his snooze in the Garden when Jesus wanted him to watch and pray, Peter suddenly found his bravado and decided to take on the whole gang single-handedly. This weekend warrior forgot that he was a fisherman, not a militiaman, and in one wild swing of his inexperienced sword only managed to slice off the ear of a servant of the high priest. Jesus saved Peter’s life and told him to put his sword in his sheath. Ever in full control of the situation, Jesus displayed His divine power and compassion and restored the severed ear to the man’s head, completely healed. Now I don’t know about you, but if I had been in that lynch mob, I would have thought twice about proceeding with Plan A. But it never seemed to faze those hard-bitten hoodlums. They stepped forward, cuffed Jesus, and led Him into captivity.
Jesus permitted them to arrest Him. He willingly surrendered. As the Lenten hymn so aptly put it: “Willing all this I suffer.” Why? That’s the way it had to be. That was God’s plan for our salvation. All this He did for us. Certainly, the Betraying Hour was a Crucial Hour for Jesus, the Betrayed, but it was also a Crucial Hour for Judas…
II. The Betrayer
Who was Judas Iscariot? Well, Jesus had called and chosen him to be one of the twelve disciples. He had spent the better part of three years with Jesus during His earthly ministry. Judas had risen to some measure of rank within the small band of disciples as the trusted treasurer of the group.
Just think of what opportunities Judas had! He sat at the feet of the Savior every day for three years. He saw Jesus’ mighty miracles and heard His powerful sermons. He had felt that raging sea that was churning beneath him become suddenly, eerily calm when Jesus silenced the sea with just a Word. He gaped in wonder as a dead man came out of his grave at Jesus’ command. He had seen it all. He had heard it all. He had it all. He had the opportunity to see and serve His Savior daily.
Saints, that’s why this is a Crucial Hour for us too. Here is where we come into the picture. Like Judas, Jesus called us to be His followers. We, too, have had the opportunity to sit at the feet of our Savior. We have seen His majestic miracles and heard His wondrous Words on the pages of Holy Scripture. Just how meaningful are all those things for us? Do we really take them to heart? Do we put into practice what we have heard and seen? Or are do we just go through the motions? Our bodies are present, but our heads and our hearts are absent? That’s what happened with Judas.
While appearing to be Jesus’ follower, he was really the devil’s disciple. Judas was a hypocrite. He was acting. He tried to deceive himself, the other disciples, and even Jesus. Judas had given in to the temptation of the evil one. Once entrapped in the satanic snare, Judas was unable to escape.
This very evening before the betrayal, he had been unmasked by Jesus in the Upper Room through the announcement that one of His own twelve disciples would betray Him. Judas had to pretend and play his part, asking, as did the others, “Is it I?” Jesus outed Judas when He gave him the piece of bread dipped in that evening’s fare. Jesus knew. The disciples didn’t. Jesus was giving Judas an out, an opportunity to repent.
Again and again, Judas was given the opportunity to come back to Jesus and be saved. Even in this Betraying Hour, Jesus calls him “Friend.” “Friend, do you betray me with a kiss?” This was the Savior’s loving call to repentance.
But Judas had sold his soul to the devil for the paltry sum of thirty pieces of silver. Maybe after seeing all of Jesus’ miracles, he thought that this might be a way to make a quick buck. Perhaps he figured Jesus would just zap the whole lot of them, and he would be set for life. It didn’t work out that way. Instead of El Dorado he got El Diablo. Instead of having it all, Judas lost it all, everything, including his life and his soul, in suicide. He experienced a terrible, tragic end, a traitor’s end -- unloved, unwanted, unmourned, and unsaved.
Saints, how often have we been tempted by prosperity, possessions, position, power, or people around us to betray the Savior? How often have we succumbed and sold out the Savior for thirty pieces of silver? If this thought sends a chill to our hearts, then this Betraying Hour is a Crucial Hour for us. It helps us see how easy it is to turn our backs on Jesus and how dire the consequences are.
When Judas saw that Jesus didn’t resist His arrest and that He was condemned to death, the horrible horror of his betrayal pierced his soul with deep despair. He despaired of ever being forgiven so great a sin. So, in a terrible tribute to unbelief, he hung himself.
One thing stands out in the middle of the gloom and doom of the Betraying Hour. Know this: Jesus is always more ready to forgive than we are ready to ask for forgiveness. Jesus forgives the sin of betrayal. He would have forgiven Judas if Judas had given Him the chance. But Judas never gave Him the chance. Judas tragically missed the point of Lent. Lent focuses us on the cross. Judas never saw the cross. He never grasped that Jesus had come to remove his sins, no matter how despicable and detestable they were. There is no sin that the Lord can’t or won’t forgive. None. They have all been forgiven. Even betrayal. Jesus lived so that we might never die, and Jesus died so that we might always live.
Saints, this morning receive His forgiveness as we reflect on this Crucial Hour of Jesus’ Passion. In many ways, the Betraying Hour is our Hour. We have betrayed our Lord in more ways than we care to enumerate. But by God’s grace, we have seen the Savior and felt His forgiveness. Thanks be to God! Saints, let us be faithful unto death, and we will receive the crown of life. Amen.
