Treachery, Preparations and Passover
| Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand Him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked Him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. (Mark14:10-16) |
Elsewhere we are told that Judas was the keeper of the disciples' communal purse and would dip into it from time to time. It seems that Jesus' praise of the woman's generous anointing triggers Judas, who had complained of her waste of money. He goes to the chief priests, and his betrayal allows them to move their timetable forward so that they can arrest Jesus on the sly and run an early morning "kangaroo court" to get Jesus crucified before Passover. It's tragic how moments of tremendous beauty can trigger moments of great ugliness.
There are two options with regard to the arrangements that Jesus makes.
- He pre-arranged it and then the man with the water jar and the scripted dialogue read like a spy movie with a clandestine rendezvous and challenges and passwords. This means that Jesus was aware of the plots against Him and was working around them.
- This all comes together supernaturally, and is evidence of Jesus' divine nature, the Spirit's prompting and the Father's providence.
Either way, it is striking that these arrangements come together, whether by forethought or foresight.
The last thought for today is that they were preparing the Passover - a meal the Israelites first ate in the presence of great opposition and on the eve of great deliverance. The same will be true now.
Three thoughts for today:
- Be aware that moments of great beauty can trigger backlash. This should not discourage us.
- Whether by forethought or foresight, Jesus was determined to eat the Passover and then become the Passover Lamb
- As we move towards Christmas, let us remember that the shadow of the cross falls over the Bethlehem manger.
