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Tag: judas

  • 12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches – Part 2

    12 Men Texting as their Messiah approaches – Part 2

    A Context to Texting

    You may find the photo headline of this post somewhat whimsical, but my incongruous placement of 21st century communications devices into first century Jewish hands comes with a purpose. Just imagine yourself in this scene of controversy.

    The very irony of our recent look back at the seriousness of what Daniel had to say about the future coming of the Messiah of Israel adds to divisions of thought by first century Jews.

    Any anachronistic imagery of the last days by Prophets like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah and many more must have met with diverse interpretation.

    texting group - and you can be part of one to Talk of JESUS Christ in social media - 3-part series.

    Suppose the twelve Apostles and religious rulers of Jerusalem had communication tools such we do.

    Would they have been texting ahead as the Messiah Jesus approached?

    Of course these historical events did take place in the first century, but what if Jesus approached our city now?

    What do you think would happen?

    Consider the motivations of those in John’s Gospel as if they could communicate as quickly as we do in this 21st century A.D.

    The Jerusalem Jesus approached

    Jerusalem is a city under Roman imposed rules suppressing their world through might and mitigated right imposed by compromising captive national and local leaders. Their religious leaders convened as the Sanhedrin.

    The Sanhedrin‘s beginning is to be placed at the period in which Asia was convulsed by Alexander the Great and his successors. The Hellenistic kings conceded a great amount of internal freedom to municipal communities, and Palestine was then practically under home rule, and was governed by an aristocratic council of Elders

    John 12:

    google earth image of hills between Bethany and Jerusalem and Ephraim to the north

    You may recall the context of these parting paths from Jesus – Traveling to and from Bethany.

    The Twelve Apostles and many other Jews have just witnessed the Lord Jesus raise Lazarus from the grave!

    After returning to Bethany from Ephraim in the hills far-removed from Jerusalem’s public eye, they return to the home of Lazarus.

    Mary, sister to lazarus pours expensive oil on Jesus’ feet and one of the Twelve objects.

    5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

    We then followed the separate path of the Messiah and His Apostles away from the amazed public eyewitness of this great sign in Bethany.

    Good News / Bad News?

    Just image the Good News of the texts between those traveling with Jesus and the mourners of Bethany!

    Who did they tell of this confirmation of Israel’s Messiah?

    Last time we followed the storyline of the Good News (as Jesus retreated to the hills one last time). But now we will return to Bethany and follow the thread of bad news (no doubt texted ahead to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem). Now we turn to a divergent path headed in a different direction.

    Path of the Betrayer

    6 Now he [ Judas Iscariot ] said this, not because he cared about the poor [for he had never cared about them], but because he was a thief; and since he had the money box [serving as treasurer for the twelve disciples], he used to pilfer what was put into it.

    7 So Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep [the rest of] it for the day of My burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

    The impulse of betrayal

    What does a zealous follower of a powerful man do when spurned by his idolized leader who fails to take the path he had expected?

    (Perhaps this is not so irrelevant to these times and leaders as well.)

    Judas would have texted other zealots he knew in the capital, those in the palaces of power.

    Roger Harned- talkofJesus.com

    John 13:

    Once more, jumping ahead to follow Judas after the Messiah’s triumphal entry to the gates of Judah’s capital:

    2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him…

    To Peter the Lord said:

    … You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

    Judas’ Betrayal Predicted

    You’ve entered the Holy gathering at the Table with the Lord.

    HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR CELL PHONES?

    You just can’t wait to tell your friends back home and waiting in the public square what has just happened. But just for a moment you allow Jesus to lead the events in the room.

    “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

    22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

    After a murmuring among those present John tells us that after the urging of Peter he asks the unspoken question on everyone’s mind.

    6 Jesus then answered,

    “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.”

    So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

    A devil revealed reacts

    John has already witnessed in his Gospel that Judas is a devil of a disciple who will betray Jesus. He has also witnessed that Jesus called the leaders of Jerusalem by the same.

    So what will these devils of conspiracy against all righteousness do?

    What would they do in this day?

    Communicate! — “TXT ME“

    After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

    John 13:27 NASB – Judas Iscariot and the command of Jesus

    IF you were the betrayer, wouldn’t you immediately go for your communication device?

    We have to post an ‘update‘ to our ‘friend‘ network in the world we love?

    So did Judas!

    30 So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

    Returning to Jerusalem

    Judas has left the Lord Jesus on a different path. (I pray that you have not left the presence of the Lord as well, claimer of Christ your savior for this brief life.)

    The Messiah Jesus called Judas a devil – διάβολος diábolos

    • prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely
    • metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him

    Do you follow anyone like that?

    (Better not text them or pay much attention to their media campaigns pointed at you and their ‘followers.’)

    Do you believe that men and women like Judas claim authority as “followers of the Lord?“

    You will always have the poor and you will always have those who do evil in the eyes of the Lord!

    False leaders must ultimately promote a lie of their own false traditions and compromised purity. John uncovers the motives of these ‘leaders.’

    Judas had hoped Jesus would overthrow Jerusalem’s autocratic, aristocratic religious leaders and their Roman allies violently, but the Messiah chose a sacrificial path.

    Now we return to the capital of the land in an earlier visit.

    John 8:

    We have examined this defendant of the devil before in Before Abraham was, I AM! Jesus had called these same leaders with false interpretation of Scripture and devious leadership to their own cultural ends, ‘devils!’

    37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

    42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God…

    “You are of your father the devil, G1228 and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks [fn]a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of [fn]lies.

    45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

    Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

    The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon.

    John 8:51-52a NASB

    What do you think?

    What BREAKING NEWS will you TXT ahead?

    • Will you remain with the Messiah, essentially following obediently as commanded as did the eleven?
    • Or will you betray your only Hope of cleansing of your sin (and text ahead to the world that the Messiah isn’t what you thought?)

    Perhaps you’ve been listening to distorted news of the powers you seek from principalities you cannot touch. You need to identify with these ‘leaders’ of the world and in the world.

    What is your reaction to the Messiah Jesus approaching in these last days?

    To be continued...
  • Jude – Now I will praise the Lord

    Jude – Now I will praise the Lord

    Who is Jude?

    The first thing I want to know about any letter I receive is who sent it to me. So as a leader or member of one of several churches we would want to be certain of the identity of the author of Jude and the authenticity of Jude’s message.

    Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James

    Letter of Jude 1:1a NKJV

    To fully understand the identity of the man who’s name is translated in English as ‘Jude” we must look to both the original Greek text and the common name of its Hebrew origin in first century Judea and Galilee.

    Ἰούδας

    Pronounced: ē-ü’-däs — Most translations of the Greek use Jude, the Latin Iudas and Yehudah in the Hebrew Names Version. The root word of the Greek name is Yĕhuwdah from the Hebrew יְהוּדָה meaning “praised” and translated at Judas. (We understand why after Jesus’ betrayal no man wanted to be known by this name now synonymous with ‘betrayer.’)

    In James – Witness of a Converted Brother we learned that Roman names derived from local languages had become Hellenized. James could be Jim, but Judas and Judah easily become, Jude.

    Some fathers named their sons after a forefather of their tribe like Judah or Israel. Judah יָדָה is the familiar Hebrew root of both the Greek and English.

    Brother of James

    Jude means: he shall be praised.

    The author of our letter identifies himself as the brother of James.

    Jude refers to James, head of the church of Jerusalem, leader of the first century churches who exchanged letters throughout Asia minor, Greece, Palestine and other areas receiving the Good News of Christ. Most Biblical commentators agree that like James, Jude is is also a half-brother of Jesus.

    Both James and Jude identify themselves as servants of Jesus, rather than claiming their biological relationship to the Lord. Most kings come to power via their family connection and install relatives in high positions.

    One of the great Jewish controversies Jesus would take no part in was that of the legitimacies of kings and followers of certain political traditions. These political/family controversies had progressed and preceded Jude, James and Jesus by several generations back to the second century B.C.

    Maccabees

    Source: BibleHub.org (a hammer), This title, which was originally the surname of Judas, one of the sons of Mattathias, was afterward extended to the heroic family of which he was one of the noblest representatives. Asmonaeans or Hasmonaeans is the Proper name of the family, which is derived from Cashmon, great grandfather of Mattathias. The Maccabees were a family of Jews who resisted the authority of Antiochus Epiphanes king of Syria and his successors who had usurped authority over the Jews, conquered Jerusalem, and strove to introduce idolatrous worship.

    Judas, one of the sons of Mattathias generally called in English the Maccabees, a celebrated family who defended Jewish rights and customs in the 2nd century B.C. (1 Maccabees 2:1-3 {from the Apocrypha, for those unfamiliar with extra-Biblical texts.}

    Herodians

    The end of the era of the Hasmoneans is probably the most turbulent time in Jewish history. It is hard to imagine a “Jewish” government more antithetical to Jewish principles and ideals than that of Herod and his successors, whose murderous, tyrannical ways would eventually lead to the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of the long exile that Jews find themselves in. – Source: JewishHistory.org

    Herod the Great, born in Rome around 70 B.C and known as Herodes Magnus, was appointed a governor at around age 20 (along with his brother) and appointed King by the Roman senate in 37 B.C. He became known as Judah’s great builder and built the Temple in Jerusalem.

    During the time of Jesus, James and Jude and continuing into the years of the early church, the Herods wielded much power. Rome finally turned on Jerusalem and their client king appointed to help Rome defend the Empire against enemies east of Palestine. The Herodians failed to control the “Jewish problem,” which caused trouble throughout the Empire.

    Bondservant of Jesus Christ

    The brother of James could have begun his letter to the church as a ‘brother of the King and Messiah,’ implying his authority of position via his family. The Herodians or Maccabees made familial claims to kingdom leadership, but not these half-brothers of Jesus who had not even followed the Lord prior to His resurrection.

    James begins his letter (ἐπιστολή epistle, in greek): ‘James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Jude chooses to identify in the same way as a bondservant of Christ.

    Jude would have been known to his readers as the brother of James, leader of the church in Jerusalem, both related to Jesus the Messiah.

    Understanding the Servant of Christ

    The Bible uses the word ‘servant‘ almost 500 times. A few English translations use the word ‘bondservant,’ a concept we no longer use or understand. Furthermore, many contemporary christians resist this concept of sometime voluntary compliance.

    I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

    Leviticus 26:13 KJV

    עָבַד עֶבֶד – A slave or servant; to work, serve. Also used as form of address between equals.

    Genesis 18: KJV

    And the LORD appeared unto him [Jacob] in the plains of Mamre: … three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

    Jacob served the LORD. We serve the LORD. Jude served Christ, the Lord.

    Malachi 4:

    About four centuries before Christ (and Jesus’ half-brothers) the prophet Malachi writes:

    “Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

    Malachi 4:4

    The closing verses of Malachi clearly point back to Moses and the Law with the Lord calling Moses, “my servant.” James and Jude are servants of Jesus just as Moses was servant to the Lord at Horeb.

    עֶבֶד – `ebed

    Are you, beloved follower of Christ, first a servant of the Lord?

    διάκονος – diakonos

    “If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

    Command of the Lord Jesus – Gospel of John 12:26 CSB

    The servant (from the Greek context) is ‘one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master.

    1. the servant of a king
    2. a deacon [diakonos], one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use.
    3. a waiter, one who serves food and drink

    “The greatest among you will be your servant.

    The word of the Lord – Matthew 23:11

    Abraham was a servant of the Lord. Moses was a servant of the Lord. And like their forefathers in the faith, Jude and James became servants of the Lord first and servants of the Lord’s followers second.

    Paul, referring to the church writes to the church at Colossae:

    I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known …

    Jude writes to the church

    Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:

    To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.

    Jude 1:1b CSB

    Are you a fellow servant of Christ Jesus? If so, know that you are loved by God the Father. Know that by His grace you are kept for Jesus Christ at the day of His victorious return.

    2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

    To be continued

  • For you will always have the poor – 5

    For you will always have the poor – 5

    Help the poor later or honor Jesus now?

    Sell everything you have and follow me. Leave your hometown and follow me. Give up you job and follow me. These things Jesus had asked of his followers and for three years they all followed on foot.

    The culmination of events, so it seemed, came two days before when Jesus entered Jerusalem like an anointed King. Then nothing.

    Today is Tuesday and the Lord foretells his death to the Apostles, that which they have feared. Another choice.

    MATTHEW 26

    2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

    3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

    Bethany and Jerusalem

    In two scenes related by Matthew we see Jesus and the Apostles and learn of what Matthew would know later about the leaders of the Temple.

    6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”

    Recall that the Apostle John has told us that the ‘why this waste?’ question came from Judas Iscariot, though it seems others joined in.

    In Bethany, near Jerusalem, notice first the anointing honoring Jesus takes place. Then discontent and criticism from those present, opposition no different than in Jerusalem from those who seek to crucify the Lord. As always, Jesus cuts to the quick with the truth.

    The poor are with you always.

    10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

    12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

    How would you have responded to Judas?

    Would I have said something like,

    ‘Come on, Judas, focus on the significance of the worship of Jesus, the Lord your God, here; will you?’

    Probably not! And we dare not accuse the other Apostles for joining in on ‘save it for the poor.’ Jesus was not so abrupt here as you or I might have been, but you get the point.

    We examined one incident prior to Palm Sunday where John dissects the motives of Judas. We began with the gospel of Mark reporting a second incident just prior to the trial of Jesus. Matthew adds some additional detail to this report. We judge these scenes of unfamiliar experience based on our distant understanding of practically nothing about these oppressed men and women of a conquered Israel of the first century.

    After-dinner betrayal

    14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?”

    And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

    The greatest story ever told does not end there. We know that.

    The Gospel is Good News to us! Yet do we proclaim Jesus? Does our faith fade into our own hopes and not the calling of Christ?

    [ctt title=”Casual \’christians\’ are no less vulnerable to Satan than Judas.” tweet=”Do you believe that? Is your witness of Jesus vulnerable? https://ctt.ec/tea44+” coverup=”tea44″] 

    Even knowing the ending, a glorious resurrection of Christ Jesus in the flesh, we offer similar excuse, don’t we?

    ‘I am saving up to help the poor.’

    ‘Someone else will have to help this mission.’

    ‘I may be the poor in my retirement.’

    Worship or excuse?

    How do I compare to when called on to witness Jesus?

    A humble woman, lowly in station of life and offering a worship of her highest value, anoints the Lord Jesus. Are we too involved in something else to do the same? For you will always have the poor.