The Last Supper

Why did Jesus compare the wine to his blood and the bread to his body? He told the deciples to make those references in the future in remembrance of him; however, Bartt Stevens observed that the Last Supper was to celebrate Passover and Passover was a celebration of the Lamb’s Blood and unleavened bread - the lamb sacrificed to save the Jews and bread without yeast.  Once again Jesus ties events during his time to events in the Old Testament.  

Concerning Judas’ actions, it is possible that Judas understood what Jesus was saying about his coming death and it was obvious that he wasn’t going to be the leader Judas wanted. Note that Judas never referred to Jesus as Lord and perhaps decided that if Jesus was going to die, there wasn’t much point in attaching his star to Jesus; there would be no ruling elite of which he could be a part. A friend of mine, Steve Nichol, said that perhaps Judas, who is said to have been a Zealot, wanted to force Jesus into a situation where he would have to fight; fight to save his life and therefore become the warrior Messiah that the Zealots wanted.

Another interesting observation from Mark 14 is that Jesus said he wouldn’t drink any wine until he came back to Earth to start the new kingdom; the new world of the 2nd coming wouldn’t just be something etherial, we apparently will be drinking  wine. 

Lastly we talked about what you would remember when you go to heaven. Since you will have no pain or regret, it is widely held that you will remember nothing of your time on Earth. I am more inclined to think that when you get to heaven you will realize how trivial all your little trials and tribulations we’re compared to the big picture - and I mean BIG.

What Really Motivated Judas to Betray Christ?

Today we discussed Judas. Little is known about who he was but it is interesting to note that nowhere in the Gospels is there any mention of him being called by Jesus to follow him as there is with all the other disciples. He just seems to have been following along until in Matthew 10:1-4 when Jesus gave all twelve, including Judas, power over unclean spirits and essentially ordained them all. His father was Simon but there are so many Simons in the Bible that any specifics about his upbringing are speculation. 

What we do know is that he was a thief, a person who took advantage of a situation. It is hard to believe that he would betray Jesus just for money. The obvious answer if given in John 13:27 “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” This can be backed up by the parable of the farmer, Mark 4:15 “… Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” 

Our debate; however, centered on what motivation Satan put into Judas’s heart: A realization that Jesus was about to die and wasn’t therefore the conquering warrior king that Judas, if, as some say, he was a zealot, would have hoped for or perhaps it was it envy. Envy is mentioned in Proverbs 27:4 “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous, but who is able to stand before envy.” In Song of Solomon 8:6 “…Jealousy is cruel as the grave…” but I think envy and jealousy is what was driving the Priests, not necessarily Judas.

In summary it could be said that, disappointed with what Christ really was and that he was about to die, he thought to take advantage of the situation as he had done with the money bag, and gain for himself a special standing with the Priests before Christ’s following collapsed. He could not have understood or believed that Jesus would be resurrected. Whatever it was, once the deed was done, he realized what a terrible mistake he had made.