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a necessary liturgical and theological role. The Roman empire
needed a person from the disciples to betray Jesus and that’s
why they wanted Judas to perform the act and if Judas was not
ready to do it they would have arranged for another disciple as
part of their plot. The Scripture portion on the initial emphasis
on betrayal prepares a further development on betrayal in the
last discourses. A major difference between Matthew and Luke
is the mention of Satan that triggered Judas for betrayal. Luke
mentions the cruel, blood thirst Roman empire as the Satan. The
Roman empire introduced a love for money of 30 silver coins
to betray Jesus, because the emperor strongly believed that the
Love of money is the root cause of all evil as said in 1Timothy
6:10. Judas, being tricked by the empire, became a victim of the
empire to victimize Jesus. Judas never ever imagined that the
Roman officials would torture Christ and lead him to the cross.
Judas perhaps believed that Jesus with his inevitable power
would not get trapped into the clutches of the Roman scheme.
Judas throws away the 30 silver coins back into the faces of the
cruel leaders as an act of repentance. The Holy Kiss in the early
church history was an act performed by a martyr to another
before his / her death. The one who kisses should also die and
the one getting kissed would also sacrifice his life.

Know Your Life

The Roman empire didn’t use people or sources from
outside to eliminate Jesus, rather they used a source from the
inner circle (disciples) to plot against Jesus. In the same way the
governing body both in the political or religious sectors uses the
emotions of the innocents to plot against others by exercising
both administrative and monetary powers. Do we at times fall
to this trap longing for money and power. Are we called to stab
our fellow humans physically and emotionally? Do we really
need to pull down someone to climb up?
The guilty nature that sustains in our subconscious mind would
work so active that it makes our life and health so miserable.

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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People