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THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Derek Tidball and are based on Luke 22 & 23 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
Matthew 26:1 - 27:66 and John 18:1-19:42
CH 23 :44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a
Sunday April 13 - Betrayal!
member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no-one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
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...looking for a way to get rid of Jesus... Luke 22:2
In the end it all seemed to happen so quickly. For a couple of years Jesus had engaged in public ministry. The religious establishment objected to his radical teaching from the start. But his popularity made them nervous about moving against him. Enter Judas, named as ‘Iscariot’ to distinguish him from the other disciple called Judas. He entered into a financial arrangement with the religious rulers, to hand Jesus over to them out of public view.
Jesus’ betrayal by a ‘companion (and) close friend’ was prophesied in Psalm 55:12- 14. But this forewarning did nothing to lessen its pain. Though he was responsible, the betrayal was not solely Judas’ responsibility. Luke says that the authorities wanted to ‘get rid of Jesus’ on the quiet. How absurd that one who’d spoken with such wisdom, acted with such kindness, and embodied love, should be the object of hatred. Such is the twisted effect of sin in our world. Luke also blames the devil for prompting Judas to act, appealing to his greed (his character weakness; see John 12:1-6). Here the world (‘the system’), the flesh (Judas’ greed) and the devil conspire to dispose of the best and only truly human that ever lived.
Watch out for your own vulnerability today, lest the devil exploits it. And if you feel betrayed by a friend... well, Jesus is right there with you.
Father God, we lament the evil and unfaithfulness around us, but confess that Jesus’ own betrayal heralds its defeat. Keep us true to him, we pray. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY