Thoughts for the Day

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

(Readings this week reflect the order of events that happened during Holy Week, and are based on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible)

Thoughts

This week we shall look at some of the images found in Holy Week. The first is the picture of 30 pieces of silver above. We have seen in the video yesterday the excitement created by Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. Whe Roman authorities, the Pharisees, and the Temple Police were all watching afraid that this might turn into a riot. The Jewish rulling elite, the Sanhedrin, would have been nervous that if things got out of hand then the Romans would stop their freedom of worship, and would undoubtedly introduce more draconian laws. Pilate's job, as the Roman Governor, was to balance all the different parties and keep the approaching festival of Passover under control.

We don't know whether Judas approached the chief priests, or whether they searched him out. John's Gospel says that Judas was accustomed to stealing from the disciples' common purse. However, the Gospel was written many years later, after they had discovered Judas' betrayal of Jesus that allowed the authorities to arrest him somewhere quiet where the people were unlikly to interfere. Could it be that Judas actually wanted to force Jesus into a fight with the authorities? He had seen the power that Jesus could command, did he believe that Jesus could bring God's Kingdom into the world in this way? If so, he had totally misjudged Jesus' message of love and peace.

Today we too cannot force God to act violently, or blackmail Him, or bribe Him. All we can do is to offer Him confession for our sins, and pray fervently for peace and love to prevail in our world.

Sovereign Lord,
You call us into a relationship with You,
and love all those who are Your own,
Make us ever grateful for this love,
and encourage us to ask for those things
that are best for us and for our world,
so that Your will shall be done.
Amen.