Introducing Judas - pt.2
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
The Anticipation: vv. 1-5
The Anticipation: vv. 1-5
v.1
v.1
1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.
1 Ἤγγιζεν δὲ ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ἀζύμων ἡ λεγομένη πάσχα.
1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2 “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 3 “You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 “For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5 “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7 “You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it. 9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
2 The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Chapter 9: The Fifth Day in Passion-Week—‘Make Ready the Passover!’
WHEN the traitor returned from Jerusalem on the Wednesday afternoon, the Passover, in the popular and canonical, though not in the Biblical sense, was close at hand. It began on the 14th Nisan, that is, from the appearance of the first three stars on Wednesday evening [the evening of what had been the 13th], and ended with the first three stars on Thursday evening [the evening of what had been the 14th day of Nisan]. As this is an exceedingly important point, it is well here to quote the precise language of the Jerusalem Talmud:a ‘What means: On the Pesach?1 On the 14th [Nisanb].’ And so Josephus describes the Feast as one of eight days,b evidently reckoning its beginning on the 14th, and its close at the end of the 21st Nisan. The absence of the traitor so close upon the Feast would therefore, be the less noticed by the others. Necessary preparations might have to be made, even though they were to be guests in some house—they knew not which. These would, of course, devolve on Judas. Besides, from previous conversations, they may also have judged that ‘the man of Kerioth’ would fain escape what the Lord had all that day been telling them about, and which was now filling their minds and hearts.
Hence this latter was slaughtered half an hour after the eighth hour (two and one half hours after noon); but on the day before Passover, when the paschal lamb had to be slaughtered after the daily offering, the latter was slaughtered an hour sooner. If the eve of Passover, however, fell on Friday, when the paschal lamb must be roasted before the Sabbath set in, the literal text of the passage in the Scriptures is abided by, and the daily offering is slaughtered as soon as the sun commences setting towards the west, i.e., half an hour after noon.
It is called “passover,” but the Passover begins on the 14th of Nisan and the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the 15th and goes through the 21st.
Here is the feast timeline according to Exodus 12:
10th Nisan/Abib - select lamb for sacrifice.
Exodus 12:3–5 (NASB95)
3“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.
4‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb.
5‘Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
14th Nisan/Abib - slaugher/sacrifice the lamb (at twilight).
6 ‘You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. 7 ‘Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 ‘They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 ‘Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 10 ‘And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11 ‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. 13 ‘The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
14th-21st Nisan/Abib - eat bread that is not mixed with leaven.
18 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
1 “Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 3 “You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 “For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.
The Babylonian Talmud, Volumes 1–20: Original Text, Edited, Corrected, Formulated, and Translated into English Chapter V: Regulations concerning the Sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb
Hence this latter was slaughtered half an hour after the eighth hour (two and one half hours after noon); but on the day before Passover, when the paschal lamb had to be slaughtered after the daily offering, the latter was slaughtered an hour sooner. If the eve of Passover, however, fell on Friday, when the paschal lamb must be roasted before the Sabbath set in, the literal text of the passage in the Scriptures is abided by, and the daily offering is slaughtered as soon as the sun commences setting towards the west, i.e., half an hour after noon
Yet, by the time that this feast was in full swing in Jesus’ day, the two events were rolled into one and it was simultaneously called the Feast of Unleavened Bread and/or the Passover.
Matthew and Mark tell us that it was 2 days away:
Since the Passover began at twilight the 14th of the month, that would make this Thursday reckoning “two days” as parts of two days.
1 When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas; 4 and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”
1 Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; 2 for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”
Verse 7 tells us when that day’s (Thursday) events began:
7 Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.
So, it is the evening of Wednesday, Nisan 12/13.
Jesus had retired to the Mount of Olives.
37 Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.
Remember, when Jesus would retire to the Mount of Olives, it was essentially Him and His disciples since the people would gather in the Temple to hear Him teach.
2 Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
v.2
v.2
2 The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.
2 καὶ ἐζήτουν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς τὸ πῶς ἀνέλωσιν αὐτόν, ἐφοβοῦντο γὰρ τὸν λαόν.
At the same time, the Jews deliberating how to seize Christ and kill Him.
They knew that they could not do it during the day since the people were hanging on His words.
They knew they could not let it happen beyond the Passover because they didn’t want to let Him get out of their sight any further so that He would create more damage.
But, they did not know how they would do what they wanted to do.
They needed an accomplice.
“…chief priests and scribes...”
Sadduccees and scribes, interpreters of the Law.
No mention of Pharisees, although Scribes were often Pharisees too.
“…they were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people...”
They have been doing this for most of His mininstry:
14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. 15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to tell who He was.
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. 7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.
7 The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. 8 But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” 10 After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 11 But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
v.3
v.3
3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.
3 Εἰσῆλθεν δὲ Σατανᾶς εἰς Ἰούδαν τὸν καλούμενον Ἰσκαριώτην, ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν δώδεκα
This is the first time Satan entered Judas.
The second time will be at the final supper the next evening, Thursday.
Satan has been waiting and watching for opportunity, right along with the religious leaders.
13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Luke 22:1–23:56. The Preparation for the Passion
But there is no hint that Judas is now like a demoniac, unable to control his own actions (Hahn). Judas opened the door to Satan. He did not resist him, and Satan did not flee from him.
v.4
v.4
4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.
4 καὶ ἀπελθὼν συνελάλησεν τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν καὶ στρατηγοῖς τὸ πῶς αὐτοῖς παραδῷ αὐτόν.
At this moment, Satan in Judas left the group of Jesus and the disciples and went out to the leaders, who were deliberating how to destroy the Christ.
Please note that these two events do not happen simultaneously.
Satan looking for an opportunity (Luke 4:13) has now found it in Judas.
However Satan looks for willing subjects, he found one in Judas, the devil.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
v.5
v.5
5 They were glad and agreed to give him money.
5 καὶ ἐχάρησαν καὶ συνέθεντο αὐτῷ ἀργύριον δοῦναι.
The only thing that gave these men joy was the prospect of a willing executor of Satan’s plan.
The Action: v. 6
The Action: v. 6
6 So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.
6 καὶ ἐξωμολόγησεν, καὶ ἐζήτει εὐκαιρίαν τοῦ παραδοῦναι αὐτὸν ἄτερ ὄχλου αὐτοῖς.
The plan:
-betray- the word became like a surname to Judas.
4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”
3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said,
2 Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.
The agreement was completed.
They gave him money.
Now, all the leaders had to do was sit back and wait for Judas to finish his end of the bargain.
I can only imagine the demonic glee at this “opportunity.”
Judas, now, only has to wait for THE opportunity in which Jesus is away from the crowds.
According to John 18:2, he know that Jesus always went to the Mount of Olives at night during this week to escape the crowds, so that probably made the most sense to him.
He would wait until evening, before the actual feast began.
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Luke 22:1–23:56. The Preparation for the Passion
Very possibly the priests had intended to wait the feast was over before arresting Jesus. The offer of Judas induced them to make the attempt before the feast began
Conclusion
Conclusion
9 Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues, For I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls, And iniquity and mischief are in her midst. 11 Destruction is in her midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets. 12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. 13 But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; 14 We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng. 15 Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst. 16 As for me, I shall call upon God, And the Lord will save me. 17 Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice. 18 He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, For they are many who strive with me. 19 God will hear and answer them— Even the one who sits enthroned from of old— Selah. With whom there is no change, And who do not fear God. 20 He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has violated his covenant. 21 His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was war; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords.