Tag Archives: Judas

Do You Know How Much That Cost?

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Sermon preached on Passion Sunday 6th April 2025 based on John 12:1-8 and Philippians 3:4b-14

‘Do you know how much that cost? I could have used that for a lifetime,’ was the heated response to discovering my best perfume bottle smashed on the bathroom floor and my two daughters looking guilty, but both ready to finger point the blame on the other. ‘But mummy, we were playing princesses and you always look like a princess when you go to one of daddy’s balls, and we wanted to smell the same’.

How could one carry on being angry, with that explanation, but I did try hard for a little while longer and there was no pudding at dinner time…

The fact is we make a lot of value judgements, about things that we think are precious, we sometimes even hoard things, thinking that one day we will benefit from being the only one that has a year’s supply of toilet paper, and we salt our money away forgetting that it will be of no value to us when the final curtain comes down, and we have not made any memories for those who come after us to share.

Now I’m not suggesting that we should waste these things, and we are not going to solve world hunger or provide for all those less fortunate than ourselves overnight, but knowing when to be generous, not only with your money or your time but your love is surely more important.

In our gospel reading today we find Jesus once more visiting the home of his dear friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He is on his way to Jerusalem to face a fate that will ultimately prove all of the things that he has taught his followers and fulfil the prophetic messages that the Saviour of the World, the Messiah has lived among them. It’s a fate that he accepts willingly but which is much harder to accept for those who have loved and known him as a man living among them, a man which the words of one worship song describes as ‘way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness’.

Of all the people surrounding Jesus that day in the house, it was Mary who realised that now was not the time to hoard her most precious possession, but to use it unstintingly to show her devotion to the person who had commended her choice to sit at his feet and had taught her everything she needed to know about how life should be lived.

Now it was her turn to offer a deep reverence and recognition of Jesus’ impending sacrifice. It also held a rich symbolic meaning, that through the act of anointing, an action usually reserved for the consecration of priests and kings, she recognised Jesus as the true Messiah. Where she once sat, she now anoints his feet with her hair, displaying humility and devotion.

Her use of pure nard, a valuable and aromatic oil, signifies the importance and sacredness of the moment, and its perfume was bittersweet, filling the house with its fragrance, but also a prophetic act foreshadowing Jesus’ death and burial. His acknowledgement that this was done ‘in advance of my burial’ also allows us, who already know what is to come, that there would be no need to follow the normal burial rituals as there would be no body in the tomb which to anoint!

Still, there has to be a killjoy to this incredible act of devotion, and here is where Judas steps in. I have to admit that having written a thesis on whether he might be identified as God’s scapegoat, I have own up to having a soft spot for the reviled figure of Judas.

Without Judas at this time there would have been no ‘betrayal’, no manipulated trial, no crucifixion and thereby no resurrection. Perhaps it was inevitable that someone amongst his followers would have eventually turned against him, with the promise of financial reward, but the poignancy that it was one of the disciples at this point in the story is both hard for us to comprehend as its consequences were to be for Judas.

Being a disciple meant having a unique and intimate relationship with Jesus, which makes Judas’s later actions even more significant and tragic. John’s stark statement, ‘the one who was about to betray him’ foreshadows the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, such as Psalm 41:9, which speaks of a close friend lifting his heel against the psalmist.

Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.
Psalm 41:9

Moreover, Judas’ betrayal is a critical event in the Passion narrative, raising questions about predestination and human responsibility, as Judas’ action were foreknown by Jesus, yet he acted of his own volition. Here was someone who must have grown to know the true value of being one of Jesus’ disciples, but who wasn’t ready to give his all if it meant giving up what was precious to him, his life, which is ironic as his decision ended up with him doing just that.

Judas’s questioning attitude contrasts with the faith and devotion expected of a disciple and follower, highlighting his internal conflict and eventual betrayal. For John the Evangelist, who was writing his gospel some fifty years after the events of Jesus’ passion, his thoughts about why and what Judas had done had not improved with age. His scathing remarks about a thief, who stole from the common purse, does not speak of love and forgiveness, and by this time the name of Judas had become an idiom to mean someone whom you accused of being deceitful and a betrayer of friends or country.

And then there is Paul, persecutor turned zealot, but with good reason. As a 1st century Jew, he could claim to have attained a sufficient righteousness before God, exemplified by adhering to the Torah’s commandments and engaging in acts of loving-kindness, aiming to be a light unto the nations and fulfilling his purpose as one of God’s chosen people.

Yet this valuable store of righteousness, is being cast aside in exchange for what Christ is offering instead. Not a righteousness ‘that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith’. Everything is being swept aside as ‘rubbish’, of so little worth because of the value of the heavenly prize that Jesus offers, eventual resurrection from the dead.

So where do we see ourselves in all of this? Are we willing to give up everything? Do we give up those things that are precious to us to show how much faith we have?

The fact is each and everyone of us is seen by God as individuals, people who face daily decisions about how we live our lives. He knows the choices we have to make about how we spend our time and our money, but more importantly about how we share our love and our care for others. How we share the Good News that Jesus’ passion brings for all of us.

Perhaps this could be a new beginning as once more over the next couple of weeks we are going to hear the story of the greatest gift ever offered to us all. Let’s just make sure that we really hear the message and be prepared to accept and continue to generously share it each and every day going forward.

Amen

When You Come in Fourth

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Sermon preached on Sunday 12th May – Easter 7 based on Acts 1:15-17, 21-end,

May I speak and may you hear through the Grace of our Lord; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

In one of the many art museums that I recently visited in Australia, there was a photographic exhibition of Olympians who came fourth. It portrayed them as they either crossed the line in a race or realised the final positionings of the medals. After all, those who come fourth have just missed out on receiving not only a tangible form of recognition, but whoever remembers who came fourth?

Today in our reading from Acts we have one such person, who came so close, but will forever be remembered, if we even remember his name, as the one that wasn’t chosen to join the most important and influential group within the Christian church.

Throughout this period, we are encouraged to look more closely at the Acts of the Apostles as the fledgling church emerges through the words and actions of those who had become disciples of Jesus. Many of those had become part of a group of people, who had witnessed not only his teaching first hand, but been with him since his baptism by John and had recently witnessed his crucifixion and subsequent predicted but still miraculous resurrection.

The group of the original eleven remaining disciples, who had been chosen by Jesus had now become apostles. As Vicky explained last week, a disciple is a student, a learner, a believer, whilst an apostle is a messenger, one who is sent to deliver those teachings to other.

These eleven, along with Judas had been the ones chosen to work closely with Jesus on a day to day basis for the last three years, gradually being changed from disciples, which all believers are, into apostles.

Now, following the death of Judas, they were feeling obliged to find a replacement, after all eleven is an uneven number, twelve is much more biblical. Had Jesus chosen twelve disciples to mirror the original twelve tribes of Israel, signifying the renewal of the covenant between God and humans.? Or was it because Jesus had chosen the twelve, that the remaining apostles felt a divine purpose that there should continue to be twelve of them.

It’s a shame that we miss out several verses around and within the scripture chosen for today as the answer to the above question was actually given by Peter, when he quotes the psalms not only about the fate of Judas, seen at that time as the betrayer or enemy of Jesus, but from Psalm 109:8 ‘May another take his place of leadership’

So here we have a crowd of believers, numbering ‘about one hundred and twenty’. This group included men and women and it is likely that it also included Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers, as the apostles had been staying together in Jerusalem where they had been joined in constant prayer together.

We know this because when Peter stands up his opening words ‘Friends’ are translated from the Greek word adelphoi for brothers and sisters, referring to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family, although the NRSV translation that the Church of England prefers, give the translation as men or brothers.

This gives us an indication that the replacement is not going to be a radical one for that time! Indeed, Peter confirms that it is to be ‘one of the men’ who had accompanied them throughout this whole time.

How to make that choice though? Even without it being a patriarchal society, it was highly implausible that they would have considered Mary, of Mary and Martha fame, despite her being one of the best students of Jesus, learning at his feet, she may not have qualified as having witnessed the baptism.

What of Jesus’ brothers, in particular James and Jude. There had been a time that they were very sceptical about Jesus’ claims as he went around preaching a different gospel. From within what would have been a devout Jewish family, this would have jarred with their beliefs about the Messiah, but we now realise that they had subsequently become believers with their presence among the group. In fact, James would go on to have a prominent role within the Jerusalem church and both would have books included in New Testament.

The decision then wasn’t to be taken directly by the apostles but handed over to God in prayer for them to then go on to cast lots, almost a game of chance, but a traditional Jewish way for making decisions, between two of the men who met the qualification, Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

The holy dozen was therefore restored.

What about the one though who had not been chosen, who essentially came fourth? What was his reaction? Well, he could have had a silent hissy fit and feeling rejected left the group in a huff or been angry with the leaders.   

He might even have been angry with God. After all, it was God that had had a hand in this selection, as they had prayed, therefore it was God who decided to not pick Barsabbas. It’s one thing for a person to tell you ‘No,’ but for God to say ‘no’?

 Yet we don’t hear of him having any of these negative responses. We see no indication that he reacted with disappointment, because we don’t hear anything about him after this. However, Christian tradition being what it is, he was believed to be one of the seventy disciples sent out by Jesus in Luke’s gospel to the cities he was to visit and is possible that we do see that he stuck around and continued to make God his priority and focus, as with his plethora of names, he could be Judas called Barsabbas, who was chosen to be part of an important delegation sent to Antioch from the apostles and elders of the church.

And as for Matthias? Not another peep in the whole of the New Testament, but again Christian tradition suggests that he did fulfil his apostolic role, by taking the gospel to Aethiopia, not at that time the Ethiopia of the North African continent, but in a region called Colchis in modern day Georgia in Eastern Europe, where he was crucified.

What then does all of this tell us about being disciples and apostles in today’s world, because that is what we are called to be, students of Christ to be sent out as messengers to share that knowledge. How many of us will be remembered in the annals of Christian history? Not many of us I would say.

But we still undertake those roles, knowing that God is always with us. We know that prayer opens the door to a closer relationship with him and that anyone can be called by God, at any time, to further his kingdom and share his message, and also know that God will lead the conversation.

And if God can call us to serve him at any moment of life, then we are never too old or too young to share his love with others. We may be aware that God often chooses the weak and the humble to serve, but that he always equips those whom he calls.

We may not be famous, or need to be placed on a pedestal when we share his Word, because we know that the glory goes to him, not us, but that we are blessed and loved in doing so.

Put very simply, sharing the love of Christ and the message of God comes through our words and actions. It is these things that will be remembered long after we are gone.

Amen

Seeds of New Life

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Seeds and Bread

Seeds and Bread

Except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, 
it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit’
John 12:24

 On Monday in Holy Week our church holds an informal communion and this year we were reminded of the seeds of hope and the bread of life through the beautiful liturgy of Dorothy McRae-McMahon from her book Liturgies for the Journey of Life published by SPCK

This simple and reflective service allowed us space to offer our prayers where we believed we saw the signs of the seeds of new life, however small, by placing the single seeds we had been given at the beginning of the service onto Christ’s table, where seeds are turned into bread, as we named the sign we saw and the hope we have

Also to quietly listen to Psalm 42:1-9 and to hear the Gospel through a meditative reading I had prepared based on John 12:1-11.

 Seeds of New Life

It seems incredible that we’re all here together again. It fact it is far beyond incredible and yet I must somehow believe it. Look at them all – relaxing and enjoying the meal that Martha has prepared for us. My wonderful, hardworking sister Martha – not at all as bossy as she appears but kind-hearted and generous, and so very grateful to the man who is our guest of honour this evening.

An honoured guest indeed, and yet he has become one of the family, certainly no airs and graces, just a gentle and humble presence. As I catch his eye, he smiles at me, a look of genuine love – and yet just a few weeks ago it could have been so very different.

Silence

Then I was aware that my illness had taken such a grip on me that my family was beyond hope, and yet they still had faith that he would come. They had tried to hide their tears from me, but I still heard them sobbing as the night passed and I felt myself slipping away to death and to nothingness. ..

… That was until I heard his voice, telling me to come out; but out from where? Everything seemed muffled until I realised that my whole body had been wrapped in cloths for my grave, yet the insistence in his voice gave me a sense of urgency and so I stumbled into the bright light before falling at his feet.

As I said, beyond belief… and yet I do believe.

Silence

Many of his travelling companions are with him tonight. They’ve stopped here in Bethany on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. I can hear Peter, with his loud, gruff voice cheerfully retelling stories of what they’ve been up to since we last met, and Thomas – careful, thoughtful Thomas – listening intently, and occasionally interjecting to correct some small inaccuracy of what Peter is saying, which Peter takes in good humour.

On the other side of the room, I can see Judas, looking as if he’s brooding about something. I often wonder what it was that Jesus saw in him when he called him to be one of the disciples. They say he’s good at making the small amount of money they have stretch just that little bit further, although they often seem short of cash. Still God provides for them somehow.

Silence

And at least we’ve been able to provide some warm food and plenty to drink; and Martha hasn’t had to scold Mary too much to get her to help get things ready. I can see Mary now, sitting right in amongst those nearest to him. She been so excited since she knew he was coming, full of smiles as if keeping a secret but trying not to let it burst out.

Suddenly it’s as if the room has been transported to the middle of Solomon’s garden of delights; the air heavy with a strong fragrance, familiar and yet unfamiliar. Of course… it’s nard, that purest of perfumes and also one of the most expensive. That must have been what Mary was hiding and it must have cost her a great deal, at least 300 denarii – a most precious gift indeed.

Silence

A gift that she has broken open and is now using to anoint his feet; an act of pure devotion, yet one which I can see is making her sorrowful as tears roll down her cheeks and fall on his feet, and which she wipes away with her beautiful long hair, her own glory.

The smell has obviously reached Judas’ nostrils as well, and he seems incensed, querulously asking why so much money has been wasted; that she would have been better of giving it to help the poor or maybe he wanted it in the common purse for another purpose. My dear friend was having none of it, rebuking Judas and pointing out that regrettably there would always be poor people among us, and what she has done was simply what she would do on the day of this burial. Instead we should be more worried that we might not always have him.

Silence

I wonder what he means. Perhaps he’ll soon be moving on again. Things have undoubtedly become a little more difficult. Ever since he miraculously restored me to life I have noticed that people are very confused, several of them shy away, ducking into doorways and crossing over when I walk along the streets. Still more though want to see for themselves and vast crowds of people are starting to visit our village. They too are discovering how incredible the things that he does are. It’s certainly rattling the chief priests; they don’t like to see their authority threatened.

Perhaps it’s best then that he goes away, and Mary can save the rest of the perfume till much later… Cheer up Judas, your teacher knows what he’s doing.

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