Deserters
Matthew 26:14-35[1]
I’ve mentioned before
that none of us lives up to our image of ourselves. It’s an inescapable fact of
our humanity. No matter how good our intentions may be, we all fall short.
Sometimes we do much more than fall short. Sometimes we crash and burn. When that
happens, we tend to want to look for someone to blame. Someone besides us, that
is. And so it is that throughout the history of the human family we’ve found it
convenient to find a “scapegoat” to take the blame for our failures. Whether
it’s the way we were raised, or how much money we have, or what kind of breaks
we got in life, it seems we can always find a scapegoat to blame. But a
scapegoat only really serves to let us off the hook so that we don’t have to
look too carefully at ourselves.
I think the way the
church has looked at Judas Iscariot falls under the category of “scapegoating.”
He has been known as the one who “betrayed” Jesus. Unfortunately, that’s about
all we know about Judas. The only things Matthew’s Gospel tells us about Judas
is that he was “one of the Twelve” (Mt 26:47) and that he betrayed Jesus. In
fact, he is known simply as “Judas the betrayer” in Matthew’s Gospel, much like
John is known as “John the baptizer.” I must say I’m a little disappointed in
that. After all, Judas was one of twelve hand-picked disciples Jesus chose to
accompany him and to join him in his ministry. It makes me wonder what Jesus
saw in Judas that led him to choose Judas as one of his original “apprentices”
in ministry. It also makes me wonder why Judas, who took the risk to join Jesus
in going to Jerusalem for the last time, would have done something like
betraying him. The Gospels tend to say simply that he did it because he was
destined to. But I wonder if there was more to it than that.
I think it’s important
to recognize that not only was Judas among those Jesus chose to join him in his
ministry, in all of the Gospels he is also present at the Last Supper. We see
this in the fact that the story of the Last Supper begins with Jesus’
announcement that “one of you will betray me” (Mt. 26:21). While those shocking
words likely came in the course of the meal, I don’t think we pay close enough
attention to this detail. Talk about a way to kill a party! And as a side note,
some of you may know that Da Vinci’s famous fresco of the Last Supper was
intended to portray the reaction on the part of the disciples to that shocking
statement: “one of you will betray me.”
If we read the story
closely, we have to reckon with the fact that not only was Judas present at the
Last Supper, but that he also participated in the meal! Jesus knew that one of
them would betray him. I think Jesus even knew that Judas was the one who would
do the betraying. And yet, in the Last Supper, Jesus offered Judas the bread
that represented his body that would be broken on the cross. And he offered
Judas the cup that represented his life poured out as a demonstration of God’s
unfailing love. Yes, Jesus gave Judas the bread and the cup! Jesus offered his
broken body and his life for the sake of one he knew was going to betray him.
Perhaps the early church
was so disturbed by Judas’ betrayal they couldn’t see past that. But I think the
human tendency to find a “scapegoat” may have also affected the church. By the
time Matthew’s Gospel was written about 40 years later, Judas’ act of betrayal
had so completely defined his character that they could not think of him any
other way. But if we keep reading the story, we find that there was plenty of
responsibility to go around. After the supper, presumably after Judas had gone
to get the Jewish authorities, Jesus told the rest of the disciples that
“Tonight all of you will desert me” (Mt 26:31, NLT). We should hear the
full impact of that word “desert.” The word in the original Greek refers to
those who are either unwilling or unable to put their faith in Jesus! It’s a
strong word. That’s why so many English translations read, “You will all fall
away because of me on this night” (NRSVUE). It was a serious matter. And
they knew it!
Peter speaks for the
others when he says, “I will never fall away” (Mt 26:33). But Jesus knows
better. In fact, not only would Peter “fall away” on that night, Jesus told Peter,
“you will disown me three times” (Mt 26:34). Peter would become a deserter and
a denier! Of course, Peter insists he would rather die, as do all the others.
But when the time came, they all deserted him, just as Jesus had warned them.
And when the time came, Peter disowned Jesus. Three times. And the last time he
did so with an oath and cursing! What I want to come back to is the fact that
at the Last Supper Jesus not only offered the bread and the cup to one he knew
was going to betray him. Jesus also offered the bread and the cup to the one he
knew would disown him. And Jesus offered the bread and the cup to those he knew
would desert him. Everyone around that table on the night of the Last Supper
was going to “betray” Jesus in some way or another. And Jesus knew it. And
still he offered them all the bread that represented his body that would be
broken on the cross, and the cup that represented his life poured out for them.
We have this idea that
the Lord’s Supper is only for those who are “worthy.” In fact, some churches
insist on that. But if we’re taking our cue in celebrating the Lord’s Supper
from what Jesus did at the Last Supper, then we’ve missed something important
when we restrict who can take the bread and the cup. Jesus gave the bread and
the cup to Judas, who would betray him. Jesus gave the bread and the cup to
Peter, who would disown him. And Jesus gave the bread and the cup to the others
who would all desert him. The bread and the cup are for everyone!
We all fall short. And
sometimes we crash and burn. Too many times in my life I’ve had to come
face-to-face with the fact that I am not always the man I want to be, not
always the father I want to be, not always the disciple of Jesus I want to be,
not always the pastor I want to be. I think it’s safe to say I’m not the only
one in that predicament. But we don’t gather here to celebrate our worthiness.
We gather to celebrate the fact that Jesus offered himself to the one who would
betray him, to the one who would disown him, and to those who would desert him.
We gather here taste again the grace of love we can never deserve, nor can we
ever forfeit. We come because, whether we have betrayed him, or disowned him,
or deserted him, Jesus keeps offering himself to us all!
[1] ©
2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by
Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 4/2/2023 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
