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WAX OR CLAY?

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WAX OR CLAY?

“But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’  He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to whatever was put into it.” John 12:4-6 NIV

Who was this Judas Iscariot? What kind of man was he? Why did Jesus choose him to be a disciple?

We have to glean bits and pieces about the character of Judas from the gospel story. We learn most about him from the events leading up to the crucifixion. It seems that there was no love lost between him and John, writer of the most “spiritual” gospel, according to the early church fathers. Even though John was an old man by the time he wrote, he could not resist having a dig at Judas as he remembered and recorded details about his part in the events of that terrible week.

Judas was the “treasurer” of the group. It fell to him to take care of the money bag, to buy the necessary provisions and to pay the taxes required by the Romans, and the temple tax, tithes and offerings as part of their covenant responsibility. Apart from that, John knew that he periodically helped himself from the money bag for his own private use but he did not divulge his source of information. Perhaps it was no more than a suspicion because he knew that Judas liked money.

Did Judas volunteer for the job or did Jesus appoint him to take care of the finances? If so, why? Didn’t Jesus know that he had sticky fingers? One can only see God’s grace offered to this man. Jesus gave him opportunity to change his behaviour by entrusting this responsibility to him. Judas could have risen to the occasion by choosing not to violate that trust instead of seeing it as an opportunity to enrich himself… but he didn’t. 

In spite of the years he spent with Jesus, following, listening and even doing the works Jesus did, Judas’ heart was still hardened and unchanged because of his love of money. He remained unmoved by the compassion, kindness and generosity displayed by His Master; he certainly could not understand how He could accept Mary’s lavish adoration on this occasion when she “wasted” her precious dowry on His feet!

On one occasion, Jesus had pointed out to His disciples that it was impossible for a man to serve two masters. The God of Israel and Mammon, the god of money were at opposite ends of the pole. God is the epitome of generosity; Mammon represents everything that is selfish and greedy – what the Hebrews called the yetzer harah, the evil eye, the “factory fault” with which every human being is born since Adam. The gap between God and Mammon is so vast that serving one is tantamount to hating the other. Therefore, if Judas served money, it was impossible for him to love God.

For Mary to lavish such expensive perfume on Jesus meant that she valued Him far more than she valued her most valuable possession — something that was absolutely foreign to Judas, so foreign in fact that he was willing to sacrifice Jesus for the sake of money. Judas betrayed his greed by his objection, and John read him aright. For Judas, it was not about the poor; it was about the money he could have had in the bag — another opportunity to remove his “salary” without authorization!

“Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ’It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.’ John 12:7 NIV.

Was John also hinting at one of the reasons for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus? Once again, in a public assembly, Jesus had exposed the heart of Judas, and Judas must have squirmed at the humiliation! However, Jesus never exposed hearts for the sake of revenge. As with the Pharisees, He wanted people to know themselves so that they would turn to Him for mercy. When Peter faced his exposure, he turned, but not Judas. He became harder and even more determined to get even with Jesus.

The same sun that melts wax, hardens clay!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – ALL GOD’S DAUGHTERS

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ALL GOD’S DAUGHTERS

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Mark 14:1-11

This is another one of those occasions when Jesus’ mercy and kindness to women offended men. The Samaritan woman and the woman caught in adultery are two other incidents when Jesus treated women with dignity, even when their behaviour was sinful, and the men didn’t like it.

In the Jewish culture of the time, women were viewed as considerably less than men. They were not much more than possessions; their word was not accepted in a court of law; they could be divorced and thrown out on a whim. But Jesus championed women and lifted them to a place of dignity and respect by the way He treated them. He honoured the crown of His creation and often showed men up in public for their high-minded arrogance, an attitude He hated.

Jesus was a rescuer of women. He rescued Mary Magdalene from a life of demonic torment; the Samaritan woman from guilt and shame; the woman caught in adultery from death by stoning; the woman with the issue of blood from isolation and premature death; the woman who was bent over for eighteen years from a life of pain and indignity, (these two women who were outcasts because of sickness, He called “Daughter”), and all the women who followed Him from a meaningless existence.

Most of all, He rescued them from their despised position as less than men. He treated them as equals, honoured them as participants in the great mission of the church gave them an equal share in the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. .

It was the women who braved the hostility of the religious leaders to be near Him at the cross, to follow His body to the tomb and to anoint Him for burial. It was the wealthy women who often provided for Him and His disciples and it was a woman to whom He first revealed Himself after the resurrection.

People who appear in the gospel narrative alongside Jesus will be remembered for many things, but none received the commendation Jesus gave this woman by specifying her place in history, nameless though she was. Was He in fact saying, “You men are so mean-spirited that all you will remembered for is your insensitivity, but she poured out her very best for me”? Could anything be better than that?