Easter as Metaphor Part 2

2)  The Betrayal

    Out of the entire story this is the one incident that seems completely out of place.  Or is that just me?  Everything else has a reason or at least a linear connection from point A to point B.  But where did this sudden betrayal of Judas come from?    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall there being a falling out between Jesus and Judas.  Did the authors of the Gospels decide to leave out that little skirmish because it didn't reflect well on Jesus?  I highly doubt that.  I've heard more theories on this than I could go into, but the most recent one suggests that Jesus himself told Judas to go and hand him over, like a covert operation if you will.   It would definitely make sense in some ways since this seemed so out of the blue, plus I don't remember it saying in the Bible "so as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas, who would be the betrayer, slipped from the other disciples who slept and went to the house of Caiaphus...." you get the picture.  And if Christ told Judas to go and turn him (Jesus) in then obviously Christ was well aware that he had every intention of doing what he could to make sure that he fulfilled the prophecies surrounding the Messiah.   Which would be some pretty controversial stuff.

Then you have to come back to the Last Supper.  Christ told the Disciples that one of them would betray him, he even told them all who that betrayer would be.  Judas says 'not me' and Jesus says 'yep you', so they were all there.  They all knew and no one tried to stop him?  What about the disciple who cut the Roman officer's ear off?  If he was so sword happy then why didn't he just run Judas through right then?  Did they think Jesus was kidding?  I don't recall him having a sense of humor like that.  So if they all knew Judas was going to betray Jesus why didn't someone follow him and then report back to the others so they could have gotten the heck our of Dodge - so to speak?  Curiouser and curiouser.

So why Judas?  Some things I have read suggests he was the money holder for the disciples so I guess it would make sense that he would be "bribed" so to speak by thirty pieces of silver.  The plot in itself was ingenious on the part of the Sanhedrin leaders who didn't want a riot on their hands, but the Judas piece really sticks out like a sore thumb.  Maybe it's all the years I've spent watching reality crime shows and learning about motives and the like that causes this dilemma.  There is no motive that is listed.  Well, I can't say that.  I believe Luke claims Satan or some deamon entered Judas and drove him to it.  Then there is Judas' death.  One Gospel says he commits suicide after trying to return his money, Acts says that he went to buy a field with it and fell and died or something along those lines.  

Plus, in some ways, he gets kind of a bad shake.  After all, his betrayal leads to the ultimate good right?  If Judas didn't hand Christ over then the prophecy never would have been fulfilled.  So we malign him but at the same time you kind of have to give him credit.  It's the ultimate love/hate relationship.  I just cannot make him fit, and like many other conundrums in the Bible, I doubt I ever will.

But to look at the metaphorical side of this part of the Easter story.  It comes down to the one basic thing that has caused mankind to destroy itself since time imemorium - money.   We've all heard that money is the root of all evil...I guess the story of Judas goes a long way to prove that since (for the Christian world) this is the ultimate betrayal, an ultimate evil.   Money gets in the way of everything.  It drives us all every moment of our lives, and how many times has it taken precedence over everything.   Have you ever, and be honest now, thought to yourself "I can't wait to get paid today so I can tithe to my church."?  If you have, than you are a better man than I am Gunga Din, because I believe most thoughts would go like "Man I can't wait until I get paid today so I can go buy that (new iThingie, book, movie, album, etc.)"   How many people do you pass on the street daily, and I'm guilty of it all time, that ask for spare change and you think to yourself "Well...I really need that to buy my lunch." or "It would take too long to dig it out and what will a few coins do anyway?"  or "I need all my quarters for laundry tonight" or "I bet they're just going to use it to buy drugs, alcohol, etc."?  

Take this into consideration:  Where would Christ and his Disciples have been if people had not helped them along the way?  Do you honestly think he walked around in pristine clothing and smelled like roses all the time?  I bet they looked like beggars in tattered clothes, having to rely on others hospitality to give them food and shelter.  And what about the fact that, to my recollection, the only time that Christ ever lost his temper was at the Temple when he saw the people there trying to make money off of God's name.  I think the term Righteous Indignation would be appropriately used for that situation. 

We have songs that celebrate money, books that tell us how to make more money, how to keep our money, we work for money, we have entire vacation spots dedicated to helping us win/lose our money.  Money makes the world go round.  Money makes us important, gives us status, gives us possessions.  In the end, though, what does money do?  You honestly cannot take it with you, nor your possessions that money bought.  And it seems that one little bit makes us hungry for more and more.  So in a way have we all carried within us a Judas mindset?  If Christ was that beggar shaking a cup or holding a sign and asking for money would you give it to him or walk by?  If the government offered you millions of dollars to hand a friend over to them (and take into account I don't think Caiaphus would have said "oh and by the way we're going to make sure we kill him") who was a bit of a rebel rouser would you do it?  It's easy to say no, but I don't think this is an easy answer.