Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be mild here in Southern Tier
of New York, to make it possible for the flowers to bloom luxuriantly. Some of
my friends make maple syrup. The Lord is ushering in some beautiful weather
that the maple syrup growers love... warm in the day time and cold in the
night. The Lord blessed us with an awesome Wednesday gathering. The fellowship
was sweet . The study and sharing are always thought provoking and uplifting.
Our grandchildren who live in
Boston get to go to the museums regularly. Ada, the youngest, visits the Musuem of
Fine Arts up to 3 times a week. As I have shared, to me the best art, the best
music, and the best literature in the world is that which honors Christ. Some
of the best architecture is that which reflects the Glory of the
Lord.
During this Lenten season, as we
get closer to Passion week I would like to invite you to join me to gaze at one
of the most famous paintings in the world, The
Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci. Frozen in time before us is
the precise moment when Jesus said, "One of you will betray Me." The
expressions and gestures of the disciples clearly show their shock, fear,
disbelief, anger, sadness.
Our eyes are drawn to Judas, the second person on
Jesus' right, sitting next to young beardless John, who by the way is
not Mary Magdalene. (That silliness from DaVinci Code been
debunked by all serious art critics. As one of them asked, "If that's not John
up there, who can explain why Leonardo left out one of the 12 disciples?") Next
to John, there is Judas, as Jesus is about to say, "The one who has dipped his
hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me."
So here is Judas
reaching. Notice he is using his left hand. Leonardo was aware of prejudice
against left-handed people. In fact, in Latin, the word for left is
sinistra or sinister. So simply by using his left hand, Judas
is now the suspect. Meanwhile, what is Judas clutching with his right hand? It
is a money bag, a purse, a reference to the 30 pieces of silver he would earn
for betraying Jesus. Then there is one more tiny detail: In all the commotion
with the use of his hand, let us notice Judas has knocked over the salt on the
table. Still today there's this superstition that spilling salt leads to bad
outcomes. Also, notice Judas' face is shadowed and darker than the faces of
other disciples. It is written for us in Matthew
26:20-25:
"When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table
with the Twelve. And while they were eating, He said, 'Truly I tell you, one of
you will betray Me.' They were very sad and began to say to Him one after the
other, 'Surely you don't mean me, Lord?' Jesus replied, 'The one who has dipped
his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man will go just as
it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It
would be better for him if he had not been born.' Then Judas, the one who would
betray Him, said, 'Surely you don't mean me, Rabbi?' Jesus answered, 'You have
said so.'"
On that night of the Passover, Judas betrayed a Friend. He
loved Jesus. All the gospel writers preserve the fact that Judas did not want
Jesus crucified. All say he repented. All say he tried to give back the money
and undo what he had done. Why did Judas not appear at the trial? He would have
been the star witness for the prosecution! Judas was crushed when his arrogant
plan went awry, then he took his own life. Judas had betrayed a
Friend.
Judas used Jesus as a means to an end, a way to achieve a
desired goal. At first, all the disciples saw the prospect of Jesus becoming an
earthly king. All were looking forward to government jobs. John and James
jockeyed to be the ones sitting on Jesus' right and left when He became king.
These two, along with the other disciples, though, eventually surrendered to
Jesus' own vision of His kingdom, but it was not so with Judas.
I
believe that, like all of us, at the heart of it all Judas would not let Jesus
be Lord over his life. He really thought he was smarter, more world-wise, than
Jesus. A.W. Tozer once said, "Inside every human heart are a cross and a
throne. Whenever I put myself on the throne, I put Jesus on the cross." That
is the Judas whom I too often see in my mirror. I enthrone myself, lord of my
own private kingdom. With me on the throne, there is no other place for Christ
in my life except that I put Him on that cross.
The apostle Paul
said in Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ. The life I now live is
no longer my life, but the life Christ lives within me." A.W. Tozer has said to
be crucified with Christ means three things: "The person on the cross is facing
in only one direction. Second, he's not going back; and third, he has no
further plans of his own."
Judas had many plans of his own, and so do
we, but when we go to the cross, we die to our plans. We surrender the
managerial control of our own lives and relinquish all outcomes to Christ
alone. As I
transition to a different phase of my life I am praying that the Lord would
grant me His grace to take over my plans .
Catholic Cardinal John Henry
Newman described what it's like to let God be in control:
"Whatever,
wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may
serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my
sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, my perplexity or sorrow may be necessary
causes of some greater end, which is beyond me. He does nothing in vain; He may
prolong my life. He may shorten it; He knows what he is about. He may take
away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel
desolate, make my spirits sick, hide my future from me—still He knows what He is
about. I ask not to see—I ask not to know—I ask simply to be
used."
As someone has wisely said, "God is management". We are
in sales. He's doing His job. Lord, in these moments, we vacate our thrones
and invite You into Your rightful place. Be with us as we go to the cross in
love, service and surrender to You.
In Christ,
Brown
https://youtu.be/sQeIGbKqiw8
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