Who Dunnit

Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. (John 18:2)

As I began reading this morning in John where I have been soaking for quite a long time now, I noticed an alternative reading in this verse that caught my attention. As a substitute for this phrase betraying Him, it can just as easily read handing Him over. That alerted me that very possibly the Greek word used here is the same word that has become very familiar to me in recent years as the definition given in Romans for the wrath of God. When I looked it up that is just what I found.

Now, this produces some rather interesting questions as I again reviewed the verses that use this Greek word. Just who was it that handed over Jesus to be crucified? According to this verse Judas is the one to blame, and most people tend to agree with that assessment. And while many would not necessarily associate the betrayal by Judas in handing over Jesus to His enemies as a demonstration of wrath, from the Bible's perspective that is just what he did. Paul in Romans 1 makes it quite clear that the way wrath is revealed is in the act of handing people over.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (Romans 1:18-19)

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. (Romans 1:24)

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, (Romans 1:26)

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, (Romans 1:28)

So far it appears that Judas was acting in wrath by giving Jesus over, or in other words, betraying Him to be killed in exchange for 30 pieces of silver for himself. That takes a really sick mind, but that is just what selfishness – the essence of sin – does to all of us. But there is more to this story. Paul has even more to say about just who was involved in handing over Jesus to death, and it can come as a surprise to many to find out who might be found as an accomplice with Judas in handing over Jesus to death. In each of these verses I have highlighted the phrase that is used for the Greek word translated both as betrayed or in various other wordings as handing someone over.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; (1 Corinthians 11:23)

Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. (Romans 4:23-25)

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Remember that each of these references uses the very same Greek word that describes what Judas did to Jesus as well as how heaven defines what wrath is. But now it starts to look like God Himself was involved in some way in this handing over of Jesus to death. Was the Father an accomplice with Judas? If so, how can Judas be held in contempt while God is not? Or maybe we secretly do hold God in contempt and fear and possibly even view Him as having a character that cannot be completely trusted. Many have come to loath the reputation of Judas, but maybe some of our darker beliefs about God are reflective of the character of Judas without our realizing what has taken place. But there is more.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, (Ephesians 5:25)

Now it is getting really complicated. Not only is Judas to blame and then God the Father becomes implicated in His being handed over, but now the Bible tells us that Jesus Himself was involved in this 'betrayal.' Did Jesus betray Himself into the hands of His enemies? Did God compel Judas to carry out this act of betrayal as Calvinists would have us believe, insisting that some people are just meant to be lost from the very start and have no choice in their own actions of evil? This brings up the long-debated question of who hardened Pharaoh's heart way back in Egypt. What is really going on here?

Certainly implicating both God and Jesus in this situation by using the very same Greek word referring to the very same event should raise a lot of compelling questions in the mind of any person interested in uncovering truth rather than blindly accepting pronouncements of religion. But a lot also has to do with our motives for asking tough questions. I have come to appreciate that God is never afraid of us asking tough questions. In fact, I am becoming more and more confident that God very likely gets quite excited when we begin to ask honest, sincere questions for which we have no good answers, for it means we are finally switching on parts of our brain that have for too long been kept off-line because of fears that God, or some other religious authority, might get upset if we asked for better explanations.

Yet another aspect comes into play here. Maybe because of our incessant emphasis on everything being couched in a legal setting we have been led to ask many of the wrong questions to start with. If we assume that our problem with God and our perspective about these stories in the Bible are all about keeping rules as being the most important thing in our relationship to God, and we live in constant fear of Him while trying to avoid punishment for disobeying rules, then most likely we are going to feel compelled to look for who is to blame whenever anything goes wrong. That is what I long assumed, for that is all I knew growing up. But over recent years it is becoming more and more evident to me that God is far more interested in drawing me into a wholistic, safe, intimate relationship with Himself, and bringing me into alignment with the principles of reality that I was designed to live under is just part of accomplishing that goal.

The closer I come to seeing the real truth of the purpose of the cross of Christ, the less concerned I am about who is to blame. Instead, I find more interest in what that demonstration is revealing about what God is actually like. For if His main purpose in sending His Son to this earth, as Jesus stated, was to reveal the truth about the passionate love of the Father's heart for His children rather than appeasing His supposed anger or paying off some debt that we incurred by offending Him, then I am not interested in where to place blame. But I am interested in finding out why so many seem to have been involved in handing over Jesus to die.

For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:6-11)

These words remind me a great deal of the profound insights I keep seeing emerge in my close examination of the book of First John. In the very beginning of that book John seems to be so filled with passion to share the incredible truth that exploded on this planet with anyone who is listening and willing to open their minds. He uses the term light over and over as this is the core issue of the gospel.

John and the other disciples were privileged to live in direct contact with the very expression of Eternal Life in the person of Jesus, the Son of the Almighty God of the universe. They were able to put their hands on Him, to live in very close, intimate fellowship with Him for a number of years and to see God up close and personal. Sadly most of that time they had little clue as to what they were privileged to have happening to them; but when they later looked back and realized what they had not seen previously, their excitement begin to know no bounds and they rocked the world with the truth that God is radically different than anyone had ever thought or had imagined Him to be up to that point.

...and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:2-3)

The more I contemplate the truth as it is in Jesus, especially in these writings of one of His very best friends John, the more clear it is to me that what John and Jesus and God all want more than anything else is for us to enter into fellowship with them. After I became aware of the true definition of joy according to the way our nervous system and brain are designed, this made even more sense to me and explains why John and Jesus both focused on this word so frequently. Fellowship and joy are inescapably intertwined with each other and cannot be separated. Joy is what we feel when someone is glad to be with us. That is why fellowship and intimacy are such a central part of the message of the gospel, for as we come to learn the real truth about God's goodness in contrast to all the lies we have assumed about Him for so long, we can begin to enter into the joy of the Lord, a joy that gives us strength like no other source or experience.

These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. (1 John 1:4)

Let me share just one more reference that I found that uses the same Greek word we have been looking at that is often translated gave him over. There is one more kind of giving over that Jesus did besides giving Himself to die to expose the real truth about God's passionate love for all of His children. And it is vitally important that all who desire to follow in His steps come to learn how to give themselves over similarly if they want to overcome the temptations inherent in facing persecution and death as Jesus did.

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; (1 Peter 2:21-23)

This is in my opinion comes from one of the most compelling passages in Scripture. The more I become aware of the real truth about why Jesus came to die, to be handed over for our sakes, the more sense these words of Peter make to my own heart. But in addition this verse alerts me to the real core of the gospel. For the gospel is not at all about providing an escape from an angry deity waiting to inflict severe punishments on all those who refuse to obey or conform to his demands. No, no! Jesus came to show us that God is exactly the opposite of what He has been made out to be by both enemies and friends alike unfortunately.

What I see now more clearly than ever in this exclamation by Peter is a God who can be trusted so much more than anyone has ever given Him credit before in history. I have come to see that the core issue of the war between good and evil is not about keeping rules but rather is over the contention by Satan that God is not fair and cannot be fully trusted. Without trust it is impossible to live in harmony with anyone, and that is a serious problem when the person we cannot live in harmony with is the only source of life that exists.

This was the central issue that Jesus came to address when He became a human to show us what God is really like in contrast to all the lies we believe about Him. Jesus came to show us the revelation that God will never resort to violence against His enemies, will never hold a grudge or desire revenge. Peter finally got that truth, but sadly most Christians today overlook these words and miss the profound implications of them because they still cling to dark views of God inherited from the father of lies and that have been passed down through centuries of false religion.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)