Sermon Mark 14:1-11 Judas’ Confession

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
Sermon Mark 14:1-11 Judas’ Confession
March 1, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is traditionally a time when we prepare ourselves for the great celebration of Easter which comes in 40 days excluding Sundays. For sinners this means that Lent is the time for confession and change of behavior in preparation for forgiveness of sin through the death of Jesus. For new believers it is a time of education in preparation for baptism. For all of us it is a time of realizing our own wandering in the wilderness, in preparation for our news lives we receive through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of us are anticipating the joy of Easter, but first we must travel through Lent which leads us directly to the cross.

Today I am beginning a series of sermons that will take us on this journey to the cross and through it. Our guide for this journey is the Gospel of Mark. Mark will take us from the gathering of friends in Bethany, to a dinner in Jerusalem, to a sleepless night on the Mount of Olives, to a trial, to an execution on a cross, and finally to the amazement of an empty tomb. Today we begin with the familiar story of the woman anointing Jesus with fragrant oil.

But before we begin our journey, please pray with me. Lord Jesus, accept us as your disciples and let us join you as you make your final journey into Jerusalem and your confrontation with death. Through this help us to know exactly who you are. And as we realize your true identity forgive our sins and bless us with your Spirit. We pray this in your glorious name. Amen.
Mark 14:1-11 It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; 2 for they said, "Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people." 3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, "Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her." 10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

My name is Judas, Judas the son of Simon, Judas Iscariot. I am a follower of Jesus, one of the inner core of disciples, one of the 12. When I first met Jesus, I couldn’t quite figure out who he was. But as I watched him teach in synagogues, heal the sick, and cast out demons I realized that Jesus was a great teacher and I decided to follow him wherever he went to learn as much as I could about him. I was astounded when he showed such compassion for the poor and taught that it was easier to a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. It was a real honor to be with a teacher like Jesus, whose heart was for the poor.

Then one day an amazing thing happened. We were all in a boat and got caught in terrible storm. As the boat was tossed up and down, we were afraid the boat might sink so we woke Jesus up. And do you know he did? He spoke to the wind and told it to stop blowing. And that is exactly what happened. Jesus speaks to the elements of nature and they obey him. I knew that no teacher, no matter how good, could do something like that. It was then that I realized that Jesus was far more than a teacher. Indeed, he was prophet, like Moses, who could command the elements of nature and they would obey. Since we had a prophet in our midst I wanted even more to follow him.

But the 12 of us soon realized that Jesus was far more that a prophet. A couple of times, large groups of people gathered to listen to Jesus. Once we estimated 5000 were on the hillside. Late that day they became hungry and all we had to feed them were five loves of bread and two fish. I thought that we should send them all home to eat, but Jesus told us to feed them with what we had. And amazingly, that was enough. As we watched this miraculous sight, we realized that Jesus cared for his people the way a shepherd cares for his sheep. They were hungry and he fed them. All the people of Israel have been waiting for shepherd like David to come. We are waiting for a Messiah. One day Jesus asked us who we thought he was, and Peter blurted out what we had all been thinking. He said that Jesus was the Messiah we had been waiting for.

But as we talked with Jesus we found out that his understanding of the Messiah was different from what we expected. We expected the Messiah to be a military leader who would liberate us from oppression. But Jesus called himself the Son of Man and said that the Messiah was to suffer and die. How could anyone make sense of that? How could a suffering messiah free us from the Romans?

We were thinking about these things one day when we were leaving Jericho and were confronted by a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road. This blind man kept calling Jesus the Son of David. Suddenly, we all knew what this meant. We knew exactly who Jesus was. He was a descendant of King David, the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. Jesus was the new king on his way to Jerusalem to overthrow the Romans and their Jewish puppets. The people on their way to the Passover celebration began lining the road with branches and cloaks, as Isaiah had prophesized, preparing a pathway in the desert for the rightful king to return to Jerusalem. We were all so excited by the time we entered the city gates and went to the temple because we knew the revolution was about to begin. With Jesus as king we would be able to overthrow the Roman Empire and reinstate our holy nation.

I was confident that I knew exactly who Jesus was. But now I am not so sure. I thought he was the Messiah, the new David, the new Moses who had come to free us from the Romans, but what I just saw has turned my stomach. I can’t follow this Jesus anymore. How could I have been so wrong about him? Let me tell you what just happened.

We all went to Bethany to the home Simon the Leper. His daughter was there and had an extremely expensive vial of ointment made from Indian nard. It must have cost more than a year’s salary for a common worker. Just imagine all the good we could do with that money. I expected Jesus to tell her to sell the ointment and give the money to the poor.

But that’s not what Jesus did. Jesus allowed her to use it to anoint his own body. At first I was angry. How could Jesus be so wasteful when the needs of the poor were so great? The money could have provided food and shelter for a needy family. How could Jesus be so insensitive to these needs?

Then I realized what Jesus was doing. If Jesus was really the new king like David and the new prophet like Moses then he had to be anointed. That’s what was happening, the anointing of the Messiah, the prophet and the king. But then Jesus said something I still don’t understand. He said that the woman was not anointing a new prophet or king; rather she was anointing his body for burial. Jesus had given up; he had decided to die. Jesus was not going to lead a revolution against Rome. Instead he was ready to give up his own life, for what? What good is a dead prophet? What good is a dead king? What good is a dead Messiah?

I couldn’t stay there with Jesus any longer so I left. I was so disappointed with him. He was such a great teacher and prophet. I was certain that he was the Messiah we had longed for. Yet rather than take his rightful place as the son of David on the throne of Israel this Jesus was just going to give up and be led like a lamb to slaughter.

Well I am not going with him. There is no way I am going to be arrested and tried like a common criminal. There is no way I will hang on a cross. So I have decided to leave Bethany and go alone back to Jerusalem.

I know that I am doing a terrible thing. I have been a follower of Jesus, one the 12. And now I am going to betray him. I am going to help the chief priests and scribes find Jesus so that he can be arrested. People who know Jesus will think that I am a monster for doing this. I have heard that a reward is being offered for information about Jesus’ whereabouts. Some will think that I am doing this for money. But that is not my motivation. Somehow I think that God is using me. God wants me to betray Jesus to the authorities for some divine purpose. Just as God had used that woman to anoint Jesus’ body for burial, God is now using me to start the process that will lead to Jesus’ death. Our ancestor Joseph once said that God uses evil for good. And that is what I think may be happening here. At least I hope so.

I am still wondering who Jesus is. I thought he was a teacher, a prophet, the Messiah, or maybe our new king. Now with Jesus going to his certain death I just don’t know who he is. But there is one thing still bothering me. While I and the others in the 12 were out casting out demons we heard some of the demons call Jesus the “Son of God”. I don’t know what this means. But I know Jesus, and I suspect that something surprising will happen this week that will demonstrate to all of us who Jesus really is. I am at least thankful that God has given me a part to play in the great drama.

Father in heaven, we thank you for Judas Iscariot. Even though he did a terrible thing by betraying your son he was still a part of your plan, and without Judas, Jesus would not have died for our sins. So we thank you for Judas and what he did for us. And as we pass through this season of Lent help us to learn who Jesus really is. Amen.