Daily Devotion August 28, 2013 Mark 14:11 “And he sought an opportunity to betray him.” A wonderful thing has just happened. Jesus had been anointed in anticipation of his burial by an unnamed woman. When the action was scolded Jesus told that her act of kindness would be remembered for as long as folk preached the gospel. It helps that the story was captured in the gospel accounts of Jesus, never-the-less his prediction has come true. Can you picture the scene in your mind’s eye? I can, and what I see is a very poignant moment in the last days of Jesus as recorded in Mark. The woman, maybe overcome with foreboding, comes into the house to perform her act of mercy. We don’t know her name such that we presume she is not known to those in the house so her action is also a boundary crossing event. She risks everything in order to perform an act of kindness for the country rabbi. Then the entire story of human kindness gets marred by the actions of human greed. Even as I use the word greed, I wonder. We really don’t know what motivated Judas to do what he did. Maybe it was just plain ol’ money loving greed. But then again it could have been something else. I have heard a story that has Judas’ betrayal shown as trying to get Jesus to finally be the kind of messiah that they all were waiting on. Jesus was bound to “blow up” if arrested and take care of business. But of course that didn’t happen. We really don’t know the motivation of Judas and it doesn’t really matter that we do. What matters is the fact of betrayal. Mark has Judas slipping into the dark of night, after the anointing thing to do what he was going to do. The story says that he “sought an opportunity” to turn Jesus over. As least Judas was intentional about what he was going to do, according to the story. I am afraid that we do the same thing as Judas only we don’t actually realize what we are doing. We betray Jesus, sometimes on a daily basis, and don’t even know that we have done it. I know, because I’m guilty of that very thing. When we drive by the homeless without even a glance, we betray Jesus. When we think that someone else will help with the church’s work with those who need some help with the bills, we betray Jesus. When we do anything that goes against the teaching and life of Jesus, we betray him. Thank goodness we don’t have to end up like Judas, “swinging from a white oak tree”. We have the opportunity and the ability to change. As you go about your day, look at things through the eyes of Jesus. If you feel a little tinge of guilt in a situation, pay attention to it, don’t just push it down. It is Jesus reminding us that betrayal comes in many shapes and sizes and that there is no such a thing as a small betrayal. We have the opportunity to choose who we will emulate, Judas or the woman with the jar. The light is always better than the darkness. Peace, Fr. Reid
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:20:02 +0000
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