Rev. David Holwick Maundy Thursday Communion
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
March 29, 1986
Love's Last Appeal
Matthew 26:18-30 (NIV)
Communion is a somber time, a time of self-reflection. This can be very depressing; as Jeremiah 17:9 says,
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
For this reason many feel uncomfortable during communion, and many who are self-satisfied shouldn't be. This kind of spiritual tension is nothing new. At the very first communion the atmosphere was one of betrayal. The first communion was actually a Passover meal which Jesus shared with his twelve closest disciples. Right off the bat, Jesus announces that one of them will betray him. To make it doubly bad, the betrayer was even sharing the meal with him.
Meals in the Middle-East are special. They signify friendship and loyalty and participants are bound to protect each other. When Psalm 23 says, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies," it refers to the protection offered by a host during a meal. People may want to kill you outside but the host won't let them.
To emphasize the betrayal, in verse 23 Jesus says,
"The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me."
Part of the Passover meal was to dip morsels of bread in a bowl filled with pureed fruit. So the betrayer was not just in the same room but close to him at the table. All of this was predicted in the Old Testament. Psalm 41 was written by David and was considered to be about the Messiah. Verse 9 says,
"Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."
It is amazing that none of the other disciples had any idea what was going on. If they had, they would have probably killed the traitor. Judas had done a superb job of covering up. He must have appeared trustworthy because he had been made the treasurer of the group. You don't just get anyone to handle money. A nearby Catholic church has a scandal recently where the ushers were reporting offerings of say fifteen hundred dollars but a secret videotape recorded them counting out a quarter of a million dollars. Jesus didn't have a video camera. He didn't need one - he saw right into Judas' heart.
There may be someone here tonight who has concealed some sin. No one else even suspects but Jesus knows everything you've been up to.
It's interesting to see how Jesus handles Judas. He could have paralyzed him or even killed him. The disciples would have gladly done it for him but the only weapon Jesus uses is the appeal of love. One of the great truths of the Bible is that God will not force us to do anything. He always lets us choose.
William Barclay points out that Jesus does two things here. First he confronts Judas with his sin. He tries to make him stop and think about what he's doing. Often we get so wrapped up in sin that we forget how terrible it is. We build up thousands of excuses to justify our behavior. To turn from sin, we must first be convicted of it. The book of Hebrews (4:12) mentions how the Word of God does this. Reading the Bible cuts us up and forces us to look at our sin. It doesn't matter that everyone else is doing it or that no one seems to get hurt. There are always two being hurt - you and God.
So Jesus confronts Judas with the awfulness of his betrayal. The second thing he does is confront Judas with himself. In verse 25 Judas is the last one to ask "Surely not I, Rabbi?" In most translations (but not the NIV) Jesus doesn't come right out and say "yes". He answers, in effect, "You've said it, Judas, not me."
Judas was being coy. He knew he was the betrayer. Jesus was even giving him the chance to come clean but Judas had too much pride to turn back.
There is sin and there is sin. There is sin that is committed because we are compulsive or angry; the Bible calls this unintentional sin. It's still wrong and can have terrible consequences. But there is a worse kind of sin which the Old Testament calls "sinning with a high hand." (The NIV translates it as "sinning defiantly," as in Numbers 15:30) These are sins that are calculated and deliberate. You know exactly what you are doing, yet you do it anyway. If this is your case, the Bible is very clear about where you stand. Hebrews 10:26 says,
"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left..."
Judas sinned defiantly and ended up destroyed. Peter and the others sinned without defiance and were able to come to repentance. Come clean with God and accept his forgiveness. Let us bare our souls before him.
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Typed on July 15, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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