Homily for 23 Mar 2016

23 Mar 2016

Judas was the only Apostle who didn’t call Jesus “Lord.”  And that seems to reflect Judas’ relationship to Jesus.  Jesus was his “Rabbi,” but he wasn’t the one guiding his life; Judas was still very much in control of himself.  And, some suggest, he was also trying to control Jesus.

There’s some reason to believe that Judas was a member of the Zealot Movement, who were trying to overthrow the Jewish leaders and get back to their roots.  I guess you could say it was a “reform movement.”  And it’s suggested that perhaps Judas turned Jesus over in the hopes that Jesus would fight and join the revolution of the Zealots.

Perhaps Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was that he was trying to “use” Jesus for his own ends, rather than letting Jesus be his Lord and God.  And that kind of betrayal of Jesus still goes on today.  For instance, when people cherry-pick Scripture passages to support their own opinions, they’re betraying Jesus; they’re “using” him for their own ends.  Or when people invoke the name of Jesus as a show of superiority or authority, they’re betraying Jesus; they’re “using” him, too.

A lesson we can take away from this is, of course, that if we’re going call Jesus our “Lord,” then we should let him be our Lord—and not merely someone who’ll help us get what we want.  Of course, sometimes that’s easier said than done.

All Judas needed to do was call Jesus “Lord,” and mean it.  And that’s all we need to do as well.  Jesus is our Teacher, but he’s also much more: He is Lord, he is Trustworthy Friend, he is God.