This Week

This week at praxis...30 Pieces

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests  
and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces 
of silver.   And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him...

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, 
he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me."  And they became greatly 
distressed and began to say to him one after another, "Surely not I, Lord?"  
He answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  
The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man 
is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born."  
Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" He replied, "You have said so." 

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a 
large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.  
Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; 
arrest him."  At once he came up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.  
Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you are here to do." Then they came and 
laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.  Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put 
his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, 
cutting off his ear.  Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; 
for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Do you think that 
I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than 
twelve legions of angels?  But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, 
which say it must happen in this way?"  At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, 
"Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? 
Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me.   
But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.
"Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. 	
-  Matthew 26, selected verses
 


I have handled these coins in every possible way.
I have heaped them in all their combinations;
Ten piles of three-three piles of ten-
I have even towered them thirty high,
And then, with an idle fingertip, toppled them.
I have bagged them up and poured them out again.

In the April night air, the upper room grows chill.
I am alone now, the others gone on to the garden.
I can play publican on the long table made of pine,
Stacking and stacking my coins on the rough boards
That had been linen covered earlier when I whispered,
"Is it I?" and swallowed the bread and the blood-red wine.

I clink my silver over and over in moonlit circles
And wonder at the cunning of my new masters-
How did they know it would all come down to this:
My sitting here in this cold, dark room, troubled,
Awaiting my own time to go out to the garden
And give the sign they demanded of me, that kiss?
-Anthony Harrington 

The story of Judas's "betrayal" of Jesus is particularly confusing; 
why would anyone need to point Jesus out, when he had already entered 
the city as the central figure in a triumphal procession, playing the 
part of the Bridegroom of Zion, calling himself the son of God, 
publicly conversing with angels, ad publicly promising all men a share 
in his imminent resurrection?  In fact the monetary payment and the 
"betrayal" seem to have been necessary parts of the traditional drama, 
devices to absolve the executioners of guilt.
-Barbara G. Walker, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
 

Questions:

	Why did Judas betray Jesus?  Why would anyone need to betray Jesus; 
	was he not well known?
	Some Christians believe that Judas did what was necessary to move along 
	the drama of Jesus death.  The reading from Myths and Secrets suggest that 
	Judas is a mythical figure who plays a critical part of this heavenly drama.  
	Do you agree with either of these ideas?  Why or why not?
	It is an ancient idea that God works through dramas, that they unfold in 
	order for something to happen, or for God to be more clearly known.  
	Another way to understand a tragic story like this is that humanity struggles 
	and makes mistakes sometimes, and God is present in all of that and can turn 
	things upside down.  Which, if either, makes sense to you, and why?