It's the Easter weekend, the time when the Christian World remembers and celebrates the crucifixion, death and return to life of Jesus Christ, self-proclaimed son of God & universal scapegoat for the world's evil.
A couple thousand years ago, JC & eleven of his closest buddies went on a night hike through the Kidron River’s ravine, which marked the outskirts of Jerusalem. Crossing to the other side, they stopped for a bit in a clearing & hung out. It being well past bedtime, some of the guys dozed off while Jesus and three of his tightest homies went a couple of metres away from the other 8 to talk & pray. No one really knows who it was, but one of the hikers noticed a glimmer of some lights coming up the hillside towards them. Jesus knew what this was about & how it was going to pan out. He probably sighed with more than just a bit of expectant anxiety as those glints of flame from the torches and lanterns weaved their way up the hillside towards his posse. Light mixed with sound as marching footsteps mingled with the rustling & shuffling of others' ambling: the cops were coming.
Face off: a dozen night hikers groggy with sleep, aroused by the unexpected company of both Roman soldiers and Jewish temple officers, gathered together wondering what was about to happen. They realised that something big was coming, but they really didn't know what. A couple of days ago, when Jesus & his gang had returned to Jerusalem, the whole city threw a party... Jews hated Roman oppression, and Jesus was a contender in setting the nation of Israel free from the Empire. Did these "Roman" soldiers here defect, wanting to see freedom to their own nation? Was an uprising about to start, ushering in a new era of world order? There were many questions, I'm sure. I mean, Jesus had claimed that he'd come to set the people free... Maybe, though, the Romans caught wind of this and wanted to nip it in the butt, before all hell broke loose in the tiny, Mediterranean province.
"We're looking for Jesus of Nazareth," one of the newcomers proclaimed. Jesus steps forward and says, "I am him."
Then something that none of the hikers would have expected happened: One of their own, the only guy who opted out of the hike, appeared from among the throng of soldiers and officials. He walks quickly up to Jesus with a glimmer of what could be joy in his eyes, gives JC a huge hug while saying, "Teach! How've you been?" He seems so excited to see Jesus again that his kisses the hikers' leader on the cheek.
With a sorrowful smile, Jesus hugs his follower back, looks him in the eye and says, "Friend, do what you came here for."
Everyone there can see that the respected teacher is fighting back tears. Judas, the latecomer, realises that his master knows. His eyes widen in guilt and remorse as he stumbles away. The other 11 guys are still a bit confused as to what's going on, but one of the Jewish officers makes it very clear. "Seize him!" the order is shouted.
So, now things get hairy. The hikers had brought along with them a pair of machetes, and when the Jewish officers begin to approach and apprehend Jesus, Peter grabs one of the blades and, in blind fervour, screams a war cry while swinging the blade at one of the officers' head. Thankfully for the officer, Peter's no soldier, and when he sees Pete attempting to decapitate him, he dodges just in time--but not fast enough to avoid the blade completely. Malchus, the officer, lets out a shriek and clutches the huge gash on the side of his head. Blood is pouring everywhere and Malchus stares at the ground in horror, fixated on something in the dirt while shouting repeatedly, "My ear! My ear!"
Jesus turns to Peter, "Put the sword away!" he orders. "Have you already forgotten who I am, Pete?! Don't you know that with a mere snap of my fingers, I could summon 20,000 angelic warriors if I wanted to, or do you really think that I'm that helpless? My Father's given me a mission with express orders: shall I not carry it out?" His words silence the would-be brawl. The eleven hikers are terrified: history has told them than those who claimed to be saviours of Israel met with ill ends when they fell into the hands of Rome. Not only, though, did the master die, but all of his followers were executed as well...
As if reading their minds, Jesus addresses the lynch mob, "I'm the one you're here for. Let the rest of these guys go free." The deal is settled. Jesus is bound and carried away while his buddies run for their lives.
Two of his friends, though, decide to follow the lynch mob at a distance: Peter, the would-be murderer, and one other (I'm assuming it's John, though it could have been Judas). The soldiers take Jesus to the priestly mansion, where JC begins his journey through many mock trials. John/Judas knows the judge & gets into the mansion easily. He sends word to the gatehouse that Peter should be allowed in as well. The guard, upon hearing Peter's description, asks whether or not Pete's one of Jesus' followers. "Hell no! Are you on crack?!" he responds, afraid that if he gets associated with Jesus, his fate would be similar (although, not more than an hour or so earlier, this very same guy tried to kill somebody for laying a hand on his teacher... Odd, no?) The guard rolls her eyes and lets him into the courtyard.
Peter warms himself by a fire, as it's about 3 AM on some day early in spring. He tries to hide his face as best as he can, but the light from the fire doesn't help his stealth. Jesus had been a regular celebrity in Jerusalem up until this night, and one of the people around the fire recognised Peter. "Hey, you're one of Jesus' followers, aren't you!"
Peter scoffs at such a claim, "Yeah, sure I am. Just like that guy there's King Herod's son!"
One of the guys, however, who was with the lynch mob, hears this as he's walking by. "Hey!" he shouts to Peter, "You! I know you! You were there: You're the guy who cut off my cousin's ear tonight, aren't you?!"
"What the heck are you smoking, buddy?" Peter replies, "Do you think that, if I were the guy you think I am, I'd be stupid enough to come to the courthouse right after I apparently attempted to murder a court official? C'mon! Where's the sense in that? Moron."
A rooster crows somewhere in the courtyard.
* * * * *
I think that people give Judas far too bad of a rep than he deserves, and that Peter's painted far too brightly as well. I mean, c'mon! Look at the situation. It's Israel in the middle of Roman oppression. People are tired of having the dark Empire sucking up all their freedoms and opposing martial law over everything that they do. Over the past few decades (If I remember my history correctly), rebellion after rebellion occurred in Judea, initiated both by groups and by men who eagerly desired to throw off the yoke of Rome. Some even claim to be the prophesied Messiah, or saviour & coming king. All of them, however, fail.
Then Jesus comes along. He does things differently. Instead of waging war and suicide bombings at the get-go, he begins to raise a groundswell of popular support. He brings the populace onto his side so much so that the entire capital city holds a parade / celebration at his arrival for Passover. Everybody (almost) loves this guy... And with major popular support, you can only imagine that once this guy calls for rebellion, a huge number of citizens will enlist in his movement against tyrannical Rome.
Judas was a thinker, I'm pretty sure. He knew that this was going on & he knew that the powers that be weren't very fond of Jesus. Combining this with the history and popular image of what the "Messiah" would be like--a conquering hero--I bet that Judas had complete confidence that Jesus was the One, the real deal. Because of this, I'd bet that Judas never even entertained the idea that Jesus would go willingly into captivity. I bet that Judas' thoughts were that Jesus just needed a little push--some encouragement in the right direction to strike the government and start saving Israel from Rome. "He's the One: nothing could possibly go wrong." Then Jesus went with the guards to court--uh oh. "Maybe he wants to be in a more public place to gather support from the population?" No doubt, there were people at the trial of Jesus who were waiting for him to just say the word, and they'd bring the government down with whatever force was needed. But he didn't.
They shipped him to Pilate, the Roman governor. "Maybe there he'll incite the rebellion, officially spitting in Rome's face." Again, nothing.
I bet that this is where Judas got a very sick feeling in his stomach, and where he fully comprehended what Jesus told him on the hillside of the Kidron valley. Jesus wasn't going to topple Rome. He didn't have any intentions of dong so. Ever. At this point, I can only imagine the string of four-letter words coming from Judas' mouth--not to mention the vomit from realising that he was responsible for handing his teacher, master & friend right into the hands of their enemies. If you were him, d'ya think you would entertain the thought of suicide? That's what I figured...
Then, there's Peter. 150% talk at supper that night. "I'll stick by your side even to death, Jesus!" He said. Some guy tries to arrest Jesus & Pete tries to decapitate him, forgetting all the instruction of peace, love and brotherly kindness that Jesus had been pounding into his head over the past several years. No one aims to cut off someone's ear with a sword. It was the outcome of unskilled fighting. Peter was trying to kill someone, probably out of rage. Peter was doing what Judas had expected Jesus to want and to do. Peter was starting a physical, violent rebellion. Jesus had no intention of following through on that, and instead chastised Peter for his actions.
If it was both Judas and Peter who went to Jesus' trial, it would make the most sense (either that, or it was John & Peter). Judas would have had to have known the high priest's family--how else would he have negotiated the deal to hand Jesus over? Judas got in based on his association with Christ. Peter vehemently denied that same association. Not once, not twice, but three times. And all of this less than 12 hours after he stood before all their friends and swore that he'd follow Jesus to the death, no matter what.
When Jesus told his followers that he'd have to suffer & die at the hands of the officials, Peter told him that that would never happen. What did Jesus say to Peter about this remark? "Get behind me, Satan." When Jesus & his buds were eating supper the same night he was going to be arrested, what did he say to Judas? "What you're about to do, do quickly." Jesus asked Judas to betray him. Jesus told Peter that his words wouldn't line up with his actions and that Peter as well would deny Christ. Except, Jesus didn't ask Peter to deny his association. Peter did this on his own.
Who's the worse disciple? And yet, Jesus chose to use Peter to be one of the foundational members of the early church after He returned to heaven. Nobody's too bad for Jesus to want as a friend.
Food for thought this Easter season.
