Holy Week: A Journey With MatthewSample

Wednesday | The Plan of Betrayal

As we continue to follow Matthew along the journey of Holy Week we are now confronted with the acts of Judas. At this point in the narrative, we start to sense that Judas was not a true believer: he was in the group of believers, but he was not of them. We read in John how Judas was a thief and stole money from the disciples themselves (John 12:6). But in Matthew’s portrayal, it seems that Jesus’ rebuke prompted Judas to visit the priests and bargain to deliver Jesus into their hands, as the most famous act of betrayal and treachery in world history (Matt 26:14-16).

Matthew is challenged by the disloyalty.

Matthew was a bystander to all of this. We are not given an insight to what he was thinking, but he was present at the Last Supper, when the disciples ate bread together as friends. Matthew would have seen how Jesus gave the bread to Judas (Ps 41:9), and Judas accepted it, knowing full well that he was betraying his Lord. Being betrayed is incredibly painful and confusing, and for Matthew we can only assume so too was watching betrayal being acted out.

A follower’s response: Priority

It is not clear what prompted Judas’ betrayal, but one factor may well have been the fact that Jesus was openly announcing His death. This might motivate Judas to escape while the opportunity was there. We simply do not know. But we do know that Matthew’s response was different: his priority was to remain a follower of Jesus Christ. That too should be our priority.

Making Jesus our priority and passion is the key to revival. This was the case in the famous Moravian revival of 1726 in which there was a great outpouring of the Spirit among a congregation of peasants led by Count Zinzendorf. What started as an all-night prayer meeting became a prayer movement that prayed 24/7 for an amazing 110 years. Count Zinzendorf announced that the key to this movement was that “I have one passion. It is He, only He”.*

Prayer:

Dear God, today we chose to proclaim afresh and anew our allegiance to Your Mission. By your grace and mercy, empower us to singularly prioritize you in all our thoughts, words, and deeds. May you be my constant and enduring passion. Amen

* Tyler Staton. Praying like Monks. Living like Fools. Hodder & Stoughton. 2022. P.203