Jesus’ Betrayer
Judas Iscariot, Son of Simon, gets a pretty bad rap in the Gospels, including from Jesus Himself. Jesus called Judas “The son of perdition”, and said of him that it would have been better for him, if he had never been born.
Like his father, he was a political activist, and a revolutionnary. He must havenbeen a good organiser, and skilled at handling the money despite lacking ethics as to how he handled the cash. The Gospel account says plainly that he was a thief who regularly stole the money. Jesus said, quite plainly, that He had chosen “the Twelve”. Judas must have had talents of a sort for Jesus to have chosen him.
But spiritually, Judas must have been clueless. Despite all that time around Jesus, almost zero of Jesus’ teachings had “gone in”. For Judas, Jesus was “opportunity”, the star “figurehead” with the magic powers, whom Judas and his fellow activists could use. Jesus, they thought, was going to be their “Wannabe” messiah, whom they could “run”, as their “frontman”.
The Gospels make it clear (the report for John’s messengers), that raising people from death, was a regular event. But then Jesus did that again, just two miles awy from “downtown Jerusalem”. And He hd done it in spectacular fashion. Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, when Jesus summoned him. And Lazarus WALKED OUT, with a ton of witnesses being there to see it.
the whole region was abuzz! So much so, that the religious leaders had decided that they were going to murder BOTH Jesus AND Lazarus. That “charming bunch” of religious leaders could see what Judas could see — that Jesus had amazing “miracle power(s)” — and that those powers could be used to inspire a rebellion against the Roman Empire. Judas and his fellow revolutionaries thought that they were “om a winner” with Jesus. But what was Jesus doing after He had raided Lazarus from the dead?
Jesus was talking about dying and laying down His life. Judas thought that his “Star Rabbi, the perfect Star Son of David” had “lost the plot”. He, “practical Judas”, was going to sort out Jesus amd His “fantasy trip” about dying. With about 1.4 to 1.5 million people in Jerusalem for the Passover, he, Judas was going to force Jesus into a corner where Jessus was going to HAVE TO snap out of His “death nonsense” and self-sacrifice nonsense. Under arrest, and cornered, “their boy” was going to HAVE TO TURN ON THE MAGIC POWERS AGAIN.
BINGO! Instant rebellion, revolution and the restoration of the Kingdom of David — with Judas and his buddies “calling the shots” behind the scenes.
It did not work out that way. and Judas came to a gruesom physical end. Based on Jesus’ words, maybe Juds’ spiritual end may be even worse. Whatever happened to Judas, or is still happening to him, is not our call. It is Jesus’ call, the “Son of Man” to whom all power of Judgement has been given, on the grounds, at least in part, BECAUSE Jesus IS HUMAN.
Judas’ motivation was complex. Part of it was probably that he was “miffed”, over the “annointing at Bethany”. Jesus had “had a go at him” over the epensive fragrant oil, and Judas’ attack on “Mary with the oil”. That incident, with Jesus, once again talking about death, and how she had anointed His body for burial, was apparently one of the “triggers” for Judas, the “political guy who lived in” what he thought, ws “THE REAL WORLD”.
“Mr. Real World of Politics and Power”, was working with The Devil and Religious leaders. Doesm’t that sound familiar ??
/Jesus “Took It Hard and Personally”
The records of “The Last Supper” make it clear that Jesus was grief stricken over Judas’ betrayl. He had known beforehand that it would happn. But when it did happen, it really GOT to Him!
Jesus quoted scripture about “Betrayl by a close friend”. The guy He was talking about was King Solomon’s great-grandfather, rgandfather of Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba.
Her father is named as Eliam in 2 Samuel 11:3 and as Ammiel in 1 Chronicles 3:5.
He was an elite “Special Forces” soldier, in an elite unit of King David’s army. Elwas the son of Ahithophel (2 Samuel 23:34). Ahithophel was part of Absalom’sebellion against his (Ahithophel’s) close friend,King David.
Ahithophel advised Absalom to go after
King David and his fleeing supporters immediately after Absal and his supporters had control in Jerusalem.
Ahithophel’s Suicide – Yet Another “Family Tragedy”
But Ahithophel’s advice was countered and neutralised by two of David’s (DOUBLE) agents.
ELIAM’S daughter, Bathsheba, was married to “Uriah The Hittite”, another elite “Special Forces Super Soldier” in Eliam’s army unit. King David had “gone after” Bathsheba, and used his power and position as King, to get her. He had gotten her pregnant, and had then tried to cover up what he had done by organising for Uriah to be killed in battle. David gave the orders that left Uriah with no support or back-up in the middle of battle. The “battle” went as per David’s plan and orders. Uriah was killed. David then quickly married Bathsheba, hoping that he could cover up what he had done, and what was going to be a “shorther than usual” (or so it would appear to be) pregnancy, by his quick/hasty marriage to Bathsheba.
God “spat the dummy” at David, and Ahithophel “spat the dummy” at his former friend who had torn Ahithophel’s family apart – Son, Son’s son-in-law, grand-daughter, lives all torn apart, with Uriah “murdered” by a staged incident in battle.
God “went for David”, and passed sentence on him, according to the words out of David’s own mouth. David’s pronouncement of “Four Fold Retribution” is what God slammed David with. David lost FOUR SONS:
- Bathsheba’s baby son, dead within a week of his birth,
- Amnon the “ratbag rapist”, who raped his half-sister, Tamar.
- Tamar’s “full brother”, Absalom, “sorted out” his “ratbag rapist half-brother”, Amnon, by killing him. Absalom “fled the country” after that, but was eventually able to, with some high level support, work his way “back in”. He was good-looking, charismatic and very popular. God’s judgement on David kept “panning out” as God had said it would. Absalom rebelled. But Ahithophel’s sound advice to Absalom was neutralised by David’s two “double agents” posing as “wanna-be” advisers to Absalom. Absalom was murdered after his army was defeated by David’s troops. David’s grief over the death of such a favourite son, almost turned David’s victorious troops against him.
Bathsheba’s next son was Solomon, highly favoured and blessed by God, and God’s chosen successor to the throne. But there was rivalry within what was by then a very fractured and fractious family. David was injured in a fall when a stairway collapsed. He spent the last months of his life as a semi-invalid, almost bed-ridden, an injured man who needed a full=time caregiver. He had little chance of controlling the faction fights over which of his sons would succeed him. Bathsheeba held him to his promise that Solomon be his successor. But the faction fight cost David another son (Adonijah). He DID “apy four fold”.,
ABRACADABRA and the power of words ! Jesus said that by our words we would be judged !
Remarkably, despite the horror of what King David had done, and the dramatic punishment and vengeance that God inflicted on him, the rest of David’s life more than “passed muster” with God. God DID hold off re David being involved in the construction of the Temple, but the “hold off” was not over sin. It was because of the violence and mass killings that were part and parcel of David’s life as a very successful warrior king who had been opposed by so many opponents who were out to destroy him, and the God he worked for.
Most of us have probably got many things that we hope and wish that God would forgive us for, or for not doing better at. This is one of the greatest things about Christianity — that Jesus gave us a guarantee of forgiveness (IF we repent). God apparently judged David as GUILTY over only one (Terrible as it was) chapter in his life. That is an EXTRAORDINARY RECORD.
God Forgave David, But Ahithophel Could Not (Did Not)
Ahithophel was the very righteous victim, an upright and very Godly man who had had multiple generations of his family destroyed. His cause was just and right. He knew it. Yet when Absalom was talked out of following his sound advice, Ahithophel knew that God was “with David”, still loved David, and had forgiven him.
Ahithophel went home, He carefully put all his affairs, finances and other affairs, in order. Then he suicided.
Australia, Indonesia, NZ & The Pacific – The “Sharp End” Of Solomon’s Story
The “faction fights” around Solomon’s ascension to the throne, bothered Solomon. He was nervous about what would happen to his relatives on his mother’s side of his family, if anything were to happen to him. He kf the South Pacific, and South East Asia. He probably knew of that part of the world even “on his own”, But he definitely knew of South East Asia and the islands of the Pacific Region from the Queen of Sheba. She was on a Pacific Cruise before she returned home from that cruise, via Jesrusalem, She came right from where Jesus said she had been, from “the ends of the Earth, to hear Solomon”.
Solomon did something similar to what Mohamed would do 1600-1700 years later — or more accurately, what Mohamed’s successors did after his death. As the Sunni vs Shi’ite split erupted, some members of Mohames’s family were “stashed” in Malaya.
The Queen of Sheba’s Pacific Cruise is in Polynesian oral histories, jiving perfectly with what Jesus said. Solomon had business, spirittual, and trade links into this region. He “parked” relatives he wanted to protect, in Java. The history of what are now Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific region.