Helpful, But Not Necessary

Here we are in the space in-between. Jesus has been crucified and buried, but not yet risen. Hearts have been shattered. Even those closest to Him are unsure what to think. Not yet able to grasp the fuller meaning, not yet privy to everything that had taken place under cloak of darkness the night before.

On the surface, the governor of Judea – Pontius Pilot – was in town for crowd control and had just ordered the crucifixion. Shocking on one hand because the crowds had descended upon Jerusalem for the Passover and the majority – many of which had ushered Jesus in on a donkey just days prior – were likely too busy with tradition and preparation to be aware of the order. The sheer symbolism and detail of what took place is so far beyond imagination that no one could have thought it up on their own.

Crucifixion, on a cross, made of wood. It smacked of the law in Deuteronomy that stated anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. How could any Jew who believed in YHWH continue to believe the Messiah was Jesus if, by God’s own account, He was cursed?

The Pharisees knew very well what they were doing when they put political pressure on Pilot to crucify Jesus even though he did not see a valid reason for doing so. To be publicly executed was one thing and risked raising Jesus to martyrdom status. To be put to death and exposed on a wooden pole or timber would solidify the law and, without having to explain the deeper meaning, was intended to destroy any hope of Jesus ever being the actual Messiah.

The emotions of those closest to Jesus must have been falling faster than a plunging roller coaster and scattered in a thousand different directions all at the same time. It would have been enough to cause panic an heart attacks. The very fact that Jesus told them all what was to happen on multiple occasions had yet to sink in. And then there was Judas!! The betrayal was beyond agonizing!

It was Judas that caught my attention. All of this detail and emotion layered within multi-dimensions is so intelligently laid out in the book titled “The Crucifixion of the King of Glory”, by Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou. In an interview by Eric Metaxas, Constantinou mentioned that the betrayal of Jesus by Judas was (to the Pharisees) “helpful, but not necessary”.

That statement stopped me in my tracks. Judas betrayal was not crucial to the crucifixion. The crucifixion would have happened regardless. What that screams, to me, is that Judas was given the free-will choice to betray right up until the moment it actually happened. It was predestination NOT in a way that said you must, but in a way that said because you insist.

I totally believe that Jesus so loved Judas that He hoped and may have even prayed for Judas to repent. The kiss, that was Judas’ way of solidifying that, although helpful but not necessary, he was betraying Jesus with conviction. It’s so tragic! Judas was just days away from the moment God ushered in the very kingdom He had promised, and yet Judas held so tightly to his belief that he needed to hasten that day, that he lost everything.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
– Psalm 46:10