He had been with Jesus for years. He had followed and witnessed the astonishing actions of this unique rabbi. He had heard him teach to crowds. He had listened and learned in that small intimate group of devoted followers. From the numerous healings, exorcisms, encounters with the forces of nature, and even raising the dead, he had seen that nothing was beyond the ability of this Nazarene. He had come to believe and to know that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the long-awaited Messiah of which the prophets had spoken, the Son of Man seen in the vision of Daniel, the Holy One of God.

The group had made their way to Jerusalem. As they traveled, Jesus had told them what would occur there. He was going to be arrested, handed over to the Gentiles, mocked, humiliated, spit on, flogged, and executed. Unthinkable! How could the Messiah, the one who has come from God to free Israel from their Roman oppressors, die at the hands of the enemy? Surely there must be some mistake. Surely this must be some cryptic teaching, some figure of speech, anything but reality.

On the Sunday of their arrival, Jesus was hailed as king by the crowds as he enters. He made his way to the temple and cleansed it. These are the actions of the King who has come to take control. In the subsequent days, crowds had gathered in and around the temple courts to hear him teach. The religious authorities had questioned him relentlessly but could not refute the wisdom of this king. This certainly must point to Jesus taking his place as king. He had rededicated the temple like the Hasmoneans had done centuries earlier. He had wisdom that was greater than King Solomon. Add those to his ability to perform signs and wonders, and there would be no stopping him. Perhaps, when the moment was right, when the pressure reached the right level, he would show himself as the true and powerful king.

I wonder if that is what Judas thought as he agreed to lead the soldiers to the place where Jesus could be arrested outside the view of the crowds that held him in such high esteem. I wonder if he thought that when the guards arrived and attempted to arrest him, Jesus would display his power and take his place on the throne. Instead, after Judas led them to Gethsemane, Jesus willingly went with them. Unthinkable!

Unknowingly, Judas set in motion the enthronement of the Messiah. It just wasn’t the way he thought it would happen. Jesus didn’t come to be a conquering king in the way most of the world thinks of conquering kings. He came to conquer something much bigger than the Roman army. He came to defeat sin and death. He came to willingly give himself so that all those who would turn to him in faith might be rescued, healed, and restored.

We often think of what Judas did on that night as unthinkable. We follow Jesus from Gethsemane to the house of the high priest and sit with Peter in the courtyard. Peter, another of those who had been with Jesus for years, witnessed all the miraculous signs and wonders, heard the teaching, and confessed Jesus as the Messiah, denied any association with Jesus. Unthinkable! It is scandalous to us that the one who pledged to die with Jesus, who drew his sword in the garden would desert his master. From this point Jesus will be taken to the Roman governor, Pilate. He was then tried, mocked, scourged, abused, rejected by his own people in favor of a murderer, and executed in the most heinous fashion. All of this he did for us. He did this for those who had followed him for years, who had been by his side and recognized his identity as the King of Israel. He did this for the ones who misunderstood him. He did this for the ones too cowardly to stand with him. He did this for the ones who shouted for his execution, for the ones who beat him, for the ones who nailed him to that cross, for the ones who mocked and humiliated him as he died. He did this because he loves. He did this because God desperately wants all people to come to him. Can we possibly look at what was done so that we can be his people, so that we can be reconciled to God and have real hope and a secure future and not respond to that love and grace? Can we really be so calloused that we can witness what Jesus has done for us and let it have no effect on us? That would be unthinkable.