Sermon For July 2, 2000
HEBREW TESTAMENT: A Replacement is Chosen ~ Acts ~ 1:15-26
I was there, at the start. I was there at the river Jordan, together with John as people were being washed in the river for their sins. Jesus, his cousin came down to the river. John recognized him at once and begged for Jesus to baptize him. But Jesus said, “No. No.” John must baptize. Jesus must be the one baptized. To show each one how to turn back to God once again. I was there when Jesus spoke at the synagogue. People were in awe of his power and authority. They said, “Who is this man?” They remembered him when he was a young boy working in his father’s carpentry shop, sawdust and shavings all around him. I was there at the very first miracle at the wedding party. The host had run out of wine. Jesus’ mother asked him to take water, to turn it into wine for the crowd.
It was the first miracle, but it was not the last miracle. I watched in amazement as Jesus stretched out his hand and touched a poor beggar to cure him of his leprosy. I listened when Jesus spoke and cast out demons. I heard Jesus answer the questions of challengers with simple stories. I was there when he spoke to the crowds. I was there when shouts of “Praise the son of David! Alleluia!” rang through the air. Palms and coats were placed on the road, so that he might walk over them as he entered Jerusalem. The crowd that was so quick to cheer soon turned against him. It was later in the week that we heard of his arrest. I was one of the first to hear the details. Judas had betrayed him with a kiss. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the words. “Judas?! It can’t be Judas, no!” Judas was a well-respected friend of Jesus. Judas was the one who took care of the finances. Judas, how could he have done it? Even now there is great disagreement about why Judas betrayed Jesus. There are some who say that Jesus was a reluctant messiah. Judas betrayed him believing that it would give Jesus the opportunity to spread his message. He knew how persuasive Jesus could speak. He knew that if Jesus were given the forum that he would be able to tell everyone about the love of God. Jesus would be able to bring about a true faith.
There are others who think that Judas was unhappy about the direction the ministry was taking. Instead of helping people, healing and teaching, Jesus began to speak more and more about the challenges ahead, about the way that he would die. About the way God would prove the victory. Judas knew that the words that Jesus spoke were going to be a danger. The Romans were always there, ready to put down their thumb on the Jewish people. All they needed was a little bit of an excuse. Perhaps Judas was worried that Jesus was going to provide them more excuses than even they desired.
Then there are those who say that it was greed, pure greed. Thirty pieces of silver, that was what we were told he received from the high priest, thirty pieces of silver to lead them to the garden, to identify Jesus with a kiss.
If we are unsure about his motives, we are even more unsure about how he met his end, this Judas who was our friend. There are those who say that he was filled with regret. That he repented of his sin of betrayal by hanging himself from a tree. We are told that he took the thirty pieces of silver to buy a piece of property. When he set foot on the property, he tripped and fell headlong. His side split open and his bowels poured upon the earth, so that now that piece of ground is called blood acre. But, some have said that when Judas repented, he went and tried to return the money. When the chief priest would not take it, he threw it on the floor of the temple, then left to hang himself. Those who speak in this way, say that it was Pharisees who took the money, and knowing that it was blood money which could not be returned to the treasury, took and invested it in the property. It is in this way that it is know as the blood acre.
None of us should be too quick to judge Judas, too harsh when we talk about his actions. He was not the only traitor, if indeed he was a traitor. There is no room for conceit. Each one of us has to face our own uncertainty. Come to terms with our own guilt about the ways we failed to support Jesus. Even our leader, Peter, fled in the darkness and loudly denied his Lord when he was confronted by the maid.
The broader Jewish community already thinks that we are a group of crazy people. Men and women following another self-proclaimed Messiah who will fade into the shadows of history. They fail to recognize that we have never denied our Jewish ancestry. That each thing that we have done has been in accordance with the faith. Jesus called twelve disciples. Twelve Disciples to speak for the twelve tribes of Israel. When Peter and the rest of our community speak of the events that have taken place, of the things that we have experienced, we have always pointed to the scriptures. We have shown how the things that we talk about have happened to fulfill that which was prophesied in scripture. Even now, as we gather together, there are more than one hundred and twenty in our company. One hundred and twenty males are required to establish a new synagogue. Each thing we have done we have done in accordance with the Jewish faith. Yet, people don’t want to listen to our message.
When Judas died, it was necessary for him to be replaced, so that the twelve might again be complete. First, the community prayed, to discern who was qualified to become one of the disciples. It was recognized that whoever was chosen had to be an eyewitness, a follower of Jesus from the start, someone who observed his baptism, someone who was there when he was taken up into heaven. After much prayer, the names of two came forward. The first, Joseph, also know as Barsabbas, sometimes spoken of by the name of Justus. And the second, was me, Matthias. Our names were written upon small pieces of stone, placed into a container, and shaken. Shaken until one of them bounced out onto the floor. We waited. The room was silent as the vessel was shaken. When a piece of stone fell to the floor. Peter picked it up, and read my name, Matthias, and I became part of the twelve. When I think about the things that have happened, I realize that for Judas it was the end. But, I have a strong sense that for me it is only just the beginning.