The Washington herald., 1914-10-24

Son Of man is betrayed gOOd were it for that man
II he had not been born
90 Then one of the twelve. who was
called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief
| priests
Q0 And said, What are ye willing to
| give me, and / will deliver Him unto you T?
And they weighed unto him thirty pieces
/ of silver.
Q6 And from that time he sought op-
portunity to deliver Him unto them.
90 Now on the first day of unleavened
bread the disciples came to Jesus, say
ing. Where wilt thou that We make ready
for Thee to eat the passover?
QS And He said, Go into the city to
such a man. and say unto him, The Mas
ter saith. My time is at hand: keep the
passover at thy house with Ny disciples.
Qs) And the disciples did as Jesus ap-
pointed them; and\ they made ready the
passover.
C2O) Now when even was come, He was
sitting at meat with the twelve disciples.
C2D And as they were eating, He said,
Verify 1 say unto you, that one Of you
shall betray Me.
CD And they were exceeding sorrow
full, and began to say unto Him every
one. Is it l. Lord?
(23) And He answered and said, He
| that dipped his hand with Me in the dish.
the same shall betray Me.
60 The Son Of man goeth, even as II
! is written of Him; but woe unto that man
through whom the Son Of man is be-
| trayed! good were it for that man II he
had not been born.
C25) And Judas. which betrayed Him,
answered and said, Is 1t !, Rabbi? He
saith unto him, Thou hast said.
90 And while he yet spake, 10,
Judas one of the twelve, came. and with
him a great multitude with swords and
slaves, from the chief priests and elders
of the people.
C49 Now he that betrayed Him gave
them a sign. saying, Whomsoeyer l shall
kiss, that is He; take him.
40 And straightway he came to
Jesus, and said, Hail, Rabbi; and kissed
Him.
go And Jesus said unto him. Friend,
do that for which thou art come. Then
they came and laid hands on Jesus, and
took Him.
C0 Then Judas. which betrayed Him.
when he saw that He was condemned
repented himself. and brought back the
thirty pieces Of silver to the chief priests
and elders
CD Saying, l have sinned in that be-
trRyed innocent blood. But they said,
What is that to US? see thou to It.
90 And he cast down the pieces Of sill
yer into the sanctuary. and departed; A;
and he went away and hanged himself.
C6 And the chief priests took the
pieces Of silver. and said, 1t Is not law
full to put them into the treasury, since
1t is the price OF blood,
% And they took counsel, and bought
with them the potter's field, to bury
strangers in.
0 Wherefore that field was called the
field Of blood. unto this day.
C) Then was fulfilled that which was
spoken by jeremiah me prophet. saying.
And they took the thirty pieces of sill
yer. the price OF Him that was priced.
whom certain of the children Of Israel
did price.
GO) And they gave them to the pot
ters field, as the Lord appointed me.
The Narrative.
The story Of Judas is a terrible one.
-fhe paragraphs selected for our lesson
from the Gospel according to Matthew
give the last things concerning him. and
show what part he took in these final
hours in the suffering and death OF the
Lord.
These paragraphs lead US through four
stages. The first is that which took
pIacI in the house OF Simon the leper.
There Mary came, anointed' her Lord
for His burying with the sacred oint-
ment. This action. expressive OF an at
titude OF soul entirely opposite to that OF
Judas, called forth his criticism, a crit
icism in which all the disciples Joined
him. That criticism the Lord answered.
as He commanded these men to let her
alone, and accepted her amounting as
precious to Himself, and as valuable in
the propagation OF His Gospel Then out
OF sympathy with Mary and with her
Lord, Judas left the company, and find
ing his way to the high priests. made the
traitorous bargain to betray his Master
for the price Of a slave, thirty pieces OF
silver.
The second stage was reached in con-
nection with the Passover feast. Judas
was present at that feast, having in his
possession the blood money of his Mas
ter. The nefarious business had been
wrought in secret and no other disciple
knew Of 1t. In the midst of the cele-
bration the Lord made known His knowl-
edge Of the facts, and Judas was exclud-
ed. He then went forth straightway to
carry out his part of the bargain, and
in order to do so to obtain from those
with whom he had made the covenant,
the soldiers that were necessary to make
the arrest
The next stage was reached in Geth-
semane. when he came guiding the mob
scene is familiar, OF this man advancing,
and with a greeting and q. kiss Identify
ing Jesus for those thus sent to arrest
Him. Having thus carried out his part
of the compact. he withdrew.
The final stage Is reached when. seeing
that Jesus was condemned, filled with re-
morse, he carried back the thirty pieces
of silver to the chief priests and elders, |
and hurrying forth into the darkness of
the night became his own executioner.
The Teaching.
AS we said at the commencement, It Is !
necessary that We should remember that !
these were final things in ,the career OF
Judas. They were not the beginnings OF
his DETECTION. In this respect there is |
profound difference between the story OF !
Judas and Peter This We shall see more |
clearly when in subsequent lesson we
come to the story of Peter. 1t has been !
suggested by certain interpreters that
the action of Judas was due to a desire |
on his part to precipitate the triumph OF |
Jesus. It is argued that he. in common
with the other disciples, was out Of SYM
pathy with our Lords view as to the |
necessity for His death, and that he be-
lieved II He would but proclaim Himself
Messiah. He would thus ensure a follow
ing sufficient to defeat all His foes, and /
give Him the kingdom. 1t may at once
be said that all this is purely specu- /
lative, and has absolutely no warrant In
the records as they have been preserved |
for US In the Gospels But II for a mo-
ment We admit the possibility Of this IN
then We have to ask, what
was his motive IN desiring the triumph of |
Jesus? 1t was certainly that OF selfish
ink1 l. NT,Ak Il -