I’d like you to turn to the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew and give attention as we study Judas. In this Gospel he is mentioned early on where there’s a listing of the disciples, and then again later on when we’re told of his death in chapter 27. But there is no doubt that here in chapter 26 we are told the most about him. He’s one of three characters in this chapter which provide the cast of those who are clustered around Jesus Christ, who of course is the central character.
Think of the first words of Judas and Mary that we find in the Gospels. The very first words of Judas are what we find here in this story. Judas is complaining. It says in Matthew 26 that it’s the disciples who were indignant about Mary’s use of the perfume, but we learn from the other Gospels that Judas is the one who actually expressed this objection. Judas asked, “Why didn’t you sell this and get the money and give it to the poor?” But in John 12 we are told that Judas only said this because he was in charge of the money and used to help himself to it. By contrast the very first words of Mary occur in John 11 when she falls at Jesus’ feet and confesses her faith: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” That is quite a different attitude.
Yesterday we concluded by asking whether, like Mary, we spend much time with Jesus and try to learn from him. You say, “How can I do that today? Jesus isn’t here. It was easy for Mary. There he was. All she had to do was go and sit at his feet and look up at his face.” Well, I don’t think that’s true. It is true that Jesus was there physically in her day, but he wasn’t always there, at least not always in Bethany.
None of the friends or disciples of Jesus understood what was coming, and therefore there is a certain sense in which for all of these weeks leading up to the crucifixion, Jesus was bearing this great burden alone, with one exception. And that exception, if we’re to take his statement clearly that Mary did this in anticipation of his burial, was Mary herself.
Now, as I said, when Jesus got there the first night they had a supper for him. He must have been tired. He was traveling. We learn from John that he came from the north, instead of passing directly south, which would have brought him to Jerusalem. In circling around he went down into the Jordan Valley as he was coming into or out of Jericho. He healed two blind men, and then from that point he made his way up a rather steep, tiring ascent to Bethany on the slope of the mountain just before you cross over into Jerusalem. So he came, probably, at the end of the day after this journey. His disciples were with him, and his friends had a dinner in the house of this man.
