The Wrong Kind of King

The point of Judas's betrayal wasn't that he wanted Jesus to die, quite the opposite!

In his own mind, he was trying to help Jesus to finally confront the religious leaders and become the true Messiah, who would utterly trash the Romans and begin an era of Israel-led world peace and victory.

There is no reason someone would suspect that the High Priest and even the Romans could actually defeat Jesus, someone who they had seen literally strolling across a lake in the middle of a hurricane, and who had literally brought others back from the grave.

He just needed a good opportunity, that Judas would so helpfully provide here. That's why he only asked for a handful of silver - it wasn't about the money. If he had asked for fifty pounds of gold the priests would have given it to him without the slightest hesitation.

Judas was probably chuckling to himself about how he had just cleverly set up these powerless, over confident religious figures to be humiliated and dethroned. In his mind, he could see Jesus simply taking them all out and now sitting on the rightful throne of David, with the disciples now at his right hand, ruling.

"How can you love God if you don't love people made in his image?"

That's the problem here, there's a meaning to the kingdom of God, a real purpose.

"Christ is King! Go team Israel!" Judas could imagine the people shouting, as the crown would be placed on Jesus' head and free bread began appearing like mana from heaven.

The only problem was, that was the wrong crown. The wrong kind of king for him to be.

Earlier, Jesus had been tempted in the desert with the same vision, just not in such a subtle way. "Just bow to me, and I will give you all these kingdoms and make you king!" Satan had already offered him. Then, those same words found a home in Peter for a moment, and finally, in Judas.

Ultimately, Jesus didn't need Judas' human methods - trying to turn him into that kind of king was literally betrayal. Betrayal of everything he was, and everything he was trying to do.

He didn't come to be served but to serve, and in his kingdom, the leader will be as the youngest. Judas was trying to take Jesus and simply put him as the a king of the same old kingdom, the same old pyramid of great and greater human wisdom and power.

But the real goal was to have a whole new kind of kingdom, a whole new kind of king, where the last wil be first and the child can play with the wolf.

Sometimes, when people cry out "Christ is King! Christ is King!" it is an empty statement. It is just like a bumper sticker that says "(Insert Team Name) is #1! Go (Insert Team Name)!"

Any team is pretty much the same as another, and if you support the Dodgers it's not that different from talking about how great the Lakers are. There's no real difference in what they do.

But Jesus wasn't playing all the the same old games as everyone before him. We try to plaster his name in front of people by any means necessary, like it's a collection of magic letters that will somehow change things.

We use clever human strategies to promote "Christian" music and products, even if we have to compromise a little and go along with terrible industry leaders just to get in the door.

"When the crowds saw what he had done, (multiplying the loaves and fishes) they were planning to go out and immediately make him king by force and violence."

But that's the wrong kind of king. Jesus doesn't need our cooked up promotion and help, he just needs to be seen as who he is and for what he actually stands for. Otherwise we're trying to force the wrong crown on him, just like Judas.

"When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself!"

"I planted, Apollos watered, but it is God who made things grow..."

He is the one who draws people, we just need to show him accurately. It is very against our human nature to not try to force things ahead, to draw people in, but this is a supernatural kingdom we are always telling people about, and we need to put our actions where our mouth is. If we tell people they should believe in a God of miracles, we should just show it ourselves by trusting that he is able to draw people if we do our part. Otherwise, do we even trust him ourselves?

At the very least, let us ask for what his plan and ideas are, and then confidently expect his answer and leadership, not just try to force something to happen.