Will You Betray Me with a Kiss?
Often the words disciple and apostle are used interchangeably, but they are different. A disciple is a student, someone who believes in the ideas and principles of someone and tries to live by them. Jesus had more than twelve disciples. Apostles, on the other hand, are sent on a mission and given the authority to teach others.
In Luke 6:12-16, Jesus chose twelve apostles from his disciples: Simon, whom he named Peter; his brother Andrew; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called a zealot; Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
We’ve been discussing the twelve disciples who were chosen as apostles over the past few weeks. This week’s message is about the last two—Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.
A zealot is a person who is passionate (or zealous) about something they strongly believe in, and they try to convince others to share the same beliefs. This is evident with Simon, as it is a part of his title. He was one of the Jews who opposed Roman oppression, and their answer to it was rebellion.
Some historians believe Judas Iscariot was also a zealot. Which fits with how he tried to persuade Jesus to push back against Roman authority.
Another way some Jews chose to deal with Rome was to give up and concede to its demands.
Jesus brought a different way.
When Jesus shared His last meal with His disciples, Satan had already provoked Judas to betray Jesus. We don’t know if Judas thought he was pushing Jesus to fight back against Roman oppression, but it aligns with how zealots operated. As Jesus washed their feet, Peter—being Peter—pushed back. He didn’t want Jesus to do this. Jesus told him, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.”
This was Jesus doing things differently than the world expected.
As the Last Supper was coming to an end, Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him. The disciples looked around in confusion and asked who it was. He answered, “It’s the one to whom I will give this piece of bread once I have dipped into the bowl.” Then he dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”
Judas wasn’t the only disciple to fail Jesus. All of them failed at some point.
The difference is that Judas didn’t turn back to Jesus.
Both Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot failed, but they made different choices. Simon turned back to Jesus and asked for forgiveness. Even after Judas betrayed Jesus, he could have turned back and asked for forgiveness … but he didn’t. He gave up and took his own life.
We also turn away and betray Jesus at times.
We also can choose which way we will go.
Will we turn back, or will we take things too far?