48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. (Matthew 26:48-51)
We
know it was really skunky of Judas to use a kiss as an act of betrayal and
elsewhere in the Gospels we see Jesus was disturbed by this too, but why did
Judas decide to use a kiss? Why
not point and shout, “That’s him, boys, the one who is kneeling!” or something
like that?
I think it
was because Judas wanted to maintain the appearance of being friendly. He hoped that Jesus and the other
disciples not connect the kiss with Jesus’s capture. (We don’t often catch this point because in video
dramatizations time is compressed so that it seems like the Jews come
practically on Judas’ heels.) He
wanted the arrest to come as a complete surprise and he didn’t want to be seen as
the cause and facilitator of it.
In short, it was hypocrisy.
Clearly
it didn’t work. Jesus knew what
was happening, and the apostles knew about it soon too, though we’re not sure
at what point they heard or figured it out.
Are
there those today who are trying to betray Christ under the guise of a kiss of
fellowship? Yes. The message of this story is that their
part in the betrayal will be made known.
They may bring trouble on the Saints, but with the Lord’s help, the
Saints will rise above it. No
unhallowed hand can stop the work of the Lord.
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