Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. John 18:2-3
Judas, the traitor with his insider knowledge knows where to find Jesus. A sly man, he comes at night with soldiers and religious leaders who are against Jesus.
Reading a bit about Judas last year, I learnt that he may have been more of a city slicker than is initially apparent in the text. More of a ‘man about town’ than we realise. Unlike a number of the disciples who were fisherman, it is possible that Judas was a little more educated and sophisticated than most of the rest of the twelve.
Not that this excuses his behaviour. In fact, potentially it makes it worse.
It also shows that education – whilst a great assistance to many – is not THE solution that it is often claimed to be. For being socially competent and well-informed did not help Judas to respond to Jesus correctly.
Whatever Judas had learnt, his heart was not educated correctly: his heart was full of lies, deceit and betrayal.
Aristotle and Jesus are on the same page at this point.
Aristotle famously said that “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”.
As a teacher, I completely agree.
In the Old Testament God promises that a new age is coming: a new age with new hearts. He says:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
The new age with new hearts begins at Easter, when Jesus dies to take our sinful hearts and turn them into hearts that seek after him.
Yesterday I reflected that the world is in a mess. Today, I’m reflecting how we all as individuals are in a mess too.
No matter what we may think of ourselves, when we’re being honest, we know that our hearts are just like Judas’ heart: full of lies, deceit and betrayal. We don’t even meet our own standards, let alone God’s.
We need a new heart. We need Jesus. We need Easter.
Yours in need of a solution,
Alison
