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Within the story of the first Communion service, we have the story of two men - men with similar names, men with very different characters. Both names have five letters. Both names begin with 'J.' Both names end with 'S.' That, however, is where the similarity between Judas and Jesus ends. Judas and Jesus could hardly have been more different. Judas was the betrayer. Jesus is the Saviour. Judas, the betrayer, and Jesus, the Saviour - both men were soon to die: in very different circumstances! The story of Judas was a story of tragedy. The Story of Jesus is a Story of triumph.
The story of these two men - the tragedy of Judas and the triumph of Jesus - begins with the chief priests and the scribes: "the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Jesus to death" (Luke 22:2). These men, proud of their own religious traditions, had no time for Jesus. He had challenged them to be God's men. They were to be more than religious men. they were to be God's men. They would have none of this. No young preacher was going to tell them how they were to live their lives. This young preacher, who had appeared from nowhere, had to be silenced. What right had this young upstart to tell them what to do. there was no other alternative. He had to be silenced - fully and finally! He had to die. Little did they know that the cross was to be Jesus' greatest triumph!
As the chief priests and the scribes plotted Jesus' death, they discovered , much to their surprise and amazement, that they had a very unexpected accomplice - one "of the twelve": Judas (Luke 22:3). Making sure that no-one was around, making sure that no-one was looking, making sure that no-one could see him, Judas went about his ungodly business. With great stealth and almost unbelievable deception, this evil man, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, laid his plans to betray the Lord to His enemies. Judas, one of the twelve, a man whose life should have been marked by loyalty to his Lord, could think of one thing only - "What's in it for me?" As he left the chief priests and the scribes with the money bag in his hands, with the bagful of coins safely in his pocket, Judas must have thought to himself, "What a cinch! What an easy way to make money!" He could hardly have been more wrong. This was no shortcut to a fortune. This was a quickstep to self-destruction. within a matter of days, Judas, in total despair, had taken his own life. Jesus, on the other hand, was to be raised from the dead and declared, triumphantly, to be the Son of the living God.
Why did Judas do such an awful thing? Was it a "spur of the moment" thing? Was it something which just crossed his mind there and then? The Bible makes it clear that the betrayal of the Lord by Judas "was a thief", a man who "used to take what was put into the money box" (John 12:6). The scene was already set for the betrayal. Prior to the ultimate act of betrayal, there was a whole string of acts of dishonesty and disloyalty. Long before the last week of Jesus' earthly life, the Lord said to His disciples: "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" (John 6:70). Jesus was under no illusions about the godless character of Judas. The Bible makes it perfectly clear that the story of Judas was not the story of a good man who went wrong in a sudden moment of weakness. Rather, it is the story of a man who was wrong, from the beginning.Judas was a man who had been crooked for some considerable time. It was the easiest thing in the world for the devil to put the thought of betrayal into Judas' mind (John 13:2). Judas was already prepared for Satan to enter him (Luke 22:3). The seeds of betrayal went back much further than the act of betrayal. we need, however, to go back further beyond the act of betrayal, beyond the plan of betrayal, beyond the seeds of betrayal. it is only when we go back, right back, that we discover God's plan of salvation.
God wasn't "caught on the hop" by this plan of betrayal and this act of betrayal. Long before Judas ever heard of Jesus, God, in love, had sent His Son to be the Saviour of all who put their trust in Him. Judas may have thought he was 'one up' on Jesus. He may have thought he had 'put one over' on Jesus. He was sadly and tragically mistaken. The truth could not be hidden from the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew all along what Judas had been up to. Jesus was one step ahead of Judas. While Judas was plotting to betray Him, Jesus calmly announced, "the hand of him who betrays Me is with Me on the table" (Luke 22:21). Jesus was in complete control of the situation. Here, at the Lord's Table, we see how foolish Satan really is. On the surface, Satan appears to have the upper hand. He is plotting Jesus' downfall. The real situation is, however, quite different. Jesus is simply allowing Satan to carry out the plot which will lead to his own downfall, through the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus speaks to His disciples. He speaks of himself as the Bringer of salvation. He also declares Himself to be Lord over Satan.
At the first Communion service, Judas, the betrayer, and Jesus, the Saviour, sit at the same table. Judas doesn't reveal his real attitude toward Jesus. He tries to hide what he really is. He pretends to be faithful to Jesus. This is all an act. what he is really doing is something very different. He is planning the ultimate act of disloyalty. The Lord knows exactly what is going on in Judas' mind. The Lord knows that there is, sitting with the twelve, one who despises all that Jesus is. Seated with the twelve, there is one who despises all that Jesus stands for. Among His closest friends, there is one who despises all that Jesus came to do. How does Jesus react to this situation? Does He respond to hatred with hatred? No! He responds with love. In love, He yearns for Judas to turn from his sin. In love, He longs for Judas to become a true disciple - not in name only but in reality. If there was ever a moment when Judas could have renounced his evil conspiracy, it was the moment when Jesus dipped the morsel of bread in the wine and gave it to Judas (John 13:26). That was a moment of love, a moment in which the Saviour declared His love for the sinner. In that moment of love, there was also a moment of opportunity. In the offering of bread and wine to Judas, there was an opportunity for him to avert the tragedy of his life. The opportunity was lost and that moment became a moment of truth, a moment in which the truth concerning Judas was clearly revealed. In that moment, Judas declined the love,missed the opportunity and went out into the night and betrayed his Saviour and Lord. Things could have been so different for Judas. Seated at the Lord's Table, he could have chosen Christ and His salvation. Jesus offered the bread and wine to Judas. Jesus was making a special appeal to Judas. It was the special appeal of His love. Jesus appealed to Judas. He called him to turn back from the way he had chosen. Judas ate the bread. Judas drank the wine. Sadly, he refused the reality of which they speak. He refused to open his heart to Jesus Christ, his Saviour and Lord.
From that moment of truth, when the love was resisted and the opportunity was refused, the stories of these two men, Judas and Jesus, went relentlessly on. The tragic story of Judas went quickly on to its disastrous end. Judas was lost. He was lost because he had lost himself in the presence of "the Son of God who loved him and gave himself for him" (Galatians 2:20). the Story of Jesus went on, not to a disastrous end but to a glorious triumph, His victorious death on the cross, His mighty resurrection and His exaltation as Saviour and Lord.
Gathered around the Lord's Table, we remember the Story of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can we be callous like the black-hearted traitor, Judas? While the other disciples wondered about all that Jesus had said to them, Judas sat there and listened, knowing all along that he was the betrayer. Dare we follow the course which Judas took? - "Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action. Reap a habit. Sow a habit. Reap a character. Sow a character. Reap a destiny." What will your response be? Will you receive the love that Christ offers to you? Will you grasp the opportunity that He presents to you? This can be your moment of salvation - if you will come to the Saviour. This can be the highlight of your story. This can be the turning-point. This can be the moment of destiny. This can be the moment when everything changes - for time and eternity. Everything depends on your answer to the all-important question: Will you come, in faith, to Jesus Christ? Will you come to Him right now?