21st Century Judas Iscariot's: The Purse and Beyond

If you want to know what lies in a man’s heart, look at what he loves; if you want to know what fills—or not— his soul, look at what feeds his intellect and satisfies his stomach.  The ongoing political raging recalls an essential lesson found in the Gospels for our spiritual well being and others.

The traitor Judas Iscariot loved money, but he reasoned wrongly about the Kingdom of God and what Jesus Christ most desired.  Materialism and grandiose designs were his downfall.  

21st Century Judas’s, particularly in the political, media and entertainment realms, behave similarly to Judas Iscariot of the first century. They slickly select Christian platitudes to exert power, garner favorable attention, and gain wealth while actually betraying Jesus Christ and rejecting His most treasured aspiration.  Jesus desires foremost our contrite surrender to His divinity and our whole hearted love and devotion.  Instead, like Judas, the most visible modernists place atheistic stumbling blocks in public pathways, elevating coins instead of celebrating the Host.  

Moreover, like that betrayer of old, their hyperbolic self esteem leads them to rationalize that they deserve rewards for collecting and distributing “to the poor” while, at best, scolding the public.  Thus, like Judas, they pilfer the treasury.  (No concern about the poorer there!)  Just look at the stock portfolios and other investments of our so-called democratic leaders.  One veteran of the House is worth over $400 million.  Still even relative newbies have gained stockpiles of wealth in a relatively short period of time.  (Note: This article is about what Jesus taught was most important, not any one straying individual, so I have intentionally excluded individual names.)

 
Studying three Gospel passages (“The Anointing at Bethany” in Matthew and John, titled “The Pardon of the Sinful Woman” in Luke), we best understand that this pivotal scene with Judas in a leading role is not at all about the compromised purse, per se.  

 
Recall that Judas’s protestation reached a crescendo when a repentant woman approached Jesus to bathe him in her tears of sorrow, but also lavishly poured expensive perfumed oil over him.  In the Gospel of John’s account,  Judas actually challenged Jesus,  “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days wages and given to the poor?”  He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.  So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.  Let her keep this for the day of my burial.  You always have the poor with you, but do not always have me.” (John 12:1-8).  

Also read Matthew 26: 6-13 that infers Judas may have riled up others to grumble, but at the very least was likely inflamed by him:  “The disciples were indignant and complained, Why this waste?  It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor.”

 
However,  it is Luke who brings forth the primary lesson of this encounter and provides us the lens though which to  critique those who govern us.  What is their greater aim—their popularity or our freedom to pursue truth?  With whom (or Whom) do they pledge allegiance, and do they prudently act like we live in “one nation, under God”?  The quest for power over the purse and personal ambition are clues, but the heart must be examined.

 
Luke’s Gospel emphasizes the wealthy woman who poured expensive oil on Jesus’s head as a repentant sinner, and Jesus welcomes her bitter regrets while pointing out to the those present that they had not even given him water to wash his feet. (Luke 7: 36-44).  

 
Judas’s audacity at scorning a women seeking reconciliation with God missed the startling truth that she had sacrificially given her most precious possession back to God!  Though there is obvious hypocrisy and deceit afoot in Judas’s demeanor, the greater sin is the act of omission, contrary to genuine charity, failing to rejoice at the salvation of a soul.

 
Fast forward two thousand years.  The Judas Iscariot's of the 21st Century rail against orthodox Christianity while disingenuously claiming to follow Jesus but actually just using the truly poor.  Like Judas, they have stolen from the nation’s treasury but insist that the working class should sacrifice even their meager means for  the “collective” good.

 
The laudable Christian leader would instead insist each us is responsible for recognizing and taking care of the poor (and all the other persons described in Matthew 25:  35-43).  These corporeal works are essential.  However, hearkening to the repentant woman, so are the spiritual works of mercy.   A genuinely Christian politician, journalist, or entertainer would also support and promote Matthew 25 in the light of Faith.  Jesus seeks our whole selves.  Those in civic authority are accountable for inspiring and freeing us to feed the hungry the Good News; bring souls to a thirsty Jesus Christ on the Cross; welcome the ignorant into blessed homes and churches; clothe the naked with grace by our prayers;  and visit those imprisoned in sin.  

 
Jesus modeled all of these with his receptivity to the repentant sinner who reciprocated and generously dignified the Body of Jesus Christ for his final redemptive role. 

 
As a final note, it was not the twelve Apostles behaving like a collectivist government but individual disciples (though they often traveled in pairs) to proclaim the Gospel and live the ideals of solidarity and subsidiarity.  After their Baptism, none knew wealth or position, and almost all died a martyrs death.  

 
Sadly, Judas Iscariot died ignominiously.  The Judas’s of today should be forewarned, and we need to pray that they take that heeding…to heart.