Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.Isaiah 42:1-4
Judas Iscariot has got some kind of nerve. Sure, Mary (you know, Lazarus’ sister) had done something strange. She put perfume all over Jesus’ feet, and when she couldn’t find a towel, she wiped them off with her hair. That was awkward, and it was also expensive. Maybe Judas said the quiet part out loud when he asked why they didn’t sell the stuff and use the money for outreach. Jesus quite kindly pointed out that Judas’ newly found interest in the poor was an exercise in missing the point. But Jesus could have been more direct in making his point, if he wanted.
This is the guy, after all, who kills fig trees with a sideways glance. (That’s the proof-text which Westboro Baptist continually misspelled. More accurately rendered, it proves that God hates figs.) Jesus also clearly has power over death. If he raised Lazarus with a word, he could probably unalive Judas in the same way. Maybe he’d only do it for a minute, Kieffer Sutherland style, just to get Judas’ attention. But that is not Jesus’ way. For better or worse, Judas is his brother. Jesus doesn’t want to break even him. Jesus wants to make everyone whole.
Imagine, if you will, that Jesus is some kind of celestial cop. Maybe it was the only good paying job available, or maybe he saw it as an opportunity to watch over and care for the community. And Jesus has a brother named Judas, and Judas ain’t no good. They still share good times together. Nights like this one around the table. It’s probably inevitable that Judas will do something unspeakable at some point. Is Jesus supposed to harass him, berate him, threaten him until Judas sees the error of his ways?
The evidence of something like that working is slim to begin with, and it is more likely to effect Jesus than it is Judas. Remember, Jesus is non-violent. A bruised reed he will not break, and Judas is a bruised reed if there ever was one. Just like racism is not just the Klan, violence is not just hitting people. It’s in the way we talk and the way we relate to each other everyday. For Jesus to slap Judas upside the head would be for Jesus to turn his back on what can be made whole in Judas. Man turns his back on his family, well he just ain’t no good.