C.S.I. Jerusalem -- Was it Judas? -- Matthew 26:20-28 -- March 18th

Tonight we continued our series called C.S.I. Jerusalem. Each week we have been trying to figure out whose fault it was that Jesus died. Tonight we looked at Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of the disciples of Jesus, handpicked. He was in charge of the money for the group and followed Jesus for three years. But why would we think it was his fault? Let's look at the evidence.

"When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will
betray me." They were very sad and began to say to him one after the
other, "Surely not I, Lord?" Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his
hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as
it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It
would be better for him if he had not been born." Then Judas, the one who
would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is
you."" -- Matthew 26:20-25 (NIV)

#1 -- Judas was accused of being the one who would betray Jesus, in fact later on in the Bible we find out that he did in fact betray Jesus for 30 peieces of silver.

#2 -- Judas did take care of the money bag, but he also took care of himself by stealing from the money bag.

#3 -- Though it is never spelled out, Judas most likely was looking for a king that would save the Jewish nation from the Roman Empire. He was hoping that Jesus would throw off Roman oppression and become king. When it became evident that he wouldn't turn against the Roman government, he turned against Jesus, disappointed that he wouldn't fulfill what he was loking for.

We know the evidence and it seems that Judas was at fault for Jesus death, but he wasn't guilty of it. Why? Well, he did betray Jesus but he didn't kill Jesus. How do we know this? He committed suicide before Jesus was killed.

The second part of our message was from Matthew 28:26-28:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it
to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took
the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of
you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
the forgiveness of sins." (NIV)

We spend the rest of night talking about Communion. What is communion? Literally it is eating some bread and drinking some wine (in our case grape juice). But it means more than that. Symbolically the bread represents Jesus' body, that was broken for us. It is a reminder that he went through a painful death and it was for our benefit. The cup is a symbol of his blood poured out for us. It is a reminder of a new covenant (deal) with each of us. It is a reminder that his blood took the place of animal blood, it was once and for all, enough to cover all our sins. They both remind us that we have taken Jesus into our lives and that he provides us with strength and new life. It is also a reminder that Jesus will one day return, and for that we are all truely grateful.

I give tonight a: B
Favorite moment of the night: Agent Shawna being X'd out