Caesar: The ides of March are come.
Soothsayer: Ay, Caesar; but not gone.
–William Shakespeare
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (Act III, Scene I)
Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
A painful commemoration
Today, the Ides of March, is an unusual note on the calendar—it’s not every day you commemorate a betrayal.
Betrayal is brutal. In the Shakespearean play quoted above, stabbing is an appropriate symbol: when someone close to you, someone you’ve trusted, someone you’ve been vulnerable with and trusted—when they take all of that and turn that against you, you feel gutted.
March 15th marks one of the most notorious ones in history: the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar. As the story is told by Shakespeare in his tragedy, Caesar’s close friend and trusted general, Brutus, is convinced by the corrupt and deceitful general Cassius to join in a plot to assassinate Caesar. The forewarnings from others come to fruition in the famous scene of Caesar’s murder, where after being stabbed by several senators, he sees that the man he had called friend is among his murderers and utters the devastating line, “Et tu, Brute?” (“And you, Brutus?”).
2 betrayed, 1 perfect
Like Brutus, Judas Iscariot plotted against and betrayed the person supposedly most important to him. They both killed a man who loved them, and both ended their lives in suicide (Matt. 27:3–5). But while Brutus might have had legitimate misgivings about Caesar’s overextended powers, Judas had no reason, much less a legitimate one, for coming against Jesus.
What makes Judas’ betrayal of Jesus even more shocking than Brutus’ of Caesar is that Jesus loved Judas perfectly for three years, fed him, taught him, cared for him. In return, Judas stabbed his faithful friend in the back with a kiss on the cheek and clean feet, the feet Jesus had humbly washed only hours before (John 13:1–5).
But Judas wasn’t the only one.
And us?
Jesus’ closest disciples fell asleep when he asked them to pray with him. Peter denied even knowing him—three times. His neighbors shouted, “Crucify him!” as his friends cowered in the distance.
Let’s not be smug in recounting the disciples’ failures; instead, we should soberly recognize our own sins: we too have been faithless. We’ve denied him like the rest, though, in his mercy, God looks at the Christian in Jesus’ righteousness, and does not hold these sins of ours against us.
He died for traitors
As powerful as Caesar was, Jesus is infinitely greater. He isn’t sinful. He isn’t surprised by betrayal—he planned for it. He washes the feet of his traitors. And he lets the Brutuses of the world stab him in the back as he climbs up on that cross to die for sinners like you and me.
This year, the Ides of March comes exactly two weeks before the day we remember what Judas’ betrayal ultimately led to: Good Friday, when Jesus suffered and died on a cross for everyone, traitors and all.
***
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended
That man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected
O most afflicted
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee
’Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied thee!
I crucified thee
Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered
For man’s atonement, while he nothing heedeth
God intercedeth
For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation
Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion
For my salvation.
Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee
Think on thy pity and thy love unswerving
Not my deserving
–Johann Heerman
Check with your local Mars Hill church for Good Friday service times on March 29.
