“Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. Jesus replied, ‘Do what you came for, friend.’” (Matthew 26:48-49)
Only a close friend is capable of deep betrayal: they know exactly where and how to strike. So it is with Judas. As one of Jesus’s chosen Twelve, he knew where the garden was. He knew when Jesus would be there. He knew how to lead them. Jesus was well-known to evade crowds – indeed, to even walk through them (Luke 4:30). In the darkness of the night, the enclosure of the garden, and the commotion of the crowd, it would have been easy for Jesus to slip away. What the mob needed was a leader to grant them a signal.
Judas, he who had followed Jesus for years, would provide that needed signal with a kiss.
Jewish custom included kissing, not only out of affection, but also out of reverence. They would often kiss the mezuzah (parchments of the law) affixed to their doorframes, the Torah, and the tallit and tefillin. They would also kiss relatives and closer friends on either side of the cheek out of both love and respect
.Of all symbols, Judas picks this one in the worst, most twisted symbol of both irreverence and hatred towards the Rabbi, Lord, savior who still loves him. In a premeditation that is both personal and profane, he leaves no question about either his role or his feelings against Jesus. His exclamation drips with sarcasm: “Greetings, Rabbi!” (Matthew 26:49)
No doubt, Judas expects shock, vitriol, and hatred in return from his betrayed Lord. But Jesus offers nothing but the disarming, heartfelt, yielding, even inviting response: “Do what you came for, friend.” Without a hint of sarcasm or venom, Jesus still considers his betrayer a friend.
The knife cuts deeply into the heart, but the heart continues to beat! And to even beat for the one who has pierced it! “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Such is the love of Jesus that even those who handed him over to death, not out of mere obligation but out of deep, visceral, personalized hatred – nothing is returned but love. Only love.
This is the love of God for us: every sin and every failure is met with forgiveness at the throne of grace. Does anything surprise God? Will not he, who welcomed even Judas, welcome us? For Judas kissed the gate to heaven and walked back to hell. Jesus, on the other hand, left heaven behind and walked through hell for us all, even Judas.
Such is the love of Jesus.
