Cloak and Dagger

Tuesday in Holy Week

Matthew 26:3-5, 14-16 (NRSV)            People plot to kill Jesus

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”
Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

Judas is given the role of the ultimate cloak and dagger man. In various places one finds that the very name of Judas Iscariot may indicate the type of person he was. Sikarios, which means assassin in Greek, is thought by some to be the root of Judas’ name. Others think that his name simply means man from Kerioth. If this is the case, then Judas would have been the only disciple from Judea (an interesting sidelight, but not as interesting as a silent assassin).

Just below the surface of our consciousness, the assassin image has held on. The sikarios is not a regular killer either. He carries a concealed weapon. The sikarios uses a dagger or short sword carried under his cloak.
If this assassin characterization is true, then Judas may be an unwilling assassin. He like all of the disciples tries to repudiate Jesus’ claim that they will betray him, but we are told that in some way each of the disciples betrays Jesus. Even Peter, the most adamant, denies Jesus three times.
Later, Judas, like a child who has stolen a candy bar from the store and then feels remorse, tries to undo what he has done. We know the rest of the story.
Remember the mark of the sikarios is the hidden sword. Could we already have an indica­tion of his remorse when we read, “Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear.”? (Matthew 26:51 NRSV).
Tradition says it was someone else, but we don’t know who the nameless disciple was. So we may read the story this way, and give Judas greater integrity. But what we do know is that his remorse was so great that he could not live with the consequences of his actions.

Prayer

Lord, it is easy to see the speck in our neighbor’s eye. Help us recognize the logs in our own. Forgive us for not always bearing witness to your presence in our lives. Amen