Rabbi
“Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, ‘Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?’
Jesus answered, ‘You have said so.’”
Today’s Text: Matthew 26:14-25 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Someone once observed that Judas never referred to Jesus as “Lord,” but only “rabbi.” And that totally makes sense. If all that Jesus is to us is a “teacher” (“rabbi”), then whatever He teaches is open for debate, and we may or may not think that what He teaches is right and true..
Not only that, if any human ”rabbi”—no matter how great of a teacher they were—taught that the sacrifice of their own life would be the solution to humanity’s captivity to Satan and even to death, we would have to assume (rightly) that they were crazy.
Socrates took poison as his punishment for corrupting the youth, but he took his punishment voluntarily as a martyr—as a statement that free speech is more important than life itself. In the end, it was just a sad and tragic travesty of justice, but not truth. Sure, free speech is an inalienable human right. But is it really more important than life itself? If someone chooses to repress their own free speech in order to live, can we blame them? So it is right to debate whether Socrates’s sacrifice for free speech was worth it.
Judas was saying, “Surely you don’t mean me, rabbi,” because in his heart, no one can betray a lunatic teacher. We might be doing everyone a favor by turning him over to the authorities so that all his crazy talk will come to an end.
But if we consider Jesus to be “Lord,” then we may not necessarily agree with everything He might teach, but we must admit that He is right and true, and that we are wrong. To call Jesus “Lord” is to acknowledge that we only disagree with Him because we know nothing, and He knows everything.
In my heart, does Jesus really know everything, and do I really know nothing? Do I acknowledge, accept, assume that Jesus knows everything when He says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone” (Leviticus 19:18) or “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:15) or “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you, as well” (Matthew 6:33) or “He will reward each person according to what they have done” (Matthew 16:27), etc.?
It is not good and right for me to spiritualize the teachings of the Lord by trying to make them conform to my attitudes and behaviors. To do so is to make him a mere “rabbi” in my heart.
Father, Your ways are right, and good, and true. Forgive me whenever I twist the Lord’s words into principles that are debatable. Let me receive them as beyond doubt. Thank You for Your grace and mercy over us. Thank You for being patient with me. Illuminate my heart with Your Spirit to understand Your word and to receive it with all humility. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
