Enigmas in Scriptures

[GentleDestiny]

There are things that are troubling and an example is the kiss of Judas or betrayal of Christ. Was it not Jesus’ intention to be put to death on the cross as prophesied 400 years earlier? Why was a betrayal necessary?

 

[Kei]

He was betrayed by the world.
The suffering of Jesus is so much more than merely physical pain.

 

[TheButler]

In a time when there were no photographs the arresting soldiers needed to know which Jesus was. They would know who Judas was having seen him previously. Jesus had a huge public profile. Arresting the wrong person would have been a humiliation for Rome and would have shown that the self-proclaimed ‘perfect empire’ was not perfect at all. As a result the resistance would have taken full advantage of the faux-pas and Roman control of the population would be compromised.

Judas was a necessary tool used by the Romans and relatively cheap for them. Had Judas not participated Jesus would most likely not been arrested as the risk of mistake was too great.

 

[GentleDestiny]

Good answer. I guess it was His choice to have it go down that way to show that all betrayed Him. I can’t help but think that there is more to the story that remains unknown.

 

[TK421]

There are things that are troubling and an example is the kiss of Judas or betrayal of Christ. Was it not Jesus’ intention to be put to death on the cross as prophesied 400 years earlier? Why was a betrayal necessary?

Judas was more than a Roman or another Jew, but one of the Apostles, the means through which the Church continued its succession. The successors of the apostles are the bishops. So there wasn’t just betrayal among the world or among his own people, but among his own chosen ones that would represent him.

John 19: 10-11
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

The betrayal of Jesus is fully represented through the secular world, his own people, and finally, his own apostles. This applies to every generation.

 

[Reuben_J]

So that we would know?

 

[Sir2v4]

Well, the best and definitive answer would be a scriptural answer, but I think we have to accept it as it happened by means of a betrayal. There is always a lesson in scripture, and the betrayal by Judas reminds us of how each of our sins is a betrayal.

 

[HarryStotle]

In a time when there were no photographs the arresting soldiers needed to know which Jesus was. They would know who Judas was having seen him previously. Jesus had a huge public profile. Arresting the wrong person would have been a humiliation for Rome and would have shown that the self-proclaimed ‘perfect empire’ was not perfect at all. As a result the resistance would have taken full advantage of the faux-pas and Roman control of the population would be compromised.

Judas was a necessary tool used by the Romans and relatively cheap for them. Had Judas not participated Jesus would most likely not been arrested as the risk of mistake was too great.

None of the Gospel accounts explicitly say Roman soldiers were involved in the arrest. John comes closest to implying that, but it would be a stretch to read his narrative as involving Roman soldiers.

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Even John identifies the “band of soldiers and some officers” as coming from the chief priests and Pharisees.

The Temple guard were under the authority of the chief priests, so it is very likely that these arresting soldiers were part of the Temple guard. That explains the connection ("coming from the chief priests”) as used by John. None of the other Gospel writers use a formal term for the group. Something like the word “crowd” or “cohort” is used by some translators, but that is reading into the text what isn’t there. ‘Cohort’ could refer to a part of a Roman military unit of six centuries (60 to 100 soldiers each.) It is doubtful that many soldiers would have been sent out under the authority of the chief priests alone. Given that Pilate wasn’t even aware of the charges against Jesus and that Jesus was brought before Caiphas and the Sanhedrin for them to formulate the charges before going to Pilate, the Romans were very likely not involved in the arrest.

 

[HarryStotle]

There are things that are troubling and an example is the kiss of Judas or betrayal of Christ. Was it not Jesus’ intention to be put to death on the cross as prophesied 400 years earlier? Why was a betrayal necessary?

Calling his betrayal and death, “Jesus intention” would be misleading. Clearly it was prophesied by Daniel and the Psalms, and Jesus knew it would occur and he submitted to it, but those together do not imply he intended it to happen.

It was only the intention of the Jewish leaders that Jesus would die for blasphemy.

 

[undead_rat]

Here’s one for you:

Genesis 8:21
YHWH promises to never again destroy mankind and all living things.

But in Isaiah 66:15-16 and Jeremiah 25:32-33 we see the predictions of some kind of world-wide disaster of fire that will leave no one alive to bury the dead.

How would you reconcile these passages. There is a way!