Afternoon in a Garden
Recommended listening: Should I Stay Or Should I Go by the Clash
Matthew 27
1When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
2And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
3Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
7And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
8Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
9Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
10And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.
Acts 1
16Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
17For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
19And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.
20For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.
Scrambling over the high, rock wall of a garden, Judas Iscariot finally felt that he could gather himself and rest for a few, brief moments. Landing nimbly, feet on the ground, he straightened up and looked around; high walls on four sides, a wooden door on the west side, a single tree and a large rock beneath the tree. The garden appeared empty. It seemed to him that he hadn’t stopped running since he ran out of the high priest’s house the previous evening. Judas was fairly certain that he hadn’t been followed to this place on the Mount of Olives. He’d seen this garden before, passed by it on his way to the other garden that Jesus knew.
Now at last he sank down heavily on the rock. He was blown and sweaty from his flight and with elbows on knees he cradled his head in his hands. Thoughts swirled round his head, spiraling out of control, just like the events of the last, endless hours. Everything had gone wrong.
A sharp and overly sweet smell struck Judas. It was like rotting, fermenting fruit.
“I can’t go back there,” thought Judas, “they’ll kill me.” Tears of self pity for his sad, sad situation began to form in his eyes. “No one appreciates how difficult this has been for me.”
He had only been trying to help bring clarity to the situation. If only they had listened, and now, he saw, they had had no such intentions all along. He had merely been used for his access to the Rabbi. (He had, after all been the only Judean among Jesus’ closest followers.) And at that moment on the other side of the city, his Rabbi, his friend, hung on a Roman cross, drinking the bitter cup to the very dregs, the cup that Judas had passed to him.
“But what was the Rabbi guilty of,” he questioned doubtfully; “and what am I guilty of?”
The earth shook. Lightning flashed. Judas knew that his friend was dead, dead because of him; still he resisted the thought. A very physical stab of pain pierced his heart and he groaned in pain. “But no! It wasn’t my fault!” he demanded internally.
In this darkness Judas knew truth, but truth without wisdom is only half-truth. Here and now in this garden he recognized the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and he understood that gardens like this existed everywhere in the world.
“Fool!” He berated himself over and over. He was sick in his gut and the weight of his actions crushed him. No one would care now what his intentions had been. But after all, all he had done was to greet the Rabbi with a kiss. He knew who Jesus was more certainly than even Peter knew. Judas ground his teeth in bitterness at the thought.
From the boughs of this tree with its silvery green new leaves slithered a curling, writhing snake. Its grin, if snakes can grin, vanished as Judas had looked up to see the snake, and he was not frightened by it. It was somehow familiar and he recognized it from deep inside himself.
And the snake whispered his name soothingly, “Judas Iscariot. You have tasted the fruit of this tree. You may not know it yet, but you’ve also received eternal life. Everyone, in every age, will know your name.”
Judas said nothing. What he knew no longer served him. Everything had seemed so clear to him when he had devised his plan, but now the world was upside down and he was lost in this nowhere garden, and now, time was no more for him for he was standing at the threshold of eternity. The snake, divining his thoughts, whispered, “the devil is always in the details!”
“I’ve got one last gift for you,” whispered the serpent as he retreated up the tree. Judas watched him disappear into the fresh green leaves. The snake curled around a branch and then lowered a loop of its body. Judas broke into heavy sobs which after a time subsided and he could hear the snake whispering to him, “You shall surely not die. God lied to Eve, and now he is lying to you.”
Judas removed his tunic and his undergarment. “Naked I came into this world and naked I will go.” This act brought an illusion of control and he was able to even picture a certain nobility in himself. (Job 1:21) Quoting Holy Scripture helped to clothe the nakedness of selfishness about to be exposed by his action. Thinking that he would return to Mother Earth also lent an air of legitimacy to his course.
Judas looked back up at the loop of the snake and it now looked like a rope with a loop and a knot. After all the exhausting turmoil, the rope offered oblivion, a dark, imperfect reflection of peace. It was enough and it moved him. He stood up on the rock, on tiptoes, and slipped the rope around his neck.
“You have to look at the big picture, the broader context,” said the serpent thoughtfully. “You have become like God and now you will live forever.” The rope tightened around his neck and the earth plunged away from him into the abyss. With but seconds of consciousness remaining to Judas, the serpent hissed maliciously, “You were chosen for this dubious honor, much like I was.” Judas’ eyes opened wide in comprehension and he began to struggle violently against the rope about his neck, but in vain. There was, indeed, no going back. “The law of unintended consequences can be a real bitch!” cried the serpent.
Judas’ toe twitched from the final nerve impulses racing between his brain and his foot. His eyes closed for a final time to the frightening beauty of choices in the afternoon in a garden.
Lucifer had difficulty suppressing a grin, for delicious irony was what he loved best and one of his many projects had finally come to fruition, but he also had other irons in the fire which needed his immediate attention.
