Season Five Episode Five - Pride Comes Before The Fall

[Dr. Shane]

The overarching theme of this episode is Judas deciding to betray Jesus. It begins at the Last Supper with Jesus telling the disciples that one of them will betray Him. The disciples discuss among themselves which it could be. Later, during the episode, Jesus again tells the disciples He is going to be crucified.  Some time after telling them this, Jesus is no longer with them and they begin to discuss if He is speaking literally or figuratively. Judas suggests that perhaps He will be delivered up to be crucified but will escape death and destroy all His enemies. The disciples do not know what to think. The episode ends with Judas appearing at the home of the high priest.

There are other plot lines that can be discussed. If anyone wants to comment on them, please feel free. I may return at some later date with comment regarding other plot lines in the episode. For now, I will focus on Judas.

We, as humans, make decisions and it is very hard to admit we were wrong or even misled. Rather than admitting a mistake, we humans tend to double down and dig ourselves into a deeper hole. That is what I observe is happening with Judas. In the previous episode, he tried to tell Jesus what He (Jesus) should do. That line of thought now continues.

I was once called by a project manager for an architectural firm. She was pushing me to provide some documents. In not a nice tone of voice, I pointed out to her that it was her responsibility to provide those documents - not mine. I went on a tangent. I really let her have it. I put her in her place. After I got off the phone, I started to calm down some. After about an hour, I called the architect and apologized for the way I handled the phone call with his project manager (she worked for him). He was kind a gracious. He understood my point and where I was coming from (What I had said was right but the way I said it was not). He told me that when she had told him about the phone call, he explained to her that in that line of work they have to work with all types of people and not to let it upset her. Then he suggested I call her and apologize. Now there is a thought. We, as humans, make decisions and it is very hard to admit we were wrong or even misled.

I assured the architect that I would call her. I did. I told her that I wanted to apologize for the tone of voice that I used. It was not appropriate and she isn't paid enough to have to deal with that. There was silence on the phone. After a minute or so she said, "I don't know what to say. No one has ever apologized to me before." There was a brief pause. "I accept your apology," she said. This happened about 15 years ago. What sticks with me is that no one had ever apologized to her before. Why is that? We, as humans, make decisions and it is very hard to admit we were wrong or even misled.

If Jesus wasn't going to take the advice of Judas, Judas would put Him in a corner and force His hand. Judas would try to force Jesus to declare Himself King. Why? We, as humans, make decisions and it is very hard to admit we were wrong or even misled. "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling." (Proverbs 16:18)