The Second Station: Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested

I like collective nouns, so I find myself continually looking for new ones. Some are obvious: it’s a herd of cattle, swarm of bees, school of dolphins. Some are strange like an unkindness of ravens. I find some bizarre: what is the collective noun of hermits? Surely, there cannot be a collective noun of hermits precisely because they are hermits!? (It’s a ‘conference’, by the way.) So what’s the collective noun of disciples?

     Firstly, they’re a ragbag of disciples … fishermen, zealots, tax collectors. They’re diverse and have only one thing in common, their discipleship.

     They are also a uselessness of disciples. Peter is so impulsive he seems to have ADHD, or is he just stupid? Jesus might have given the name ‘Sons of thunder’ to James and John but are they simply out for self? Simon ‘the zealot’ was a terrorist in all but name. Thomas makes an art of misunderstanding. We know next to nothing of the others, so it’s safer to call them non-entities.

     Maybe they are hopelessness of disciples? The Bible paints a picture of Jesus being frequently exasperated with them — ‘Do you still not understand?’ ‘Do you still not see?’

     And they are an everyman of disciples. Like us, they come from every possible background: rich and poor, male and female, clever and silly, old and young. In a gathering such as Jesus’ gang of disciples, there is always someone with whom we can identify, which makes them more genuine. Whatever my own background or yours, we can follow because he doesn’t sift us beforehand.

But as we see something of ourselves in each of the disciples, suddenly the mood becomes more sombre as we realise what we’ve just said. We can indeed see ourselves in each: Peter said he did not know Jesus and in a thousand small ways we say the same. Thomas doubts the resurrection and we often live pre-resurrection lives. James and John are out for self, and what do I get out of this Christianity thing?

     And then there’s Judas who in many ways is more complicated. He seems to be the cleverest of the disciples, which may explain why Jesus entrusts him with the communal money bag. The traditional idea of Judas simply being greedy is too simple; it’s simplistic; it simply will not do. Is he trying to precipitate Jesus in to action, or is he trying to save his own skin? Does he have an agenda of his own or was he a double agent all along?

     I prefer to think that Judas is like us. Jesus gives him a huge spiritual task and he fluffs it. He tries hard to follow and succeeds most of the time but when the stakes get higher, he bottles out. He can’t cope with the stress and spiritual demands of discipleship. He sins badly, so he’s everyman. And like the everyman of all disciples, he’s like me.