What happened to the bread?

I've thought about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas many times. It began with Satan entering Judas in the upper room. Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover. Jesus stated that betrayal would come from the one to whom he gave the dipped bread. The other Eleven were questioning who that could be. They lacked the vision to even notice when Jesus handed a piece to Judas Iscariot.

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(John 13:20-38 MSG) "What you must do," Jesus said, "do. Do it and get it over with." Judas, with the piece of bread, left. It was night. That's all we hear about that small parcel of unleavened bread. We know that Judas approached the Jewish leaders with a plan. He told them the one whom he kissed was the person to be seized. He was paid 30 pieces of silver for his kiss. After that encounter in the garden, he returned and tried to give the money back. Upon being met with refusal, he threw the money down. He immediately went out into the dark night and hanged himself.

How could he? How could anyone? Many deep questions can simply be answered by, "It was God's will." My question is, "What became of that piece of bread?" Did Judas eat it? Did he dispose of it? Was it forgotten in the hem of his garment as he dangled breathless in the noose? I guess we'll have to wait to have that answered with so many other queries once we enter heaven. It is certainly not rhetorical; but it is trivial. We can only imagine and possibly hypothesize.

Over There

George M. Cohan became the first performing artist to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1940 President Franklin Roosevelt recognized him for his contributions to the war efforts. Particularly he was cited for his compositions honoring America: Grand Old Flag and Over There. The latter is one of my favorite patriotic songs.

Over there, over there, send the word, send the word over there...

That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming, the drums rum-tumming everywhere.

So prepare, say a prayer, send the word, send the word to beware.

We'll be over, we're coming over and we won't come back till it's over, over there.

That is just one of the many entertaining songs in the 1942 musical Yankee Doodle Dandy starring James Cagney. It follows the life of the Cohans as they transitioned from burlesque to Broadway.  George became the writer and star of many musicals over the span of several decades.

Recently during my daily morning time with God listening to the audiobook of the Bible, I noticed the familiar scripture of Jesus praying in the garden. Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, "Stay here while I go over there and pray." (Matthew 26:36 MSG) We know how earnestly Jesus prayed to his Father. Remember that his disciples fell asleep rather then watching and praying with their Master?

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An extremely important part of a Christian's life is to spend time alone with the Lord. Those moments can be in a special room at home, on a mountainside, in church, or in a beautiful garden. The meditation, prayer, Bible reading, or singing that come from those occasions can form a unique part of following Christ. As often as possible, make the opportunity to find solitude with your Savior over there.

More Questions

Any list of questions that can only be answered when I finally arrive at or inside heaven's gate is bound to be as endless as time itself. Here are a few more of my personal queries for eternity.

Who warned Jochebed? (Exodus 2:3) We know why Moses' mother put her baby in a bullrush basket on the Nile. It was to save him from Pharaoh's decree threatening to drown all Israelite male babies. There was no electronic warning system...no Amber Alert that Moses was in danger. It is easy to believe what occurred was simply God's plan to save the man destined to lead the enslaved people from Egypt to the promised land. Did Jochebed dream it or have an angelic messenger appear to her? It happened that way to others in the Bible, but we have no answer to how it occurred this time.

What became of the ear? (John 18:10) In the Mount of Olives garden on the night Judas betrayed  Jesus, Peter fought the mob. He drew his sword and wacked off the right ear of Malchus, servant of the high priest. Luke 22:51 relates that Jesus, "touched his ear and healed him." Trivial though it may sound, did Jesus pick up the sliced-off ear lying on the ground and restore it to the man's head. It is just as reasonable to think the Lord simply touched the spot where the ear had been, and all was made whole. If that were the case, was the original ear still in the dirt or...what?

Did Thomas actually put his hand in my Savior's side? (John 20:27 NIV) Jesus told the doubter to "reach out your hand and put it into my side." The King James version asserts a bit more dramatically that he was to "thrust it into my side." That effort by Jesus to make Thomas a believer again did not go unrequited. Thomas immediately exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" I can suppose he said those words from his knees." I'd only be guessing.

As with my previous blog Questions, there are no definitive answers to any of these. There are no solutions at all...only cognitive apparitions in my mind's eye of why or what might've happened. I do enjoy imaginatively pondering some of the unwritten details. It is fun and gives me joy.

What happened to the ear?

There are many unanswered questions in the Bible…many mysteries possibly to be solved one day. That day of solution may just have to wait until heaven. I have frequently stated over the decades that I have questions “I want to ask _______ when I get to heaven.” You can fill in the blank with just about any name you wish – God, Jesus, Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul – the list goes on. Recently, while listening to a Sunday sermon, I revisited one that has been on my mind in the past. I wouldn’t call it an earth-shattering query or even a very important, need-to-know thought. It’s rather trivia-stereotyped. What I would like to know is this: “What happened to the ear?”

In the gospel accounts of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with its sleepy apostles, weeping Savior, unity prayer…you know the story. When the betrayer Judas arrives at the head of the mob, Peter strikes out with his sword. Now one might expect the Big Fisherman to have a knife or pike or gigantic fish hook, but somewhere he’d found a sword. Peter seems to have been trying to prepare for the worst. Having just had a nap, this giant, who was in the habit of acting and speaking prior to thinking, lashed out at the nearest enemy. He didn’t connect with the evil kisser Judas; no, Peter’s thrust took out the ear of the servant of the high priest (SHP) – the right ear. The anatomy of that dissection might need Abby or Ducky from NCIS to figure out the handedness (left or right) of the defender. Perhaps the SHP was standing sideways to his attacker, thus his right ear might be nearer to the sword as all watched the betrayal unfold. Nevertheless, it happened that the sword blade met the right ear. What is interesting to me is Jesus’ reaction.

Luke’s account (22:51) records that Jesus stopped the blood-bath before it could progress with a, “No more of this!” and then “he touched the man’s ear and healed him.” So my question is about the location of that severed ear. When the ear was “cut off,” wouldn’t it have fallen to earth adhering to the God-created Law of Gravity? If so, did Jesus pick it up and put it back from whence it fell, thus healing the SHP? Or, did our Lord just touch the place where the ear had been? If the latter were the case, then what happened to the ear that lay in the dirt of that garden?
Alas, I must add this query to my lengthy list of questions to ask when I get to heaven – that non-existent list. You see, I have not adhered to the saying that adorns my office wall and that is mentioned frequently in my classes: “If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist.” So now “What happened to the ear?” goes to the end of that list. I can only imagine that, when it comes my turn to ask anything in heaven, I won’t have a clue and will stand there dumbfounded. I am cut to the quick by that realization!