Spy Wednesday 2026: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Tonight, I explained what Passover was to my youngest child. She actually asked me about it, and that gave me great joy. I love when these kids express their curiosity. Anyway, as I explained the plague of the firstborn, she became greatly concerned, as she thought I either put actual blood on our doorposts, or that her siblings might be in danger. I explained that neither was true.

I am thinking of Jesus who was trying to make preparations for Passover, while Judas was off on a side-quest. After Judas had collected his coins, the Bible says Judas watched for an opportunity to betray Jesus. This bothers me, because for years Judas had been walking with Jesus for a while at that point. He had been watching him the entire time. This reminds me that not everybody in the audience for the same reasons.

Some people are watching just to see. They have no interest in your success or failure. It doesn’t matter to them either way. They are watching simply because you are in front of them.

Some people are watching to cheer you on. They cannot wait to see what you do next. They are excited about your progress and are invested in your journey.

And some people are watching to see how they can trip you up. They are noticing your patterns and vulnerabilities. They are looking to see how they can take advantage of you. This was Judas.

The thing is, you don’t always know who is looking, and what their reasons are for watching. The people in the crowd all look the same. Even worse, those same people could be watching for different reasons at different points. I believe that when Judas first started watching Jesus, his heart was in the right place. But by the time we get to Spy Wednesday, his motives had changed.

Jesus, however, had not changed. He kept being who he was, and doing what he was called to do. It didn’t matter to him who was watching. It didn’t matter to him why they were watching. He kept his eye on God. That’s what we’re supposed to do.

The funny thing was that Judas also had his eye on God…He just didn’t know it.