A JUDAS.. state of mind.
In Jesus final week there were many who failed him. His disciples fled, The priests fumed, the
crowds jeered, but the one I remember the most is Judas.

I wonder about Judas. He was one of the 12 disciples, he watched the miracles, he listened to
Jesus teach and disciple, and he witnessed Jesus compassion and love for the common man. So
what went wrong in Judas mind? Was he ever truly a follower of Jesus? Why was he selected to be
one of the 12 disciples? We can all speculate about the condition of Judas heart, but in the end I find
myself feeling empathy for him. You see if my sins and failures were recorded in the Bible I would be
a embarrassed, but to be the one who betrayed Judas… how could a person live with that? .. and so
Judas hung himself.

Once again, NOT FUNNY STUFF.. this Easter week. The Bible records the dinner
at Simon’s when Mary bathed Jesus feet with expensive perfume, but Judas was AGHAST with this
extravagant waste. This perfume could be sold and the money given to the poor! Then the following
week Judas conspires to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of sliver. This was Judas price of INFAMY.
So was Judas truly a bad man or simply a man that slid down the slippery slope of compromise?
We will never be faced with an opportunity to betray Jesus like Judas did, BUT.. I believe we should
all beware of our own slippery slopes that we wander on to. Our slippery slopes may never be
recorded in a book, and certainly not the Bible, BUT.. if we are not careful we may betray others.

Like Jesus taught.. “What you did (good or bad) to the least of my family, you did it to me.”
I believe the lesson Judas betrayal is infinitely sobering, BUT.. the lesson of Matthew 25:31-46
is just as sobering. Sobering, but so very encouraging too. When our hearts are focused on Jesus first
(not a cheap cliché), then our focus leaves ourselves, and then what we do for the least in God’s
family will make God smile. God’s plan is simple, we only make it complicated ourselves.

One last comment on Judas.. What if he repented of this betrayal? He did not, and was lost in
the despair of these dark moments, but WHAT IF? We will never know, but I believe God’s grace
would have saved Judas. There is no dark place, there is no wrong path we can take that can not
be reached by God’s perfect love and forgiveness, and to quote a friend of my 14 year old daughter..
”This makes me smile a lot.”

May God bless each of you this Easter season. May our lives make God smile!

Jeff