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
embarrassed, but to be the one who betrayed Jesus… 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 'directly' 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.
Finally.. What if Judas 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! May we recognize that God's grace can rescue any of us no matter what dark path you find yourself on. There is no betrayal that God will not forgive and so there is hope for all of us. It is a hope for forgiveness and complete restoration for the repentant heart.. AND hope for a life yet to be realized and blessed by God.
Jeff
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