Judas
Scripture
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.
~Matthew 27:3, NIV
Quote
“The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.”
~Francis Bacon
My Thoughts
Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve disciples. He was the only one in the group who was a Jew in the true sense. He was from Kerioth, a town in southern Judea. The rest of the disciples were Galilean. Judas is the Greek form of Judah, a respected Old Testament name. It means “Praise”. Evidently he was a very good actor because no one suspected his bestrayal other than Jesus. What he did has been the subject of debate for two thousand years but most of what is said is conjecture. Most of what I have to say is conjecture. As Jesus moved toward the cross, I think Judas became convinced that Jesus was going to die and that He was definitely not going to establish an earthly kingdom which Judas was banking on. John MacArthur believes he became disillusioned with Jesus and decided to bail out before the whole movement went sour. Perhaps he was motivated by greed and decided to get what he could on the way out. It is ironic that he was the treasurer among the disciples. In hindsight, John said he was a thief and that he was guilty of embezzlement. As the other eleven were growing in their love for Jesus, Judas was growing in resentment toward Jesus.
To say that Judas bestrayed Jesus out of pure greed does not make sense. The money did not satisfy him at all. Matter of fact he threw it back at the priest who paid him off. He also confessed to them that he had made a bad mistake, but they didn’t care. Their attitude was, “Here is a quarter, go call someone who cares.” When Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus feet some eight days before His crucifixion, it was Judas who lead the protest. “What a waste,” Judas said, “This perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.” He sounds like a politician. He didn’t care about the poor; he cared only about feathering his own nest.
Let me say in closing. Any act of benevolence toward Jesus is not a waste. Mary demonstrated her extravagant love for Jesus and she did it publicly. Yeah, I am sure it embarrassed all the men but what she did was not wrong and Jesus vindicated her. I think Mary can teach us a thing or two about worship. Don’t be ashamed to confess or demonstrate your love for Jesus. Focus on Him and Him alone; do not focus on the others in the room. Our goal is not to placate or please them: worship is about Jesus.
There is another lesson in the story I want to mention: whatever you need to do for others, do it now. Do not procrastinate. Time was running out for Jesus and Mary knew it because she had been listening intently to everything He said. She wanted to honor, appreciate and love Him while she had the opportunity.
Extra
Troy and the grand son came over last night and put the tin on our shed. This means Big Mama gets her garage and can pull all the way in when it is raining. June called Jo Ann last night and Jim is at home resting right now. He is having problems with his gall bladder. Bill Southern has not been feeling well. He did have a good day Wednesday and was at bible study Wednesday night. Grace Point is the only place Bill goes.
We knew it was coming and now it is here…Baby boomers {largest generation} are departing and leaving in a hurry. I tolk June last night, “Don’t let me miss the Frank Ellis service.” She said, “You already did, it was this morning at 11:00.”
Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.