Judas Iscariot
He was one of the 12 disciples Jesus chose to join Him to talk about the gospel. Besides that, when he was chosen, he was put in charge of the money that was used for the needs they had. Some people may be wondering why is it that Jesus chose someone that was a thief and that in the future would betray Him.
As we all know, the Lord always knew the intentions every disciple had deep inside, but all those things happened so the word of God could be kept (read Acts 1:16-17). The bad attitudes of Judas in the past teach us some lessons that can help us to be better christians today.
The thief
Judas walked next to God, I mean, God in His human way. He had the responsability of being a kind of treasurer, but he had something that made his heart be dirty: the love for the money. When Mary took that expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus´feet, Judas got angry and considered that action a waste: “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” (John 12:5)
The thing is that he wasn´t really worried about poor people: "Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it." (John 12:6).
The traitor
Just as the other disciples, Judas was loved by Jesus. He had the same chances of growing spiritually, learning more about the kingdom of God, of receiving the Holy Spirit and that way be saved. However, 30 silver coins were enough for him to betray his Saviour.
If we bring Judas´attitudes to our days, we can analyse our own life and detect silver coins that maybe are tempting us. Maybe we are changing our salvation for thirty silver coins, I mean, for a friendship that brings no good to our faith? Maybe those coins represent a relationship that God doesn´t aprove, or maybe those coins are details that make us betray our Saviour and that way, we put Him to death everyday. Who knows those coins are just silly words, little lies, moments when we are fake, pride or showing a bad behaviour.
The repentant man
Every person has defects and is different from others around. Some show more their defects than the attributes and vice versa. Concerning Judas, his mistake came with a deep repentance. But, he felt so guilty that, after evaluating the consequences of his actions, he was taken to a moment of desesperation. And once again, he made a mistake. Instead of searching for God´s forgiveness, he killed himself. A terrible death that was told of 2 different ways in the Bible: the first one, says that he hang himself (read Matthew 27:5); the second one, says how terrible was his death: "Then Judas bought some land with the money he was given for doing that evil thing. He fell headfirst into the field. His body burst open, and all his insides came out." (Acts 1:18) -
These words explain the price he payed for betraying Jesus. If he would have been humble and asked for forgiveness, he would have been forgiven and he would have turn into a great man of God, just as Peter after he denied Jesus three times. He tried to reach God´s mercy and also His forgiveness, but Judas killed himself.
Evaluate your own life
-Have we let the Holy Spirit get into our lives for real?
-Even if we´ve been for a long time walking with Jesus, can we say that we know Him for real?
-Are we letting ourselves be tempted by useless "silver coins", changing them by the trust, the love, and above all, the salvation of our soul?
-When we make a mistake, do we repent for real and then search God´s forgiveness instead of falling apart from Him?
At your disposition,
Pastor Robson Cavalcante
Every sunday we´ll post about the Man of the Bible, be blessed and share it!
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