John 13:1-2 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him…
Something in us wants to believe the old myth that deep inside, everyone is a good person. As a result, the bad things we say and do are not our fault, making someone or something else blameworthy.
Judas, therefore, serves as a complete conundrum. Judas is the scoundrel of the Scripture. He is mentioned roughly twenty times, always last in the list of disciples because he’s the shameful disciple. Judas was chosen as one of the most privileged people in all of history when God came to the earth as Jesus Christ and chose a mere twelve men to do life with Him and learn from Him. For the following three years, Jesus Christ loved him, taught him, served him, fed him, prayed for him. and was only and always good to him. Judas heard Jesus say He was God with His words and saw Jesus show He was God with His works.
How did Judas respond?
For three years, Judas the bookkeeper was also Judas the betrayer—stealing from God! Judas chose Satan over our Savior, and betrayed Jesus for a mere thirty pieces of silver–the bounty on God was basically a few hundred bucks. Judas then kissed Jesus with the kiss of death, hung himself, and went to hell.
If Judas were alive today, the nightly news would find someone to interview. That person would say Judas was a good person with a good heart who went to a better place. That’s a lie.
Judas was a bad person with a bad heart who went to hell. That’s the truth.
We’re all Judas apart from God saving us from ourselves. That’s the truth. If we are honest, Judas is a perfect picture of every one of us if left to be who we truly are apart from God’s grace.
Apart from Jesus, who would you truly be today?