Judas

Children are named Peter, Andrew, James, and John, but never Judas. Why? In the New Testament, Matthew gave us a list of the twelve apostles of Jesus, and introduced us to Judas with the phrase, “And Judas Iscariot who betrayed him” (Matthew 10:4). Judas is akin to Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and the butchers of the world. Who wants to hear about him?

For three years Judas was exposed to the Truth. He was an eyewitness to blind individuals who gained their sight, to children who were healed, to crippled people who gained the use of their limbs, and to individuals who were demonized, whose sick, demented minds were made completely whole. On at least three occasions, he saw funeral processions turn into occasions of joyful dancing as the dead came back to life.

How did this fail to impact Judas? There are two hints of a deep flaw in the character of this man that seemed to produce a myopic blindness. First, take note of the fact that the eleven all addressed Jesus Christ, not using that name, but as “Lord!” While that word was a term of respect, it was uniformly used only of God. Judas, however, never used that term. Instead he addressed Him as Rabbi or Teacher.

The second tell-tale flaw in his character was his lust for money. He kept the treasury – the funds for the twelve – and stole from it. John reported, “He was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:6).

There is grave danger in being exposed to Truth and refusing to humbly embrace Jesus Christ as Lord. May God help us to learn from the failure of Judas.

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