SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/7/2021 9:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Betrayal of Judas”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:4b
Message of the
verse: “and
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.”
We have been looking at different
aspects of the life of Judas in the past few Spiritual Diaries and I have
mentioned that this is a very difficult thing to totally understand. In the Old Testament we can see the
prophecies of someone close to the Messiah betraying Him. In the New Testament we can see that Jesus
chose Judas to be a part of His disciples and we have learned that Jesus chose
Him to betray Him in order to fulfill Scripture. On the other hand we have also learned that
Jesus loved Judas very much and was very much distressed over what Judas was
about to do, that is betray Him. There
is great tension seen here and tension is seen in other places in the Word of
God when it comes to things like our salvation. These are things that I have
said a number of times that we in our human minds cannot understand but we have
to take them by faith.
As
we look at the betrayal of Jesus by Judas we know that it did not happen in a
sudden fit if anger as we are not told when the idea first came to him in order
to pursue it. Look at these verses in
Matthew 26:14-16 “14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the
chief priests 15 and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him
to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. 16 From then
on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.” In the book of Luke he adds that Judas sought
“a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the multitude (22:16). MacArthur writes “Judas was a coward, and at
that time he assumed the crowds who acclaimed Jesus during the triumphal entry
would remain loyal to Him. He wanted no
one to know of his treachery, certainly not a hostile multitude. Like the chief priests and scribes who paid
him, he ‘was afraid of the people.’” We
have talked about this in an earlier SD about the crowds and the fear that the
leaders of Judah did not want to have Jesus killed until after the
Passover. They surely at this time did
not believe that many of those watching the triumphal entry would turn against
Jesus, and they also did not understand that Jesus was in total control of the
exact moment that He would die. Jesus
was in control and not Judas or the Jewish leaders.
What
Judas received in the 30 pieces of silver was not much, but it was the exact
amount prophesied that he would receive. Not much for any person’s death let
alone the Son of God’s. I believe that
by this time that Judas’s hatred for Jesus was so great that he would be
willing to accept any price. His hatred
was similar to that of the scribes and the Pharisees, and I suppose that you
could say that it was for the same reasons or at least similar ones. This small price that Judas received was also
a reflection on what the life of Jesus was to the scribes and Pharisees.
Mark
14:44 tells us how the soldiers would recognize Jesus as Judas would use the
cherished mark of love and friendship as his sign of betrayal. “Now he who was betraying Him had given them
a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him
away under guard.’”
One
more quotation from MacArthur and then Lord willing we will finish up this
section in our next SD.
“Judas
not only profaned the Passover by receiving blood money but he also profaned
Gethsemane, the private place of worship and solace that he knew Jesus
loved. ‘Judas then, having received the
Roman cohort, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there
with lanterns and torches and weapons’ (John 18:3). Unaware that Jesus knew of his wicked plan,
Judas thought to deceive Him by the kiss, feigning love and loyalty. But Jesus already knew the soldiers were
coming and ‘went forth, and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’’(v. 4). When they said, ‘Jesus the Nazarene,’ He
replied, ‘I am He’ (v. 5). As if to
reinforce his hateful determination to betray Jesus, Judas proceeded to kiss
Him, although it was no longer necessary to identify Him. His supreme act of hypocrisy was to pretend
love for Jesus while giving Him over to His enemies. The Greek text of Matthew
26:49 uses an intensive form that suggests Judas kissed Jesus fervently and
repeatedly. Yet even in face of this
diabolical sham, Jesus called Judas ‘friend’ as He told Him, ‘Do what you have
come for’ (v. 50). Jesus’ love extended
even beyond Judas’s point of no return.”
There
is only a small amount to cover in this section, but as we do it we will look
at an unknown author who wrote a poem that Hebert Lockyer quoted in his book “All
the Apostles” which we have quoted in earlier SD’s as we looked at the
apostles.
Spiritual meaning for my life today:
I am truly overwhelmed by the love that Jesus has for me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I truly want to trust the Lord for the
battles that I go through.
9/7/2021 10:36 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment