“Common Men, Uncommon Calling—PT-7: Judas Iscariot” (Luke 6:16b)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/5/2026 9:31 AM

My Worship Time                Focus: “Common Men, Uncommon Calling—PT-7: Judas Iscariot”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference: “Luke 6:16b”

            Message of the verse:  “Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

            This morning I begin the last section in John MacArthur’s commentary on the different apostles of Jesus Christ, and this one is a very sad commentary on the man who betrayed our Lord on the night that he would be taken into custody and begin the false trials that would eventually cause His crucifixion.

            “There are few people more despised than a traitor, a person who betrays the cause and trust of friends, groups, or country.  Such heinous acts have historically resulted in the most severe punishment—often the death penalty.

            “There have been many notorious traitors throughout history.  In the ancient world, the Athenian general Alcibiades revealed Athens’s plans to the city’s enemy, Sparta.  As a  result, the Athenians were defeated in battle by the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War.  The Athenian soldier and noted historian Xenophon also turned traitor and fought for Sparta against his native city.  As noted in chapter four of this volume, King Leonidas of Sparta and his vastly outnumbered force threw back repeated assaults by overwhelming superior Persian forces at Thermopylae. It was not until a traitor showed the Persians a way to outflank the Greek forces and attack them from the rear that Leonidas and his brave men were defeated.

            “During the Americal Revolution Simon Girty, a deserter from the Continental Army, led Native Americans in raids against the colonists.  Girty was much feared for his brutality, so much so that he was dubbed the ‘Great Renegade.’  But the most infamous traitor of the Revolutionary War (and indeed in all of American history) was Benedict Arnold.  Angered at being passed over for promotion and seeking money to support his extravagant lifestyle. Arnold’s plot was uncovered, he deserted to the British, and fought against his own countrymen.

            “The French general Henri Petain had been a national hero in World War I.  But after France was defeated by the Germans in World War II, he became the head of the Vichy government, which collaborated with the Nazis.  Vidkun Quisling, whose name has became a synonym for ‘traitor,’ headed the puppet regime established by the Nazis in Norway.  The English traitor William Joyce (‘Lord Haw Haw’), and the American traitors Iva Ikuko Toguri D’ Aquino (Tokyo Rose’) and Mildred Elizabeth Gillars (‘Axis Sally’) mad propaganda broadcasts for the Japanese and Nazis respectively.”

            I am cutting this SD short due to duties to take care of my wife who is suffering with cancer. 

7/5/2026 10:26 AM