EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/5/2026 9:06 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “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.”
“The Bible also records numerous
traitors, including Absalom, who tried to usurp the throne of his father, David
(2 Sam. 15:10-13); Ahithophel, David’s counselor who joined Absalom’s rebellion
(2 Sam. 15:31); Sheba, who led a revolt of the northern tribes soon after
Absalom’s rebellion was defeated (2 Sam. 10:1-2); Jeroboam, whose revolt
against Solomon resulted in the nation being split into two kingdoms, Israel
and Judah (1 Kings 11:26ff.); Baasha, who murdered Jeroboam’s son Nadad and
seized his throne (1 Kings 15:25-28); Zimri, who killed Baasha’s son Elah and
took his place (1 Kings 16; 8-20); Athaliah, Israel’s only queen, who seized
power after the death of her son, King Ahaziah (2 Kings 11:1-16); the servants
of Joash, who conspired against him and killed him (2 Kings 14:18-20); Shallum,
whose conspiracy ended the brief reign of King Zecariah (2 Kings 15:8-10);
Menahem, who murdered and replaced Shallum (2 Kings 15:14); Pekah, who
overthrew and murdered Menahem’s son Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:23-25); Hoshea, who
killed Pekah and became the last king of the northern kingdom (2 Kings 15:30);
Amon’s servants, who conspired against him and murdered him (2 Kings 21:23);
and the Persian officials Bigthan and Teresh, whose plot against King Ahasuerus
was uncovered by Mordecai (Ester 2:21-23).
“But the most notorious traitor of
all time was Judas Iscariot. Judas had
the unmatched privilege of being one of the twelve intimate followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.
Yet inconceivably, after more than three years living constantly with
the incomparably perfect Son of God, observing the miracles He performed, and
hearing His unparalleled teaching, Judas betrayed Him to His death by selling
Him to His enemies. The dark, tragic
story of Judas reveals him to have been the most profoundly wicked man in all
of human history. It graphically
illustrated the depts of evil of which the human heart is capable, even in the
very best of circumstances.
“Because of his heinous treachery,
the early church universally detested and scorned Judas. His name appears last in every New Testament
list of the apostles, except for the one in Acts 1—where it does not appear at
all, since Judas had already committed suicide.
In addition, whenever the gospel writers mention Judas they always
identify him as the traitor who betrayed Jesus (Matt. 10:4; 26A:25, 48; 27:3;
Mark 3:19; 14:44; John 6:71; 12:4; 18:2), as Luke does here.
“The story of Judas also
demonstrates that Satan uses people to accomplish his evil purposes. He moved David to take a census of Israel
that displeased God and resulted in His chastening of His people (1 Chron
21:1-7). Satan also used demon-possessed
false prophets to deceive King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 22:19-23). The future Antichrist will be ‘the one whose
coming is in accord with the activity of Satan’ (2 Thess. 2:9). With full complicity on the part of the
apostate disciple, Satan entered Judas to manipulate him (John 13:2).
“The melodrama that was Judas’s life
may be discussed under four headings: his name, call, disillusionment, and
betrayal.”
Lord willing I will begin to look at
these different headings in tomorrow mornings SD.
7/5/2026
9:33 PM
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