August 13
Mark 14:17-21
"Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them" (Mark 14:10 NLT) That verse was from a lesson a few days ago. I wanted to remind you that Judas had already made the decision to betray Jesus. As he was sitting at the table, eating with Jesus and the other disciples, he was secretly thinking about how he would turn Jesus over to the authorities. Obviously, Jesus knew too. He said, "I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me." Then "each one asked in turn 'Am I the one?'" If the bible says that each one asked, that means that Judas had to have asked to. Can you imagine him looking into Jesus' eyes and saying, "Am I the one?" What a fraud! The other disciples may not have had any idea that Judas was the one, but Jesus knew. It may be easy to hide our sin from other people, but we can never hide it from God!
Principle: I can hide sin from others but not from God.
Application:
1. In what ways have I betrayed and grieved Jesus with my unconfessed sins or unrepentant heart?
2. What secret sin am I trying to hide from Jesus and others?
3. Once my sin is revealed, do I go out and do it anyway?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It is easy to condemn and despise Judas but we need to be careful because we all have betrayed and continue to betray Jesus in one way or another. I feel like I do this quite frequently. And I regret it every time but I can't imagine how heavy that guilt would feel or how deep and hot it would burn if I looked into Jesus's eyes and tried to deny it.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking of the sin of omission. If I were face to face with Jesus would I really say, “I’ll get to that in a few minutes” and then let everything else get in the way of doing what I knew He wanted me to do. Hmmmmm
ReplyDeleteOne thing I always think about with this story is Judas had alread made the plans to betray Jesus. Then Jesus says the all 12 one will betray me, It is the one who dips with me in the bowl. If it were me I would work real hard at trying to avoid the bowl. I have always wondered how hard Judas work to not use the dipping bowls.I am sure he did not want to give himself away to the others. He was the only one beside Jesus in the room who knew the betrayer. Did he realize his sin at this point or was later after Jesus was killed?
ReplyDeleteFor me a key point is that Judas went this direction when he realized that Jesus was never going to become a "Messiah of power" that most Jews were expecting. When Jesus no longer fit into Judas' agenda, that set the stage for the betrayal. And so it is today. We are happy to obey and follow when God conforms to our agenda. But our calling is to conform our agenda to God's. That is the key to not becoming like Judas. Lord, help me surrender my will to your will.
ReplyDelete