The lesson of Judas

 

In Isaiah, we’re given a glimpse of the coming Christ.  “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” [Isaiah 49:1-6].  And the Palmist sings praises to God.  “My mouth will tell...of your salvation all day long, though I know not it’s measure” [Psalms 71:1-17].

During my reflections today, I was struck by the contrast between praise for a God of strength and salvation, who makes us glorious and strong and the impending betrayal of Jesus by Judas [John 13:21-38].  Why, after learning so much about Jesus, did Judas betray Him?  Why did Satan enter Judas?  What kind of lesson is this for us, especially so close to Easter?

Like the other apostles, Judas was chosen by Jesus.  Like the other apostles, Judas was instructed by Jesus Himself.  Like the other apostles, Judas witnessed the miraculous deeds of Jesus.  Judas was also chosen by Jesus to have charge of the common monies the apostles and Jesus used for their daily needs.  This was a position of responsibility and Judas seems to have done it well.  But it also proved a source of temptation for Judas.  He was tempted to use some of the money for himself.  And when the chief priests offered him 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus, Judas succumbed to the lure of money.  John and Luke both tell us that when Jesus foretold his betrayal at the Last supper, Satan entered Judas and made a bargain with him [Luke 22:1-6, John 13:21-30].  The betrayal of Jesus was a grave sin, and after betraying Jesus, Judas realized how badly he had acted and was terribly sorry.  But then Judas did something else that was very wrong.

He refused to ask Jesus to forgive him.  He was overwhelmed with grief and guilt, and he fell into despair.  He felt that he had done something so terrible that it could never be forgiven.  He forgot that Jesus had repeated over and over again that He was ready and willing to forgive no matter how great the sin.  Judas failed to seek the mercy and love of God.  And so, in grief and despair, he took his own life.

The story of Judas can be a powerful lesson to us.  How often do we act like Judas in thinking that we’ve done something so terrible that Jesus can’t forgive us?  How often are we tempted to lose hope and be overwhelmed by our sins?  How often do we fail to ask the Lord for forgiveness?  When we do things like this, we’re acting like Judas.  And yet, none of us wants to end our lives like Judas.  And so we must learn from the story of Judas.  We must learn the lesson that Jesus taught Judas and the other apostles.  That He's willing and ready to forgive no matter what the sin or how horrible it seems to us.  We must learn that Jesus is really and truly willing to forgive us right now.   All He asks is that we seek Him out and seek His forgiveness.

When I think about Judas, I reflect on the notion of betrayal in our lives.  How many times have we believed that someone has betrayed us?  Was the betrayal an action that caused us actual harm, or was it simply going against our wishes for that person?  What was our reaction to what we believed was a betrayal?  Were we able to forgive, or have we held onto the betrayal for an extended period of time?  If we have held onto hurt, anger, disappointment, or other negative emotions in response to a betrayal, we’ve paid a dear price for someone else’s action toward us.

As we approach Easter, my prayer for all is forgiveness. I pray not necessarily that we’ll be forgiven but more that we’ll forgive. For each of us, I suspect that there are people who have either hurt us or disappointed us.  I suspect that for some, forgetting and forgiving are difficult.  The hurt may seem to be too great to be forgiven or forgotten.  If we can accept the fact that forgiving is not only good for us but also good for the people who may have hurt us, perhaps forgiving may be possible.  If we can forgive, we can allow ourselves to grow, whereas failing to forgive keeps us in a no-growth state.  Even though we may disagree in our circumstance, the words of Jesus, “… they know not what they do” [Luke 23:24] provide a comfort.  Most people who seem to hurt us usually don’t realize what they’ve done, and we actually punish ourselves as we try to punish them with our anger and hurt.  My prayer for us all is an end to Lent that’s accompanied by our forgiving as well as our being forgiven.