Tuesday: The Heart of Judas
One of the most tragic stories in the Bible is that of Judas Iscariot. This man had a privilege that only 11 other people in all the history of the world have had: to have been with Jesus all that time and to have learned eternal truths directly from the Master Himself. How sad that many people who never had anything remotely like the opportunities that Judas had will be saved, while Judas, we know, is now destined for eternal destruction.
What happened? The answer can be found in one word: covetousness, the desires of his heart.
Read John 12:1-8. What did Mary do that attracted so much attention during the feast? How did Judas react? Why? What was Jesus’ response?
Image © Jeff Preston at Goodsalt.com
The Savior’s gentle rebuke to Judas’ covetous remark led him to leave the feast and go directly to the palace of the high priest, where Jesus’ enemies were gathered. He offered to betray Jesus into their hands for a sum much smaller than Mary’s gift. (See Matthew 26:14-16)
What happened to Judas? Having had so many wonderful opportunities, so many rare privileges, why would he do something so evil? According to Ellen G. White, Judas “loved the Great Teacher, and desired to be with Him. He felt a desire to be changed in character and life, and he hoped to experience this through connecting himself with Jesus. The Saviour did not repulse Judas. He gave him a place among the twelve. He trusted him to do the work of an evangelist. He endowed him with power to heal the sick and to cast out devils. But Judas did not come to the point of surrendering himself fully to Christ.” — The Desire of Ages, p. 717.
In the end, we all have character defects that, if surrendered, can be overcome through the power of God working in us. But Judas did not fully surrender to Christ, and the sin of covetousness, which he could have overcome in the power of Christ, overcame him instead, with tragic results.
Who among us doesn’t struggle with covetousness over one thing or another? In this case, what he coveted was money, and that covetousness, a problem of the heart, led him to stealing (John 12:6), which ultimately led him to betray Jesus.
What a frightful lesson for all of us about the danger that covetousness can bring. What seems like a small thing, a simple desire of the heart, can lead to calamity and to eternal loss.
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Usually one sin attract the other, judas started with covetousness then he became a thief and finally he betrayed Jesus. we must avoid sin under any cost
In the weeks before Jesus' crucifixion the disciples still believed that the Messiah was the one who would set up a new earthly kingdom and overthrow the oppressive Romans. John and James enlisted their mother to speak on their behalf about positions in the new Kingdom. Then there was the triumphant entry into Jerusalem with crowds surrounding Jesus and shouting his praise. And there was the episode where Jesus cleaned up the profiteers marketing acceptable sacrificial animals and sacred temple money. It was starting to look good for the new Kingdom of God.
In this mix Judas probably had his own "what's in it for me" plans. Quite possibly, he thought he was helping by provoking a situation where Jesus would show his power and send the Romans back home across the Mediterranean. The whole situation became unstuck not because he was wrong about the kingdom but because he was trying to get personal gain out of the situation.
It is interesting that John, James, and Judas all had the same ideas about the kingdom but only Judas took covetous action. I will leave the reader to figure out why there was a difference.
The notion of getting personal gain out of Christianity has always been a distraction to the main purpose of our relationship with God. In recent years it has come to the fore in the marketing of prosperity Christianity. While it is not wrong to be prosperous, Christianity is about relationships with God and others.
And perhaps we may need to search our own motives for being followers of Jesus. Are we just in it for the mansions and the parks full of lions playing with children?
I’ve been thinking of a fitting hymn to help us rid our hearts of all evil. “I surrender all.”
We should sing this and any other fitting song every possible moment as we fight this particular battle.
Deciphering people's motivations can be challenging, but it's often the case that the desire for money, power, and recognition drives underhanded behaviour. Perhaps Judas' motivations were a combination of these factors.
In Matthew, it suggests that Judas was offered thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus, indicating that ‘money’ was a key factor in his decision. Also, Judas objected to the expensive perfume being used to anoint Jesus’ feet. He claimed the perfume could have been sold to help the poor. Was Judas motivated by genuine concern about the poor?
The consequence of betrayal is also a key theme in the story of Judas, warning against the dangers of betrayal, and the importance of remaining loyal to one's friends and beliefs.
"...But Judas did not come to the point of surrendering himself fully to Christ."
Can you see the risk, the warning? I've heard this in the past few days, "99% christian means 100% evil".
The author of the Lesson brings, "a small thing, a simple desire of the heart, can lead to calamity and to eternal loss."
What am I carrying in the heart, which seems so small and inoffensive, but that can restrain me from a full surrender to Christ?
Sin takes a foothold, then a stronghold, then a stranglehold.
But when we submit our whole selves to Christ, we are “…set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness… dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus….
If we’re honest, we all want some thing out of this life and the next. It’s wrapped up in our desire to thrive and live and survive. The problem comes when we put our desires above loving Jesus and the relationship that we can have with him. The same problem occurs on earth when we put loving material things above the relationships which we can have with people, God calls us in the commandments to love him first and then our fellow man [woman].