Luke 6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Luke 6:14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
Luke 6:15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,
Luke 6:16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
Luke 6:17 And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;
Luke 6:18 And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed.
Luke 6:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
Here we see Jesus ordaining his twelve, Judas in the mix. I wonder as he stood there watching this man to whom the whole world was flocking to, as he heals entire crowds of the sick and lame. Did he know at this time that he had it in him to do what he would come to do? Or was he just like John as he stood amazed by Christ? Standing there thinking I will follow this man where ever he will go! To jail, to the grave, no matter, I will go with him. It’s fair to assume that (and I am), because I would have been saying that if I where there. But! Knowing my self I do not think my self to be any better then he(at this point). My heart is just as wicked and deceitful as his and yours! It would be very easy for me to pass judgment on this man at this point and say he was evil from the start and hopeless to boot. But I will not say that, I think he was not hopeless. He left himself open and invited Satan in. he played a dangerous game with sin and lost. We all do from time to time. No I do not think he was hopeless. Think on this with me for a moment. This man was bad and open to evil there is no doubt about that. But he also knew that what he did was wrong. It took Satan entering into him to make him do what he did and he hung himself after, And why? All of the leaders of the day where dead set against Jesus, this might have been a very good opportunity for him to get in good with them and set himself up for a life of ease. But he does it for 30 pieces of silver that he gives back right before hanging himself. If he where just purely evil and all bad I can not see this being the course of action he would have pursued. Greed had the upper hand in his life time and time again. We all have sins that we seem to be powerless against. I must say that is because we are. The more we fight them the more we lose to them. It is not until we stop fighting and making empty promises of life with out sin that we start to win. It is when we give up totally and let Jesus take over that we finally do win. Until that day we are all like Judas. Slaves to the things that will one day kill us, when what we really need is to be slaves to the one who will heal us. Well enough speculation lets look at the man.
He saw Jesus heal in Luke 6:13-19 the whole multitude. This was just the start of what would be a very active three and a half year ministry of preaching, teaching, and miracles. Judas would have also seen these events in Matthew 12:15 and 15:20 that are very much like the one in Luke.
Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
Mat 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
He would have been there when Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead, when he raised Jairus’ daughter who had just died or when he brought back Lazarus from the dead after four days. All of these things Judas would have been an eye witness to. This gave him a profound advantage to all of us. He saw and did not believe – how blessed are they who believe yet have not seen. It’s not as if there where no signs to his lack of self control. In John 12 we get a peek into what was going on inside this mans head. We see greed, we see self serving, we see a man open to the opportunity to score some extra scratch, but not open to the worship of the God.
John 12:4 then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him,
John 12:5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
John 12:6 this he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
John 12:7 then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
John 12:8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
This maybe the one passage that can help us understand this man. “He was a thief” is the testimony given by the Holy Ghost. His heart was not on God but himself and his bank account. OH how we must take heed here. Do we really think that if we do not feel any different then he does? When given the chance to glorify God or make a buck he picks the money. Surly he thought “I can always fit in that worship later after I get this money”. Do we think we are really so much better then he in this point! Do not get me wrong im not saying you or I would ever do what this man did.... but it is not out of our reach!!! It is not beyond us, we are capable of it.
From here on out it’s all down hill for Judas. John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. And then, Luke 22:3 then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. After which Mat 26:14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, he goes to the priests and sells them the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver. He then takes the guard to Jesus in the place he goes to pray. Notice that he knew where to find him, (in prayer) he betrays the lamb of God with a kiss to show friendship. This was the all time most despicable act. He turned his back on the one who loved and gave to all of the downcast of man kind. It’s hard to imagine. Shortly after this he returns the money but they will not take back what he has done. When he sees that Jesus is condemned, he walks out of the city and hangs himself.
I started this entry by trying to see the humanity of Judas. By trying to show that though it is known as being the worst of all evils ever committed, this was a man. And like all other men who leave them selves open to sin he is over come by it and it takes him to places he more then likely never wanted to go. It will always have that effect on us. Jesus offers to take that burden for you. To lift it off and set you free to be his and he takes you places you can not imagine.
