No Betrayal

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

NO BETRAYAL

Mark 14:10-11

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

NIV

It would seem that Judas decided that his own personal gain was of far greater importance than what Jesus was about.  Did Judas understand Jesus was the Christ? Did he do this so as to fulfill prophecy? Was he descended by God to be the one who would cause Jesus to be killed on the cross? Certainly Jesus knew what Judas was going to do which we know from the conversation at the table latter on. The question which has been debated for centuries is about whether Jesus picked Judas because the Father had preordained Judas to be the one to betray Jesus, or Jesus knew Judas would be the one that would betray him, but it was Judas’s choice to do so, Jesus knowing beforehand the choice Judas would make. The importance of this has a definite on our lives. If we have the choice, which many of us believe, then we could decide to betray Jesus as well. If we have no choice in the matter, then we would always have to live in fear that God had decided we too would betray Jesus as some time in our life and all our righteous living would have been for nothing, as we were destined to perish as Judas did. But if we have the choice to decide for ourselves our destiny, then we can be like the eleven being faithful to Christ even onto death. There are those who say God picks the winners and the losers, and use Judas as the example, but we know that is not the case, but that Jesus simply knew what Judas would decide to do and pick him because that was what was needed for Jesus to be able to accomplish what he came to do. Certainly during those preceding years traveling around with his twelve, Jesus did not treat Judas any different than the others. He loved him as one of his own; he did not exclude him from his teaching, or from being a part of his ministry. He sent him out to preach the gospel, heal the sick and drive out demons. If fact Jesus even died for the sins of Judas as he did for our sins. But the fact remains Judas had decided to betray Jesus. Other accounts indicate that Satan entered Judas, other accounts indicate Judas bargained as to what would they give him to betray Jesus. Other accounts indicate thirty pieces of silver which is the exact amount paid to an owner of a slave who was accidently killed as compensation. So we must blame Satan, the devil made him do it and that is exactly what we must be on guard against. Satan is still trying to get to us and tempt us to betray Jesus by our living, not as believers, but as the same as non-believers. If we are not standing up tall, proclaiming the truth of the gospel, healing the sick, so to speak, driving of demons, so to speak, but just living a life in the same manner as everyone else we could have decided to betray Jesus. Some even use Jesus for their own personal gain, as Judas did, although allowing Satan to win in his temptation to betray Jesus drove Judas to kill himself. We must stand firm against any type of betrayal.