DEVOTION
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK
DEATH BY GUILT
Mark 14:17-21
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were
reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell
you the truth, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me." 19 They were saddened, and one by one they
said to him, "Surely not I?" 20 "It is
one of the Twelve," he replied, "one
who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is
written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be
better for him if he had not been born
NIV
We know all about the betrayal by Judas including his deal with the
Chief Priests and his love for money, having helped himself to some of the cash
in the money bag that he was in charge of. We know this Judas, and we know he
ended up killing himself because of the guilt of what he had done. We also know
that Jesus knew all this all along and we have to believe he called Judas to
follow him for the very reason he knew Judas would be instrumental in Jesus
going to the cross. Jesus did not make Judas a betrayer or caused his heart to
be hard. Judas was who he was and Jesus selected him as he was because He knew
the outcome, the reason He came in the first place, the cross. However, When
Jesus made that statement, the woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man, and
that it would be better for him if he had not been born, he reveals a truth
about the effects of guilt. There is no doubt that guilt is a killer. It
destroys the very core of our being. God did not design us to live with guilt.
He created us to be in perfect fellowship with him. Just as the result of the
sin of Adam and Eve, death, so it is with man filled with guilt. Jesus came to
free us from sin, and the guilt that comes with it. We have been declared holy
and blameless in the sight of God. When we do sin from time to time, we repent,
and as always we have the forgiveness of our sin. We have always had
forgiveness of our original sin, being descendants of Adam, as we have repented
and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We have no need to feel guilt over
our original sin, however, this personal sin issue is a sin of another color. If
we say that we have no sin, then we call God a liar, so let us deal with the
fact that we do sin from time to time, in fact, most likely every day in some
way. Holding onto this sin can have the effect of guilt, feeling this guilt
destroys our relationship with the Lord. He died so that we would have forgiveness
of sin, period. If we believe in Jesus there is no reason we should experience
death by guilt.
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