Guilt or Forgiveness

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

GUILT OR FORGIVENESS

Acts 1:12-19

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry." 18(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

NIV

We will get all that Peter said, but first, let us journey from the Mount of Olives to the room upstairs where they were staying. We remember this room, called the upper room, where Jesus and his disciples had their last meal together before his arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. That was the scene we use; however, we mostly use Paul's account in Corinthians for the words we say before we partake in the elements of communion. The bread and the wine, as Jesus passed them around to his disciples, made a parallel to his body and blood. Now, after Jesus had ascended and the angels appeared, assuring them that he would return in the same manner he left, they left the Mount of Olives and walked down into the Kidron Valley, then back up into Jerusalem. In all, it is about one thousand meters. Having stood on the Mount of Olives, it is easy to see Jerusalem only ¾ of a mile away. It does not take long, even at a slow pace of two miles an hour, it would only take about minutes to make the journey back to the upper room.  As they met, Peter wanted to deal with the loss of Judas, making sure to note it was the work of the Holy Spirit, or it was the divine purpose of God for Judas to betray Jesus so that the scriptures would be fulfilled. However, Judas could not deal with his betrayal, throwing himself to his death. Judas could have sought forgiveness from the LORD. Although Peter will use portions of the psalms to indicate that this was all part of God's plan and that Judas is referred to as evil, it was evil that influenced Judas, as he was one who shared in the ministry. Judas was one of those whom Jesus sent out two by two, who healed people, cast out demons, and had Jesus's authority. Judas was called by Jesus, followed Jesus, and was a believer, yet he was influenced by evil, even though it was for a purpose. This can serve as a lesson for all believers , as we need to always be on guard against the schemes of the evil one. It is not that Judas hated Jesus; we believed he loved the Lord, but was influenced to think his plan was to force Jesus to become the king he was supposed to be, restoring Israel. Nevertheless, the evil one is still at work with his schemes, trying to deceive people, even believers. Do we not face those self-centered temptations? Do we not fail, and give in to pride or boastfulness regarding our religiosity? Do we not fail when we get puffed up about our “good works”?  Are we not tempted to become jealous or envious of others? Are we not tempted to put our trust in wealth, or put too much value on material things? The devil's schemes or lies are so subtle that they can be difficult to detect unless we are walking in the Spirit, who leads us into all truth. However, when we do fail, as unfortunately we may, unlike Judas, we do not have to be overwhelmed with guilt, because of the grace of God, Jesus, we can seek and receive forgiveness for our failures. We do not need to walk in guilt.