Two days before Passover the Chief Priests and teachers of the law began looking for a way to kill Jesus. Not long after in Bethany, the woman anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and some there at the house of Simon were angered at the extravagance. Not long after that, Judas Iscariot made the decision to betray Jesus and went to the chief priests and was promised money, and began to watch for the best time to hand Jesus over to them.
The above is a cold-cold passage of scripture, in which Judas was overtaken by his own evil thoughts to the point of the betrayal of the miracle-working Son of God whom Judas had followed and learned to love and respect.
At Bethany, the attention and the luxury may have projected an image to many that was disturbing about Jesus. I also can imagine the perfume getting Judas upset because he was the treasurer of the disciples, and as we later learn about him, he had a power and greed demon living inside of him. Judas’ ego and attitude being vulnerable: he became hateful, jealous, and conspiring. Indeed, the evil had begun to take him and he probably had no real clue of how the evil powers were using him.
Most of us today are clueless when we sell out God to the Devil because of misconceptions or quick judgments made in anger or extreme grief or disappointment. After our anger clears we see the error of our ways, however the moment has past and the damage done. Then a rebuild, forgiveness process must start.
This cycle is where many remain for years. They know what is right from wrong; they know what will please God but they turn their back on Him and do what they want. Later, the guilt and negative outcomes resurface and the person swears to never do it again and tries to earn God’s trust again. Soon the weak mind and body has the person returning to sin and the process repeats itself. The net result of all of this is a wasted life.
We all have a gift of life from our creator, a gift designed for His service and good pleasure. If we squander it selfishly then we are possibly damning ourselves to eternal separation from God. Each day we have the opportunity to move closer or farther away from his grace and His friendship. What an enormous insult it is—to pass on or ignore a close friendship with our Father and Creator. It’s a sad fact that most people do just that. Just as Jesus wept for all of Jerusalem, God must similarly groan for the selfishness and ingratitude of mankind.
Read more articles by Rick Rupe or search for articles on the same topic or others.
