I was reading some
things about a famous Bible person the other day and one passage relating to
him brought to my mind what I see as some interesting thoughts. I’m going
to share them with you today and I hope that you also find them interesting.
The famous person I’m
referring to is not known for his piety, his righteousness nor for doing a
great act of faith. Just the opposite. His name is synonymous with
betrayal. Of course I’m speaking about Judas Iscariot. I cannot think
of anyone I’ve ever known named Judas. Can you?
I’ll even go further out
on the proverbial limb and say that he’s probably the most dishonored and
despised man in the Bible. When you think about it, the event associated
with his name is arguably the greatest tragedy in world history. Even
when we understand that Christ had to die on the cross in order for God’s plan
of reconciliation for man to come into effect. And that someone had to
betray Him in order to set the related events into motion.
I guess that in a minor
way, we can compare Judas with a guy from our nation’s history by the name of
Benedict Arnold. We don’t see parents naming their sons Benedict either,
do we? Why? Because he too betrayed his friends, his country, he
became the epitome of dishonor and is still to this day remembered for his act
of betrayal. Interestingly, he was, like Judas, a high-ranking member of
the hierarchy of the newly born nation, but ended up betraying it.
Let me cite the passage
I mentioned in the first paragraph relating to Judas and then make some
spiritual points from it. It’s a fairly lengthy reading found in Matt.
26:21-26. “And as they
were eating, he said, Verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray
me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and began to say unto him
everyone, ‘Is it I, Lord?’ And he answered and said, he that dipped
his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of Man
goeth, even as it is written of him: but woe unto that man through whom the Son
of Man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had not been born.”
Now let’s look at my
thoughts derived from that passage. First off, I’d like you to notice
something that speaks to the character of the apostles. Something that I
feel is missing in much of society today. Notice that each one of them
asked the question “Is it I?”
They didn’t point the finger at another person and say “Is it ______?”
None of them accused the other of being the possible betrayer. They were
concerned about their own weakness.
You know how people
are. How many times has the preacher been teaching a lesson that involves
“reproving and rebuking”
and our minds say to ourselves, “Boy, he’s really laying it on so-and-so.”
Do you know what that attitude indicates? It’s a picture of
self-righteousness and that attitude is one that can be the cause of a lot of
other sin. It is certainly a departure from the truth and foreign to the
character of a Christian.
Plus, the idea of
self-examination is in keeping with Biblical command. A good example can
be found in 1 Cor. 11:28 where Paul says,
“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of
the cup.” If you take the opportunity to read the surrounding
verses there, you’ll find that this self-examination is to check your own “worthiness” to partake of
the communion. The implication, to me anyway, is that we’re not to “examine” others to see if
they are “worthy.”
But I fear that some do just that and that is a wrong attitude.
And another good passage
to look at in this regards is in found 2 Cor. 13:5 where Paul tells them to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you
are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about
yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail to meet
the test.” (ESV)
As far as spiritual
examinations are concerned we had better examine ourselves, and I would offer
that these tests occur on a daily basis, because there is another passage that
we need to be aware of. A passage that let’s us know that even though we
might fool ourselves with our examination, God will not be. Let these
following two verses give you a clue as to the importance of testing ourselves.
“For the word of God is
living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division
of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and
intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight, but
all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:12-13)
The idea I get out of
this is, that if I perform a daily examination of MY heart and correct any
imbalance found there, then I don’t have to worry about God’s examination of
it. I can be like David in Psa. 26:2 where he says: “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my
heart and my mind.”
One more thing to keep
in mind regarding a Christian’s heart is that the reason we need to constantly
examine it to see if it’s righteous and in accord with God (See Psa. 1:6)
is because it is the source of all we do and say. Or, as Solomon put it: “Keep thy heart will all diligence, for
out of it are the issues of life.” (Prov. 4:23)
In closing these
thoughts, let me just say again how much I appreciate the attitude displayed by
the Apostles when Jesus told them that one of them would betray Him. None
of them looked at the other with accusing eyes or pointed the finger at anyone
else. All of them immediately examined themselves and asked, “Is it I?”
And the final thought is
the words of Jesus regarding the betrayer. “Good were it for that man if he had not been born.”
Can you not see the connection between “denial”
of Christ and “betrayal?”
We’d best examine ourselves and make sure that we never, by word or deed, deny
Him.
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
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