A GOOD FRIDAY POST

Today I was reminded of Judas and my heart ached in compassion for him for the first time in my life.

Here we see a passionate man - a human like you & me - a man with a passion to see justice done to Rome; a passion that led him to believe that Jesus was that hand of Justice. I think (as Pastor Shaun also said) that Judas got impatient and annoyed. I think the priests convinced Judas that Jesus would never change thing. Judas, in his passion and desire for justice and to see Rome fall, was frustrated and angered by Jesus' apparent lack of action.

Of course, I can't say that this anger and frustration jusitified what he did. I'm not suggesting that he was in any way right to do this: to betray Jesus.

What I was thinking was this:

Can you imagine a Judas that lived through Jesus' death to understand what that meant? Can you imagine a Judas who fully realized that the death of Christ could cover even that kind of betrayal?

I wonder what that Judas would have done in the world. We have the opportunity to see what became of Simon Peter, who also betrayed Jesus. I think if Judas would have waited to see the events unfold and waited to see the price being paid for sin of any kind, he would have also seen and understood the redemption in that sacrifice. I think he would have become like another Simon Peter.

"I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little." Luke 7:47 (words of Jesus)