Tag: Jesus

Jesus CHOSE Judas

I can’t get this out of my head.  Maybe writing it here will help, if I can get it down right.  

Over the years, there have been sayings that arise from the unique situation of Jesus’s betrayer also being with Him at the last supper.  I’m sure you’ve heard “Jesus washed Judas’s feet” or “Judas ate too.”  This week I heard another and can’t stop thinking about it.  I heard someone say, “Jesus loved so well, no one knew it was Judas.”  

I have been wrecked.  

That one statement has taken me back to the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  I think I had just brushed over all that.  Partly because it was unthinkable to me.  But also, because these sayings center on the Passover dinner shared the night Jesus was betrayed.  My thinking was focused on one event in time.  

Until I heard the last one.  “Jesus loved so well, no one knew it was Judas.” I started thinking about how well Jesus had to love for that to be true. And we know it was true. At the last supper Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him and the disciples wanted to know who.  Even when He pointed it out, they missed it.  Maybe that was Jesus working to preserve the peace while letting Judas know that He expected the betrayal.  But I started wondering how I would have taken it.  

I think when the disciples heard that news, they started looking back in their memory, to see which of them was capable of such a thing.  I’m sure they filtered through moments in the last year or two to see who might have the ability to betray their friend, the Son of God.  And they came up with nothing. They could not find anything to point out the offender.  

Judas was obviously a very good man or a very good pretender.  

When you consider that Jesus sent the twelve out to preach the gospel and heal the sick (Matthew 10, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16) and Judas was part of the group, you realize he was no pretender.  Even Peter tells the believers in Acts 1:15 that Judas “was one of our number and shared in our ministry.” Judas is named in every account as both one of their number and as the betrayer. Peter tells the believers in Acts that Judas had a role to fill. Each gospel points out that duality.  

But I got hung up on the fact that Jesus chose Judas.  Yes, Judas was one of the twelve.  My mind, though, goes to the fact that Jesus knew when He chose Judas.  He knew what Judas’s role was and never once let on to anyone else that it was Judas. For three years they traveled together, ate together, ministered together. Judas even had charge of the group’s money (John 13:29).  Jesus could just as easily have chosen another to keep the money.   

Jesus ate, traveled, laughed, talked, and ministered with Judas for three years. The disciples couldn’t bring one thought to mind of who could betray Jesus? 

Jesus loved Judas so well that He never treated Judas any different from the other disciples.   

I am not on Jesus’s level, of course.  But I doubt that I can do that.  Look my betrayer in the face every day and not be “off” where they were concerned?  I’m sure my human nature would break at some point and want to shun them or call them out.  It took Jesus to help me forgive those who have hurt me. Living with them every day and treating them like one of the family would take a miracle.  

It makes me realize how much work I must do.   

I have a lot of work to do to squelch my self-serving parts. I need to allow the Holy Spirit to reign in my actions and my thoughts. I have a lot of work still to do to put Jesus out front and make myself stand behind Him.  

I don’t think I will ever look at Judas the same. He’s known for being a thief and a betrayer. The One whom he betrayed loved him deeply. The love was so profound that even Peter called him one of their own. He was loved so well by Jesus that no one knew he would betray Jesus. 

I don’t want to be Judas.  

Of course I don’t want to betray Jesus. I don’t want the guilt of knowing I was loved so well and turned my back on it. I want to always see the forgiveness available and not be crushed by the guilt.  

Guilt does not have to crush us. We can turn to the One who loves us and ask Him for forgiveness and receive it.  He is ready to forgive us if we are ready to give Him our guilt. If you are living under a crushing weight of guilt, come to Jesus. Give it to Him. Pray with me: 

“Jesus, thank You for Your overwhelming love.  I need You to take this guilt from me, Lord. I’m so sorry for my actions and the things that I have done.  I ask You to take this weight from me and forgive me.  I choose You and I choose to follow You and give up the life that led me into this guilt. Thank You Lord for saving me. Amen” 

You are new!

You are new!

Are you struggling with sins of the past? Do you wonder what God could ever see in you? Do you think you have too many scars to be of any value? We have all felt that way, at some point in our lives. But we have hope! God tells us that He loves us. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So His love for us never changes! Still not sure? Let me introduce you to Snuggles.

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When I was around six years old, I was given a doll as a gift. She was the most beautiful thing ever, as far as I was concerned. I didn’t even know I needed her until I met her. I loved everything about her! Her blond hair was beautiful. Her soft purple body was comforting. The mechanism that made her snuggle amazed me. I couldn’t imagine not loving her. Almost instantly (possibly that same night) I got sick and threw up on her. I was horrified! She was the best thing ever and I just made the biggest mess! On her! Then in an attempt to clean her up, it was decided to put her in the washing machine. That was a mistake. By the time she got through the washing and air drying, her snuggle mechanism was seriously affected. It no longer worked properly. And then over the years there were accidents. A tear here, a lost thread there; and her hair started getting that tangled shabby look. But I still loved her. None of the scars changed how I felt about her. She was the first doll I ever remember owning and she was special to me. That was over 40 years ago and I still have her. My friend, Carolyn, helped me straighten out her hair, removed the defective snuggle mechanism, and patched up any holes. And while she looks better, she will never look the way she did coming out of the box.

“For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the LORD.” Psalm 117:2

Do you think that those stitches on her body affected the way I felt about her? Did the missing mechanism change my feelings? Did the crazy hair change how I looked at her? Does it change how I see her now? Does it make me love her less? Absolutely not! In fact, she is more precious to me because she has survived these things! And yes, I still have her. She has been with me through multiple moves. It didn’t matter if items were lost. Lack of space was never an issue. It doesn’t matter that I am old enough now to pass her down to a grandchild when they come along. Do you know that the Lord loves you in this same way? He doesn’t see the scars. He doesn’t care how messy you are. He just loves you. You. Exactly the way you are. He loves you too much to leave you that way, but He loves you in spite of the mess and the scars.

God cherishes us. It’s even better than the way I cherish this poor 40+ year old doll. The doll has stitches, crazy hair, and a missing mechanism but I love her. And He loves us.  Each of us.  In our own way.  But He loves us too much to let us stay ragged and dirty. He loves us enough to want us to be better, to be more like Him.  Can you imagine if I had kept the doll but never washed the vomit off of her? What if I had never repaired the holes in her body? She would still be precious to me, certainly. But I can guarantee that I would not have her near me where I could smell her or see her. I am human, though. Our stench does not offend God. There is nothing that you could do, have done, or are doing that makes Him love you less.  Nothing.  But He isn’t going to leave you the way you are, either. As you come to Him (with your mess, your brokenness, and your wounds) He is faithful to meet you. He is faithful in His love for you. And He gently prods us to put away the old and become new in Him.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

I have put much repair into Snuggles. Despite this, she will never look exactly the same as when she came out of the box. We, as God’s children, have a different outcome. As we grow in God, we become more like Him. We have the eternal promise that one day, no one will be able to see our scars. When we enter heaven, we will have nothing of the old slowing us down. No shame to hold us back. No fear of people’s opinions to make us shrink into ourselves. We will be new in Christ and He will be our light! Between here and eternity, we can get a head start on letting God make us new. A daily talk with Him, time in His word are some steps we can take now. Studying who God is and who we are in Him will lead us into more life changing steps. These steps will help stitch up the broken seams, wash the filth from us, and remove the broken elements. These steps will make us into even more newness. The more of these steps you take, the less you look like the old you! The less you look like the old you, the more you look like Christ! Snuggles can never look as she did when she was new. Even if she is clean and fully repaired, that new look is lost forever. Unlike Snuggles, we have a greater hope! We can be transformed into something that doesn’t even resemble the person we once were. What a testimony! What a signal of hope to someone else who feels that their scars are too much for God.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17