I was thinking yesterday about Easter and the different aspects of the Passion Week. One of the true villians of the Passion of Christ is obviously Judas, the Lord's betrayer. How many messages have I heard (and delivered) over the years making Judas the bad guy! Here's a twist.....reasons to thank Judas for his role in EAster.
1. He proves that "close proximity" to Christ and Christianity does not make one a believer. He traveled about the country side with the Lord -- saw all kinds of miracles -- and still did not surrender completely to Christ.
2. Anyone of us have the capacity to turn on Christ. Certainly Judas is a perfect illustration of man's depravity and power of sin when it grips a life. None of us should ever say -- I would never do that -- instead we should say... "By Hisd grace, I would pray that I would remain faithful."
3. He gives a stunning picture at how far the lack of forgiveness, shame and guilt can drive you. he ultimately committed suicide. If anything should shake us to our core about the importance of repentance from sin and the need to confess our guilt and shame -- where it took Judas should affect us!
4. In the heart of all men is the greed and self-centeredness that can drive us to do horrible things. There was a moment where he tried to reverse his actions but the deed was done. Frighting!
5. he fulfilled the prophecies of God and ushers in the greatest event of all human history - the death, burial and resurrection of jesus Christ. Without him doing what he did, Christ would not have been found out and arrrested and ultimately went to the cross. Now I understand that God's purposes would be fulfilled with or without Judas, but he was a real historical figure that played a role in completing redemptive history.
All in all Thanks Judas for the tremendous spiritual lessons we can learn from your life and help us remain faithful to the Lord of Glory.