Day 44 – Gethsemane: The Traitor’s Kiss

“Jesus asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss”’ (Luke 22:48).

A closer look at the four Gospels reveals remarkable facts about Judas:

• Jesus Christ personally chose him to be an apostle.
• He forsook everything to follow the Lord.
• He spent 3 ½ years traveling the length and breadth of Israel with Christ.
• He saw the miracles of Christ in person.
• He heard Christ give all of His discourses.
• He watched as Christ healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons.
• He, along with the other apostles, was sent out to preach the gospel.
• He was one of the leaders of the apostolic band.
• No one ever suspected him of treason.

His resume is what makes this story so fascinating and perplexing.

What would make a man follow Jesus so closely for so long and then betray Him at the end? The Bible offers tantalizing details that captivate our imagination without providing a final answer to this puzzling question. After all of this, what motivated him to go to the Jewish leaders and betray Jesus with this evil plan? Was it envy? Was it disappointment? Was it misplaced patriotism? Was it greed? Was it some backhanded attempt to force Jesus to lead a revolution against Rome?

He could have been as torn as many of us are today. We often serve God with mixed emotions, but the only thing that matters is that he betrayed Jesus. For that one reason, we know his name today, and he will live on in infamy.

Beloved, what he did, I could do. If you think otherwise, you have missed the point of this lesson. Judas is a lot like us, and we are a lot like him. The more religious we are, the more like Judas we become. He was an apostle, wasn’t he? You cannot get more spiritual than that. He was in the in crowd. And yet he betrayed Jesus.

This story of Judas is in the Bible for many reasons, not the least of which is that, before we think of ourselves as better than others, we should at least ask ourselves the question the other eleven apostles asked about on the horrible and fateful night.

“Lord, is it I?”

Search me, Lord Jesus, and see if there be any Judas in me. Would I betray You, Lord? Reveal the truth, then heal my soul, lest I, for thirty pieces of silver, should betray You again. Amen.