THE
KING'S BUSINESS
860
faithless and lose all. We need not expect that the church will be free from traitors, but we are not to be moved from our faith because of their faith– lessness. If a man could walk, talk, eat and sleep with Jesus,-be on the most In– timate terms with Hlm,-and yet be a hypocrite, are there any depths to which a man may not descend? I! en– vironment determines a person's char– acter, how shall we account for Judas? Let us look at some of the traits which characterized Judas. Covetousness. He had his eye on the bag (John 12:6). "'Thl8 be 8nld. not thnt he CRrecl for 1-he poor; but becnu!l!le he 'vns a thief, nnd hnd the bag, nnd bare ·whnt was }tut therein." He worshipped money, which is an awful form of Idolatry. How many men have been led by the glitter of gold to deny their Lord! He had bad many warnings from Jesus (Matt. 6:19). "Lay not Ull for yourselves treasures upon e arth, '\Vhere 1noth and rust doth corruut, nnd ·where thieves break through nncl l'Jteal:' (Mark 10:25, 26; Matt. 13 :22). Ambition. He had a desire for place, which-as we have seen-was no doubt his motive in following Jesus. This un– holy ambition developed as the popu– larity of Jesus increased and he In– dulged himself in gteat expectations as to his place in the Messianic kingdom. Avarice. Ccvetousness developed ava– rice and greed for gain. He became a thief and the meanest kind of a thief for he stole from God, taking the funds from the treasury of the little band of needy disciples. The way to hell was pretty straight for Judas after that. A picture of his heart is seen In his criti– cism of Mary for lavishing three hun– dred pennyworth of ointment on the feet of J esus. Jesus' rebuke and men– tion of His death (John 12:7) seemed to settle matters for Judas. Smarting under the reproof, he goes to the priests and barters with them for the delivery of Jesus. His utter baseness Is man!-
fested in the act of betraying his Lord with a kiss. Judas has a place in the Scripture Rogues' Gallery along with Cain, Pha– raoh, Ahab, Jeroboam, Haman, Ana– nias, Herod, Pilate. The title given to him by Jesus is significant, "son of per– dition" (John 17:12), the same as that given to the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:3). The Antichrist is to ascend from the bottomless pit (Rev. 17: 8) and go to his own place as did Judas. (2) JESUS THE BENEFACTOR, vs. 4-11, "Let these go their way" v. 8. While Jesus is conversing with His disciples there is beard the noise of footsteps and the gleam of lanterns is seen. Judas appears at the head of a band of men, with officers and chief priests and Pharisees. He has at last found bis rightful place, for he did not belong with the little band of disciples. Jesus the Nazarene,-majestic, calm, collected, triumphant after the agony, - meets them with the question, "Whom seek ye?" and then, 11 ! am He." What majestic words! His very pres– ence caused the Roman soldiers sent to arrest Him to fall back in awe. How easily He could have blighted them! (Matt. 26:53.) "Thlnkest thou thnt J cannot nO'\'f' 11ray to my Father nnd be shnll 11resently gh•c me more than hvelve legions of nngelst" No power save that of a submissive will could have caused Jesus to submit. (John 10:18.) Again Jesus asks "Whom seek ye?" He desired to shield His disciples and prevent an attack upon them (Mark 14: 51, 52). He is the Good Shepherd and demands that the disciples be al– lowed to go free. J esus not only evidenced His benefi– cence in His desire to shield the dis– ciples, but in healing the ear of the ser– vant of the High Priest (Luke 22:50, 51). It is these little incidents which are essential to our understanding of the great heart of our Lord, who ls the THE END DRAWS NEAR.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs