May 12, 2021 (Tuesday)
Judas Iscariot was an Apostle of Jesus Christ who turned his back on Jesus and betrayed Him. Jesus must have seen in Judas at one time the makings of a true Apostle, and Judas must have been fascinated and attracted by Jesus. Before that awful night of betrayal, arrest and mock trials, Judas had agreed with the religious leaders to betray Jesus. He would show them where He was in the Garden of Gethsemane and identify Him with a kiss — all for 30 pieces of silver. Afterwards his conscience would overwhelm him, and he would come to a sad and tragic end by hanging himself, saying, “I have betrayed innocent blood.”
Judas was made treasurer for the band of Apostles, and one of the gospel writers tells us that he became a thief, pilfering money from their common funds. It’s a giant step from petty theft to his major crime against God, but it probably progressed slowly, bit by bit. That’s the nature of sin.
Jesus said of Judas:
“The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24 NIV).
Many modern day stories have arisen that try to justify Judas’ actions, but, try as they may, their authors have failed to convince multitudes who see his crime as just that. No doubt Judas himself thought his deeds were justified — such is the way of sin — but he finally came to realize he had sinned and the emotional pain was so great he could not live with it, and he killed himself.
Giant oaks from little acorns grow, and huge disasters result from tiny beginnings. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8 NIV).
Watch in full screen mode for close up of soloist:
THE GREAT JUDGMENT MORNING(BIG)
Author: Bert Shadduck
1894
1 I dream’d that the great judgment morning
Had dawn’d, and the trumpet had blown;
I dream’d that the nations had gathered
To judgment before the white throne.
From the throne came a bright shining angel
And stood on the land and the sea,
And swore with his hand rais’d to heaven,
That time was no longer to be.
Chorus:
And O, what a weeping and wailing,
As the lost were told of their fate;
They cried for the rocks and the mountains,
They pray’d, but their pray’r was too late.
2 The rich man was there, but his money
Had melted and vanished away;
A pauper he stood in the judgment,
His debts were too heavy to pay.
The great man was there, but his greatness
When death came was left far behind;
The angel that opened the records,
Not a trace of his greatness could find. [Chorus]
3 The widow was there and the orphans,
God heard and remembered their cries;
No sorrow in heaven forever,
God wiped all the tears from their eyes.
The gambler was there and the drunkard,
And the man who had sold them the drink,
With people who gave him the license–
Together in hell they did sink. [Chorus]
4 The moral man came to judgment,
But self-righteous rags would not do;
The men who had crucified Jesus
Had passed off as moral men too.
The souls that had put off salvation–
“Not to-night; I’ll get saved by and by;
No time now to think of religion!”
At last they had found time to die. [Chorus]