(Judas agreeing to betray Jesus- with devil at his back- Giotto di Bondone 1304-6)Thoughts: Judas thought Jesus was wasting money, and the Lord's ministry was not going the way Judas wanted it to go. So Judas was convinced Jesus was not the messiah, and was willing to betray Him. This is a parable against divisiveness and lack of submission in the Church today. So many churches split apart today because someone's ego gets in the way, and they want the church to go their way or no way at all. Some would rather see the church die or split apart rather than lose their ideal. Some of the idealism about homosexual ordination is in a similar vein. If a million leave the church and the church dies, so be it if it means that their homosexuality is not approved. I would be for ordaining homosexuals if scripture did not forbid the act outright in both testaments and very strongly (an abominaiton to God in Lev. 18:11 and a cause for not entering heaven in I Cor. 6:9 or a sign of God's wrath Romans 1:24-27). In any cause and case, we should always be more careful to listen to God speaking through scripture rather than try to twist it or make scripture (or God) bow to us. In a similar vein, people should be very, very hesitant to leave or divide the church. It is not just a matter of taste, for it is a sin to divide the Church. Judas divided the church when he chose to betray Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, give me a submissive spirit to listen and obey you.
John Calvin thoughts: It was amazing and prodigious stupidity, that he considered himself to have found, in the expense of the
ointment, a fair excuse for so heinous a crime; Luke portrays Satan entering fully into Judas when he did this deed motivated by greed. Satan enters into the reprobate, when he takes possession of all their senses, overthrows their fear of God, extinguishes the light of reason , and destroys their feeling of shame. We should take care, therefore to repent early when we are tempted.
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