Facing the Truth

~~~ Isaiah 50:4-9A ~~~ Psalm 69 ~~~ Matthew 26:14-25 ~~~

“Surely it is not I, Lord?”

Did Jesus make a mistake when he chose Judas

 to be one of his closest followers or was 

it part of the bigger salvation plan?

What if...Judas had declined

 the invitation to follow Jesus...would one 

of the others have betrayed him?

“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”

Judas was with Jesus every day,
yet he could not leave behind the temptations
 of the financial world.
He wanted to fill his money bag with the noisy coins.
He was not satisfied with filling his soul with the words of Jesus.

In all honesty are we that different from Judas?
It is hard to admit that we might resemble him just a little.

Jesus surrounded himself with disciples
 who exemplified all of human nature...
the good, the bad and the ugly.

Jesus kept on loving.
Jesus kept on following the will of the Father.

If we learn nothing else from the scriptures this week
it must be to see ourselves as the events unfold.

“Surely it is not I, Lord?”

We could be uttering those exact words.
We struggle with picturing ourselves wanting to harm Jesus.

The truth is like Judas we are
very attached to our material world.

Sometimes this attachment clouds our
 ability to focus on Jesus.

We too are challenged just like Judas and Peter
to admit that we are weak.
Human nature clamors for us to place
our physical world above our heavenly one.

And all too often it wins.
Surely Lord, we do not want it to be
 us that condemns you.

Blessed with the lessons taught
in the scriptures today.

~~~Peace~~~