Judas was a "good" guy...

As I was doing my quiet time this morning (reading Mark 14), the Lord showed me something that may be obvious to some, but had never occurred to me this way.

So many of us think of Judas as the ultimate traitor, the man who betrayed Jesus. It was even prophesied in the Old Testament, in Psalm 41:9, that Judas would betray Jesus. "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." But what many of us forget, is that Judas was chosen from among all the disciples of the Lord to be one of the Twelve. (Matt 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16)

There were many who followed Jesus closely. There were at least seventy disciples that He sent out according to Luke 10, yet He chose Twelve to set apart from all the others as a special group of men; men who would literally eat, sleep and spend just about every waking moment with Him.

Jesus called the Twelve, and they all answered His call. Just that fact alone sets them apart from many others. For example, we see in Luke 9:59-62, not everyone He called responded by following Him immediately.

Jesus chose Judas as one of His disciples. Judas answered the call. Jesus chose Judas as one of the Twelve, which means he walked closely with the Lord for over three years. Judas experienced and witnessed all the sermons, lessons, miracles and teachings that the Twelve did in that time. He had a close personal relationship with the Lord.

Judas was called, accepted the call, and walked in the Lord's ways.

He healed the sick, cast out demons and preached the Gospel after being sent by the Lord (Matt. 10:1-8, Luke 9:1-6). Judas was a "good" guy.

Surely, Judas did all the things we look for as outward evidence of a person being saved. There is no mention in Scripture that the others suspected Judas wasn't walking as one of them. At the Last Supper, on the night be was betrayed, the disciples asked increduously who would betray Jesus. No one said, as we might in the same situation, 'I bet it's Judas, I never trusted that guy'.

Yet he betrayed our Lord, his Lord, his friend. What happened? Some would say Judas had no choice, that he was "pre-destined" to betray Jesus. That brings up the problem of free-will. If we truly have free will, then all of us, including Judas, have the ability to choose our actions.

So what caused Judas to commit this infamous betrayal? John 12:6 tells us that Judas was the "keeper of the money bag" and that "he used to help himself to what was in it". So he became a thief. It was he who questioned why the oil was wasted annointing Jesus instead of being sold to give the money to the poor. The same passage tells us he didn't really care about the poor, but was only interested in lining his own pockets.

Was it the temptation of being responsible for the disciple's money that led Judas into temptation, or was he that way when Jesus called him? Scripture doesn't say, but there is an important lesson that even when you are walking closely with the Lord, you can be corrupted by the "love of money" which is the "root of all kinds of evil."

Judas sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver (which was also prophesied in the Old Testament). Afterwards, when he became filled with remorse, he tried to give the money back, but the religious leaders would not take it back, and Judas, presumably consumed by guilt, took his own life.

So Judas was called by Jesus, walked with Jesus and other Godly men of his time, performed miracles and even felt remorse after he betrayed Jesus. Some argue that the only reason he betrayed Jesus was to force Jesus' hand to usher in the Messiah's Kingdom.

So it could be said that for all intents and purposes, Judas was a "good guy". Certainly he did more than many churchgoers do today.

And that is the point.

Maybe we haven't betrayed Jesus to be crucified, but if we have put something, anything, before Him, then haven't we in fact betrayed Him just as much as Judas did? If we are good, go to church, do good deeds, is that enough?

The core of Judas' sin is not his betrayal of the Lord, but in his betrayal of the relationship they shared. I believe the Lord would even have forgiven him, if he had but sought forgiveness.

Too many of us are "good" Christians. We try to do all the right things, we donate to charities, we try to live in peace with our neighbors. Well, the time is coming when we need to remind each other that being a "good" Christian may not be enough. How about the "good" guys on your street who are decent people, but don't know the Lord? What will happen to them? What is our responsibility to them?

In Matthew 28, the Bible says to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Are we preaching the Gospel, and I don't mean in Africa, I mean in our neighborhoods, to our friends, in our own family?

Don't assume the "good" guys you know are okay. Judas was a good guy.