Luke 22:3 “Then Satan entered into Judas….”

There are two contrasting readings set for February 24th. The first is Job Chapter One, where God boasts that Job is the real McCoy, a truly good man. The other is the betrayal of Judas. And as I read them I couldn’t help thinking how human Judas seems and how unlike us Job is. Job rants and raves that he has done nothing to deserve his misfortune through forty chapters and finally the things he has lost are restored and he is chided by God for trying to challenge God. Job is justified and Judas is condemned.

A newly discovered document purports to be a gospel according to Judas and seeks to prove that Judas was the real champion of God by bringing to pass exactly what God wanted for His son Jesus. The Judas document, dating from perhaps the second century, shows that some early Christians found it impossible to imagine that a person who had lived intimately with Jesus for years could have had him killed.

I don’t buy that argument. I am just as likely to be a betrayer as I am to be a champion for Jesus. Years ago God called me to do something that I would never have done on my own while I was in South Africa. I did what I believed God called me to do in that apartheid land and was declared a prohibited immigrant there. But while I was doing this courageous thing I also felt the magic of the situation in my life and felt I could do no wrong. My years of feeling guilty rolled away and while in my exalted state I was tempted to seek to win a local lottery. I thank God it went no further. I lost and  later became aware that what I had done in the lottery was succumb to one of the basic temptations. I picture Judas as being awed by Jesus and feeling initially that he was ‘in the spirit’ and could do no wrong. Hadn’t Jesus said he was to be crucified? So Judas helped it to happen and then realized what he’d done.  This Satan within is alive and kicking and waiting for any of us to get that momentary rush of feeling that we can do no wrong, that we know a shortcut, that we can ‘fix’ it.  Only genuine humility can keep us from acting out such moments. I know that now.

Lord Jesus, help us; rescue us from the temptation from within and teach us humility in life and love.

Amen.

Dick Sales