Acts 1:14-22
The apostles often met together and
prayed with a single purpose in mind. The women and Mary the mother of
Jesus would meet with them, and so would his brothers. One day there
were about one hundred twenty of the Lord’s followers meeting together,
and Peter stood up to speak to them. He said:
My friends, long
ago by the power of the Holy Spirit, David said something about Judas,
and what he said has now happened. Judas was one of us and had worked
with us, but he brought the mob to arrest Jesus. Then Judas bought some
land with the money he was given for doing that evil thing. He fell
headfirst into the field. His body burst open, and all his insides came
out. When the people of Jerusalem found out about this, they called the
place Akeldama, which in the local language means “Field of Blood.”
In the book of Psalms it says, “Leave his house empty, and don’t let anyone live there.”
It also says, “Let someone else have his job.”
So
we need someone else to help us tell others that Jesus has been raised
from death. He must also be one of the men who was with us from the very
beginning. He must have been with us from the time the Lord Jesus was
baptized by John until the day he was taken to heaven.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
There
is much about the story of “Holy Week” that is sad and horrific. But
for me, one of the most hopeless parts is the story of Judas Iscariot.
Jesus knew that Judas would betray him…and yet, He washed his feet in
the Upper Room alongside the other disciples. Jesus shared the bread
and the cup with Judas. And Judas took a bribe of 30 silver pieces in
exchange for kissing Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to “make” Him for
Roman soldiers.
Many are shocked to read this account in the
Book of Acts about how Judas died. In Matthew 27:3-10, we are told that
Judas threw the money at the high priests and then went out and hanged
himself. The silver was used to buy a “Potter’s Field” for burying the
poor and homeless, and it was given the name of “Murderer’s Meadow.”
There
is much argument about which account is more accurate…but the bottom
line is that Judas Iscariot realized that he had done a terrible thing.
He committed a truly egregious sin…he denied His Lord and Savior. But
Judas was not the only person who did this. Peter denied his own
association with Jesus THREE TIMES before the night was out. Yet he did
not take his own life. And the difference in the choice these two men
made had eternal consequences.
What does this mean for us? I
truly believe that had Judas come to Jesus and humbled himself, Jesus
would have forgiven him, just as he did for Peter and the thief on the
cross. Jesus forgives each of us when we ask Him to do so. And that is
the primary message of this passage from Acts 1. There is NOTHING that
can separate us from Jesus when we humbly admit our sins and failures
and ask for His forgiveness. We are human…we will all sin and fall
short. But Jesus stands ready, willing, and more than able to redeem
us. This promise turns a devastatingly dismal passage of scripture into
one of hope and promise!
I also find the last verses to be
interesting. The Disciples are told to choose a replacement for
Judas…someone who knew and loved Jesus and could speak of His teachings
to others. It seems to me that there is a message for us there, as
well. We can sit and wring our hands over all that is wrong in our
world. We can gripe and complain about those who speak and act in a
manner that is detrimental to the work of Jesus and furthering God’s
Kingdom. But we are instructed to get up and get going…to move forward
with the work of our discipleship…to select and encourage those who are
involved in this mission with us – and to nurture their efforts
alongside our own.
Two messages of hope vs. a choice mired in
despair. We can opt to wallow in our sin and self-pity…and maybe even
completely turn our backs on Jesus. Or we can learn from Judas’
critical mistakes and renew our efforts to serve in Christ’s army…to
seek His forgiveness and follow Him for all of our earthly lives – and
into Eternity. The choice may not be an easy one…but the path of Hope
and Promise seems pretty clear to me. What about you?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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