The Path of Judas, the Zealot

Once upon a time…long ago…in a place far, far away…there were twelve unlikely men who dropped everything to follow an itinerant rabbi named Jesus, who was from Nazareth.

One of the twelve was a guy named Judas. With good reason, throughout subsequent history, he has been the most notorious…the most reviled…the most disgraced of all the disciples. But…

At one time, he followed Jesus.  Like the other eleven, he answered the call.

He watched, and saw…as Jesus embraced the unclean, granted respect and dignity to women, healed the sick — asking nothing in return, and even broke bread with known sinners, and some of the traitorous Jews who had joined forces with the hated Romans.

He listened, and heard…as Jesus spoke to the multitudes, and talked about love and joy, generosity and grace, forgiveness and faith, mercy and peace.

He witnessed the miracles!  Water turned into wine. Lepers, the sick, and the crippled: HEALED!  Walking on water. The fearsome forces of nature turned at the sound of his voice.  Food multiplied, so that thousands could eat.

The dead…raised back to life again.

It was all pretty heady stuff, actually.

Are you with me, so far?

But, he was part of a group who resented the Romans. That resentment grew into hatred.  That hatred consumed him, like a raging fire.

At some point, either he decided — or someone convinced him — that Jesus wasn’t moving fast enough.  Or, that Jesus’ plan needed some modifications.

He convinced himself that he could do something to achieve greatness for his country…and himself.

He was determined to Make Israel Great Again.

Judas didn’t realize that when he quit following Jesus’ plan…he quit following Jesus.  Or, maybe he did realize it.  In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know that it matters.

The great tragedy of Judas — my opinion here — is that at one point, he was exactly where he needed to be.  But, then, the Temptor lured him away from the truth, with a deceptive lie. It sounded good. It promised a happy ending.  Just like in the Garden — with Adam & Eve — the Temptor made it sound like the logical thing to do.  By the time Judas figured out his mistake, the price had become more than he could bear.

Sin is like that. It always promises more than it delivers. It always takes you farther than you ever planned to go.

Racism is sin. And, nationalism isn’t the way of Jesus. It wasn’t in Israel, then, and it’s not in America today.

If we follow any other gospel — any other leader — we are rushing down the path to ruin. 

I love you all. ❤️🙏