Today's Passage - Matthew 26:14-25

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 26:14-25   Then one of the Twelve - the one called Judas Iscariot - went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over... So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely you don't mean me, Lord?" Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely you don't mean me, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "You have said so."   The word "Judas" means praise, but this Judas became a betrayer. How sad is this! I have heard someone said that Judas should be credited for enabling Jesus to be crucified, for without Judas's betrayal we will have no salvation. But Jesus will be crucified one way or another, not necessarily through Judas. It was Judas himself who chose to betray Jesus and hence suffered the consequences of his betrayal.   Firstly, Judas had his own ambition. He followed the Lord in the hope that Jesus would build an earthly kingdom, in which he would become an important official of. Soon he found out that Jesus was referring to a different kingdom, a spiritual kingdom that is of heaven, which is fundamentally different from the earthly kingdom he had in mind. Because of this Judas became very disappointed with Jesus, and eventually betrayed Jesus.   Secondly, Judas was a lover of money. Bible said that he took money from the money bag many times. He was willing to betray Jesus to the priests for thirty pieces of silver. If he was a lover and a follower of Jesus, he would not have done such a thing. From this we can see that Judas loved money more than his ambition and his Lord.   Thirdly, Judas was a betrayer. He became willing to betray Jesus because he was offered thirty pieces of silver. Even when Jesus gave him to opportunity to repent by answering his question of "Surely you don't mean me, Rabbi" with "You have said so", he did not repent. If we were him, we would have felt ashamed of our thought and repented. But ultimately Judas betrayed Jesus, so no wonder he ultimately had to hang himself on a tree. May the Lord help us to know how to follow Him wholeheartedly and avoid the way of Judas in our daily lives.   Pray with Pastor Tong     Dear Lord, we thank You for using Judas to remind us. Many times we began our spiritual journey with praise but ended up in bitterness. May You adjust us attitude so that we may follow You wholeheartedly and on day earn the rewards from you. I thank You and I pray all these in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!