The Window of Sin: Judas Iscariot

"But Jesus said unto him, "Judas, betrays thou the Son of man with a kiss?"  Luke 22:48

I can't believe Judas betrayed Jesus like that!  How could he just turn him in and turn his back on Jesus after everything he's done with Jesus.  The healings, the teachings, the time Jesus spent with Judas.  How could he betray him?  I would never have done that.

Or would I?  The answer to this question for all of us is yes.  You see, to betray Jesus requires sin and we are all guilty of sinning.  Whether it's worrying, stealing, lying, walking away from our relationship with Jesus...we are all guilty of having a little Judas in us.  You see, in a sense, Judas' fall came from his sin.  He sinned against Jesus.  This can happen to us as well.  

We can learn a lot from Judas.  He had a pretty good life with Jesus.  He was part of "the crowd".  Judas was part of the healings.  Can you imagine witnessing these healings?  Why did he betray Jesus?  Greed.  Think of how often greed can cause us to betray Jesus as well.  Sin can overtake any of us at any part of the day, any time of our lives.  We can look like we are living the Christian life.  We go to church, we pray at every meal, we even partake in an online Bible study.  We can play the role.  Sin can build a huge wall between us and Jesus.  Sin can destroy our relationships with Jesus.  We need to make sure we are constantly confessing our sins, no matter how big or how small, to Jesus and then ask him for forgiveness.  After this, we move on.  We continue to build our relationship with Jesus and get closer to him.

My favorite thing that Bill Crowder, author of Windows on Easter, included in this chapter was the story of the artist:

The story is told of an artist who was commissioned to paint a Sicilian cathedral with a mural depicting the life of Jesus.  He discovered a twelve-year-old boy whose radiant innocence made a perfect model for the Christ child.  Years later, it was Passion Week, and the artist had completed all the major figures except Judas.  One day, a man who face showed the results of years of alcohol abuse staggered into a tavern where the artist was sitting.  Immediately the artist chose him to be the model for Judas.  Leading the man to the cathedral, he pointed to the bare space on the wall and asked him to pose as Judas.  The derelict broke down into sobs, "Don't you remember me?"  Pointing to the Christ child, the man explained, "Many years ago, I was your model for Him."

You see, it's very easy for us to point fingers and say "how could Judas betray Jesus?"  It's very easy for us to claim "I would never do that!"  We need to realize that it's also very easy for us to become like Judas.  All it takes is for Satan to grab hold of our hearts, even just a little bit, and he can have us in a downward spiral as well.  

As we continue to grow in our spiritual walk with Christ by attending church, praying, joining Bible studies, and much more, let's also make sure our relationship is continuously growing strong with Christ.  Therefore, when Satan tempts us with sin (which he definitely will), then we can rejoice in knowing that our relationship with Christ is stronger than the sin we are tempted with, no matter how big or how small.