On the Anvil - Max Lucado [6]
Yet I wonder if that is so true. We have no evidence (save Judas’s silence) that would suggest that he was isolated. At the Last Supper, when Jesus said that his betrayer sat at the table, we don’t find the apostles immediately turning to Judas as the logical traitor.
No, I think we’ve got Judas pegged wrong. Perhaps he was just the opposite. Instead of sly and wiry, maybe he was robust and jovial. Rather than quiet and introverted, he could have been outgoing and well meaning. I don’t know.
But for all the things we don’t know about Judas, there is one thing we know for sure: He had no relationship with the Master. He had seen Jesus, but he did not know him. He had heard Jesus, but he did not understand him. He had a religion but no relationship.
As Satan worked his way around the table in the upper room, he needed a special kind of man to betray our Lord. He needed a man who had seen Jesus but who did not know him. He needed a man who knew the actions of Jesus but had missed out on the mission of Jesus. Judas was this man. He knew the empire but had never known the Man.
We learn this timeless lesson from the betrayer. Satan’s best tools of destruction are not from outside the church; they are within the church. A church will never die from the immorality in Hollywood or the corruption in Washington. But it will die from corrosion within—from those who bear the name of Jesus but have never met him and from those who have religion but no relationship.
Judas bore the cloak of religion, but he never knew the heart of Christ. Let’s make it our goal to know . . . deeply.
What qualities come to mind when you think of Judas? Do you share any of those characteristics?
What’s the difference between having a religion and having a relationship?
11: The Hope That Went Ignored
Once upon a time there was a tiny hamlet in the Swiss Alps. This hamlet was in serious trouble. The well that supplied water to the village went dry. The people began to panic. A river was near the community, but it was located at the bottom of a deep, deep gorge. Hence, no one could reach the water. And it was the middle of summer, so the snow on the mountain had long since melted.
There was, however, another well flowing with water across the gorge on the adjacent mountainside. An imaginative young thinker came up with a solution. He built a bridge across the gorge.
The villagers were elated.
A bucket brigade was formed immediately, and the water supply was replenished. Needless to say, the bridge became very important to this group. It was their source of life.
They honored the bridge. They named the bridge after the builder and painted it a beautiful gold. Tinsel was strung from the bridge. Miniature bridges were built and sold in the streets. People wore them on their necks and hung them in the windows. A committee was formed to pay homage to the bridge. Only certain people were allowed upon it, and then only on certain days, and then only when wearing certain clothes. The bridge keeper became the most respected and revered position on the mountain. No one could see or cross the bridge without his permission.
Unfortunately, there were disputes within the committee. The disagreement centered on whether a canopy should be built over the bridge. So the bridge was closed until a decision could be made.
Many villagers died of thirst while the leaders debated.
In the search for truth, the means often become the end.
What does this parable mean to you?
How was the villagers’ thinking flawed?
What basic human characteristic caused the conflict? Have you seen this kind of faulty thinking in your world today?
12: Eyes That Never See; Ears That Never Hear
He’s a deadly snake. Mark my words. Satan’s snake. Be on your guard.
He’s sly and wily. He lurks in every dark