Tonight is a good night for a Psalm of praise!
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! Psalm 103:1-5
Mark 14:43-52 (<<click to read the passage)
Betrayal. Not one of the most loved terms in any language. Although there are many throughout history who could have their name added to this infamous list, Judas Iscariot would place at the top by most accounts.
Most despise him for his treachery. Some might even pity him, thinking that he had no choice being that he was the “one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.” (John 17:12; see Psalm 41:9) But we all have a choice. God did not make Judas do what he did, He just knew that he would do so.
No one forced Judas to go to the religious leaders and agreeing to betray Jesus for a pittance of silver.
No one forced him to lead the “crowd of men armed with swords and clubs” into the darkness of Gethsemane.
No one forced him to approach Jesus crying, “Rabbi (Master)!” and in doing so the Amplified Bible says he kissed Him [forcefully]. A kiss on either the hand or cheek was a common gesture of greeting and reverence given to a Rabbi by his disciples. The purpose of Judas’ exaggerated kiss would be to help the soldiers identify Jesus.
He chose – with no prompting – with no coercion. Judas. Chose.
Individually, we must decide what we will do with Jesus. As I’ve mentioned before this is no middle ground – there is no straddling the fence. Either we choose to embrace Jesus or we reject Him – betraying Him all over again by refusing to accept the truth of Who He is and what He came to do for us, saving us from our sin and eternal condemnation.
What will YOU do with Jesus? It is your choice and yours alone.
Aug 13th, 2019, Tues, 8:54 pm
