Today we continue to explore Judas’ final days on earth. This is a story based on the little we know about Judas and how satan works to tempt.
The story began three posts ago.
Judas finally pulled himself together and stumbled out of the garden. He followed the group, always staying in the shadows.
He was now afraid, not of Jesus or even the Jewish authorities. He was afraid of those he had once called brothers. He had seen Peter’s temper. He had seen James and John, who Jesus called Sons of Thunder. They wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy people. He knew they all must hate him now.
He thought it best to stay out of sight. But he watched intently. A part of him still believed things could work out according to his plan.
He had arranged to get Jesus into the spotlight. Now all He needed to do was show His Awesome Power and claim The Kingdom.
If Judas had waited a little longer, he would have seen Jesus’ Victory, but not in the way Judas expected. Judas did not wait.
Jesus did not give demonstrations of His Power then. He was meek, humble, pathetically human looking. The authorities were even making fun of him.
But then came the most shocking news of all. The Jewish authorities wanted to kill Jesus. They were already planning his transfer to Pilate to get it done quickly.
Judas was devastated. This was definitely not what he signed on for. He now knew full well he was the betrayer, but he did not plan to stay that way. He started this. Now he was sure he could fix it.
Matthew wrote about what happened next.
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.
“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left.
Matthew 27:3-5
He retreated back into the shadows and went back to the garden. He thought if he could just clear his head, he could figure out what his next move would be.
He sat where Jesus had prayed, hoping to figure it all out. Judas was out of answers. He needed someone to tell him what to do.
Suddenly Judas became aware of someone else in the garden. He jumped to his feet, thinking “friend or foe?” Then he stopped for a moment and thought. He no longer had friends. So this must be foe.
It was a young man, who looked remarkably like Judas. They could have been brothers. He did not seem like a foe. He seemed friendly. He sat down on a rock near Judas.
“Rough night?” He asked.
Judas responded, “Yeah, like you wouldn’t believe.”
The young man said, “My name is Lucifer. People call me Luce. I saw what happened here tonight. I thought you were great. I just wanted to tell you that.
It sounds like you are the man with the plan. It’s a shame Jesus turned on you like that.”
Judas looked up in confusion.
“He didn’t turn on me. I turned on Him.”
Luce reached over and patted him on the back.
“Oh man, He set you up. God created you to be the villain. Why do you think Jesus even let someone like you into his group? Come on. You’re good for what you are, but you know you’re not the caliber of those other guys.
I mean, Jesus isn’t going to be building churches from you, is He? And I think we both know you are never going to be the disciple Jesus loves.
Tough gig, man. But at least you know the truth about yourself now.”
Was Judas only created to be a villain?
What about you?
Who did God create you to be? Hero or villain or somewhere in between?
Are you living the life now God created for you to live?
If not, what will you do?
Satan comes at the lowest points in your life. He will try to lift you up only to bring you down again. If Judas had been approached by a brother, who wanted to pray with him and let God tell him who he was created to be, his story might have ended differently.
But he wasn’t. Luce was satan. He did not want Judas to even consider he had been created to do good.
We will conclude Judas’ story next time with the rest of his conversation with Luce.
“I have set before you Life and death, Blessings and curses. Now choose Life, so that you and your children may live!”Deuteronomy 30:19
