John 6:64b For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.
Jesus knew, the whole time, that Judas would betray Him. He knew before He chose him to be a disciple. He knew the entire time He was training Judas alongside the other disciples. Every time He ate with him, drank with him, talked with him, walked with him - He knew. But the rest of the disciples didn't know. Which means Jesus did not treat Judas any differently than any of the other disciples that entire time.
I don't know about you, but if I knew one of my closest friends would betray me the way Judas betrayed Jesus, my actions would likely be very different than Jesus' were. What an amazing example of love, compassion, mercy, and grace Jesus gave us by the way He treated Judas. But He didn't treat Judas this way for our sake. He loved Judas.
To one degree or another, we are all Judas. We have all betrayed Jesus. Every sin we have ever committed is a betrayal. The difference is what we do after the betrayal. Peter betrayed Jesus too, when he denied Him three times. But Peter came back to Jesus in genuine repentance. Judas displayed worldly sorrow and killed himself - running away from Jesus instead of towards Jesus. Despite the years Jesus invested in Judas, Judas never knew Him.
Do we know Jesus? Do we run to Him when we sin? Or do we run away, either in bitterness or regret?
Let us always, always, run towards Him!
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: 1 Chronicles 13-15; John 7:1-27
1 comment:
Good point, I am a sinner in need of forgiveness that only Jesus can give. What wouldn't I turn to Him and repent? I need to run toward Him always, even after sinning like Peter, and not run away like Judas
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