Shalom,
We should be grateful to our good God because only by His mercy are we able to live in nowadays uncertain conditions. As He always shares His word of truth, let’s be eager to learn it with the help of the Holy Spirit. For through the Holy Spirit, we can understand and even practice His word in our daily lives. That way, through our words and actions many people will know Him and get salvation from Him.
What lessons do we get from the Gospel of Luke 22:1-6? From the passage’s title, "Judas agrees to betray Jesus” (NIV), God reminds us to be on guard so that we aren’t manipulated by Satan as Judas Iscariot was.
What do Judas Iscariot's actions have to do with us? Although it might slip from our considerations, it turns out that there are many similarities between Judas Iscariot and us. Meaning: we can also commit treason like him when we aren’t cautious about the devil's tricks.
What similarities that we should be aware of so we don't fall into the same hole as Judas Iscariot?
- We are both the elects.
Before choosing His twelve disciples, Jesus went to the hill to pray to God all night (Luke 6:12-16). It shows that He didn’t randomly call people to designate them as His disciples, but He chose them through prayer.
There’s an important phrase that we need to pay attention to: “who also became a traitor” (v. 16); meaning that when Judas Iscariot was first chosen to be Jesus’ disciple, he wasn’t a traitor yet.
“What do we have in common? We are a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…” (1 Peter 2:9).
Introspection: Have we ever realized that out of hundreds of millions of Indonesians God chose us to be the followers of Christ called God’s people?
- We are both trustworthy people.
Initially Judas Iscariot had a good track record in finance; that's why Jesus appointed him to be the treasurer. Logically, a leader will never appoint an employee as a treasurer if he doesn’t have good integrity and isn’t honest in financial matters.
If we look deeper, God's way is different from human’s. We definitely won’t put trust in people who have never been attested. God, on the contrary, made us trustworthy by trusting us first.
Introspection: Do we realize that God gives us many gifts and talents because He wants to make us people who can be trusted? The problem is, are we really trustworthy? We must make the best of the opportunities that God has given us to become trustworthy people. In reality, many people squander it.
- We are both God's treasurers.
Are we aware that we are God's treasurers? We have to admit that our wealth is not ours; it’s God’s instead. We are merely entrusted to manage it properly. And remember, the wealth we have is to be used as the capital to bless others as what God told Abram when He blessed him (Genesis 12:2-3).
So, we are called and chosen by God to be treasurers as well as managers (not owners) of the wealth entrusted by Him.
How could Judas steal from the treasury entrusted to him (John 12:6)? Don’t be too confident and proud of our past integrity because this doesn’t guarantee we will consistently have good integrity in the present and future. Therefore, we must always be on our guard against temptations that are right before our eyes, lurking to manipulate us.
- We go through the same test.
According to Judas Iscariot's biography, actually, he was not a hater of Jesus but was used by Satan as written in Luke 22:3, “Then Satan entered Judas…” That caused him to sell his Teacher.
What is the proof that Judas didn’t hate Jesus? After he betrayed Jesus, he was so remorseful that he threw the silver coins he had got from selling Jesus into the temple, then he left and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5).
Do we really love the Lord? Do we ever notice that we also face the same test regarding money? Which do we choose, loving God or money?
It’s evident that Satan used money/mammon to test Judas Iscariot; unfortunately, he failed as he ended up betraying Jesus (cf. Matthew 6:24). He turned away from Jesus and chased money instead because he loved it (1 Timothy 6:10). Satan can also exert his insidious influence to make us betray the Lord by ignoring Him for money. When we pursue mammon in preference to going to church to minister to Him, nothing makes us different from Judas.
Introspection: Did we really let God in charge of our life? Honestly, we often make ourselves the ruler. For example: when we are offered a new job with higher salary, it’s most likely that we immediately make the decision to accept it without asking God first.
Be alert, if we chase money, it means that we put money in front of us and God behind us. In other words, if we are after money, we are definitely not after God. Money should be the one that chases us just as what happened to David who was sustained by the good Shepherd. In all circumstances, either in the valley or before the enemy, God provided him with food (Psalm 23:1- 6). When God becomes the Shepherd and is before us, He is in charge of our lives. But Satan doesn't want this to happen, he wants us to pursue money so that we lose God, our calling and our real purposes in life.
Judas Iscariot failed in the Mammon test. As a treasurer, he often stole some cash and used it for his own benefit. Are we in better condition than Judas? Have we given tithes and offerings responsibly (Malachi 3:8-10)?
It turns out that God considers people who refuse to return the tithes as robbers. Indeed, whenever we talk about tithing, there are pros and cons. Some say that tithing was only valid in the Old Testament era whereas we are already living in the New Testament. Yet now we are required to offer our whole lives as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rome 12:1). If we are reluctant to give tithes, let alone our whole life.
In fact, tithing trains us to face the coming of an era in which the world's finances will be ruled by the Antichrist. The essence of tithing and giving offerings is that they are God's portion which should not be used for personal gain. In other words, in our whole (100%) income, the 10%—the tithe—doesn’t belong to us, but God. This is where our honesty is trained as well as tested. If it’s difficult for us to return the tithe that doesn’t belong to us, how much more is it to give offerings out of our 90% income?
Giving offerings is both an exercise and a test of our generosity. For example, we have faithfully paid tithes (10% of income) to acknowledge God as Lord and Owner of our finances. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit moves us to give special offerings for God's works or for those in need, meaning, we have to give it out of the 90% that we still have; are we willing to do it? Could we obey Him? We shouldn’t be quick to misjudge God. He only tests whether or not we will be found trustworthy. Let’s make Him the Master of our wealth instead of making money our master. So, when it comes to returning tithes and giving offerings, how honest and generous are we? When we do it grudgingly, it’s a signal that we aren’t good treasures and managers of the wealth entrusted to us.
- We have personal responsibility.
Judging from the environment and community Judas Iscariot have association with, he shouldn’t have stumbled and fallen because he was mentored/guided directly by Jesus and was living among His disciples. Then what was the cause of his downfall? Actually, each of us has been well equipped by God to achieve our life goals to the maximum, but we need to remember that we also have personal responsibility. Many people tend to blame external factors (other people, environment, etc.) for being the cause of their stagnant spiritual lives, and ignore internal factors related to personal responsibility.
Guidance and discipleship are truly required. However, even being surrounded by famous people in a great community won’t guarantee us to be 100% well. The proof is, Judas Iscariot was discipled by Jesus Himself and was in a good community and environment, but he still failed because he neglected his personal responsibility.
It’s clear that God has provided us some good starters to live godly lives (2 Peter 1:3). So if we don't live virtuous lives, it's not His fault. Faith is the basis of our knowledge of God (Hebrews 11:1), but it must be supplemented by virtue – knowledge – self-control – perseverance – godliness – brotherly kindness – love, so that “we will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). Don't be proud when we already have faith because it’s just a basic gift! We should cultivate more in order to know Him well.
Judas did start well but unfortunately ended badly because he didn’t really try to maximize what was given to him. For three years he had followed Jesus wherever He went and witnessed His miracles and heard His teachings but didn’t really know Him. Consequently, his heart wasn’t progressed to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. He only knew Jesus as Rabbi/Teacher.
In fact, many people claim to believe in God but don't really try to get to know Him deeper. They are content just to attend Sunday services to fulfill their obligations as Christians. Will their faith grow to the full knowledge of God? It’s proven that the knowledge of God can’t be optimal not because of supporting factors (good community and environment) but rather because of internal factors related to personal responsibility.
Let’s maximize the grace of God to know Him deeper so that we won’t easily fall prey to Satan’s deceptive tricks. May we find favor with God and be counted worthy of being His beloved people. Amen.