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Matthew 26:20-25
In Matthew 26:20-25 Jesus sits down with His disciples to eat the Passover Feast, and as He does, He makes a statement, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” The twelve were stricken with awe and sorrowful concern as they began to question to Jesus one by one of who this would be. But the one who would betray Jesus already had, and he knew in his heart that it was he. In Matthew 26:25 Judas speaks up and asks Jesus, “Rabbi, is it I?” And Jesus answers, “You have said it.”
This is an example of the power of Satan over that of man as he infiltrates everyone he can; even those who may seem to be close to Jesus.
The Apostle Peter teaches us in 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV), “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” But Peter also gives us good advice to follow in this situation as he continues in 1 Peter 5:9, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” The Bible teaches us in James 4:7-10, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
If we will lament and mourn and weep in confessing our sins to Jesus as we begin to realize and understand the horrors of our future if we continue down the path of the sinful nature, we will be lifted up by God Almighty through His Holy Spirit as He fills us with a new heart, a new mind, and a new strength in Christ Jesus our Savior. If we will humble ourselves in the sight of the LORD for the salvation of our souls, He will bless us with true rejoicing in freedom from sin, and we will escape the wrath to come if we refuse.
Judas did not resist the devil, and he was overtaken by him. His love for earthly things was greater than his love for Jesus. He refused to humble himself before the Lord and he paid the eternal price of being cast into outer darkness. We have learned in Matthew 25:30, “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And the Bible teaches us in Revelation 22:14-15, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”
These things are reflective of Satan, and we must rid our lives of them in humility and obedience to God through our faith in Christ Jesus and our desire to be a reflection of Jesus to all those around us throughout the world. Seeking truth is seeking Jesus; there must be a sorrowful lament in our hearts, minds, and souls in true submission to Jesus for our sins. But this is only for a moment as the true heart, mind, and soul confessing sins and submitting their life to Jesus is quickly relieved by the lifting of sin and indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit filling the void that was created in the heart by sin. Rejoicing begins as salvation is given freely to all who will profess Jesus their Savior and believe in their hearts that God has raised Him from the dead in victory over sin, death, and the devil (Romans 10:9-10), and as the Apostle Paul declares in Romans 4:24-5:2, “It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Dear LORD,
Judas fell to the trap set by the devil because he took his focus off of Jesus and put it on the temporal things of this world. Please give us the strength to humble ourselves before You in obedient submission to You through our faith in Jesus so that we would not spend eternity in outer darkness but in the splendor of Your glory in Christ Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, amen.