Don't You Wait 'Till It's Too Late

During His ministry on earth, Jesus had a variety of challenging personalities on His team. From John calling himself "the beloved" disciple, to Peter riding the roller coaster of emotions on everything to who we call Doubting Thomas - Jesus had a lot to deal with besides the general populace.

However, one "disciple" that was in the tight circle from the beginning was an individual that Jesus knew, in the end, would betray Him - Judas Iscariot. Why ask him to join knowing this? 

Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus experienced all our temptations, including the wrong way to respond to betrayal, but did not sin or rebel against God's Way. Jesus could have been betrayed a number of different ways throughout His life and ministry without it leading to His death. This was not the plan, this was the fulfillment of prophecy in Zechariah 11:12-13 and Psalm 41:9.

The amazing observation about Jesus is that Jesus could have passed Judas off as just the fulfillment of these prophecies mentioned hundreds of years earlier, but He did not. He cared enough to keep Judas on the team, utilize his talents, teach him, love on him (i.e. feet washing), and discipline him. Even during the betrayal when Judas lost control and Satan entered his mind and body during The Last Supper, Jesus was simple and direct - "What you are about to do, do quickly." (John 13:27)

And later when Judas led the detachment of religious leaders and soldiers to their place of prayer - "the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: 'The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.' Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, 'Greetings, Rabbi!' and kissed him.

Jesus replied, 'Do what you came for, friend.'

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him." (Matthew 26:48-50)

When Judas Iscariot saw that Jesus was condemned to death and being taken to Pilate, his dreams and aspirations for the Jewish, militaristic messiah-king to free them of Roman oppression vanished - and so did his will to live, he hung himself (Matthew 27).

One of the lessons I would like to communicate from the relationship between Judas and Jesus is to pick Christ's way of responding to everything, especially betrayal. Jesus did not say it would be easy, He simply said it would be His Way, the Right Way.

The other lesson, through an observation, that I would like to submit is that those of us that call ourselves believers in Christ and are still alive do not know for sure if the spirit/soul of Judas made it to Paradise or not.

Judas died before Christ paid the price for all humanity's rebellion against God. Therefore, the soul/spirit of Judas was in Hades (Sheol), before Christ Jesus arrived to teach about Himself and lead captivity captive as Jesus rose again from death, Hell and the grave (Eph. 4:8-9; Col.2:15).

Jesus will not die again nor will He visit Hell again to teach and preach of His authority and Messiahship (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus has been given all authority and sits at the right hand of Father God in Heaven (Matthew 28:18; Acts 1:1-11). 

With Christ's Plan and Place of Authority declared, this side of the unseen curtain all must make their decision about who Jesus is to them, live by it and be judged by that decision after you breathe your last breath.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Again, we don't know for certain if Judas was in the group that Jesus led from spiritual death to everlasting life (Eph. 4:8-9; Col.2:15). In fact, in Acts 1 after Jesus ascended to the right hand of Father God, the disciples first line of business was replacing the number twelve spot, the vacant place left by the departure of Judas. Matthias was selected. Does God have to account for two, number 12 disciples? Is there an issue with having 13 disciples? Did Judas not make it into that group that left for Paradise? The point - Don't You Wait 'Till It's Too Late (Hebrews 9:27).