On Spy Wednesday, we face the extent of our human depravity in reflecting on Judas’ betrayal of his friend Jesus. Inasmuch as we contemplate our role in systemic sin, we also need to pause and reflect on our individual sins, the ways in which we have sold out Kingdom values to benefit from earthly ones. I think of this most profoundly because of its parallel in Judas’ story, of our false belief in a capitalist society that money equates happiness and that making money should be pursued at the cost of anything else.
Selling out his friend was worth it for an increase in financial standing for Judas. As we reflect on his story, I think it’s easy to be unfair to Judas, to judge him profoundly for a lapse in judgement we all have fallen prey to.
Maybe you’ve never sold out Jesus for money, but I bet you’ve sold Him out for time. How often do we wake up, look at our Bible and think I just really don’t have time today. Or, how many times do we skip church to prioritize leisurely activities? Or, how many small decisions do we make without prayerfully inviting God to lead us in making them, despite their seemingly unimportance?
Again, this series is not about making you or I feel ashamed about our actions or lack thereof. Instead, my hope is that this is a helpful invitation to question who or what it is we’re chasing after. When we acknowledge our deep, dark, terrible need, what is it we try to fill up on instead of God? Sin is simply making the not-Godly choice. Just as Judas could have chased after the wisdom of Jesus but instead decided to chase after money, we can find ourselves chasing unsatisfying idols instead of the real thing.
Yet still we judge Judas for his choice to exchange his King for a handful of coins. Yet still God uses Judas’ (and our) inequities to establish and further God’s purposes. As C.S. Lewis wrote in his book The Problem of Pain, “For you will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” Our sin does not get in the way of God’s purposes, but it does make a difference in what kind of hero we are.
On the other hand, we can think about how much easier and more pleasurable it is to judge other people’s sins. Indeed, Judas would agree with us:
There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
John 12:2-8 NRSVue
When we make the courageous decision to wrestle with our sin, the Enemy has a way of sneaking in – either to tempt us to judge others instead of handling our own mess, or to discourage us through the mouth of another believer. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get my act together when along comes Becky from Bible Study asking me why I haven’t focused on some other area of my life. The interaction between Judas and Mary exemplifies those moments when we need to discern the voices in our lives, to ensure we have guidance for our actions, like Jesus correcting our misunderstandings, but also to avoid Judas, a wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing.
In our wrestle against sin and towards God, we will encounter obstacles. Some of these challenges will be internal as we battle the temptation to focus on our own sin instead of someone else’s. Some of these challenges will be external as the Enemy sends his army out to tempt us back into sin or distract us with a supposed ally.
One practical way we can navigate this conflict is to focus on our own walk with God instead of obsessing over others’. Our minds are prone to wander and when we notice this wandering into judgement, we can gently and lovingly guide our minds back into focusing on the only thing we can change: our own behavior. Similarly, when we hear a voice of someone else calling out sin in our life, we can prayerfully take that call to the High Priest who will accurately discern for us if their judgement is a holy invitation into purification or a misguided distraction designed to send us off course. We can allow Holy Spirit to guide our mind to passages of scripture which will affirm God’s call in our life.
NOTES:
This post borrows wisdom from C.S. Lewis. We encourage you to check out this resource. Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Bryce Van Vleet is the #1 selling author of Tired Pages and Before We All Die Let’s Have One Last Chat by the Fireside. He also hosts the podcast Death in Dakota, sells poetry art here, and masquerades as the spoken word artist Liihey. You can support him by clicking through blog posts or donating (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Living Beyond 
Leave a comment