I’ve often thought what it
would have been like to have been one of the twelve
disciples who spent three
years on earth with Jesus in His humanity. For three years these men were with
Him day and night. They saw His face, heard His voice, and the words He said.
They heard and saw much that we are not privy to today.
“And there are also many
other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose
that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
Amen.” (John 21:25)
To me, the one disciple that
jumps off the page is Judas, revealed at the end of Jesus’ ministry to be a
false disciple. Nevertheless, one wonders how anyone could spend three years
with Jesus, day and night, shoulder to shoulder and miss the mark. He didn’t
just miss the mark, he became a traitor to someone he spent three years with in
close proximity, to someone who loved him and would give him eternal life if he
believed, to someone who never did anything to him, to someone who proved
during those three years that He is God in the flesh. However, Judas chose to
succumb to Satan.
Satan tried to draw Peter
away from Jesus by luring him to dispute Jesus’ words (Mark 8:31-32). Jesus
rebuked Peter by saying (in verse 33), “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not
mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus warned Peter in Luke
22:31 that Satan desired him that he may sift him as wheat. In verse 32 Jesus
told Peter He was praying for him that his faith does not fail, and when he is
converted to strengthen his brethren.
In Luke 9:46-56; 22:24 and
other Scripture passages, we see that the disciples had a problem with their
pride. Each was vying for title of being the greatest.
Let us remember that Jesus
was also tempted by Satan (Luke 4:1-13), but never sinned. Also, Peter reminds
us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Back to Judas, we see in
Scripture passages like Mark 8:33; Luke 22:3; John 6:70; and 13:2, 27 that Judas
was listening to Satan and obviously preferred Satan’s message to Christ’s. We
know also from John that Judas was a thief (John 12:6).
So Judas, this man who spent
three years with God in the flesh (Jesus) on earth, night and day, is now seen
lying on a bunch of rocks with his guts spilled out on the ground. A broken
rope dangles from a tree above; a thief, a traitor and a murderer who now
resides in hell, because he never believed in Jesus as his Savior.
This son of perdition was
Satan’s man of the hour and now he resides with his father.
There will be another man in
the future who will also be the man of the hour for Satan. He shares many names
with his father. Just a few of those names are; Antichrist (1 John 2:22), man
of sin and son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3), the lawless one (2
Thessalonians 2:8), the beast (Revelation 11:7), little horn (Daniel 7:8), and
the prince that shall come (Daniel 9:26). These two men (Judas and the Antichrist)
are unlike any other in that Satan consumes their very being.
Since Satan can be in only
one place at a time, most of mankind never deals with Satan directly, but those
fallen angels of Heaven who followed him in his rebellion, work diligently on his
behalf.
When Peter said, “Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8), we can be sure that Satan’s
angelic followers are working as his proxy to drag as many to hell as possible.
So perhaps we see more
clearly why so many are drawn to hell by Satan’s lies even though they may have
had Christian parents, or been raised in the church and heard sermon after
sermon about their need for Jesus Christ. Satan’s lies are very deceptive and
very enticing. Judas found out, and so will the future Antichrist.
Why is it that this country
began and was founded on a strong Christian foundation, but today is spewing
out nothing but the vilest sins against God that could be imagined? Why is it
that one generation was raised in the pew, and the next has no interest in God?
Paul had the answer.
“For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
(Ephesians 6:12)
Mankind has one great
weakness that Satan relies on. We generally won’t accept what we can’t see. We
live in a physical world, and most are entirely unaware of the spirit world
that wrestles for our souls.
In this country especially,
availability in knowing about Jesus is all around us. There are true Christians
in many families. There are churches on most street corners (some who are still
faithful to Jesus). There are books, magazines, and Christian movies. Even in
prisons, Bibles are available. The anti-God force has had much success in
pushing anything to do with Jesus out the door, but despite that, the
opportunity to know Jesus is often very close by. Many lost souls are so close,
but yet so far away from knowing the Truth. That’s why it is so important for
those of us who know Jesus as Savior and Lord to be His witness in a fallen
world.
Those in Jesus day saw His
miracles, heard Him speak and saw the sinless life He led, but most still did
not come to Him to be saved. They were close to the Truth, but still so far
away.
Even though the knowledge of
God is not as near as it once was due to Supreme Court legislation, Jesus is
still near to any who will reach out to Him. Only a cold heart will keep Him
far away.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
