Today’s
Meditation – Wednesday, April 8, 2020
John 18:1-5
When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples
and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and
his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place and
came to the garden guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the
chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and
weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked
them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus
said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)
I used to have such a difficult time with Judas. I was taught to believe that suicide was a
sin against God, that there can be no redemption from it. Therefore, Judas must be in hell. I don’t believe that anymore. Judas was wracked with guilt for what he’d
done. He was so sad, so sorry, so
ashamed that he couldn’t bear the pain.
The only answer he knew was to leave this world to ease his troubled
soul. As Christians, we’ve often said
that there is nothing that God cannot forgive and that we can always go to God
for help and for comfort or solace when the pain becomes overwhelming. But not everyone can do that, sometimes their
pain is so great that they cannot find that solace in God or that their very
pain is about God. Such was the
pain that Judas endured. I think it was a
sin of the disciples to not reach out to him, to not go to him in his hour of
need and be there for him. They left him
alone with his guilt, his self-loathing, and his pain. I now often wonder whose sin was worse; Judas’
or his friends. It is our job to reach
out to people in such pain. It is our
duty to seek out those who feel lost and lonely. During these days of isolation, depression
will be a very real part of people’s pain.
Please reach out to those you know in every possible way.
Starry, Starry Night
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