September 4, 2008
The Sorrow Of Betrayal

READ: Matthew 27:1-10
I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. —Matthew 27:4When I was a boy, my dad observed my spendthrift ways and often said that money burned a hole in my pocket. I suppose it’s not unlike the way those 30 pieces of silver burned a hole in Judas�?heart after he had betrayed Jesus for a little cash. Imagine how he must have felt as he watched his friend Jesus, with hands bound, being led to trial. Judas had seen those hands calm the stormy sea and touch the blind and lame. How often those loving hands had touched his own life!

For Judas, the silver was no longer a reward but rather a reminder of what he had done to Jesus. With every step, the clanging coins sounded a dirge of condemnation, until in despair he admitted, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood�?(Matt. 27:4).

When we make choices that betray Jesus, eventually our lives become filled with sorrow. Even well-intentioned followers find that their desire to love and serve Him is frequently on a collision course with the lure of cash or other seductions. But the things we have gained at His expense ultimately and inevitably become clanging symbols of sorrow and regret.

The next time you have to make a choice about cash—or anything else—remember the clatter of Judas�?condemning coins, and don’t betray your loving Leader.  �?Joe Stowell

Jesus is all the world to me,
And true to Him I’ll be;
O how could I this Friend deny,
When He’s so true to me? —Thompson

When faced with a choice, don’t betray your loving Leader.