Judas; A Revelation

By Dee Burgess

Judas' life reveals the potential in every soul - ugly and beautiful. Though
all are called to be disciples of Christ/Truth, few choose to engage. Of those
that do choose to follow Jesus, there is always the possibility they do so for
wrong reasons. *Wrong*, meaning less than perfect motives or
misunderstanding the responsibility which this walk introduces. To seek to
know the truth of all things is the greatest responsibility anyone could ever
carry; not merely the beliefs/philosophies of man or inventions of one's own
mind: but the truth from God's perspective. We all know this is the ultimate
goal and this is also what Jesus consistently taught His disciples.
When Jesus' asked the disciples whom the people believed Him to be; they
reported all manner of discussions, debates and conclusions they had heard.
But when He asked them who they believe Him to be, it was Peter who
proclaimed Him to be the Son of the Living God, the Messiah that was
prophesied to come. Jesus' knew and stated that flesh and blood had not
revealed this to Peter but the Father in Heaven. He praised Peter and called
him the Rock, saying upon this Rock, I will build my church. He did not
mean that by entombing Peter's body under the stone building of a cathedral
would ensure that religion's eternal existence; but rather that this principle
of spiritual communication, each soul directly to/with God's Spirit, would
be the foundations of His eternal church, or body of believers.
He also taught them how to see the spiritual reality of all things temporal;
not just as symbolism only, but literally extensions/reflections or facets of
spiritual reality. Jesus saw, knew and addressed the spirit of each soul;
which is why He was either cursed or loved, but seldom indifference. Each
reacted to Him according to their eternal origins. When He chastised
unbelievers, stating that they could not *hear* His words because their
father was the devil...he was not speaking metaphorically, being *funny*,
ugly, sarcastic or facetious; He was stating the eternal truth. Whether or not
we are aware, we also address each other’s spirit and the spiritual reality of
this world today, from yesterday and creating tomorrow, as we speak. We
witness the temporal, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. This is what Jesus
taught the disciples to see and understand. All that we do, speak, are, effects
all; whether good, evil or ignorant. This is a responsibility of discipleship
which becomes more profoundly evident the more one's understanding of
eternal truth increases; ever revealing and requiring eternal discipline and
knowledge. This discipline/discipleship doesn't begin and end with a desire
or intent to *follow* Jesus' purpose alone; it is an ever-learning, on-going
revelation and responsibility to oneself and ALL....to seek to know the
will/voice/truth of God. This is the perfection which Jesus’ spoke of and
taught everyone.
Here in lies the *betrayal* we all must always be on guard of: never
avoiding the counsel or revelation of the Holy Ghost; always *asking* to
know all things in the Light of the Truth. It won’t conk us upon the
head...until it is too late. I don’t see that Judas deliberately betrayed Jesus
from hatred or defiance, but ignorance; believing his own ideas, built upon
the interpretations, politics and desperate illusions of his fellow man, to be
the most/more appropriate resolution for all concerned. Manipulating truth
to serve one’s own devices is a criminal act from eternal perspectives .
Though he had been taught how to see the truth, always seeking the
guidance of the Spirit in all things, Judas denied this principle and acted
upon his own intelligence. This is not to say all of the events of Jesus’ life
did not go according to plan. Call it karma, eternal law, whatever you will;
but Judas’ actions were inevitable because of his eternal realities (yet to be
revealed), acted out, understood and ultimately overcome in/through time.
The pain of this revelation was too much for him to bear/face at once and he
took his own life to escape it. On both accounts of error, failing to seek
council or forgiveness; Judas actions hurled him down a path of
destructiveness, not only to himself but his Lord. This was the ultimate
betrayal of his eternal relationship w/JC, that had to be understood from
this/time perspective in order to comprehend (and demonstrate) the ultimate
danger each soul faces when we take no precaution to seek to know God’s
will/truth in all things. Jesus’ life/death/resurrection on earth
encompassed/accomplished multiple purposes, Judas’ demonstration being
only one aspect of the many.
The closer we learn to walk with Spirit, in unity with God and each other,
the more vital this message becomes. I once heard an Elder speak of the 12
disciples of Christ whom scriptures indicate would judge the saints at the
end of the world (without intent to debate the *true* meaning of this is right
now). He indicated his studies proved to him that Judas would be still be
considered one of those original 12 in that day. He went on to say that *if*
he were given a choice of which disciple he would want to judge him, it
would certainly be Judas as he believed none would be more compassionate
toward their fellow man than Judas, because of his past.