Chasing after our own Judas

Christpoint Church

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About 2,020 years ago after Jesus died on a cross, the world buried him. Bystanders believed him to be dead and gone. Some reveled, some mourned, while others questioned. You see, what gets buried doesn’t always stay buried, and Jesus proved that on Sunday morning when he resurrected and walked out of a borrowed grave. The question is, who are we chasing?

Judas entered a “point of no return” in the last hours before Jesus arrest. He betrayed his friend, sold out his heart, gave himself to Satan, and took his own life because he couldn’t face himself in the end. He couldn’t get past who he was. Are we chasing after the Judas in our lives? Are we stalled against the door of our past? Satan wants each of us to chase after our own Judas because he knows we can’t move forward if we’re always looking back. He desires to destroy our future by killing our mental foundation now because somewhere along the line he stole and distorted our past.

Then there’s the chase to satisfy others. Sometimes the Judas that wants to destroy us is not as dangerous as the pressure of what others expect from us. After Judas there was a noticeable disturbance in the force. The disciples’ numbers had reduced by one, and now “the 12” had become “the 11.” One of the first acts of the apostles was to replace their fallen comrade. They chased after their Mathias. They hurried to fill a vacancy everyone thought they should fill. Peter even reminded the crowd of the confirmation in scripture, and lots were cast, and Mathias was chosen. Are we chasing after our Mathias? Are we busying ourselves trying to fill our emptiness with what others expect from us? I have found that it’s better to leave a spot vacant than to fill it with the wrong thing. Mathias wasn’t a bad choice I just think he wasn’t a God choice. Sometimes I think we’re filling our lives with good things. The problem is some of it may not be a God thing.

Something we should notice is that once Mathias was chosen, we really never hear from him again. Peter was operating in line with scripture, but maybe he rushed out in front of God with his eagerness to satisfy what others thought or expected. Maybe he, like ourselves, was chasing after Mathias.

Then there’s Acts chapter 9. An enemy of the people, killer, and persecutor of Christians, hated Jewish Pharisee by the name of Saul. He was highly educated and groomed for religious success. A bonafide letter carrying-tradition Nazi, with a laser focus, found himself backside on the ground in the presence of the Lord. God was after Saul. We know him as the Apostle Paul, and the world continues to study, learn from, and be changed by him daily. God placed his 12th man in his own timing. The question for each of us in this post-Easter time of the year is: are we still chasing Judas who we used to be; chasing Mathias, who others think we should be; or chasing Jesus who Paul says we should be?

Let’s dive deeper this Sunday at Christpoint Church, on Liberty Square, in Sparta. We’ll see you at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. We’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God. Welcome home.  

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