For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (ESV)
Recently, I was listening to a teaching on the crucifixion of Jesus. He was beaten and bruised by government officials, in order to appease the people. In other words, He was tortured and then killed.
Later, as I was thinking about the teaching and the description of what Jesus went through, I was reminded of John 3:16. Over the last several months when I’ve come across this verse, I can’t seem to get past the For God so loved the world part.
One day, I allowed the Lord to open my eyes to something I had not fully embraced before.
Jesus loved Judas.
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Judas was a companion of Jesus during His ministry; he was one of His disciples. He traveled around with Jesus. He hung out with Jesus. He ministered to people with Jesus. He was one of the twelve sent out to actually do the work of the ministry.
In today’s vernacular, Judas knew dat dude!
Many know well the story of Judas, as it is told in the Bible. Judas was a disciple of Jesus. He was in charge of the money. He wasn’t satisfied with doing what Jesus wanted, nor in Jesus’ timing. He wanted things to happen “now”. As such, Judas helped himself to the money that he was in charge of, and he tried to help Jesus out by betraying Him.
After all, if Jesus truly was the Son of God, surely, Judas must have thought, that if He was put in a place of submission by being arrested, surely Jesus would deliver Himself out of the shackles and chains and rise up against His oppressors. Surely this would bring the kingdom into the world’s view.
The Jews would be delivered!
Ahh, Judas. He knew not what he was doing, did he? Or maybe he did. One thing is for sure. He didn’t want to wait on God’s provision. He did not want to wait on God’s timing. Judas needed help in his “now”. The Jews needed help in their “now”.
Judas took the matter into His own hands. Knowing that the authorities wanted Jesus to silence Him from stirring up the people any longer, Judas went to them and told them where they could find Him. Judas went with the Roman soldiers, and kissed Jesus on the cheek to signal to them that He was the one they were to arrest.
For His help, Judas received 30 pieces of silver.
30 pieces of silver…sealed with a kiss.
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Whether it is people I know or see online, many Christians have walked away from the church. Having been hurt by Christians – be they leaders or otherwise – they have chosen to walk away from the assembling of the saints rather than deal with the nature that is the Christian life.
The Christian life isn’t an easy one. As much as we’d like to think it is or how much “faith” we have, we are truly living in a fallen and broken world, filled with fallen and broken people.
Back in March 2022, I asked the question, What is a Christian? In it, I answered it this way:
In simplest terms, as many see it, it is a person of faith in God. Further, a Christian is a person who is a follower of Jesus Christ. They are one who recognizes that God is the creator of all things. They recognize God as a triune being – Father, Son and Spirit. God is perfect and creation was perfect, including man, Adam.
Adam was created in God’s image and that includes Adam’s free will. Adam chose a different path than God desired and thus, sin entered the world that God created. Sin has been with us ever since.
Sin has been with us ever since. Nowhere will you find that a Christian is perfect or that a Christian has all the answers. Knowing full well the trappings of humanity mixing with Christianity, I said this:
A Christian is just a person like you. We struggle. We deal with fear and anxiety brought on by the world’s happenings globally or our own local “world”. We can have unresolved pain and anger. We can walk in unforgiveness. We can be tempted by fame, money, lust and status. We have been broken, beaten, abused, manipulated, cheated on, lied to and more, again and again and again.
Yet, we too have treated others similarly.
We have taken our fears and anxieties out on others because we don’t know how to deal with the happenings of the worlds we live in. We have caused pain and made others angry. We haven’t been forgiven by those we’ve hurt. We tempt with fame, money, lust and status. We have broken, beaten, abused, manipulated, cheated on and lied to others again and again and again.
When Christians don’t meet our expectations of what they should do or who they should be, we take matters into our own hands. We leave the church. We leave a “building”, but we also leave the people that help make up the Body of Christ. We leave the people who are the “Church”, just like us.
Taking matters into his own hands didn’t help Judas the way he thought it would. Think about it. Judas walked with Jesus. He saw miracle after miracle. At some point, he came to the recognition that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. This was it!!!!
Nothing bad would ever happen again. His life would be changed for the good. No more oppression. No more suffering. No more enemies – the Romans.
Things didn’t happen like Judas wanted, so he left the protection and covering of Jesus. He took his eyes off of the Lord.
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This sounds great, Sunny. Really “great”. But what does this have to do with anything right now? I mean, it’s the Christmas season. Why are we talking about Judas instead of Jesus?
Actually, we are talking about both.
Jesus loved Judas.
He died for Judas.
And just like he did for Judas, He died for those who have hurt, disappointed, rejected, and/or abused you. He died for those who have ignored or even hated you. And just like Judas, He died for those who betrayed you.
For God so loved the world…
He died for all who would reject Him. He died for those oppressed, obsessed, and possessed with ungodly or evil spirits. Those influenced by ungodly or evil spirits? The jezebel, luciferian, or whatever evil spirit you want to give a name to? Yeah, He died for those people too.
He laid down His life for them. For all.
Now, Jesus isn’t asking you to lay down your life for them today like He did. But as we enter into this season of advent, this season of joy – this season of giving, if you will – He is asking you, ‘Are you willing to reconcile?’
Merriam-Webster has some interesting definitions of the word, reconcile:
- to restore to friendship or harmony
- reconciled the factions
- Settle, resolve
- reconcile differences
Are you willing to reconcile with God? Are you willing to restore the relationship you had with God? Are you willing to deal with the emotions that have led you away from Him? Are you willing to reconcile with the events from your past that have skewed your view of others or caused you to judge them by standards you don’t adhere to yourself?
Perhaps the most important question of all – Are you willing to reconcile with what God has allowed in your life?
Far too often, this culture wants to point the finger at someone else. “They” caused you to hate, betray, abuse, manipulate. “They” made you BE this way. “They” let you down. “You” can’t BE held responsible for your actions now because of what “they” did to you in the past.
There is always a choice.
God gave Judas a choice, and he chose money and betrayal. Despite his choice(s), Jesus loved Judas. Despite the choices made by others that have affected you negatively, Jesus loved them too. He loved them just as much as He loved you.
When we come to the place where we can reconcile with what God has allowed others to do to us, or reconcile “unanswered” prayers, it is then we can walk in an unending season of joy and peace. We can truly operate free – free from the pain, hurt, anger, and bitterness that seeks to own us.
It’s not easy to do. But when you remember that Jesus loved Judas — through the scouring/beating, through the sheer torture that He endured, every stripe, the crown of thorns, each nail, the piercing — He still loved him.
We often think of the manger as it pertains to Jesus at Christmas. I would add that we think about the cross too. We think of God loving the world so much that He gave His son in the context of Christmas songs like Away in a Manger or The First Noel. We never think of a song like Via de la Rosa or Alabaster Box in the context of Christmas, but why not?
God gave us the greatest gift through His Son. He gave us the gift of salvation which means we can have a relationship with Him! He gave His Son to reconcile us to Himself.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (ESV)
Imagine that. Giving His Son meant reconciliation for the world.
Season of reconciliation.
Selah – Pause and think about that.
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Sunny Cadwallader 
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