The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Today’s verse is in between the verses that say Jesus “loved his own” and the Father had “put all things under his power.” Jesus has love and has power. All power. Even so, Satan “prompts” Judas.
“Prompt” is an interesting word. It can mean “incite” or “suggest.” In school, I used to enjoy the opportunities for acting that came my way. My worst fear as an actor was forgetting my lines. Having someone to “prompt” me was a comfort. In today’s verse, the comfort was all Satan’s.
He was nudging Judas. “Remember…” he seems to be saying. Remember what? John does not detail how Judas went to the chief priests and negotiated a price for betraying Jesus. The other three gospels to tell that Judas sought out the opportunity to betray Jesus for money.
There is an important lesson here. Judas could have balked at this point. He could have turned back from what he had done. He could have chosen a different path. He could have confessed. But it would have been very hard. He had already let Satan into his heart. Who knows how long he had been nursing resentment toward Jesus? Who can know why he was tempted in the first place? John tells us that Judas was a thief. (John 12: 6) Could his decision to be unfaithful in a little thing have led to being unfaithful in a big thing?
These are not things we can ever know, but we can surmise that Judas took a wrong turn somewhere. We can also see where that led. It is a good reminder that before God, no sin is too small to confess and no right too insignificant to ignore.
Let’s Discuss: How do we tell if something in our lives is off track? Does something too small to worry about leave an opening for Satan?
We are frequently told in Scripture to be on guard. When we let our defenses down, or worse, willingly participate in evil, the enemy seeks a foothold. Any opening in the armor will be a threat. Ephesians 4: 26-27; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter 5: 8-9
Rich,
Great verses! Thank you! Evil is real and real dangerous.
Sadly, I’ve found that even the things I consider small or unimportant can trip me up – sometimes more than the larger sins I deal with. The small ones are easy to ignore as I deal with the bigger or more in your face battles, then WHACK! Blindsided by a small sin or issue that I left unchecked.
It would be comical at times if it weren’t such a serious issue.
As for recognizing when our lives are off-track, I would argue that we (I) know more than we (I) want to admit at any given point.
Have a great day guys!
Brent
Thanks Brent!
Great to hear from you. I appreciate the observation that BIG or small, evil is evil.
We can be most vulnerable in the areas we think that we are strong. Judas was the treasurer. He was undoubtedly good with handling money but, somewhere set his affection on money itself (Col. 3:1-3; Matt. 6:24) Jesus will be our master when we set (must set) our affections on the things of heaven (1 Cor. 15:58)
JEC
Good to see you again! Interesting point about our strengths actually being a weakness. That makes sense if we succumb to the temptation to take pride in ourselves in that area instead of giving glory to God. Thank you!
I agree with everything shared here. “Smaller” issues can be just as dangerous and give the devil and our own desires room to take a stance of rebellion under the radar. Even small sins harden the heart and put to silence a receptive conscience.
I believe we often entertain falsehoods as to what a “small” or “big” sin even is. Oftentimes the root in our heart that leads us into justifying a “smaller” sin can be quite repugnant and great.
I’m reminded of John Owens in The Mortification of Sin:
“The custom of sinning takes away the sense of it, the course of the world takes away the shame of it.”
“When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in all.”
NMOP3PISdn
Thank you for sharing. The quote from Owens is profoundly true. It is said more commonly that “familiarity breeds contempt.” When we have contempt for sin, we ignore or underestimate our peril. This is a great warning! On the flip side, I think it is also true that as we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, there is a continual process of cleansing that goes on in the life of the Christian. God reveals our sin to us in manageable portions and our response needs to be to lean ever more heavily on our Creator for strength to run from sin and resist the Evil One.
Jeff,
Thanks for the encouragement, especially, “our response needs to be to lean ever more heavily on our Creator for strength to run from sin and resist the Evil One.”
I am going to go set aside time now, as I am struggling. I’m experiencing what you illustrated in your closet analogy that you shared earlier w/ how the devil will pull things up from our past to dangle before us and place our focus on our failures rather than on Christ.
NMOP3PISdn
I’ve always appreciated Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” The all things includes our sin. Even if we can’t see how, we can trust God and move forward in life knowing that he can use even our failures and shortcomings to shape us for His kingdom work and His glory.