Bible
Study: Isaiah 42, 1 to 7 and John 12, 1 to 11.
In today’s
Gospel passage, we get to meet Judas Iscariot and we discover what exactly led
to his betrayal of Jesus. There is a five letter word that always feels good to
have yet never brings true satisfaction, the love of which is the root of all
evils. It is called Money.
This was
six days before the Passover, Jesus and his disciples were having a reception
at the home of his dear friend Lazarus who had just been raised from the dead.
Martha, the professional cook, served dishes and Mary who always loved to sit
at Jesus’ feet expressed her love for Jesus by anointing his feet with an
expensive ointment, wiping his feet with her very hair.
Judas Iscariot
suddenly become furious. He queried the “wastefulness” of Mary saying that such
ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Ordinarily,
Judas has a strong point here. Anyone hearing him would say: “Wow, this man
truly cares about the poor. He is Mother Theresa.”
But God
alone knows the heart. God knew that Judas had no real concern for the poor, he
cared only about enriching himself. John says: “He was a thief and used to help
himself with the collections from the money box that was directly under his
care.” Can you imagine? Judas was the chief accountant, the treasurer, the
minister of finance, the one upon whom was trusted with the responsibility of
keeping monies meant for Jesus and the other disciples, yet he could not but
help himself.
When the
love of money takes us over, we are ready to do anything just to have more! And
the more money we get, the less secure we become. Judas would eventually gamble
with Jesus by selling him off to his persecutors hoping that after collecting
the money, Jesus would escape from their hands.
Like Judas,
there are so many of us today who collect money for the poor only to enrich
ourselves with it. We even go from place to place begging on behalf of the poor
but God alone sees our heart.
Am I in
love with money? Do I place money above God? Do I take advantage of my worship
of God as an avenue to make money? Do I take that which does not belong to me
but have been put under my care?
Dear
friends, we all have an element of Judas Iscariot in us. Something that makes
us try to build our security on money, something that pushes us to any length just
to make more money even by dubious means. Let us work towards taming our Judas
lest we also betray Jesus for money.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, may my love for you be greater than my love for money. Amen.
God bless
you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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