Jump Start # 4155

John 18:5 “They answered Him, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ He said to them, ‘I am He.’ and Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.”

John’s account of the arrest of Jesus is most interesting. The chapter opens with Jesus crossing over the ravine of the Kidron and entering the garden (18:1). Down the valley and back up the other side is what this literally looks like. I’ve been there. Coming out of the city gates of Jerusalem, carrying torches at night, it would be easy to see the coming mob. Jesus had plenty of time to escape into the darkness and get away. He stayed. He could watch them coming.

Most of the mob did not know Jesus and it was dark. Rather than stepping back into the shadows or standing behind some of the disciples, Jesus sets forward and asks, “Who are you looking for?” The reply was, “Jesus the Nazarene?” Most desperate criminals would have hidden their identity or lied. Not Jesus. He wasn’t a desperate criminal. He was a willing sacrifice. Jesus identified Himself as the one they were looking for.

And, as our verse today ends, Judas is standing with “them” and not the Lord. Later Peter would be found sitting with the wrong crowd. Most times when we are with the wrong group, we get pinned in a corner, and find our faith on shaky ground. Judas was in the group around Jesus, but he was not standing with Jesus. He was standing with the enemy. He was standing with “them.”

This is a great lesson for all of us. How is it that we are standing with “them” and not the Lord?

First, the heart of Judas wasn’t with Jesus. This is how it always begins. Much like the prodigal, whose heart was in the far country long before he pack his bags and left the house, when our hearts are not with Jesus, we will soon be standing with “them.” We can sit through a worship service and our hearts are not with Jesus. Wandering minds, restless souls, worried hearts, and lives filled with the here and now, we’ve gone to church, but we haven’t worshipped the Lord.

Judas heard the very words of Jesus. Judas saw the miracles. Judas helped feed the five thousand. Judas was in the boat when Jesus calmed the storm. Judas witnessed the Lord walking on water. He saw the demons flee into the pigs and then the pigs rushed into the sea and drowned. Yet, after all that, the heart of Judas was not with Jesus.

Is it any different for you and I? We’ve read the pages detailing these miracles. We’ve read through the sermon on the mount dozens of times, reading the words of our Lord. We’ve been given an eyewitness glimpse into the transfiguration, which most of the others did not see. We’ve been invited into the home of Jairus and saw his little daughter come back to life. Through the pages of the Scriptures and through faith, we were there. Yet, is our heart with Jesus?

Second, Judas had a love for this life and especially money. He kept the money bags. He helped himself by stealing. And, now, there was a quick way to make more money, just sell out to the enemy. When we keep one foot in the world, we will always be pulled that direction. It might be money and materialism. It might be an addiction to gambling, the bottle, drugs or porn. It might be power. It might be honor and fame. A love for this life will keep us with “them,” because that’s where you find those kind of things that interests us.

Third, loved by Jesus, chosen by Jesus, and with Jesus, Judas had more in common with “them” than he did the Lord. That’s hard for us to understand, yet it is no different for us. We are loved by the Lord. We are chosen by the Lord. We have the opportunity to be with the Lord and yet our language, our likes, our attitudes, our dress, our motives reveal that we have more in common with ‘them’ than we do the Lord.

Judas came with them because he was like them. Judas was standing with them because he was one of them. In contrast, the early disciples were called “Christian” at Antioch. They were like Christ. They were standing with Jesus. They were one of them.

Standing…with “them” or with the Lord?

Roger