Judas

Do you ever feel sorry for Judas? Sometimes I wonder if he knew what he was doing when he betrayed Christ. He had been with Christ for three years or so, heard him teach, saw the miracles and had the chance to walk with him and learn from the Master.

I often wonder if 30 pieces of silver was really enough to make him betray Jesus. And I wonder if he knew that execution was the price of his betrayal. The account in Matthew 26 seems to give the thought that Jesus told them that he was going to be crucified THEN Judas hatched his plan. Maybe I've been to easy on Judas. Maybe he really did want Jesus to die. Maybe he thought that would bring about the violent revolution to overthrow Rome and free Israel from their pagan oppressors. We will never know what he thought. But I do feel sorry for him, in an odd sort of way.

Joining or becoming?

My friend Kurt Stevens, over at Kurt's Korner had a great post on What The Marines Taught Me About Christianity Click on it and enjoy.

I found his discussion the distinction between joining something and becoming something to be very insightful. It is a subtle distinction, but a crucial one with Christianity. We need to become something new, to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We aren't joining a club. We are becoming like Christ. The mindset is very different.

He said it much better than I can. Go read it for yourself.