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A Wolf Among the Sheep

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Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1 ESV

My heart stirred when I read that verse the other day over my morning coffee. There’s nothing quite like Jesus’ love. He poured it out on His disciples while He lived among them, and “…He loved them to the end.”

Sadly, they didn’t all love Him in return. The very next verse ushers in the unthinkable.

During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:2-5

I wonder how Judas felt as Jesus knelt before him to wash his feet. Did his heart race as Jesus tenderly dipped them in the basin? I wonder if Jesus gazed into his face, eyes blazing with the love He felt for him.

His betrayal must have burned within his soul, and yet Judas still left the table to sell his Savior for thirty pieces of silver.

It seems impossible to us, but the truth is, any one of us could easily be him.

Dear one, I doubt that Judas set out to betray Jesus in the beginning. He probably began his journey much like the other disciples—full of hope and wonder, drawn by possibility.

So what went wrong? How could a trusted friend of Jesus stray so terribly far off course?

One thing separates the sheep from the wolf, beloved. Love. Judas may have served with Jesus, but he never offered Him his heart. He wasn’t willing to deny himself to follow Him. He wanted to use his relationship with Jesus to further himself.

How do I know that? The previous chapter invites us to view another scene where the disciples reclined around a table and a different foot washing of sorts took place. Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus,

. . . took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  John 12:3

Our friend Judas had an interesting response.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. John 12:4-6

Do you see it, dear one? Judas served, but he didn’t love. He couldn’t understand “wasting” expensive perfume to anoint Jesus. He didn’t love Him like Mary did. And he didn’t want to waste spending the ministry funds on the poor Jesus loved. He wanted it for himself.

Hear me, beloved. Jesus gave Judas the same power He gave the other eleven (Luke 9:1-2). He could preach the Word. He could heal the sick. If power marked the true disciple, Judas surely was one.

Yet John 17:12 reveals that Judas was doomed to destruction (NIV).

Power and authority are not the marks of salvation, dear one. God can empower anyone at any time to do His will simply because He’s God. The mark of salvation is found in a different place. It’s found within the heart. Jesus said,

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love . . . ” John 13:35

1 John 2:5-6 adds this:

But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Jesus lived out love, and “ . . . he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

While Judas went through all the motions of being a disciple, he wasn’t one. He looked like one. He acted like one. Jesus even empowered him like one. But he didn’t have the heart of one.

No one else could tell. The disciples had no idea who Jesus was talking about when He told them one would betray Him (John 13:22). They saw no external signs because he looked and acted just like the rest of them.

But Jesus saw. He knew the self-centered longings of Judas’ heart. He knew he never truly offered Jesus the right to rule in him. He remained his own lord, choosing to exalt his own kingdom instead of God’s. And Jesus honored Judas’ choice.

He loved him to the end, but He did not save him.

An Encounter with Glory

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“Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.  Mark 15:32

At times I have difficulty grasping the love of God. As I consider the road to Calvary, emotion overwhelms me. I picture my Jesus anguishing on His knees in Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood. I see fists pounding His flesh, a thorny crown beaten into His head, lashes repeatedly stripping skin and bloody tissue from His back.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  Isaiah 53:7

While His own people spit at Him and mocked Him, Jesus silently bore the weight of a cross—a punishment due us but not He who carried it—and stumbled up the hill to Calvary. There, angry soldiers pounded nails into His hands and feet, pinning Him to that cross. The ground beneath Him stained crimson by the blood of earth’s Creator, at last Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

It might be easy for us to blame the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, but the truth is, you and I put Jesus there as much as they did. Our sin nailed Him to that cross.

These words from Sidewalk Prophets’ song You Love Me Anyway pierce my heart each time I hear them.

I am the thorn in Your crown, but You love me anyway

I am the sweat from Your brow, but You love me anyway

I am the nail in Your wrist, but You love me anyway

I am Judas' kiss, but You love me anyway

. . . I am the man that called out from the crowd

For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground

Yes then, I turned away with this smile on my face

With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace

And then alone in the night, I still called out for You

So ashamed of my life . . .

But You love me anyway

I am a blessed recipient of that grace, of that incomprehensible love. For 26 years I rejected my Lord and King, yet still He welcomed me with open arms the instant I opened my heart. Words cannot express my gratitude over His pursuit of this prodigal. He intersected my life, pierced my blindness with His glorious truth, and inscribed His Name upon my heart. In light of His revelation, I had nothing to offer Him but myself, and He gladly received me. Only later did I realize that “me” is all He ever truly wanted.

History records another recipient of grace whose life—and death—offers irrefutable hope of redemption through faith in the Son of God. The story of the crucified thief who joined Jesus in paradise unravels any theory that Jesus welcomes us based on the good we’ve done. Even the thief declared,

“We are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man [Jesus] has done nothing wrong.”  Luke 23:41

I’d like to shift our focus to his next words, however.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:42

Perhaps you have never considered this thought before: How did he know? How did he know that Jesus would, indeed, come into a kingdom? His eyes witnessed the same things Jesus’ Disciples saw that sent them running in fear and believing it was over. Jesus hung battered and broken, struggling for His next breath and nearing His last. Death hung immanently, yet the thief knew that Jesus would one day reign as King, and he entrusted his life to His care. How did he know what even the Disciples could not yet understand?

I’d like to suggest that our friend the thief had an encounter with glory. God sent His Spirit to open his eyes and enable him to see. In John 6:65, Jesus said,

“. . . I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

Our opening Scripture today reveals that as our thief first hung on the cross beside Jesus, he did not recognize Him as the Son of God. He joined the crowd and the other thief hurling insults at the King of Kings.

Jesus performed no visible miracle from the cross to change his opinion. He only heard His fervent prayers to the Father and listened to Jesus speak of forgiveness. But as the thief heard the words of Christ, God pierced his darkness with the light of truth, allowing a once blind man to see that Jesus was everything He claimed to be. He suddenly knew that death would not hold this King of the Jews. And with a repentant heart, our thief emerged alone from the crowd in defense of Jesus, abandoning the hateful mockers to proclaim His coming kingdom. All doubt erased, this man stood certain of what his earthly eyes could not see.

“ . . . blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  John 20:29

Indeed.

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23:43

Have you had your encounter with glory, dear one? Do you know beyond reason and doubt that Jesus’ kingdom is coming? Or are you still trying to convince yourself based on what others have told you?

You can know, beloved. Jesus longs to reveal Himself to you, to invade your darkness with His truth-baring light. All He requires of you is a seeking heart. He’ll do the rest.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:13-14

The forgiven thief possessed the only thing he needed to draw God to Him that day. He had a repentant heart that sought the truth, so God faithfully showed up to reveal it in time for him to enter into paradise. Then our thief made the choice to believe. How like our Lord to come after the one lost lamb and carry him safely into the fold!

And what of the rest of the mob?  Some people just like the darkness (John 3:19). The others simply didn’t care.