BETRAYED FOR MONEY
‘And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray Him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.’
It is impossible to conceive a more striking proof of the lengths a man may go in a false profession of religion than the history of Judas Iscariot. If ever there was a man who at one time looked like a true disciple of Christ, and bade fair to reach heaven, that man was Judas. He was so like his fellow disciples that they did not suspect him of being a traitor. And yet this very man turns out at last a false-hearted child of the devil—departs entirely from the faith—assists our Lord’s deadliest enemies, and leaves the world with a worse reputation than any one since the days of Cain.
I. How can this conduct of Judas be accounted for?—There is only one answer to that question. ‘The love of money’ was the cause of this unhappy man’s ruin. That same grovelling covetousness which enslaved the heart of Balaam, and brought on Gehazi a leprosy, was the destruction of Iscariot’s soul.
II. The need of humility.—Learn from this melancholy history to be ‘clothed with humility,’ and to be content with nothing short of the grace of the Holy Ghost in our hearts. Knowledge, gifts, profession, privileges, church-membership, power of preaching, praying, and talking about religion are all useless things if our hearts are not right.
III. Above all, ‘beware of covetousness’ (Luke 12:15).—It is a sin that eats like a canker, and once admitted into our hearts may lead us finally into every wickedness. Let us pray to be ‘content with such things as we have’ (Hebrews 13:6). The Christian ought to be far more afraid of being rich than of being poor.