Mark 14:10-11

Mark 14:10-11  Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.  They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money.  So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.  

Genesis 25:29-34  Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew!  I’m famished!”  (That is why he was also called Edom.)  Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”  “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said.  “What good is the birthright to me?”  But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”  So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.  He ate and drank, and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright. 

The question about the Mark passage is: Why did Judas Iscariot betray Jesus?  We read that he was one of the Twelve.  Judas was in the inner circle, the inner clique.  He conversed with Jesus.  He slept by Jesus' side at night.  He heard Jesus' voice in song.  He saw Jesus' tears as He wept over Jerusalem.  He saw the miracles.  He saw the demons flee. Then why would he betray his companion of wisdom, power, and love to the powers of the day: the sanctimonious Jewish elite and the hated Roman rulers?  What went wrong in Judas?  No one really knows, but one thing we do know: he threw all the allegiance and love that he had for Jesus away for a bowl of stew, for thirty pieces of silver, such a meager exchange.  He threw away his inheritance, his right to eternal life.  He rejected his privilege of being with the Son of God forever.  As with Esau, he despised his birthright.  Like Esau, he later repented of his deed, but it was too late.  

The book of Hebrews says, It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.  (Hebrews 6:4-6)  As the eldest in the family of Isaac, Esau was chosen to bring the Messiah to Earth through his lineage.  Through his bloodline, Jesus would be conceived.  But Esau threw that privileged position away for a fleshly desire, to satiate his hunger.  Judas was chosen to be one of the twelve, one of the twelve who would usher in the body of Christ, the church of the living God, the people who would bring good news to the world.  He would have been an elder in the church, an apostle, a founder.  He was to prepare the way for the Holy Spirit to establish his temple in the hearts of many.  But like Esau, his fleshly desire for a temporary satisfaction, in this case money, overcame his good judgment, and consequently he betrayed the Lord. 

We are warned in Hebrews 6 not to take lightly the things of God.  If we have tasted of the "heavenly gift," which I believe is Christ, we should cherish that revelation, holding it dear.  If we have "shared in the Holy Spirit," felt his loving presence in us, we should hold onto him.  If we have "tasted the goodness of the word of God," experienced the enlightenment of the Word, we should revel in it.  If we understand "the powers of the coming of age," we should rejoice for our coming King is near.  If we throw all of this away, for worldly delights or pleasures that are fleeting, we are throwing away our birthright.  Sometimes our very actions and reactions say, "Jesus Christ, you are not significant in my life; I don't really believe you are the Son of God.  To prove that, I will disown you.  I will allow the world to crucify you.  I will personally crucify you in MY LIFE.  As far as I am concerned, you are dead to me."  We may not have said those exact words, but our choices testify to where our hearts and our lives are heading: we are choosing a pot of stew or a bag of gold or a piece or land over the Lord of Lords in our lives.  Before you go that far, before there is no possibility of redemption, for redemption comes only through Jesus Christ, stop and consider the cost.  If you still believe that true salvation comes through Jesus Christ, you are always privileged to come back to God.  For you still have a way to the throne room, which is the blood of Jesus Christ.  If you are seeking the things of this world but longing to go back to the peace of serving only your Savior, Lord, and King, quickly repent, and return to him.  Rejoice, your Redeemer lives and makes intercession for you.  Today, plant your faith and trust in his work alone.