This day in Holy Week is sometimes called "Spy Wednesday" for it is the day when Judas asked what he would be given if he betrayed Christ.
We all have the choice whether we will betray Christ daily, or deny Him as Peter did just a day later.
How, you ask, can I betray Christ? "I'm no Judas, and I'm no Peter. I'm faithful."
Careful, friends. We are all human and falter. We betray Christ when we choose something over Him. We deny Christ when we don't acknowledge Him with our words and actions. We may never be as dramatic as Judas or Peter, but we have all failed Christ.
Yet, the wonder is, Christ forgives all who come to Him. He holds out scarred hands to us, bidding us "come and rest, abide." He knows we are frail and that we will stumble. He knew that about us before He was raised on the Cross to make atonement for us. He knew all we would do, all the ways we would sin, yet loved us passionately enough to die for us. And with His Resurrection, He overcame that old frightening entity of death and made clear the way for our salvation.
Judas couldn't face the darkness within; what he had done consumed him and he killed himself. Peter, though impetuous and filled with faults, looked instead to the newly risen Christ and found forgiveness. If we stare into our own darkness, our own sin, our own weakness, we will fall and succumb to depression, angst and condemnation. But if we look instead to Christ, confessing our sins and our weakness, He is quick to forgive and always ready to surround us with his abounding love.
He did not condemn Peter, He will not condemn you, if you only you come to Him. Don't handle things on your own like Judas.....you can't save yourself.
Be blessed, my friends, and may you be a blessing unto others.
-Beth Haynes Butler
We all have the choice whether we will betray Christ daily, or deny Him as Peter did just a day later.
How, you ask, can I betray Christ? "I'm no Judas, and I'm no Peter. I'm faithful."
Careful, friends. We are all human and falter. We betray Christ when we choose something over Him. We deny Christ when we don't acknowledge Him with our words and actions. We may never be as dramatic as Judas or Peter, but we have all failed Christ.
Yet, the wonder is, Christ forgives all who come to Him. He holds out scarred hands to us, bidding us "come and rest, abide." He knows we are frail and that we will stumble. He knew that about us before He was raised on the Cross to make atonement for us. He knew all we would do, all the ways we would sin, yet loved us passionately enough to die for us. And with His Resurrection, He overcame that old frightening entity of death and made clear the way for our salvation.
Judas couldn't face the darkness within; what he had done consumed him and he killed himself. Peter, though impetuous and filled with faults, looked instead to the newly risen Christ and found forgiveness. If we stare into our own darkness, our own sin, our own weakness, we will fall and succumb to depression, angst and condemnation. But if we look instead to Christ, confessing our sins and our weakness, He is quick to forgive and always ready to surround us with his abounding love.
He did not condemn Peter, He will not condemn you, if you only you come to Him. Don't handle things on your own like Judas.....you can't save yourself.
Be blessed, my friends, and may you be a blessing unto others.
-Beth Haynes Butler
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