JUDAS
The Man Who Walked With Jesus and Still Walked Away
The Man Who Walked With Jesus and Still Walked Away
Judas didn't start as the villain. He started as one of the twelve. Same calling as Peter. Same miracles in front of him as John. Same voice teaching him every single day for three years. He wasn't some outsider who snuck into the group — he was trusted enough to hold the money bag. That should stop you right there. You can be close to Jesus, serve alongside Jesus, even do ministry in the name of Jesus — and still be walking towards betrayal.
That's the part men don't want to hear. Judas's problem wasn't information. He had more exposure to the truth than almost anyone in human history. His problem was what he did with what was going on in his heart while everybody else thought he was fine. Read that again;
His problem was what he did with what was going on in his heart while everybody else thought he was fine.
That's the part men don't want to hear. Judas's problem wasn't information. He had more exposure to the truth than almost anyone in human history. His problem was what he did with what was going on in his heart while everybody else thought he was fine. Read that again;
His problem was what he did with what was going on in his heart while everybody else thought he was fine.
Look at what Scripture actually tells us. John 12 says Judas complained about the expensive perfume poured on Jesus' feet — dressed up as concern for the poor — but John tells us the real reason: he was a thief, and he used to help himself to what was in the money bag.
That's the pattern with a man heading for a fall. It starts small. A little compromise here. A little dishonesty there. Nobody's watching close enough to call it out, and he's not confessing it either. He's just managing it. Hiding it. Telling himself it's not that big a deal.
That's the pattern with a man heading for a fall. It starts small. A little compromise here. A little dishonesty there. Nobody's watching close enough to call it out, and he's not confessing it either. He's just managing it. Hiding it. Telling himself it's not that big a deal.
Then Luke 22 tells us something chilling — Satan entered into Judas. Not before three years of walking with Jesus. After. Access to Jesus doesn't automatically protect a man who won't deal with what's eating away at him in secret.
Here's the lesson for today, Man to Man. Judas is what happens when a man keeps his real struggles hidden long enough. Not the addiction. Not the money. Not the lust. The hiding. The performing like everything's fine while something's rotting underneath. He sat at the table at the Last Supper. He dipped bread in the same dish as Jesus. And he still walked out into the night to do what he'd already decided to do.
Here's the lesson for today, Man to Man. Judas is what happens when a man keeps his real struggles hidden long enough. Not the addiction. Not the money. Not the lust. The hiding. The performing like everything's fine while something's rotting underneath. He sat at the table at the Last Supper. He dipped bread in the same dish as Jesus. And he still walked out into the night to do what he'd already decided to do.
That's every man who's ever smiled through worship with a secret sin nobody knows about. That's every man who's been in church twenty or thirty years and still hasn't told a single soul what he's really wrestling with.
But here's what you need to see, and see clearly — Judas isn't the only one who failed Jesus that night. Peter denied Him three times. Out loud. To strangers' faces. So what's the difference between Peter and Judas? Both men failed. Both men sinned against Jesus in the same twelve hours.
But here's what you need to see, and see clearly — Judas isn't the only one who failed Jesus that night. Peter denied Him three times. Out loud. To strangers' faces. So what's the difference between Peter and Judas? Both men failed. Both men sinned against Jesus in the same twelve hours.
The difference is what they did with the failure. Matthew 27 says Judas was seized with remorse — but he took that guilt to a rope instead of taking it to the cross. Peter took his guilt to Jesus. Judas never gave Jesus the chance to restore him. Peter did. And Peter became the rock the church was built on.
That's The Encounter message.
It's not whether you'll fail. You have and will. It's not whether something dark tries to work its way into your heart. It has and it will. The question is what you do the moment you know it's there. Do you hide it until it owns you?
Or do you drag it into the light and hand it to the only one who can actually deal with it?
Judas's story didn't have to end the way it did. Neither does yours. If there's something you've been managing instead of confessing — something you've hidden — today's the day you stop being Judas in the dark and start being Peter at the fire, weeping, honest, and within reach of restoration.
Come join us at the new encounter and be around men dealing with every possible issue in life. Even if you're ok, come be a support to men that need you.
Come join us at the new encounter and be around men dealing with every possible issue in life. Even if you're ok, come be a support to men that need you.
"The Encounter"
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