Joakim hid in the shadows, fingering the flash drive in his pocket. He tapped his toe. Why weren’t they here yet? He peeked around the corner. The street was empty. Everyone had vacated this stretch of town. It wasn’t safe.

A garbage can tipped behind him, causing Joakim to jump. A cat screeched and ran deeper into the alley.

Hurry up before I lose my nerve.

He leaned against the brick wall. Could he really do this? Sell out his best friend? He loved Joshua like a brother, but why did Joshua always get everything? It wasn’t fair.

Approaching footsteps caused him to stand on guard. It’s time.

Two men appeared. “You got it?” one asked.

Joakim pulled the drive out but shoved his hand back into his pocket. “How much will you give me?” The amount had to be worth the pain of betrayal. There would be no going back now.

The other thug shoved a bulging envelope in his face. “Enough. Now hand it over.”

Joakim dropped it into the thug’s hand. “What’s on this drive will be enough to do damage.”

“Good. Then the boss will take care of him.” He laughed. “He’ll never know what hit him.”

They left.

Joakim peeked in the envelope and leafed through a wad of bills. He sighed.

Blood money.

Spring is on its way! I love this time of year for a few reasons—new buds on the trees, rebirth of my lilacs, and fresh starts. However, I’m most thankful for our celebration of Christ’s ultimate gift to us. He died so that we may have life. Wow.

For the next three weeks I’m blogging on three individuals who we don’t normally focus on during this time of year. I’m not sure why because they each played an important part of God’s plan. Perhaps we just don’t want to look at their flaws. Maybe they hit too close to home in one way or another. Who am I referring to?

This week it’s the betrayer—Judas.

Have you ever put yourself in Judas’ shoes? Why do you think he would betray his best friend? His master. We know it was all part of God’s plan, but let’s just look at some other possible observations.

Jealousy? The Bible certainly doesn’t tell us this, but maybe Judas felt he wasn’t one of the chosen ones. Perhaps he was jealous of the other disciples. Did he feel that Jesus had favorites? We know that wasn’t true, but we don’t know what went through Judas’ mind. Jealously gets us every time. It can erode our every thought and bring us to do things we wouldn’t normally do. How about we search our hearts for any seeds of jealously and get rid of them? Pronto!

Greed? We know this for a fact. In Judas’ words he says, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” If that isn’t greed, I don’t know what is! Judas probably thought he could get ahead by making money off this. We all know how that ended. We shouldn’t be quick to judge. We’re the same. We want what our neighbor has but personified—the shiniest car, biggest house, most gadgets, etc. Lets be careful our wants don’t get the best of us. Greed can also lead to terrible actions. We must learn to curb it.

Evil? Yes, we know evil entered Judas. It tells us in John that the “devil had already prompted Judas.” Do we take the evil of this world seriously? I’m not sure we do. Satan is powerful. Let’s pray for protection from evil. Put on our armor daily.

We can learn a lot of what not to do from Judas. How about we learn from that? Watch our greed and jealousy. Don’t let evil lure us in. Avoid it at all costs.

Judas performed the ultimate betrayal. In the end, he knew it.

Don’t be a betrayer.

Have you ever been betrayed? Share your story in the comment section.

Matthew 26:48-29 (NIV)

“Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.”

Judas’ betrayal – from The Passion of the Christ

(warning – this might be hard to watch)

Contest winner!

The winner of The Survivor is….Michelle Sealy from Kingsville, Ontario. Congrats Michelle and enjoy!