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Study:
John 12:1-8. [1] Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. [2] There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. [3] Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. [4] But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, [5] “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” [6] This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. [7] But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. [8] “For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” What are the facts of the passage?:
What do those facts mean?: (Verse
4-6) - The
presence of Judas in the band of Christ's disciples poses a problem for
us. We are faced with the need to explain his presence there. We are faced
with the choice of one of only a couple of possibilities. First,
there is the possibility that Jesus wasn't aware of Judas' nature or his
future or that He had hopes of preventing it. There are many who would
argue that what Judas would do was up to him and that Jesus was only
giving him the opportunity to do what was right; an opportunity that Judas
squandered. The biggest problem with this is that Jesus was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Nothing about the crucifixion of Christ
was left to chance. He was crucified according to the foreordained plan of
God. The betrayal of Judas could not have been left to chance. We are
forced to conclude that Jesus knew precisely who Judas was and what he
would do. Another
possibility was that Jesus was powerless to prevent what Judos ultimately
does. This also is unacceptable for reasons having to do with God's
character. Theologically, there can be nothing beyond God's power to
affect, or He ceases, by definition to be God. The only possibility here
is that God has yielded or delegated some of His authority to men and that
He will not violate that delegation. We are forced to conclude that God
could have prevented Judas' betrayal had He chosen so to do. One idea bears a bit more thought. This idea that Jesus knew, but wouldn't violate Judas' will and let him do as he wished, even though really wanted Judas to obey and not to betray. The problems here are many. Chief of them is that this, too, makes God impotent in the face of a power greater than His own. The Bible makes it clear that no such power exists. It is inconceivable that we have God be at the mercy of His own decree. This is what the hard core prosperity teachers would have us believe. God has ordained that man is free and He is bound by that to abide by the results of that decree. To make God subject to the whim of man is most unacceptable. What we are left with is that Jesus both knew of Judas' nature and his betrayal and that He chose to allow it to occur. This is precisely the picture we are given in the NT. Judas, though a free agent and not coerced by any force other than his own nature, served perfectly the plan of God. God, Christ was never under any power but His own. How do those facts apply to my life?: We need to adjust our thinking to account for and accommodate the power and wisdom of God. We are not nearly so big as we think we are, and He is far bigger! What should I do in response?: |
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