Acts 1:15-20
What kind of a disciple do you want to be?
In today’s passage, it’s clear who you don’t want to be: Judas.
Peter doesn’t hold back in telling the truth about the one who betrays Jesus. He stands up in front of a crowd and is clear about what happened. Judas made a choice that changed everything, and Peter condemns it.
Judas’ fatal choice, however, must have been more complicated than it initially seems. At what point did he begin falling away from following Christ? Was it that moment when Jesus praises Mary for anointing his feet with costly perfume (John 12:1-8)? Was it the difference in their personalities, or their purposes, that began to get under Judas’s skin? Did Judas start to think that he could straighten out the world more effectively? Did greed overcome his better judgment?
Judas’s story is an opportunity to ask ourselves how closely we follow Jesus. At what points are we tempted to step away from the cost of discipleship? When do we close ourselves off from Christ and refuse to share honestly what we are thinking and feeling, as Judas does? Our actions, choices, and words reveal much about the faith in which we live. Discipleship is not without struggle and missteps. Scripture makes sure we know about Peter’s denial and Thomas’s doubts because their stories of forgiveness, grace, and community offer us hope. Judas’s self-centered choices along the way lead to tragedy.
Consider
What kind of disciple do you want to be? What does it mean for you to stay faithful to Christ?
Prayer
God, help me to wisely discern the choices I need to make to follow you. Amen.