Betrayed with a kiss

Betrayed with a kiss

Scripture:-

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. Matthew 26:47-56

Observation:-

Right after his ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane, an armed mob arrives to take Jesus by force, led by the traitor Judas Iscariot. In a manner of the most hideous taste, Judas elects to betray the Lord with a kiss, signaling to the crowd which man was to be arrested.

The Lord is promptly seized and arrested but one of the disciples, namely Peter, fights back with his sword, cutting off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. The Lord quickly heals the servant and asks Peter to put back his sword, reminding him how this must be done to fulfill the Scriptures. He then admonishes the mob for taking up arms against him here while earlier doing nothing when H1e sat in the temple courts teaching. The disciples, horrified at the turn of events, desert Jesus and flee for their lives.

Application:

Other than the Lord Himself, the dominant character that stands out in this Scripture is Judas Iscariot and his perverse action of betraying Jesus with a kiss.  Ironically, during the time of King David, Joab the commander did a similar thing, pretending to lean to kiss his cousin brother Amasa, before stabbing him in the stomach. On the surface, Judas’ act was one of devotion and respect for His master. However, in truth, it was a terrible act of treachery and betrayal. The lesson for us here is not to just accept things or situations from their outward appearance but ask God for wisdom to discern the truth.

The second major event in this passage was the reaction of Peter and the healing of the servant (which was recorded in another Gospel). Peter impulsively acted with violence without waiting for the Lord’s instruction. But it was not the Lord’s will to use force. Instead, he mentioned twice how all that was happening now was necessary to fulfill Scripture. For us too, in a time of crisis, we must not react in panic or be impulsive. Rather, we should pray and ask God’s will as to what to do next. Decisions done in panic are usually wrong.

The final incident in this Scripture was the Lord admonishing the chief priests and their mob for only arresting him now in private with sticks and swords but not daring to do a thing when he taught everyday in the temple courts. In so doing, the Lord exposed their evil hearts for they plotted in secret and carried out their dirty deeds far away from the people whose favor they were afraid to lose. Are there shameful deeds that we do in secret, that cannot be exposed to the light? The Lord’s command is for us to live transparent and righteous lives unlike those of the chief priests and Pharisees of his days who were like whitewashed tombs which were white and clean on the outside but full of dead bones and everything evil on the inside.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You, Lord, for the wisdom that You give us. Grant us greater and discernment O Lord, that we might be able to look beyond the outside pattern of things but instead look and understand deeper what is the truth.       

Teach us too, O Lord, to be patient and not impulsive. To wait for Your guidance, even in times where the tendency is to panic and act impulsively according to our human wisdom.

Help us O Lord, to live righteous and holy lives not just on the outside but also on the inside, to reflect on the things we do, and seek to live lives worthy of Your calling! In Jesus name, Amen.

  

A light in the haunted house

A light in the haunted house

Greetings, friends,

In light of MH370, many of us probably had a deep rethink about or lives and how short it is. Many of us probably would consider doing something that we might otherwise never get a chance to do. One of the things that I recently felt I needed to do was to document my testimony on how I really started to find true meaning in life.

And this all started in a haunted house. It was my first year at work in one of Malaysia’s most premier plantation and property groups. I was a junior internal auditor, and as part of our work duties, we would be assigned to go to various operating units, many of which were oil palm estates. For our accommodation, we would often have to stay for 2 to 3 weeks at old colonial bungalows in the estate, many of which predated back to World War II times. I was told that in some of these bungalows, unsavory incidents from the past had resulted in occupancy by certain otherworldly occupants.

As things went, I happened to have the privilege to stay in the mother of these bungalows in my first estate assignment, the infamous Paya Lang guesthouse near Segamat estate. It is said that strange things happened there, and my partner himself was terrified about the prospect of staying overnight in that place again. Being the senior, he insisted that we should stay in the room downstairs, and quickly took the bed farther away from the black cupboard that reminded him of a coffin…. It was actually quite a nice house with a beautiful garden and antiquated furniture. The mirrors though, were rather stained and dirty so that one couldn’t quite see his reflection clearly.

In any case, a strange incident happened on what I think was our third night at the guesthouse. Being tired after the day’s work, I had quickly fallen asleep when my colleague woke me up because he was scared and wanted me to let him sleep first. Shortly after, he fell asleep and now I couldn’t sleep. Then suddenly I heard what sounded like irregular footsteps of a little child running in the room above. Suddenly I sensed that there was an invisible presence in the room, feeling me with dread and fear. As I was taught as a child brought up in a Christian home, I said aloud “In Jesus name, go away”, but the presence remained undaunted. Nevertheless, I thank God I was not harmed and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

After coming back from the estate, I began to reflect more and more about this event and my life. Blessed to have Christian parents, I had grown up in a local church and gone to Sunday School and learned about the Bible. However, I began to realize that my faith was actually quite shallow, with some head knowledge, but little real experience concerning God and the spiritual world.

This experience opened my eyes to realize that spirits are real, and the power of the Lord Jesus is real too! I realized that Lord Jesus protected me from harm that day, but because of my weak faith, the evil presence would not go away. Hence, I resolved to really put my trust in Jesus, and really get to know the Bible and try to know God well. I began to really believe in Jesus as Savior… After all, that’s what His name means-the One who Saves.

Thereafter, in the course of my time in audit, I frequented that haunted house many times as well as others, but I no longer felt any fear. As I looked to Jesus for help, He saved me and gave me new confidence, and I was no longer afraid. Sometimes, I was even willing to stay back in such houses alone when my colleagues went out. I was happy to read the Bible there and pray there even alone. Once, even when the lights went out for a while, I was not afraid despite being alone.

At the same time, strange things continued to happen to some of my other colleagues. One went to sleep in an upstairs room one night, and found himself suddenly sleeping downstairs as if levitated down. Another switched off her radio at the mains because it kept sounding irregularly but found to her horror that it still switched on even without electricity. Still others had their beds violently shaken in the middle of the night or found themselves temporarily paralyzed. Some saw little dark shadowy men darting here and there.

As I progressed in my new found Christian life, I also came across the testimonies shared by many who found Jesus to be their Savior as well especially among the Full Gospel Business brothers. Some had gained everything financially before falling into serious debt. They cried out to Jesus for help, and they found a way out and continue to testify of God’s goodness day by day.  Some had great lives until they fell into serious illness like cancer and cried out to Jesus. Jesus saved them too, and they continue to testify. Some were on the verge of marriage breakdown when Jesus saved their marriage. In all these testimonies as well as my own, I saw a common pattern. Men and women called out to the Lord Jesus in their time of desperate need, and He saved them. And friends, I wish the same for you too. If you have not found the Lord Jesus, call out to Him, and He will save you, He will help you. He will never turn away anyone who comes to Him! God bless you in Jesus name, Amen!

The first 3 woes

The first 3 woes

Scripture:

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

Matthew 23:13-22

Observation:

Woe after woe fires away at the Pharisees and teachers of the law! They are charged first and foremost as being hypocrites, people who do not practice what they preach, who say one thing and then do the exact opposite. Every Christian had best beware of the charge of hypocrisy, a common accusation leveled against us by unbelievers. The first woe depicts the Pharisees refusing to enter the door to the kingdom of heaven, but instead shutting the door in people’s faces, preventing those who are trying to go in from doing so. It is bad enough not being able to enter Heaven. How much worse for those who prevent others from going in….

The second woe speaks of the futile efforts of the Pharisees, who travel over land and sea to win a single convert, yet only end up in making another Pharisee even worse than themselves. The Lord calls them “sons of hell?, strong words indeed for the Pharisees and Teachers but it is to hell that they are headed and they did not even know it.  Do we influence others for better or worse?

The third woe condemns the Pharisees for making gold more important than the temple. They created the ridiculous law that if anyone swears by the temple, it amounts to nothing while if a person swears by the gold of the temple, they are bound. As the Lord pointed out, it is the temple that makes the gold sacred. Likewise, they made swearing by the gift of the altar binding while swearing by the altar not binding. Again, it is so clear that it is the altar that makes the gift sacred. Man-made laws such as these only served to expose the heart of the lawmakers who valued money and gifts more than God’s temple or God Himself. Where are our priorities? Is money or possessions more important to us than God?

Application:

Beware of hypocrisy. In humility, ask God to show us where we may have acted in a hypocritical manner, and ask Him to help change us. Praise God that in Jesus, we have found the way to the kingdom of Heaven. Yet, we need to also be careful that we are not by our behavior preventing others from entering the kingdom.

Would others consider us “sons of hell” or “sons of god”? We need to be careful to control our anger, to let our light shine before men that they may praise our Father in Heaven.

The Pharisees allowed greed and materiality to cloud their minds so that they thought the gold was more important than the temple and that the gift was more important than the altar. God is always first. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the gold and all the wealth in the world belongs to Him. Ultimately, it is God that matters most and we need to remember that.

Prayer:

We praise You and thank You, Lord, for Your great love and mercy. Forgive us we pray O Lord, for the times when we have been hypocritical and careless in our conduct or quick to lose our temper. Help us O Lord, live in a way worthy of You. Help us to learn to let our light shine before men that we may glorify You. Lead us away from temptation we pray, from the greed and materiality that drives the world. Help us remember that You O Lord provide all our needs and we need only look to You. We praise You and love You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.