One of the most
famous, most controversial persons to have hanged himself was Judas Iscariot.
Not only did he commit physical suicide by hanging himself, he also committed
spiritual suicide by handing over his only means to salvation, Jesus Christ. I
understand there may be some who possibly disagree, but if you have picked up
this book I hope that you will read it to the end before making the decision to
put it back down.
My goal in
writing this work is to ask the reader to consider:
do i see myself
in Judas iscariot?
It is estimated
that approximately one million people commit suicide worldwide each year. How
many are likewise committing spiritual suicide daily around the globe? With the
former leading to the loss of life and the latter leading to the loss of soul,
how many Professing Christians are Playing Judas each and every day? Are you?
Am I?
I start with the
premise that Judas Iscariot was an actual person, and although the scriptural
accounts of him may not be in full they are accurate. I note this to explain
that the purpose of this writing is not to verify the existence of Judas, or to
prove the validity of scripture. There are other authors who have done such
studies, some of which are included in my Sources, if one would like to peruse
a study of Judas Iscariot outside of my current focus.
The reason for
this work is not simply to cast stones at Judas, to begrudgingly make him the
worst sinner of all times; for Paul said he was the chief among sinners [1
Timothy 1:15]. It is also not meant to merely boost self-righteousness in the heart
of the reader or myself, by purely having us compare ourselves with him; as we
have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. [Romans 3:23] We do know
that outside of Christ “there is none righteous, no, not one” [Romans 3:10], so
to compare ourselves to see “who is better” would be quite a sinful folly.
What I would
like to ask the reader to do is to examine the contents of this book in light
of two verses:
All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. [2 Timothy 3:16-17]
Now all these things happened unto them
for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
the world are come. [1 Corinthians 10:11]
Let the reader
put away their critique of the original Hebrew and Greek, of the supposed
errors within translations, and the possible inclusions of superstitions
interwoven into the scriptures for just a moment, if you would. Let us take a
look at Judas Iscariot as an example; as an admonition meant to reprove,
correct, and instruct us. I believe we could all do well with a little bit of
self-examination most days.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall. [1 Corinthians 10:12]
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