The 260 Journey

Day 27

Today’s Reading: Matthew 27

If ever a man had a chance to become a saint it should have been Judas.

Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus.

For more than two years, he lived with Jesus. He listened to His words, watched His miracles, and yet this man deliberately planned to betray Him. No one in history had a better chance than Judas. The rich young ruler only met Jesus once, and yet Judas was with Him every day.

Judas ruined for all time the name he bore. No woman in history ever thinks of naming her child “Judas;” yet Judas was an honorable name at one time. There was Judas Maccabeus—who bravely fought to defend the Jewish land and religion more than a hundred years before Jesus was born. Even one of Jesus’ brothers bore the name Judas. And now forever that name is associated with betrayal.

When Jesus said, “One of you will betray me.” No one said, “Is it Judas?”

Jesus always has a double effect, but He never allows neutrality. Just as fire can soften wax or harden clay, to be with Jesus is either a blessing or a curse. The presence of Jesus changed fickle Peter into a rock and exposed Judas’s greed.

The sin of Judas was a sin against repeated warnings. The more I think about Judas, the more I see how many times he heard Jesus speak about the perils of money. Judas heard, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” He heard, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul.” Judas heard the parable of the man who filled his barns but did not prepare his soul and was called a fool. I believe Jesus calling him “friend” in Matthew 26:50 was a last-ditch effort to win Judas back before the deal went through in the Garden of Gethsemane.

There is a butterfly hidden within the confines of an ugly caterpillar. But not all caterpillars become butterflies. Scientists tell us that sometimes flies thrust the bodies of the caterpillar with a tiny egg. The egg hatches into a grub, which feeds upon the butterfly, forming elements in the makeup of a caterpillar. The caterpillar does not even know it happens. It goes right on living and eating, but the grub has destroyed its capacity to advance. The glorious, winged creature, which might have been, is now gone and it never becomes the butterfly.

Judas had a grub inside him that made him a lover of money more than a lover of God. When he saw the woman break the alabaster box and pour the costly perfume upon Jesus’ head, his first thought, It might have been sold.

Listen to the end of his betrayal while Jesus was being tried and led to the cross. Here is what was happening with Judas:

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5, NIV)

I thought hard about this: Peter and Judas. One was a denier and the other a betrayer.

After he denied: Peter went out and wept bitterly. After he betrayed: Judas went out and hanged himself. Each of these men had a chapter in their life where sin ruled them. Both failed but their stories ended differently. Should not have Peter’s story ended up like Judas’s? Which is the better end—the disciple with the tearful eye or the disciple with the broken neck?

Why would failure bring suicide? And why would failure bring repentance? One disciple after failure became a swinging corpse on a tree and the other became a preacher on the Day of Pentecost.

Why did the Master choose a man like Judas? The better question is why did He ever choose someone like me? He did not choose him or us for what we were—certainly not for what he became—but for what he, and we, might become.

We are going to sin. We are going to mess up. There have probably been times when I have sold Him for far less than thirty pieces of silver, sold Him for a temporary thrill. But here I am by the grace of God. And there have been times I have denied Him. I have been ashamed to speak up like Peter and cowered into silence. Why am I still here? Why am I not swinging? Why am I not preaching like Peter? Instead of trying to figure out the end of Peter and Judas’s differences, we must make sure our end is gripping the mercy of God.

Day 26

Today’s Reading: Matthew 26

Every time I get a new Bible, I write the same thing in each one before I start reading. I put it right on the flyleaf. It is a five-hundred-year-old poem a prison convict wrote: “There was a man, and they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had.” That prison convict was John Bunyan.

The more he gave, the more he had.

It doesn’t make sense. It seems like a contradiction.

The English language does this. We have words and phrases in English that seem to make no sense and at times, appear contradictory. Consider a few:

• A ship carries cargo, and a car carries shipments.
• You park on a driveway but you drive on a parkway.
• Your nose runs and your feet smell.
• The person who invests all your money is called a broker.
• And why do doctors call what they do practice? Shouldn’t they be good at it by now?

Then some words are way off in their descriptions of an item. We see an example of this in today’s reading. Jesus and His disciples saw the same event at the same time . . . but their definitions of it were so far apart that it feels contradictory. Let’s look at the story.

Jesus now proceeded to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper. While he was eating, a woman came in with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it over his head. The disciples were indignant. “What a waste of good money,” they said. “Why, she could have sold it for a fortune and given it to the poor.” Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why are you criticizing her? For she has done a good thing to me. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me. She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. And she will always be remembered for this deed. The story of what she has done will be told throughout the whole world, wherever the Good News is preached.” (Matthew 26:6-13, TLB)

Here is the contradiction:

• The disciples’ interpretation of this woman’s act: “What a waste” (verse 8).
• Jesus’ interpretation: “a good thing” (verse 10).

These perspectives were based on this woman’s extravagant gift. Listen to the words of comparison. Two views of the same deed: waste and good. These are really far apart. How could someone who had been with Jesus for three years be that far off on something like this? What’s worse is that I can see myself in those disciples. How can I be with Jesus for almost four decades and still misinterpret and misdefine so badly?

This woman took Jesus seriously and became the center of attention just days before the crucifixion. What did Jesus see in this act that the disciples did not? What made it beautiful and significant?

It had the extravagance of God on it.

It was extravagant—it spared no expense; it showed a lack of restraint in using resources; it was elaborate. This woman’s act looked a lot like what God does.

Think about creation. When God created He was extravagant. He was not stingy. He could have created one star but decided that was not enough for the space, so He loaded the heavens with hundreds of billions of them.

He created everything with extravagance. He spoke and ten million insects were created, ten million species. Not one hundred, not one thousand. There are 2,500 variations of ants (most in my home) and three hundred thousand species of beetles. Extravagance.

He created more than ten thousand species of birds. Five billion birds live in the United States alone! Then He got extravagant with their personalities. Some can fly up to five hundred miles nonstop. Mallard ducks fly 60 mph; eagles, 100 mph; falcons, 180 mph. Some He created to navigate by the stars.

He created more than 28,000 species of fish.

This was God breaking His alabaster box for the world to see beauty. Everywhere you look at the world around you, you can’t miss God.

I wonder if that is why Jesus praised this woman. He saw that her act was just like what the Father does, and it caught His attention.

Mother Teresa told a story that showcases God’s extravagance toward us.

A nun once said to me, “Mother Teresa, you are spoiling the poor people by giving them free things. They are losing their human dignity...”

I said calmly, “No one spoils us as much as God himself. See the wonderful gifts he has given to us freely. . . All of you have no glasses yet you all can see. If God were to take money for your sight, what would happen? Continually we are breathing and living on oxygen that we do not pay for. What would happen if God were to say, ‘If you work four hours you will get sunshine for two hours?’ How many of us would survive then? . . . There are many congregations that spoil the rich; it is good to have one congregation in the name of the poor, to spoil the poor.”

Jesus saw extravagance in this gift. Jesus saw Himself in this gift.

It was giving the best with nothing left.

In that time, it was common to offer small amounts of fragrant ointment to refresh the dinner guests. But Mary went beyond custom and what was common. She poured the whole vial on Jesus’ head as if she were inaugurating a king to his office or, as Jesus would say later, preparing a body for burial.

The story as Mark told it put a dollar amount on it:

Some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” (Mark 14:4-5)

Three hundred denarii was one year’s wages.

When was the last time you gave to God and nothing was left? Not just money . . . but in worship, in serving, in sacrifice, in a conviction that could cost you friends, reputation, and maybe a job?

I think she got overwhelmed with Jesus and thought, Everything. He gets everything because He deserves all.

God gave it all when He gave His Son and . . . in just a few days from this anointing, Jesus was about to give His everything—His life. I think Jesus saw the character of God in this gift.

When I read this story, I think of the prayer of Jim Elliot, the 1960s martyr who prayed, “Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.”

This woman got it right. An extraordinary God deserves an extraordinary gift.

Let’s not give too ordinary.

Day 25

Today’s Reading: Matthew 25

Leonard Ravenhill, one of my spiritual fathers, said: “Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, ‘Leonard, you took Me too seriously’?”

This chapter makes us take eternity seriously. Jesus starts right away in verse one with, “God’s kingdom is like . . .” and then He tells three stories.

This chapter is made up of three parables on the kingdom of heaven. It is very simple to outline. In His first parable, He tells of the silly, or foolish, virgins. Then He tells about the parable of the talents. Finally, He shares the parable of the sheep and goats at the throne.

We can see similarities among the three. First, there are winners and losers. Everyone does not go to heaven. There is consequence for living a selfish life and there is reward for living a life sold out to Jesus. In parable 1, He called the winners the ready and the wise. In parable 2, He called them the faithful. And in parable #3, He called them the blessed (“of My Father”) or the righteous. The wise, the faithful, and the righteous. The losers were called the foolish, the wicked, and the accursed ones.

Second, no one is born a loser but a chooser. That means they all had opportunities to be on the right side, filled with oil, a prospering talent, or doing the right thing for the poor, imprisoned, and sick. Things were presented to them that would determine what they would do with their life.

Third, each of the losing groups had explanations, excuses, and desires to get freebies and not play by the rules. The coming of the Lord will be a time of separation, a time of evaluation, and a time of commendation.

Time of separation: all of them were virgins and looked alike.
Time of evaluation: we are held responsible for what we are given.
Time of commendation: everything we do for God does not go unnoticed.

Finally, the end result of the silly virgins, the one-talent man, and the goats was final. Finally is final. It is called “the door is shut,” outer darkness, going away into eternal punishment—a place for the devil and his angels.

Let me give you one quick lesson from each of the three:

Parable 1’s lesson: What is on the inside is not looked after. Though the outside resembles everyone else, it is the inside that makes all the difference.

Parable 2’s lesson: What we are given must produce.

Parable 3’s lesson: Jesus does not look like any of the pictures. Is He black, white, Hispanic? Jewish? None of the above. He is naked, a convict, and one who is hungry and thirsty.

Leonard Ravenhill said, “If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified.” And this is one of those sobering messages Jesus preached.

Day 24

Today’s Reading: Matthew 24

"When the Author steps on the stage the play is over.” This is how C. S. Lewis spoke about the ending of planet Earth. We would call that the second coming of Jesus. This is where we are in today’s reading. This chapter is very sobering; it’s all about the last days just before the Author steps on the stage.

In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second coming of Christ. To break that down even more: one out of every thirty verses in the New Testament speaks about the second coming; twenty-three of the twenty-seven New Testament books refer to the second coming of Jesus. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first coming, there are eight that look forward to His second! Matthew 24 and 25 devote a lot of space to it.

The second coming of Jesus is going to be the most dramatic happening in human history. It will terminate human history and will usher in eternity. In a moment God will say to human history, “Curtains!” And down the curtains will go.

What’s interesting is that Matthew 24 and 25 are Jesus’ final words before His crucifixion. What stands out to me is something He stated five times in chapter 24—that no one knows when the second coming will happen:

• “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36)

• “They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:39)

• “Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42)

• “You also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” (Matthew 24:44)

• “The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know.” (Matthew 24:50)

Five times in this chapter Jesus tells us that the time cannot be known.

Augustine said, “The last days is hidden so that every day would be regarded.”

Somebody asked John Wesley, “Supposing that you knew you were to die at twelve o’clock to-morrow night, how would you spend the intervening time?”

“How, madam?” Wesley told her. “Why, just as I intend to spend it now. I should preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that, I should ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I should then repair to friend Martin’s house, who expects to entertain me, converse and pray with the family as usual, retire to my room at ten o’clock, commend myself to my heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in glory.” It did not matter whether his home going would be by death or rapture. He would not change anything. It did not make any difference to him.

How about you?

Jesus said, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:30-33).

In The Rapture, Dr. Tim LaHaye vividly imagined what the unexpected suddenness of the rapture will be like: When Christ calls His living saints to be with Him, millions of people will suddenly vanish from the earth. An unsaved person who happens to be in the company of a believer will know immediately that his friend has vanished. There will certainly be worldwide recognition of the fact, for when more than one-half of a billion people suddenly depart this earth, leaving their earthly belongings behind, pandemonium and confusion will certainly reign for a time.

A million conversations will end midsentence. A million phones will suddenly go dead. A woman will reach for a man’s hand in the dark and no one will be there. A man will turn with a laugh to slap a colleague on the back and his hand will move through empty air. A basketball player will make a length-of-the-floor pass to a teammate streaking down the court and find there is no one there to receive it. A mother will pull back the covers in a bassinet, smelling the sweet baby smell one moment but suddenly kissing empty space and looking into empty blankets.

So what is our job before this happens? Oswald J. Smith tells us: “We talk of the second coming, while half the world has never heard of the first.” Let’s tell the world why Jesus came the first time.

Day 23

Today’s Reading: Matthew 23

Today’s reading is an intense chapter. It’s about hypocrites and religion—hypocrites in religion. In fact, Jesus said, “Woe to you hypocrites and religious people” eight times! (See verses 13-16, 23, 25, 27, and 29.) The word woe is an expression of how dreadful and how awful this is—to take something as powerful as God and pretend.

This is the argument of so many people who don’t want to go to church or be a Christian: “The church is full of hypocrites! That is why I don’t believe, that is why I don’t go to church.” To put it another way: "Christians say they have Jesus, but we don’t see much of Him in their lives. If Jesus is in them, then He must be hiding."

In his autobiography Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.” Later Gandhi admitted, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” In his prejudice, that usher not only betrayed Jesus, he also turned away a person from trusting Jesus as Savior.

What exactly is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is someone who does not practice what he believes. He can talk the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk. His lifestyle doesn’t equal his profession. Mouth and action are inconsistent.

And yet, let’s consider a couple things:

1. If there are hypocrites, then there must be genuine Christians. A counterfeit always implies a genuine. Christ said there would be hypocrites in the church. He called them wheat and tares growing together (see Matthew 13:24-30).

2. There is a difference between sinner and hypocrite. Hypocrisy is just one of many sins that all of us have committed. Full of it, no; in it, yes. Better to say the church is full of sinners.

The answer to the hypocrite problem? Look at the Savior! You don’t start by looking at the church, you start by looking at Jesus—and Jesus is not a hypocrite.

Since Christianity depends on Jesus, it is incorrect to try to invalidate the Christian faith by pointing to horrible things many have done in the name of Christianity. If this is your argument then be consistent with it.

What do hospitals do? Make sick people well. So, if sick people are in the hospital, is it full of hypocrites? You have mistaken what the church really is. It’s not a museum or a hall of fame, it is a hospital with a lot of sick people getting better . . . and you are looking at one of them.

So what is a Christian? A Christian is not a perfect person but is someone who is a continually-growing work in progress. When you get saved you don’t receive maturity all at once, you are not a theologian, and you do not have it all together. You got born again because you don’t have it all together.

Christianity is Christ. We are not perfect—but He is. When you take your eyes off of Him, you will see our issues. The church is like Noah’s ark: the stench on the inside would be unbearable if it weren’t for the storm on the outside. Many times we stink and the world is stormy.

I love what Ruth Graham made her family put on her gravestone long before she was bedridden and passed away. She was driving one day and entered into a construction zone on the highway. When she reached the end, the sign said, “End of construction. Thank you for your patience.” That was it! That is what she wanted chiseled onto her headstone long before she needed it.

And this is true of all of us as we grow to be like Jesus. We are all one big construction zone—but one day we will reach the end of the construction and then: “We will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). There’s no hypocrisy in that.

John Newton, author of the famous hymn “Amazing Grace” said it best: “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”