| “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21). |
| This is one of the most solemn verses in the Bible, and refers, of course, to Judas Iscariot, who was one of the disciples of the Lord Jesus. But he was not a true disciple, even though he kept company with the Lord Jesus all through His earthly service, and did everything the other disciples did. Like the other disciples, he spoke about the Lord Jesus, preached to people, performed miracles, cleansed lepers, and probably even brought dead people back to life. He acted so much like all the other disciples that when the Lord Jesus told them that one of them was going to betray Him, the true disciples had no idea whom the Lord was talking about. |
| Judas had one serious fault; he loved money. When he saw a chance to make some money, he was ready to betray the Lord Jesus. He had seen the Lord Jesus escape easily from those who wanted to arrest Him before, and he thought it would happen again. But this time the Lord Jesus allowed Himself to be taken. |
| It is a most awful statement that the Lord Jesus made about Judas — “Good were it for that man if he had never been born.” That could never be said about someone who eventually got saved. No matter how hard a life you or I may have had, or how bad we may have been, if we accept Christ as Savior, we will end up with Him in heaven. In that case, no one could say that it would have been better if we had not been born! This statement by the Lord Jesus could be said only of someone who went into a lost eternity. It is better not to be born, than to end up in hell. It is most solemn to think that a man who knew the Lord Jesus so well, and spent between three and four years in His company, ended up like this. Let us all take a warning from it. We can grow up in a Christian home, memorize verses from the Bible, listen to the Bible being read, even read it ourselves, and spend time with other Christians, yet we may not be saved. I hope no one who reads this is in this awful position! |
