The Darkness Grows

Many Christians around the world will, today, participate in the Tenebrae, a religious ceremony where candles in churches are extinguished to represent the growing darkness in Holy Week.

Two thousand years ago, Judas Iscariot went out to negotiate away the life of Christ.

In the Gospel of John, John used a Greek literary device to highlight right and wrong choices. Read the Gospel and you will see Judas and Peter often together in the same story. Both betray Christ. One abandons all hope. The other seeks and finds restoration. John’s subtle message is to be a Peter.

Jesus chose Judas to be an Apostle. Jesus knew Judas would betray Him. Judas saw the miracles, and Judas was empowered by Christ to perform miracles.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

Matthew 10:5-8 (ESV)

Did you catch that? Jesus empowered the man who would betray to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons.

Judas, in a bit of irony, would play an instrumental role in raising the dead.

A few days before Jesus’s death, Judas went out into the night, and the darkness began to close in. The man whom God Almighty gave power betrayed God for his own advancement.

We live in the end times. People are turning away from the God of all creation for the old gods — the idols and the damned. People want their ears tickled. They do not want salvation. They want affirmation. Instead of a savior from a spiritual crisis, people want political power that papers over the real problems.

You can feel it all around you. Something is off. Something does not feel right. The darkness is creeping back in. The candles are going out.

But let not your heart be troubled. The darkness cannot shut out the light. It will get worse. But it will get better.

Judas Iscariot could raise the dead and cast out demons. Tempted by the ultimate demon, Judas Iscariot tried to put the giver of life in a grave and appeared successful. But it did not last. Judas Iscariot, charged to raise the dead, did so by betraying the way, the truth, and life. He played a role in God’s master plan.

Even in the darkness, God’s plan prevailed, often in unexpected ways. Don’t lose patience. And don’t expect your life to play out exactly as you planned it. God has a plan for you. Trust him.

Eternity is coming. Christ is coming. Easter is coming. Get ready.