(399-404) merely carry out the provisions of that covenant, which promises that they shall have the privileges of restitution. If they avail themselves of the opportunity they shall have eternal life. At that time, the right to human life will have passed out of the hands of our Lord as Redeemer, and will all, thenceforth, be represented in the Covenant itself, which guarantees all the things that God declared man should have. The stony heart of mankind will give place to a heart of flesh; and all who will live up to the terms of this covenant shall have THE WATCH TOWER Brooktyn, N. Y. eternal life. During the Millennial age the New Covenant will represent the life-rights laid down by our Lord. Whoever fails to observe that Law will receive chastisements. By this arrangement Christ, as Mediator of the New Covenant, will for a thousand years dispense the blessings. During this Gospel age our Lord keeps the right to life under his own contro] in order to give it to justice as the ransom-price for the world’s sins, for the redemption of the world, As soon as he gives up this right at the end of this age, justice relinquishes it, and mankind reccives it, as shown foregoing. Vou. XXXII BROOKLYN, N. Y., NOVEMBER 1, 1911 No. 21 WAS JUDAS A HYPOCRITE? It is difficult for any noble minded person to read the account of Judas’ course without feeling a sense of righteous indignation—a disgust for the baseness of character which could thus betray, for thirty pieces of silver, the one whom he recognized as the noblest of men, whether or not he was sure that Jesus was the Messiah. It may not be amiss here to reflect that Judas did not reach this depth of iniquity suddenly, but rather that the disposition toward unrighteousness had grown upon him during the three years of his intimacy with the Master, when the reverse disposition should have had control. At the time he was chosen to be an Apostle he was evidently a good man, so far as outward appearance, at least, was concerned; and his name, which signifies ‘‘Praise,’’? would seem to indicate that his parents had been of a religious cast of mind and had wished and, so to speak, had prophesied of him that he would be a messenger of God to sound forth his praise. And what a privilege and opportunity he enjoyed in this direction! From the meager mentionings of the Gospel reeords we may reasonably infer that the beginning of his downfall was the harboring of a love of money. Instead of rebuking this wrong spirit and seeking, on the contrary, to cultivate generosity, love and benevolence, he permitted selfishness to have control, more or less, in his heart and life. We may surmise that he chose the office of treasurer for the little company, whereas, had he been sufficiently alive to his own weakness, his proper course would have been to refuse it, realizing that already he had too much love of money, and that the handling of the funds might prove a temptation to him. But on the contrary, he sought and obtained the office, and carried the bag with the money put therein; and the Apostle John tells us that he was a thief. (John 12:6.) This passion for money, like all other abnormal propensities of our fallen nature, grew stronger as it was encouraged and cultivated, until finally it knew no hounds and he was ready to sell his loving Master, Messiah, for thirty pieces of silver! Probably Judas had made the same profession of consecration as did the other disciples: ‘‘Lo, we have left all to follow thee; what, therefore, shall we have?’’ And, with the others, he had left all, and perhaps, in a certain way, was very sincere and recognized that this was the Messiah. But Judas had a business turn of mind. He wished to be associated with such a great kingdom as the Messiah would set up. So there was a measure of selfishness connected with his consecration. Perhaps this is true with all of us. We are all sure that the Lord has.a kingdom and we hope to have a share in it. But this thought should be secondary. Our merit should be of a higher order than merely a desire for reward for service, As treasurer of the disciples Judas looked out to get a good share for himself, to ‘‘feather his own nest.’’ In the case of the ointment used for our Lord by Mary, he said, That ointment is worth a great deal of money, and it should have heen put into the treasury instead of being poured on Jesus’ head. ‘‘This he said because he was a thief and carried the hag.’’ So it seems that this spirit of avarice grew upon him. As matters progressed he began to see that things were not reaching the culmination for which he had hoped and looked. Probably he was one of those who said, at least in his heart, ‘‘If thou do these things, do them publicly, so that others may see.’’ This would seem to have been the spirit of Judas and of many others. They wanted Jesus to do the things that would establish him with the people. We can imagine their saying, ‘‘Ask some thousands to come and see the raising of some one from the dead, and have a good demonstration,’’ ete. But nothing of this kind was done. Each miracle was performed by our Lord in a quiet way. Probably Judas began to think that Jesus could not manage affairs nearly so well as if he would allow Judas to ‘‘eoach’’ him a little. As time passed, he began to keep some of the money. Perhaps he thought, ‘‘ Now things are not coming out very well. I will keep some of this money for the disciples and Jesus for a rainy day.’’ But he was really thinking about Judas. THE NECESSITY OF JUDGING OURSELVES By following a similar course of reasoning many people persuade themselves that they are trying to help others, when really they are looking out for their own interests. Hence there is a necessity for judging ourselves. The new creature should get the old creature into a corner and cross-question him: ‘‘Why do you act thus and so? Are you sure that you did not have some selfish motive in this matter?’’ If Judas had thus examined himself it would have been better for him. But not having done so, he drifted farther and farther away from a right spirit. Finally he went to the chief priests and said, ‘‘What would you give me if I were to give Jesus over?’? They said, So much. Then he turned the matter over in his mind for several hours. So when he was in the ‘‘upper chamber’’ his mind was abstracted, and he sat quietly watching what the others were doing. When our Lord washed the feet of his apostles, before partaking of the Passover supper, he intimated that as they had bathed (in accordance with the Jewish requirement of the putting away of all filth at the beginning of the Passover season) they merely needed now the rinsing of their feet, the cleansing of the members that had come in contact with the earth, ‘‘He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his fect to be clean every whit.’’ (R.V.) Our Lord added, referring to Judas, ‘‘ Ye are clean, but not all.’’ This expression shows us very clearly that he had in mind a higher cleansing, of which this washing of their feet and their previous bath were but the figures. The Lord knew that the hearts of his disciples were loyal. He had accepted them as his disciples and had reckonedly imputed to them the merit of his sacrifice as a covering of their blemishes, the full testimony of which would be given them by and by at Pentecost, the holy Spirit testifying that the Father had accepted the Lord’s atoning sacrifice on their behalf. There was one, however, of the number whose heart was not clean. Our Lord did not pass him by, but washed the feet of Judas with the rest, knowing the while of his perfidy, and that he had already bargained with the chief priests and was merely awaiting the opportune moment for the carrying out of his malevolent scheme. Our Lord’s words, although not understood hy the rest, must have been appreciated by Judas, as were his subsequent words. Our Lord went so far as to quote the very prophecy which marked Judas and his disloyalty, his violation of even the common hospitality. (Psa, 41:9.) None of these things moved Judas; none of these things appealed to his heart in such a manner as to change his course. We have thus strong evidence of the wilful intention which marked his crime and makes clear the meaning of our Lord’s words when he called him the ‘‘son of perdition,’’ and declared that it would have been better for him if he had never been born. ‘“‘MINE OWN FAMILIAR FRIEND HATH LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME”’ While they were at supper Jesus, appearing very sorrowful, gave as an explanation that it would be one of his own chosen twelve that would hetray him and thus become accessory to his death—one of those who dipped with him in the dish, partaking of the same supper, the same bread, the same roasted lamb. Then he pointed out that although this was all written (Psa. 41:9), and thus no alteration would be made in respect to the divine plan, nevertheless it signified a very gross breach of friendship—one sad to contemplate. It really made no difference to the Lord, so far as his intention and his consecration were concerned, whether he were apprehended by the rulers without any betrayal, or whether betrayed by a comparative stranger or by a disciple. The fact would make no change in the divine arrangement; but it was a cause of great sorrow to the Lord that the traitor should be one who had been a bosom friend and disciple. [4906}
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