The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 14:18-21, “And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me– one who is eating with Me.’

19 They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, ‘Surely not I?’

20 And He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl. 21 For the Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’”

I’ve never told you this before, but I think it’s time you knew the truth. Probably, all of us have had someone – a parent or grandparent—share a family secret with us. It was like that with Jesus and His disciples. They were celebrating the Passover in an Upper Room. Everything was going well, when Jesus announced, “…one of you will betray Me.” They were stunned! –all of them, except the betrayer himself. He probably acted stunned, so as to identify with the rest of the group. But he knew.

How anyone could walk with Jesus for three years, hearing His teaching, seeing Him loving others and providing for their needs –how anyone could hear and see all that, and then turn against Him, is astounding! Still, Judas Iscariot had his own agenda. Barclay says it so well.

The essence of sin is pride; the core of sin is independence; the heart of sin is the desire to do what we like and not what God likes. That is what the devil, Satan, the evil one, stands for. He stands for everything which is against God and will not bow to Him. That is the spirit which was incarnate in Judas.

We shudder at Judas. But let us think again–covetousness, jealousy, ambition, the dominant desire to have our own way of things. Are we so very different? These are the things which made Judas betray Jesus, and these are the things which still make men betray him.

“The dominant desire to have our own way…” No, we’re not that much different from Judas. What is it that the LORD wants you to do? Why have you not done it? The family secret is out! We want to do our own thing. We don’t think of it as a betray of Jesus –but it is! Judas’ epitaph was frightful: “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” He then experienced a dreadful end in death. It’s not too late for us. Just think: It’s better to obey than to betray.

Our prayers are lovingly lifted up for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”