Daily Thought for Sunday 6th April 2025
“(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)”
John 12:6
Cancelled?
Isobel Hunter
So, according to John, Judas Iscariot was a bad guy from the get-go. He only took the treasurer’s job so that he could embezzle the money, and of course again according to John, Jesus had him sussed early on as the one of the twelve who was a devil. Do you think that is right? Or is this another case of the victor writing the history – or in this case the gospel. The other gospels don’t go as hard on Judas as John does. Mark for one says there were general mutterings against the expensive perfume. It wasn’t specifically Judas.
But you must have noticed that whenever someone – they don’t need to have been a celebrity, but it helps – is found to have done something wrong their whole life is turned upside down? Every action, every statement is reevaluated and found wanting. There is no black and white, just irredeemable black. That might be fair in some cases but most people cannot be said to have led an exclusively bad life. I thought the pile on that happens when someone’s sins are found out was a modern-day thing, no room for dissent, bad through and through, cancelled. However, when we look at these verses from John are we seeing the same thing?
After all, Judas was chosen to be one of the twelve. He was trusted enough to hold the purse strings. If we can make a case for even Judas, Christ’s betrayer, not being all bad then how much more do we need to pause when an individual’s bad behaviour comes to light and his whole life is cancelled. We are all capable of good behaviour and (at times) of thoughts and deeds we are not proud of, so let’s cut others a little slack too and try to leave a little room for redemption.
Shall we pray?:
Merciful Father, who forgives our sins and offers us redemption, prompt us to recognise the human being in everyone, and to temper judgement with compassion. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Isobel Hunter is Session Clerk to the Parish of Upper Tweeddale, and a worship leader in the West Tweeddale linking of six churches in the Scottish Borders.