But we do know enough from
biblical sources to flesh out a picture of him that will have enough data to
show us what kind of person he was.
It might surprise us to
learn, since it would appear that depicting him is much like looking at the
mirror image of ourselves.
Among the Twelve, he probably
was a cut above. He was not just an
ordinary Galilean, he was from Judea and stood most probably above all of
them in worldly experience and wit. And
for this, it may be the reason he was given grave responsibilities, like caring
for the common purse, which to poor and lowly people counted much for their
continued existence.
And everybody else must have
thought highly of him. After all when
Christ declared that one of them would betray Him, not one of them offered any
suggestion or clue. Therefore, nobody
even guessed that it was Judas. As a
matter of fact, when they learned it was him they were all struck with
amazement.
So who was this man?
Scattered references about
him can be gathered to learn more about him.
We learn that as an apostle
he took on this life with eagerness and zeal.
He followed Christ everywhere and had said enthusiastically that nothing
could separate them. And he must have
avowed faith and loyalty to Him in every occasion that presented him with the
opportunity.
So what went wrong?
He was disappointed for He
was “only Jesus”. And even more
disappointed that the kingdom he preached and promised was “not of this world”. And even more so, because the kingdom was
promised to those who were “poor in spirit”.
We may not be easily aware of
it, but aren’t we all like that? Not
necessarily disappointed but blindly pursuing a kingdom that is of this world
(temporal pursuits and pleasures) and tightly clinging to material things that
invest our spirit with so much baggage.
Consider the plans we make
and the associations with other people we join with and treasure, even those
that partake of quasi-religious bent. We
are quite devoted to gathering ourselves together to declare our being Christian
and Christ-like in focus. But what have
we truly done with regard to our dispossessed neighbors and even with our own
personal lives?
On material possessions, a good number of us have barely enough to cling to the kind of living we have been used to and could bear, but just as numerous are those of us who find our financial situations more than sufficient to pursue the kind of hedonistic living that society does not necessarily frown upon.
So all of us go about our merry unequal ways the worse for wear from scarcity, or not really feeling surfeit for having pursued so much pleasurable temporal delights.
But “being poor in spirit” does not necessarily refer to the scarcity or abundance of material possessions. It is more the spiritual nonchalance of one under both conditions so that the dearth or plenitude does not in any way detract from the destined purpose of man’s existence, the pursuit of Christ’s Kingdom.
No, not the temporal one but the one that comes after.
On material possessions, a good number of us have barely enough to cling to the kind of living we have been used to and could bear, but just as numerous are those of us who find our financial situations more than sufficient to pursue the kind of hedonistic living that society does not necessarily frown upon.
So all of us go about our merry unequal ways the worse for wear from scarcity, or not really feeling surfeit for having pursued so much pleasurable temporal delights.
But “being poor in spirit” does not necessarily refer to the scarcity or abundance of material possessions. It is more the spiritual nonchalance of one under both conditions so that the dearth or plenitude does not in any way detract from the destined purpose of man’s existence, the pursuit of Christ’s Kingdom.
No, not the temporal one but the one that comes after.