Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Monday, April 16, 2018 | Reading: Exodus 33:1-11, Exodus 4, Gen 3:1-21
Topic: The Tabernacle of God 409
Scripture: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building. (Heb 9:11)
Note: Matt 16:18, “And I say also to you, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” There is a strong parallel in the relationship between Jesus and His twelve disciples and that of relationships seen among Church members, going as far as the top hierarchy of the leadership. The relationship between Judas and Jesus, right from the very beginning of the call of Judas, was a clear testimony to the extent to which supposedly close friends and trusted relationships could be cruelly marred and undermined through greed on the part of someone or one party.
Even though Judas was rightly chosen by Jesus to be one of the twelve disciples, scriptural evidence points to the fact that he never believed in Jesus to be God, unlike the other members of the twelve such as Thomas and Peter. Jesus spoke of what He had known all along about the chosen twelve as regards those who believed in His Divinity and the one who would betray Him in John 6:64: “But there are some of you who do not believe. (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him).”
The understanding of Judas concerning the title and role of Jesus as the Messiah was completely different from the Spirit inspired confession of Peter regarding the Messianic mission of Jesus. Judas had an ambitious political agenda, and it was that personal ambition that made him to follow Jesus from the beginning. Judas witnessed the massive crowd pulling power of Jesus through His miracles and healing ministry. And with the goodwill donations flowing into the kitty, Judas wasted no time in jumping onto the Jesus bandwagon to be in charge of the moneybag. That way, he had the opportunity to be stealing from the moneybag.
Judas was an opportunistic young man, a pseudo businessman corrupt at heart, and a politician with a personal ambition that was completely at variance from the Divine agenda of Jesus, that would lead to the redemption of man and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. Many similar corrupt minded people have crept unsuspectingly into the Church, sometimes infiltrating as far as the top hierarchy of the leadership, to cause distractions, corrupt Spirit minded members, sow seeds of discord leading to schisms and divisions in the pursuit of their avowed desire to use the Church as the springboard to advance their parochial interests and personal goals.
Food for thought: Any man that doesn’t believe in Jesus as God, is capable of anything gross against others within the body of Christ.
Declaration: It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: The words that I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
