Duing the Gospel reading at mass on Sunday I was struck with the thought:
“Even Judas formed disciples.”
11th Sunday in Ordinary time
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061426.cfm
Gospel
Matthew 9:36—10:8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
So I contemplated this.
Judas, the worst betrayer in all of human history (akin to Satan the worst betrayer in all of creation history), was first a disciple of Jesus and presumably led people to Jesus.
For we learn in Matthew 9: 1-2 The Mission of the Twelve. “1 He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal [the sick].”
Jesus gave Judas power and authority over all demons. Jesus gave Judas power and authority to cure diseases and heal the sick. Jesus sent Judas out to proclaim the kingdom of God. Presumably Judas went out, just like the other 11, and did all of these things.
The people Judas encountered and proclaimed the Good News to had the opportunity to encounter Jesus and become Jesus’ disciples. That is, Judas formed disciples.
I can’t recall if I’ve ever contemplated this before or not. But considering it during mass it just really struck me.
What if you were someone Judas helped heal and you later learn of his betrayal?
What if you were someone who heard the Good News for the first time from Judas and became a follower of Jesus because of it? What would you think of his betrayal? Could you believe it? Would it impact your belief and faith?
But at the end of the day, Judas brought people to Jesus. I imagine that most/many/some of those followers stayed believers.
Judas made one of the worst decisions in all of human history. We know though that his betrayal was necessary for Salvation History – which is always a hard thing to fathom, comprehend, and accept. But before he made that very, very bad decision he presumably made some good ones.
Judas brought people to Jesus.
I wonder how many people throughout history up to now are Christians because they first came to Jesus through Judas?
When we think of Judas we define him by his mistake. Thanks be to God’s great mercy that we aren’t like Judas — that we are not defined by our mistakes. God gives us the opportunity to seek forgiveness when we err and turn back to Him.
Also: “Judas’ Disciples” would be a great idea for a book — not exploring followers of Judas, but exploring someone(s) who became Jesus’ follower(s) through Judas’ introduction.
…sorry ideas got jumpy there at the end…. It took over 1 hour to get 3 sentences down because my kids really didn’t like me saying “I’m trying to think and write!”… I had to close and open the laptop like 20 times before getting a few ideas into my head, out of it, and down on the screen…
Give God Your Yes 