Dr. Robert R. Kopp                                      Guest Column

Pastor, First Presbyterian Church

Belvidere, Illinois 61008

(815) 222-9216

 

Nominating Judas for Comeback Player of the Year

 

or

 

Shadows Over Holy Week 2006

 

    Though I don't anticipate baptizing any baby boys named Judas anytime soon, their namesake seems to be having an incredible comeback these days.

 

    Apparently, some leather-bound papyrus sheets - 13 which should be a clue - were found in an Egyptian cave; telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love through the eyes of Judas.

 

    I've been over there several times; so I'm more than a tad skeptical.

 

    I mean I bought several pieces of "the true cross" back in 1982 and almost made a deal for "a drop of the real blood" in 1998.

 

    Enough.

 

    Tourism is down thanks to a big bad religion that can dish it out but can't take it - Do you believe how thin-skinned those Muslims have become? Dang, they'll blow up the world for a bad cartoon or two!  Can you "imagine" if Christians got really ticked over all of the affronts to Jesus by our secular world and apostate franchises? - and I know how much our greenbacks mean to that part of the world.

 

    Sorry.

 

    Back to Judas.

 

    In this revised version of our Lord's passion - aka The Gospel of Judas (sick more than sic) - Judas is a sympathetic figure or even really good guy with an incredibly positive role in soteriology; playing the humble servant who's gotta betray Jesus so He can be brutalized and crucified on the way to glorious resurrection and eternal reign.

 

    Well, I guess it's possible Judas wrote it.

 

    It's kind of like Hitler saying he had to do it to bring unity to the rest of the civilized world; or PUP saying they had to do it to arouse and enable fidelity in the franchise.

 

    Sorry.

 

    Back to Judas.

 

    No.

 

    Just wait a second!

 

    What's next?

 

    It won't be long before somebody advocates same sex marriages, inverted sexualities, universalism, infanticide, and other debasing fantasies of human volition over Biblical revelation even in the church.

 

    It won't be long before Holy Scripture has new rivals for establishing ecclesiastical authority like Twain, Maclaine, The Da Vinci Code, Napoleon Dynamite, or what's fashionable when it's fashionable according to local bias (PUP).

 

    Sorry.

 

    Back to Judas.

 

    No.

 

    Just wait a second!

 

    I may be wrong; but some churches are starting to act like bad skits on Saturday Night Live.

 

    Sorry.

 

    Back to Judas.

 

    No.

 

    Just wait a second!

 

    The absurdity of pretending Judas was somehow obedient to a higher call tests even the most extreme predestinarians among us.

 

    It's like trying to find a connection between Jesus and what's going on in many of our churches.

 

    Parenthetically, whenever I get judgmental like this, I hear Him whispering in my ear, "What's that I see in your eye?"

 

    Of course of course, knowing I don't get Him right all of the time is no excuse for not reminding everybody (especially moi) to "set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits...Let heaven fill your thoughts" (see Colossians 3 and don't forget the Bible is bigger than your favorite parts).

 

    The reason for the last paragraph is Romans 12:1b: "When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask?"

 

    That's why my most recent life verse is James 1:21: "So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls."

 

    O.K., Hebrews 12:14 is also right up there these days: "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord."

 

    My friend Bob Griffin, President of Rockford Renewal Ministries, says I've joined those in hot pursuit of holiness.

 

    It's true; and you can go back to Romans 12:1b for why.

 

    Truth is I was on the highway to hell until our Lord with a little help from my friends drove me to my knees in the confession and repentance prerequisite to redemption.

 

    Loving Jesus by loving like Jesus includes telling people they're going to hell unless they turn around before later becomes sooner.

 

    I'm still praying and laboring to get my act together; which won't end until the, uh, end.

 

    After we're saved by Jesus for eternity, we want to be holy for Him existentially.

 

    Calvin said we know we're saved by evidences of salvation in our lives.

 

    Luther wrote, "Good works don't make a person good; but a good person does good works."

 

    Which gets me back to Judas.

 

    Unless you're on the dark side of life and ministry, how can anyone imagine him as one of the good guys of salvation history?

 

    It takes a lot of reimagining for that.

 

    Hmm.

 

    Maybe Judas is making a comeback because there's so much of him in us.

 

    If you think the preceding is doggerel, take a look at the increasing betrayals.

 

    We have gone back to Judas.

 

    That's hardly gospel.