FBC Morning Light

Good Saturday morning, people of faith.

And it's not just any good Saturday morning, it is Christmas Eve Saturday morning. And I'm wondering if your family is anything like the family I grew up in. We had some Christmas traditions on Christmas Eve.

I remember we all got to open one present on Christmas Eve. I think that was a tradition that developed just to keep the kids occupied from seeing all the presents and not going and tearing into them early.

Try to keep us out of trouble, maybe. One of the other traditions we had was to watch the movie It's a Wonderful Life. And that's the story of George Bailey and being in charge of the building and loan and getting himself in trouble.

And he gets really discouraged and has a really bad day. And during this bad day, he makes a statement that maybe it would be better if I had never been born. Well, what does that have to do with Zechariah?

Judas, Zechariah, and the Meaning of Betrayal

We're in Zechariah chapters 10 and 11, I'm going to be reading from chapter 11 in just a moment. But there is a statement that Jesus made about someone similar to what George Bailey said about himself, about being better off if he had never been born.

Let me read to you from Matthew chapter 26, verses 20 through 25. When evening had come, he sat down with the 12. Now as they were eating, he said, Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I?

He answered and said, He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.

Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? He said to him, You have said it. Well, back in Zechariah chapter 11, we get some more information about this situation. In verses 12 and 13, let me read those to you.

Then I said to them, If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages, and if not, refrain. So they weighed out for my wages 30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, Throw it to the potter, that princely price they set on me.

So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. And so maybe you're starting to realize what that passage in Zechariah has to do with Judas. In Matthew chapter 27, verses 3 through 8, then Judas, his betrayer, that is, Jesus' betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, that's Jesus being condemned, was remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.

And they said, What is that to us? You see to it. Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury because they are the price of blood.

And they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in. Therefore, that field has been called the field of blood to this day. So it was prophesied in Zechariah about what Judas would do.

And it is certainly true about Judas. It would have been good for him had he not been born. While Judas was remorseful, there was no repentance. And so what Jesus said of Judas is certainly being fulfilled today, that it would have been good had he not been born.

Yet in this, the Lord saw fit to fulfill the scriptures through Judas. Now you say to yourself, It's Christmas Eve. What kind of uplifting message is this? Well, there is potential for good news here in this.

What is it today? Is there anything that you are remorseful for that instead of just remorse that you need to repent? Let there be that repentance. As the author of Hebrews says in chapter 6, says, But beloved, we are competent of better things concerning you.

Yes, things that accompany salvation. So today as I speak to you and we think of how the Lord sovereignly fulfilled His will through Judas, even though Judas was no part of the kingdom. Let it be that we are able to think better things of you if there is an issue in your life that you need to repent of.

Let today be that day where you repent and beg God for forgiveness. Let's take some time to pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this word today. Maybe not the most uplifting story, but a certain, certainly a story where we see the a bit of you and what you are like and what you like.

And let us be people that do repent, that don't just wallow in our sorrow and feel bad for having done wrong, but that we understand that you are the one who grants repentance. And we beg of you, help us to see where we have done wrong, that we might seek your forgiveness and walk closely with you even this day.

It's in your Son's name, Jesus, that we pray. Amen. Have an excellent Christmas Eve, people of faith.