ESOCS Devotional 31 March 2022
TEXT: 2 SAMUEL 19: 31-43
MEMORY VERSE: “And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss Him.”Luke 22:47 KJV
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
A friendly enemy is someone who pretends to be friendly, but is in actual fact an enemy who can kill for selfish end. Such was Judas Iscariot. He was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all the canonical gospels, he betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane by kissing Him and addressing Him as “Rabbi”, to reveal His identity in the darkness, to the crowd who had come to arrest Him that night. Typically remembered for his betrayal of his master, Judas followed Jesus for three years. He infamously betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. He was a friendly enemy. His surname, “Iscariot” is believed to mean “a man of murder” or hireling Hitchcock’s Bible Names).
Judas was the group’s treasurer (John 13:29) and was a thief who regularly stole from their money (John 12:6). He was known to be a liar (John 12:3-6) who was also deceitful and greedy (Matthew 26:14-15).He was called a traitor (Luke 6:16) and was identified as a betrayer during the last Super (John 13:21-26). He was willing to pretend to honor someone for his own selfish purposes (Mark 14:44- 45, Matthew 26:49).
Judas was like King Herod who pretended he loved the new born savior Jesus Christ, but right in him, he hated Him (Matthew 2:3-8, 12, 16-18). In one of his songs, the late Bob Marley said: “Some will hate you, but pretend to love you, behind you, try to eliminate you….” Let us be careful.
- Are there friendly enemies around you?
- Ask God to expose every friendly enemy in your life.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: 1 Samuel 18:17-30; 1 Samuel 19 – 22; 1 Samuel 23:13-29
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ESOCS Devotional 31 March 2022
