The Thing About Leaders

Let's talk about Judas for a moment, and I take this from Luke 22:1-6. Judas was one of the twelve. When the twelve were sent out two by two to preach and heal, Judas was one of them. In the power of Christ, he healed the sick and preached the good news.

Judas was not always bad. He believed in God and the kingdom and the law. He was a zealous Jew with high hopes – and possibly, he was also a zealot like Simon Zealotes. So, what is it that we see in Judas? My answer is dashed hopes and shifting allegiances.

It is in Luke 22:3 that we find this information about Judas, “Then” (note the importance of the word 'then') “entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. ” Judas changed. Did everything change about Judas? No. Judas, perhaps in the mindset of fellow-apostle Simon Zealotes, decided that Jesus was not going to do anything about Rome as hoped.

After all, the hoped for Messiah was supposed to be a liberator of the Jewish people and a king of the Davidic line. If there was to be a Jewish king, there was no room for Rome. Rome had to be removed – and that is exactly what people looked for in a savior.

The thinking might have been that if Jesus was not going to remove Rome, he stood in the way of those who would.

When your hoped for Messiah fails your expectations, what power do you fall back on? Shifting alliances. For a Jew like Judas, that would have been the Sanhedrin. They were the religious leaders of Israel established by the commands of God. If Judas, who seemed to walk freely among them, was at all influenced by the concerns of the Sanhedrin, then Jesus not only stood in the way but actually made the Roman problem worse.

Speaking of leaders, these verses in Luke paint a clear picture of the very nature of leaders in general. The arrangement between the Sanhedrin and Judas stipulated that Judas was to find a way and a place for them to arrest Jesus, as verse six states, “in the absence of the multitude.”

Why was this the arrangement? We find the answer to this question in verse two. The leaders “feared the people.” One does not have to go far to see parallels in other leaders. In our present day, we see leaders who redirect manpower, resources, and authority in efforts to keep the people from panicking or rioting. The bald fact is that leaders fear the people.

The Sanhedrin wished to kill Jesus – and quite frankly, that does not seem very holy or righteous for representatives of God. The question has to be asked, was Judas of the same mind? Many will say no. The very fact of his suicidal remorse suggests that he only sought to have Jesus arrested and placed on the sidelines. Judas may have been less complicit in the murderous intent of the leaders than in the plans of the zealots.

An array of motives have been attributed to Judas. Some suggest he was in cahoots with Jesus to achieve the crucifixion that would effect the salvation of man. Some suggest Judas came to the conclusion that Jesus was not the answer to the Roman dilemma. Whatever his motives for betrayal were, I think they were not to see Jesus killed.

Yet, two matters place Judas in the league of leaders. One was his familiarity with the leaders. Two was his service for hire. Had he worked for them before? Was he a relative of one of the council members? Had they played him, using his passion for Israel against him? We may never really know the answers to these questions.

And then, we must also ask this. Do the motives of the Sanhedrin really matter? To be concise, it all boils down to three facts. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin, who wanted him dead, and had they not feared the people, they would not have manipulated laws in a mockery of trial but would have murdered him in broad daylight.

Look to Yourselves

Luke 21:34-36 says it – no one is responsible for you but you. Each of us is responsible to look to him or herself – to try hard and succeed or do nothing and fail. These verses are no parable with hidden meanings, they are plain words from the very Son of God.

He says this to all of us: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

A modern English translation goes like this: 'Pay careful attention to yourselves, in order to avoid a mindset that exaggerates the importance of being satisfied, of overindulgence, or undue attachment to the things of this temporary life, insomuch that you become unaware of your own doom.'

Nobody is going to do it for you – you are on your own.

This is what the very Son of God said about the coming day of judgment: “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” In other words, no one will be exempt from that day. If you think your salvation exempts you, think again. Christ has this to say to those who think that way: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Said another way, 'All these things will definitely happen. If you want to escape them and stand before the Son of man, you must make sure you are worth it.' Prayer and vigilance are your only ticket.

The “snare” of those final times will catch people doing what they always do. Why do animal snares baited with food catch animals? It is because their very animal nature will not pass an opportunity to eat.

What is the nature of man? Even the religious share that human nature. We are conditioned to think along the lines of human nature. We go to church for an hour on Sunday, but we run home to watch the game on TV. We want a new car. When it comes to spending our hard-earned cash, we are very concerned that we get all our money can buy, and no skimping on quality – that will just not do.

Paying our bills occupies our thoughts. Going to the theater for a new movie, or eating out, or unwinding at a bar – these are the mousy little thing that will get us ensnared. We want our fair share. Some of us want more than our fair share. God forbid that anyone should stand between us and the things we try so hard to obtain.

History proves human nature, even among the religious, is all too willing to war and kill for the things it thinks it deserves. Look at all the protests and terrorism in our present day – how quickly willing people resort to violence over matters that are actually quite meaningless.

Anyone who really desires not to be caught in the snare must work especially hard not to be swept along in the tide of human nature. When the ship comes in, will you have a ticket, or will you be a part of the raging tidal beast racing toward that tiny piece of cheese – and personal doom?

Point-Counterpoint

Luke 21:22-32 is the focus of this study. We are still within the parameters of the end of the world as described by Jesus. The warnings are still directed toward the Apostolic who adhere to the instructions of Christ and the laws of God.

We take this point from verse 22: “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” What is he talking about? He is talking about a sign of the times. The sign is Jerusalem compassed with armies. The admonition is to flee from and avoid the city at all cost. Seeing this sign means one thing in particular, namely that “the desolation thereof” is near.

At this point in the study, we should have three questions. The first question is, 'the vengeance of who'? The second question is, why don't I know 'all the things that are written' about this important event? As a sign of the times, finally, what kind of event are we really considering?

The sign is a generational event. By that, I mean that the event is intended for a particular generation of the chosen. The event is vengeance against the godly. It is an evil perpetrated by the peoples and nations of the world. Much is written about this animosity the worldly have against the chosen people of God. Of things written, there is a starting point, and it is found in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

The natural continuation of the starting point may be found in Matthew 21:38, “But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” It works outward in layers from the starting point, like ripples in a lake when a stone disturbs the still surface. The next layer reaches the faithful servants of the master. This comes from John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your also.”

The ripples reach as far into the future as those who have kept the sayings of the original disciples. This we find in Luke 21:23 and 24, “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

The ripples reach all of us. We are the same in our persecutions as the original apostles who became martyrs. We are the same as the Israelites of 70 AD. We are in the same boat as the master, and we carry our cross in no less real terms. It is a generational thing, and what must be understood about a generation is its perpetuity.

When in Luke 21:32, Christ said, “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled,” he included with himself, the worldly Israel (the chosen people of God through the law), the apostles who bridged the gap, and the spiritual Israel (the chosen people of God through faith.) We are, all of us, “This generation.”

Within the parameters of 'this generation', the “times of the Gentiles” wax and wane. They are the counterpoint to the times of the chosen. The end time of the Gentiles harbors great evils for the chosen – count on it. We see it coming in Luke 21:25 and 26, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations,” (all of these occurring in the same end time of the Gentiles) “with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

It is indeed bad news that the powers of heaven shall be shaken, but they are shaken in the time of the Gentiles, which is never a permanent condition. That time alternates with the time of the chosen, in which the powers of heaven grow strong and stronger still. All of the times are like a pendulum swinging back and forth, and if the coming time of the Gentiles is the last, then there is good news among the bad.

We know, even in the beginning of bad times; we look ahead and see clearly. The pendulum will swing again – one last time. Jesus said this in Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” At the end of the last time of the Gentiles, this will happen, as foretold by the son of God in Luke 21:27, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

'They' refers to the Gentiles; we already see him.

The Apostolic Type

From generation to generation, the Apostolic type carries forward with each conversion to faithful dedication. Are you the type? If you are, then every teaching, every warning that Christ ever made to his disciples is equally applicable to you.

I want to approach two specific verses from Luke 21 – verse 15 and verse 19. In his warnings of the future to come, Christ painted a clear picture of the people he addressed.

From verse 15, we get the point that the disciples and apostles, so warned of a dire fate, are in fact spiritually enhanced individuals. Jesus told them, “I will give you a mouth and wisdom” that will be essentially irresistible. It will be a wisdom in spoken word that the unenhanced will find compelling if not overpowering.

Now, the unenhanced believe they too have wisdom. They rest in their science of bare facts and figures, of math and measurements, of empirical physical evidence as set apart from the purely spiritual and mental aspects of reason and logic. Yet, it is the mental, that is to say, the spiritual, aspects of reason and logic that the apostolic type shall be enhanced with.

Sadly, the mouth and wisdom that will enhance many, is no guarantee of individual success. Just the opposite, in fact, as the outsmarted and outwitted will find avenues to persecute the righteous through lies if not through laws.

I have expressed in earlier works how wisdom is the trump card that beats book smarts. First, comes knowledge – that is the basic level. The next level up from knowledge is understanding. Many people have knowledge, yet fail to attain understanding. The top level is wisdom, trumping both knowledge and understanding. The enhancement given to the Apostolic type is a thing not guaranteed to academics even after years of study.

The enhancement is no mere fact or list of trivial information that an individual may trot out. Rather, it is the very nature of the Godly spirit placed in each and every man. In some of us, the tap is turned on and the water flows. In certain others, the tap is tightly closed. Some go so far as to remove the handle entirely. It is a choice and a followed path that leads to the enhancement. As I am want to say, this particular path is only open to those who are open to this particular path.

The enhancement is not meant for a peaceful life, but for a life embroiled in worldly woe. It is the perfect counterpart to the worldly mindset, ensuring that the truth and authority of God are present in every age. Our type may be assured of resistance if not outright persecution. We are called upon to persevere.

Many people cannot fathom the leap from worldly to spiritual. There is a worldly, a national Israel found in the nation of Israel and in the religion of Judaism. There is a spiritual Israel found in the Christian faith and in the walk of the apostolic. There is a spiritual individual and mindset which is an upgrade from the worldly mindset. That being said, the truth of the matter is that the worldly mindset is that same spiritual mindset, but with the tap tightly closed and the handle removed.

Man is a hybrid. He is half physical and half spiritual. All spirit is God, whether it is rightly used by some or wrongly used by others. The worldly mindset cuts its own spiritual legs off for the sake of willful independence. The worldly mindset, for all its science and measurements, is a crippled creature of disfigured proportions. Man has sought separation from God so desperately that he uses the word 'soul' to reference the spiritual aspect of himself that he has sought to be rid of.

From the beginning, the word 'soul' was a word that pointed to the hybrid nature of man. We have this usage found in Genesis 1:7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” It has to be said; it must be understood and known with all surety that man “became” a living soul. Man was man before the spirit was introduced. God is spirit; God is life itself and truth, truth being everything that actually is.

The breath of life is the spirit of God. A soul, then, is exactly the combination of those two elements – physical man, of the dust of the ground, with the additive of the spirit of God, equals the hybrid of the living soul.

And so, I come to the second verse in Luke 21 that details the clear portrait of the Apostolic type. We get this from Luke 21:19, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” That is the same thing as saying, 'persevere in body and mind' except for the curious connotation of the word “possess.” A host is 'possessed' by something or someone other than the host. Here, I am thinking that the hybrid (body plus spirit) is possessed by the enhancement.

In the Apostolic type, the whole persona of the living soul is possessed and redirected by the persona of Christ. Christ is God in man; Christ in man is still God in man. As we know, Christ very effectively dealt with all naysayers, leaving them unable to respond to the wisdom in his words. We also know that his spiritual wisdom, received from God, was perceived as a threat by the worldly mindset.