Title: True Courage (Matthew 26:47-54)
Content A person needs a variety of assets to live. However, property can be broadly classified into two categories. It is both visible and invisible. Both are valuable assets. But if you look closely, you can see that the invisible property is much more valuable than the visible property.
Faith, hope, love, these are all invisible assets. Visible property can actually survive without it. Even if you have little or no property such as wealth or a house, it is a little difficult, but it is enough. However, invisible property, although intangible, is the most precious property. For example, without wealth such as faith, hope, and love, people cannot survive. A life without hope, a relationship without love, these are truly miserable aspects of life. That is why intangible property is so valuable in human life.
However, among intangible assets, there are more valuable assets. That is courage. You don't know how essential and necessary courage is in the process of living in the world. From being small in front of people to running your life at large, this courage plays a huge role. So courageous people live the world dignifiedly. They are also able to overcome the difficulties of the world well. That's why Seneca said, "Fate can deprive you of wealth, but it cannot deprive you of courage." So, if you look at the great achievements in history, they are all made by courageous people.
Even in the Bible, there are many stories of people who lived courageously. The courage of Moses who defeated the iron fist ruler Pharaoh, the courage of David who defeated Goliath, the courage of Stephen who did not lose his smile even though he was stoned to death, and the apostle Paul who lived his life in overwhelming emotion while sacrificing his life for Jesus. The courage of all of them are wonderful appearances. Indeed, courage is such a good and important property.
But not all courage is good. Courage, when used for good, brings good results, but when abused, it can also bring unspeakable misery.
In today's text, we see three different courageous faces. However, these three faces of courage all have different meanings.
1. The courage of Judas Iscariot.
Judas Iscariot is more courageous than anyone else. That courage is rare in the world. As Judas was attending the Last Supper, the Lord spoke in a sombre manner. “One of you will sell me tomorrow.” At that time, each of the disciples was perplexed.
Who it is, each one asked, “Is that me?” to assert his innocence. Of course, the other disciples had no intention of selling their master, nor did they have the courage to do so, nor even dreamed of it. So, of course, I could ask if it was me.
But Judas is different. We are now in a state of negotiating to sell and eat the Lord. We have set the market price to hand over early tomorrow morning. And yet, naturally, he came out and sat down. Yet, after hearing the word of the Lord, Judas, like the other disciples, asked, "Is that me?" And even if you were sitting with me, your head would be bowed the moment you saw the face of the Lord.