Today\u2019s reading opens with, \u201cNow you must choose where you will decide to look. Your decision will show you what you will see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judas is a symbol of one who believed his thoughts and then saw what his thoughts told him to see. According to NTI, Judas turned Jesus in for arrest simply because he did not have the wisdom to see his thoughts as meaningless.<\/p>\n
How often do we act from belief in our thoughts? Are we ready to learn from our brother\u2019s mistake? Are we willing to let Judas\u2019 mistake be a precious gift that leads us to make a different choice?<\/p>\n
When I was the scribe of NTI Matthew, I was not able to see Judas as giving us a gift by showing us what not to do. I saw Judas as the evil betrayer. I still believed in betrayal at that time, so my scribing of this section is not as pure as it could have been. You\u2019ll notice that inner wisdom coaches the scribe directly by saying, \u201c\u2026 it is attack and hatred you see and feel through this scripture. Remember what I have told you. Fear will keep you from Me. Trust that these feelings of anger are intended only to hide your fear of Me. \u2026. Choose now to let your anger, attack and hatred go. They serve you not. Rest with Me in faith instead.\u201d<\/p>\n
After reading verse 25 in the Bible\u2014which reads, \u201cThen Judas, the one who would betray him,\u00a0said, \u2018Surely you don\u2019t mean me, Rabbi?\u2019\u201d\u2014I got it. I saw that in that very moment, I believed my thoughts just as Judas had believed his. I hated Judas for the same reason that Judas distrusted Jesus; we believed our thoughts.<\/p>\n
This was a \u2018eureka\u2019 moment for me, and I have been madly in love with Judas ever since. I now see his \u2018betrayal\u2019 of Jesus as a great gift to us. He demonstrated just how bad things can get when we believe our thoughts, and that provides us with the opportunity not to make the same mistake.<\/p>\n
Here is one of my favorite songs. I have listened to it many, many times over the years. It reminds me not to believe my thinking. I listen to it with gratitude and with love for our brother, Judas. I think it\u2019s funny that the song begins with Judas singing, \u201cMy mind is clearer now.\u201d It shows that we can be deeply deceived by our own thinking.<\/p>\n