The Last Iscariot

The Last Iscariot

By Jason E. Fort

As I look back

On what Our Savior did,

How he hung there on that cross.

I can't help it

To think how he suffered,

How he endured pain and blood loss.

That cross he knew

Would be the sacred tree,

On which His followers knew

He died for sin.

His followers few,

Would grow beyond counting,

And He rose from the Grave to live Again!

But those first men,

And how blind they'd been

About that cross and the burden to carry it-

All of them served,

Many of them sacrificed;

All of them, that is, except the last Iscariot.

'As it should be'

Most believers would say,

And they think of betrayal with a kiss.

'That man sure got

What's called traitor's just dessert.'

They'd have no qualms saying, but - consider this:

Judas received

Silver for betrayal of the King,

'He of all people, certainly deserved to die!'

But here I sit

And I cannot help but wonder,

Was he that much different than you or I?

Peter denied,

He denied that he knew His Master at all.

Christ even warned him about the doubts to come.

James and John

Wanted to sit as Christ's right hand,

Pride giving their sin away, as loud as a drum.

Thomas had doubts

He might as well have never been present,

During all the mission work and parables told.

Yet when He rose,

When He appeared to them again,

It took putting his fingers in a wound to have him sold.

Don't get me wrong,

Judas was no genuine guy,

Stealing and sneaking money from their purse.

He let Satan in,

He betrayed his rabbi and friend.

His hanging on a tree was only part of his curse.

Think about it.

Instead of fame, 'Infamy!'

They'd say through history, nothing else to his name.

He'd die wishing

That he could give the silver back.

He probably wished that Jesus never came.

He'd have no kids,

No legacy to call his own.

He would always be known to all as a traitor.

'Yet we all sin,'

I'd ponder for a while,

Only to come to an epiphany much later.

But here's the catch:

You see, with thieving, sneaking,

And all that led to betrayal with a kiss-

Judas had time

To turn all of that around,

If he'd but listened to the words of His Master.

He had the chance

To take all of his dirty ways,

He could have avoided going down his road to disaster.

That is His point,

To turn away from sin, REPENT,

And that is what made the other disciples better.

You, and I,

And every believer we ever met

Can turn from wicked ways; breakout of our fetters.

So now I know

When I think about the betrayer,

I certainly would not want to be the last Iscariot.

Perhaps it's then

I can think of Simon from Syrene,

And Lord, let me pick up my own cross - and carry it.