Thought to Ponder: Seeing the Hand
“Friend, do what you came to do.” Mt 26:50 NCV

of God in It
Jesus looked at Judas in Gethsemane and said, “Friend, do what you came to do.” It’s hard to imagine what Jesus saw in Judas that made him worthy to be called friend. But Jesus sees something good in every bad situation. And it would help if we did the same. How? Again, Jesus gives us guidance. He didn’t place all the blame on Judas. He saw another force at work: “This is…the time when darkness rules” (Lk 22:53 NCV). Judas wasn’t acting alone—and neither are your attackers. Paul says, “Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world” (Eph 6:12 NCV). Those who attack and betray us are victims of a fallen world. We can’t place all the blame on them. Jesus found enough good in Judas to call him a friend, and He can help us do the same with those who hurt us. Even though Judas didn’t understand or intend to, he played a vital role in ushering Christ into His destiny. Of the ninety-eight words Christ spoke at His arrest, thirty were about the purpose of God. “It must happen this way to bring about what the Scriptures say…‘All these things have happened so that it will come about as the prophets wrote’” (Mt 26:54-56 NCV). Jesus understood that His immediate struggle was part of a greater plan. He saw the hand of God at work in it. And if you pay attention, you’ll see His hand at work in your struggle too.(bob gass)