THE JUDAS IN YOU

 

I was thinking this morning..... I watched a video days ago about Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest geniuses and artist of all time. It talked about how Da Vinci made the greatest masterpiece painting of the renaissance, The Last Supper.

In preparing for this epic work, Da Vinci wanted a model to pose for each of the people in The Last Supper. One Sunday he was at mass at the cathedral in Milan, when he looked up at the choir loft and saw a young man who looked just like how he thought Jesus would've looked. He invited the young man to come and pose as Jesus and for days he drew Jesus into the painting.

He went out into the streets of Milan and looked for someone that fits the picture he had in mind of the other disciples. One by one, he drew them into the painting. In 11 months he found and painted 11 of the 12 disciples. All except Judas. Da Vinci couldn't find a Judas. He searched high and low but couldn't find a man that looked like what he thought Judas should have looked like. He left the painting unfinished for 11 years.

One day he found this man on the streets, with harshness in his face and hardness in his eyes and he thought, 'this is my Judas.' He invited the man to his studio to pose as Judas. Shortly after he started painting, the man began to weep inconsolably. Da Vinci stopped painting and asked 'Is something wrong?' The man answered 'Master, don't you remember me? 11 years ago, I posed for you in this same painting as the person of Jesus.'

In each of us, there is a Jesus and a Judas. One of these personalities manifest per time depending on what life throws at you and your response. Life brought out the Judas in that young man to the point that Da Vinci couldn’t recognize him. For some, the Judas-activator is their spouse while for others it is the love of money.

The world today is full of Judases. If you are a Jesus, do not allow the hardness of life turn you to a Judas. As you celebrate this Easter, feed the Jesus and starve the Judas in you, so we can have a better world. John 3:30 - He must increase, but I must decrease.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Easter!

Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey