Karma's a Bitch!

 

 

Today I looked squarely in the eyes of karma and it wasn't pretty.  What I saw was a broken man and it didn't feel good.  It's interesting I saw this today, as it is Maundy Thursday -- a day when Jesus was betrayed by Judas.

 

Maundy comes from the Latin "mandatum" which means commandment(www.aboutreligion.com).  Toward the end of the Last Supper, Jesus gave the following commandment: ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35 (NIV)   Of course, prior to this moment, Jesus knew he was about to be betrayed by his friend and disciple Judas.

 

John 13:21-30  (CEV) gives this account of the betrayal:

 

After Jesus had said these things, he was deeply troubled and told his disciples, “I tell you for certain that one of you will betray me.” ²² They were confused about what he meant. And they just stared at each other.

²³ Jesus' favorite disciple was sitting next to him at the meal, ²⁴ and Simon motioned for that disciple to find out which one Jesus meant. ²⁵ So the disciple leaned toward Jesus and asked, “Lord, which one of us are you talking about?”
²⁶ Jesus answered, “I will dip this piece of bread in the sauce and give it to the one I was talking about.”
Then Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ Right then Satan took control of Judas.
Jesus said, “Judas, go quickly and do what you have to do.” ²⁸ No one at the meal understood what Jesus meant. ²⁹ But because Judas was in charge of the money, some of them thought that Jesus had told him to buy something they needed for the festival. Others thought that Jesus had told him to give some money to the poor. ³⁰ Judas took the piece of bread and went out.

As a result of  Judas' actions, the hours following were chaos.  Christ was beaten within an inch of his life and the crowds turned against Him.  He was crucified.  Judas, filled with guilt, hung himself.  Did karma find him? 

Just so you get a better understanding, here is what happens when one is crucified; the death process.  This is how it is described in www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com:

"Scourging was just part of Jesus’ punishment and was more than a severe beating.  It involved whips or lashes made of leather thongs which were attached to a handle.  These thongs contained metal fragments and pieces of bones that literally tore the flesh off of Jesus.  After Jesus was scourged it was recorded to say, “When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man” (John 19:5)!  What Pilate was really saying was, “Look at this man!  Isn’t this enough?  He’s hardly recognizable as a human being.  Look at Him!”  Even with this bloody pulp of a Man, they still screamed, “Crucify Him” (John 19:6)!" After that, "they also attached a crown of thorns that were likely 1 to 2 inch thorns of briar that were hard as oak and they likely penetrated not only through the skin but penetrated parts of the skull bone.  This would have caused a large loss of blood and created severe hemorrhaging of the brain tissues.  By the time Jesus went to the cross, He had pieces of His flesh hanging off of Him and He had large open wounds that bled profusely.  He also must have been unrecognizable because Isaiah records in 52:14 that “Just as many were astonished at you, my people, so His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.”  Jesus was little more than a piece of meat by the time he was forced to carry his own cross. 

When he arrived at the designated place, he was nailed to it; not with ordinary nails but with what were essentially similar to railroad spikes.  The spikes went through his wrists and with one foot placed on top of the other, through both feet.  People who were crucified used their feet to push up and take a breath.  It was an exhausting death practice.

So, how would you react if someone did something that provoked so much pain on you?  Wish for karma?  Pray that God would let you see it?  What did Jesus do?  What did He pray for?

Luke 23:34 , “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

That, my friends, is the true spirit of agape love.  Defined on www.BibleQuestionsAnswered.com , "agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself."  It is a love that is difficult to comprehend.  Perhaps unconditional is the closest type of love we can understand.  It is the love he spoke of when he gave the commandment "...Love one another. As I have loved you..."
 John 13:34-35

So, the next time you wish for karma on someone who has done you wrong, think of a better way to handle your anger and frustration. Forgive as Jesus forgave us.  After all, if we were to get the karma we deserved instead of the love that Christ gave us... trust me, it would be a bitch!


"Aaron's Blessing" by Fernando Ortega
https://youtu.be/m5P6PdBPQpA