Meet Kent McKeaigg

It is so easy in any situation for me to think it’s all about me. I can still hear my 5th grade basketball coach (who happened to be my dad) say, “It is not about you, big boy. We’re a team.” Which actually made little sense to me. Each game existed to increase my scoring average, right?

Similarly, I think it is easy to miss the point in today's passage.

Judas betrays Jesus. That seems like the point. If I read this passage thinking about myself (chronically self-absorbed), I quickly think of ways in which I betray Jesus. That's not all bad, but I don't think it’s the point.

As those with Jesus try to resist those with Judas, Jesus states the reasons these events took place. The story seems to be much more about God's purpose than Judas' betrayal. In verse 56 Jesus says that all of this has happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. At one point Jesus even asks rhetorically (v. 53), "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" He asks the question to show the disciples that they are not seeing or understanding the big picture.

The big picture is about what God planned to do and accomplished through Jesus. We know it as the gospel, but it is both for unbelievers and believers (Romans 1). I have found that the best way to deal with my own sin or the process of my sanctification is to re-preach to myself the gospel of Christ.

I am daily confronted with the reality that the Bible's main story line is not about me. It is not about my failures or even my sanctification. It is actually about Jesus. As believers, we must hold fast to this, the gospel (Colossians 1:23).

Don't get me wrong, it is healthy to reflect on our own life and what God is calling us to, but it must only be done with a clear understanding of the gospel.