Brotherly Love; Jesus, or Judas, Which?
By Mrs. E. M. Peebles
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35. WHAT would Jesus do? is a safe question to ask, and the only safe rule to follow in our dealings with one another and with our fellow men. Comparing the lives of Jesus and his betrayer, we see a marked contrast. In the three years of his association with Judas as one of the twelve, we have no intimation that the Master even so much as hinted to the others that Judas was not an honest man, that he was with them only for the temporal preferment he hoped to enjoy when Christ should, as Judas fully believed he would do, set up an earthly kingdom. Knowing so well the heart of the traitor and his covetousness, that he was in the habit of appropriating to himself some of the funds from the common store, how natural it would have been for Jesus to mention that Judas was not what he professed to be, especially as toward the last Judas was continually insinuating doubts that confused the minds of the disciples, introducing controversies and misleading sentiments, and respecting arguments urged by the scribes and Pharisees against the claims of Christ, all being done in a way to give himself an appearance of sincerity. See “Desire of Ages,” page 719. The silence observed by the Saviour respecting the character of Judas should be an example to us: and the golden rule, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,” would, if followed, forever do away with the spirit of gossip, or even of unnecessarily speaking of the faults and weaknesses of another, especially of one in church fellowship. Doubtless that other has faults, but so have we; and unless we are willing that he should lay us on the dissecting table to uncover our faults before others, we should not do thus by him. It is true we are commanded to withdraw from those who walk disorderly, and to call sin by its right name; but we have no right to discuss with others what may seem to be the shortcomings of a fellow worker. If the Saviour maintained an entire silence respecting Judas, who was entirely counterfeit, should not we do as much toward those who are faithfully trying to do their best but sometimes fail? If we could always remember that every soul is in deadly conflict with Satan, who is striving for the mastery, and that we are aiding him by spreading evil reports against a brother or sister, we should be more careful of our words, which are as winged arrows, carrying poison and death. “Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth.” Just a few words are spoken against another, and lo, they are repeated again and again, until they are heard around the world. “My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” “The words of a talebearer are as wounds.” “A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we shall be as ready to spread the news of our own failures as we are to tell others of his; and furthermore, if the Holy Spirit has done its office work in our own heart, revealing to us our own inborn corruption, we shall feel too much humiliated by the sight of our own weaknesses to speak of those of others, lest we thereby call attention to our own; “for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.” By this rule, the one who does the most accusing is the most guilty, and is most active in the work of him who is called the “accuser of the brethren.” The second great commandment is to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Then all criticism and evil-speaking and back-biting will disappear from those who “keep the commandments of God.” Again: it sometimes occurs that the reports we hear are entirely without foundation; and in that case, we are found bearing false witness against another. We need to be careful; we need to be Christians.