Page 509 - Bible History

482 CHRIST REDEEMS THE WORLD
death. The Feast of the Pasch was at hand and Jeru­ salem was crowded with people, many of whom were followers of our blessed Savior who might rise up and defend Him if an one laid hands upon Him. So the chief priest said, ''Not on the festival day, lest per­ haps there should be a tumult among the people.''
Ja Then it was that Satan entered into the heart of a::: Judas, one of the twelve apostles, who was called y Iscariot. Judas had been with our blessed Savior
from the beginning and was the only' one of the apos­ tles who came from Judea. He knew the ways of the world better than the others, most of whom were poor shermen, and Jesus seems to have depended upon him to look out for the practical side of His mission. He had charge of the money and no doubt did most of the buying that was necessary.
Judas loved the things of this world. He could not get used to the poverty in which our Savior and His apostles lived. He was happy ,vhen he had money in his possession and dreamed of the things that money could buy. In spite of all that our Lord said, he, con­ tinued to look forward to the day when Jesus would establish His kingdom here on earth.
Perhaps it was that day in Capharnaum, when Jesus told the people that He had come, not to give them bread for their bodies, but food for their souls, that Judas began to hate our blessed Lord. He could have left Jesus at any time and gone back to his home, but his disappointment was so great that he wanted to make Jesus su er. Angry thoughts lled his mind, d in his heart the desire for revenge grew stronger