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T H I S W E E K LY M E S S A G E S P O N S O R E D BY T H E S E F I N E B U S I N E S S E S BETRAYED By Pastor Michael Bannon, CrossRoads Community Church of Naples T GUEST CONTRIBUTOR omorrow, March 15, is the Ides of March, a date punctuated in history by an infamous betrayal. On this day in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, then emperor of Rome, was stabbed to death by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus, a member of Caesar’s inner circle. Apparently Caesar’s ever-increasing power grabs had made them nervous. Shakespeare, in his play Julius Caesar, captured Caesar’s dismay at the betrayal with the Latin phrase, “Et tu, Brute?” which in our vernacular would be something like, “You too, Brutus?” The very familiar term “backstabber” probably owes its origin to this betrayal and is evidence of our universal dislike of betrayal. About a century after Brutus’ illfamed act, another betrayal took place in the empire of Rome. In the province of Judea, a man known as Jesus of Nazareth had been growing in popularity among the masses for his astounding miracles and authoritative teaching on the Holy Scriptures. The Jewish religious establishment was nervous over his sudden rise in popularity, and their nervousness grew to anger as a growing number of his followers had come to believe his claim to be Israel’s promised Messiah, even the Son of God. They deemed him a blasphemer and sought a solution to bring a permanent end to his blasphemy. A solution presented itself in the form of a betrayer. Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve men Jesus had chosen to be a part CROSSROADS COMMUNITY CHURCH Pastor Michael Bannon Crossroads Community Church 1055 Pine Ridge Rd. Naples, Florida www.CrossRoadsEFCA.com of his inner circle. He served as the group’s treasurer managing the meager offerings given to support Jesus’ ministry. It was known by the others that he was dipping into the funds. His career is marked by two incidents. The first was his vocal indignation over the extravagant act of adoration a woman with a past had lavished on Jesus. The second incident is the one that cemented his place in history; in exchange for money, he offered to lead the religious leaders to Jesus so they could discreetly arrest him. Unlike Brutus’ betrayal, which ended Julius Caesar’s life and career, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus set in motion events that an emboldened Apostle Peter later preached was, “the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” Yes, Judas’ act was an act of treachery, and yes, Jesus’ arrest led to his execution, but his execution was followed by his resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus, Peter preached, proved that he is the Holy One whom God assured He would not let rot in the grave. God sent his Holy One to earth to die and then raised him from the dead; to what end? The Bible teaches that Jesus “was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God,” and encourages everyone to put their faith in him alone. For the next three Sundays leading up to Easter I will speak more about this marvelous offer of God in a sermon series entitled The Cross of Christ. Helping Families CONNECT, HONOR and REMEMBER Traditional Funerals • Personalized Cremation Options –Three Convenient Naples Locations– North Naples - 1625 Pine Ridge Road East Naples - 4735 Tamiami Trail East Fuller Cremation Center - 5325 Jaeger Road 239.592.1611 Conditioned Air “Since 1962” Fuller FUNERAL HOME Cremation Service www.FullerNaples.com 1-888-GERMAIN Germain.com 1-800-COLD AIR Tim Wynn and Staff Pool Decks • Drives • Lanais • Hand Crafted Stone • Flo-crete • Epoxy Stone 261-7157 (239) 643-0411 141 9th Street Manufactured Housing Specialists of SW Florida 20251 S. Tamiami Trail Estero, FL 33928 (239) 498-2220 www.leecorpinc.com 990 First Ave. South Naples, FL 34102 261-7300 BE A SPONSOR BY CALLING 263-4730 This story is contributed by a member of the Naples community and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with Naples Daily News.