It was the last play of the game…four seconds to go…and the outcome was so certain that the band was already marching onto the field near the goalposts, when the University of California , about to lose to Stanford, 20-19, on the final play of the game, lateraled from one player to another

to another, moving down the field and through the band, knocking the bass drum player to the ground, on the way to a touchdown that won them the game!

That was November 20, 1982, and it’s still known as “The Play.”

And there was Bo Jackson, when he was playing for the Kansas City Royals, with an opposing player on third base as the hitter knocked one almost to the wall in left field. It was a sure thing for the man on third to come home and score, but Bo Jackson threw a strike from 300 feet away, and the man was out at the plate! It’s still known as “The Throw.”

And there was a man named Judas, who made a deal with the Jews to betray Jesus, and it’s still known as “The Kiss.” I’m now going a different direction that you’re expecting. I’m prayerfully writing this as “misguided love.” Judas was mistaken in thinking that Christ was going to become Israel’s earthly king, so he tried to take matters into his own hands, to put Christ’s life in jeopardy, which he expected would MAKE Christ take over as their king.

He later saw his error and repented (Matt 27:3) and later, Luke, writing for the Apostle Paul, said of Judas that he “by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place (Acts 1:25).

I’ve never let my personal thinking put a person in hell for committing suicide, because only God knows the condition of that mind in its last moments. And so I hope fearfully that Judas somehow got God’s immeasurable mercy at that dreadful time.