Our place in the story

“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”

So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him. And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26:13-16)

As I read those words, it struck me that not only is Mary (sister of Lazarus and Martha, John 12:1-8) and her deed remembered, but so is Judas and his deeds.

Mary is remembered for her love for Jesus.

Judas is remembered for betraying him.

And it made me think, “What is my place in the gospel story? What is my place in this story that started in the garden of Eden and has stretched out until the present day?

“How will I be remembered when I’m gone? What stories will be told of me?”

And then I thought of Peter. He too is remembered.

He is often remembered for his great failure, for denying Jesus three times.

But he is also remembered as one who came to know God’s grace.

And really, that is what the gospel is all about. It’s all about God’s grace. It’s about the body that was broken and the blood that was poured out there on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven.

So many of us look at our own sin and brokenness and it depresses us.

But like Mary, like Peter, we are recipients of God’s great love and grace.

That’s our part in this gospel story God is writing.

Let us rejoice in it!