Years Ago Bonnie Chamberlain Wrote A Story In The ...

Years ago Bonnie Chamberlain wrote a story in the Saturday Review that told of an artist who was once commissioned to paint in a Sicilian cathedral a mural depicting the life of Jesus. The painter accepted this task and made it his life’s work. He began by searching for people to be his models for the huge mural and one of the first he discovered was a twelve-year-old boy whose innocent radiance made him a perfect model for Christ-child. Over the years the mural developed till it reached the events of Holy Week. One by one the key figures were completed till only the person of Judas remained undone. One afternoon a man whose face was seamed with corruption lurched drunkenly into the tavern where the artist was sitting. At once the artist saw that this man was a perfect model for the remaining figure so he led the man to the cathedral. Pointing to the bare space on the wall, asked him to pose for Judas. To his astonishment, the wino burst out crying, hid his face in his hands, and said, “Don’t you remember me, Maestro?” Pointing to the Christ Child, he said, “Fifty years ago I was your model for Him!”

SIN IS PROGRESSIVE. No sinful act is just a simple sin. Unless we repent and ask God’s forgiveness it becomes a STEPPING STONE that leads us deeper into rebellion against our Lord. (From “Judas Iscariot: Betrayer or Betrayed?” by Mark Adams, Rockville, Maryland)