I start by congratulating you all on
Easter… I here don’t mean Egyptian Christians alone but all who are aware they
live in a county where civilization and culture were accumulated through ages
until we became united in one Egyptian alloy that cannot be separated but with
destruction.
Then I invite you on this occasion
to search for Judas Iscariot everywhere in our beloved Egypt.
For those who don’t know the man;
Judas Iscariot is the one of Jesus disciples who betrayed him and delivered him
to his enemies.
Here we read in the gospel of John,
chapter 13 a description of the scene of Judas betrayal and how Jesus
discovered this: “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that
his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,
having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God"...
Then we read in the same gospel “…When
Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake..." ... "... Jesus answered, He is is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon".
Then we read in the gospel of Luke,
chapter 22: “…And while he – Jesus – yet spake, behold a multitude, and
he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near
unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?"
That was Judas; the one who ate with
his master and then betrayed him… he who kissed his master then handed him over
to those who intended to kill him.
Now, I invite you all to search –
guided by evidences, behavior, stances and results – for those who stab this
nation in the back and betray it… those who enjoyed its wealth… and whom you
find showing their false feelings all the time.
Search for Judas who pollutes the
river water, soil and air… the one who poisons the food we eat so that weak
ailing generations incapable of producing or defending the nation are born.
Search for Judas who destroyed the
research and educational system… the one who put down those corrupt curriculums
and poisonous ideas for our children and youth to learn… and later, they
graduate holding the highest ranks but incapable of writing a single proper
Arabic sentence… mastering a foreign language… or possessing any creative or
critical mentality.
Search for Judas in the field of
health sector… meaning all that concerns the Egyptians’ health… search for that
traitor who produced a medicine with no effective substance… the one who leaves
his patients unattended… that who leaves the equipment dirty or left to rust…
the one who takes bribes to give people their legitimate rights… search for all
those Judas in the sectors of industry, agriculture, commerce, services and
every field.
What is more dangerous is that Judas;
the one who cease not to deepen and broaden the danger of dismantle…
dismantling the nation into separate islands according to religion, sect or
doctrine… dismantling the nation into groups and ethnicities… ripping it apart by
social inequality under the false claim that capital has the right to earn
whatever it wants feeling free not to have any cultural or social commitments.
However, the most dangerous Judas is
the one killing our sons… especially our army and policemen… also, murdering the
innocents who die in bombs explosions in the streets, over the bridges and before
schools, hospitals, banks and checkpoints.
He is the same Judas who facilitates
constructing tunnels beneath our borders knowing they are poisonous knives
stabbing our country in the heart… making terrorists satisfied and celebrating
of committing their crimes while escaping through gaps of remissness and
inattention.
While we do so… we have to look at
ourselves as we may find Judas inside us… our own Judas who inhibits our will
and makes us impede others from fulfilling their roles… that Judas who makes us
doubt everything and belittle any effort… that Judas who color our future with
black to block sunlight… to block the future.
We have to search for that Judas
inside us and kill him… that who allows opportunism and extreme
careerism on the expense of efficiency and
productivity.
On Easter, I’d like to congratulate you
and remind you of the Sermon on the Mount: “Take heed that ye do not
your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your
Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you. They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doesth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are"... gospel of Matthew, chapter 6.
This article was published in Al
Ahram newspaper on April 9, 2015.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Easter
#Judas
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