ONE OF YOU SHALL BETRAY ME
Matthew 26:20-26:23
Matthew 26:20-23, "Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me."
This scripture is very well known to anybody who has read about Jesus’ final hours upon this earth before his crucifixion. He was in the upper room, seated at the table with all of his disciples. They was celebrating the Passover meal together for the last time.
There was all the disciples that Jesus loved and had spent so many long hours with, trying to teach them the ways of God and praying that these men would stand the tests to come. There was Simon Peter, the big fisherman and the strong man of the group, and his brother, Andrew. There were James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Simon, Thomas, Matthew, the converted tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus and then there was one more whose name we would rather forget, Judas Iscariot.
They all sat there, just having a good time of fellowship and looking forward to the victory that was ahead. They was , convinced that the kingdom would be soon took from the hands of the Romans and Israel would once again become a great nation.
I ain’t never known fisherman who didn’t like to tell fish stories and so I wonder if the fishermen at this table were any different or if they were still trying to outdo one another with their fishing tales? There were a few of them who had a really hard time adjusting to being a part of this type of crowd. One of those was Matthew who had given up a “good job” as a tax collector for the Romans. He was one of those people who the Jews loved to hate.This kinda of reminds me of the church. Here we sit, with Jesus in our midst. Way too often we forget about the fact that Jesus is here with us. He has promised us that where two or three are gathered, he will be there too. Just like those disciples at the Last Supper, we tend to take him for granted so much...... It’s easy to get comfortable around Jesus, after all he is the Prince of Peace, the great God of mercy and grace, and his love knows no bounds. Who couldn’t feel comfortable around him and who couldn’t enjoy his presence?
But as we examine this time with the disciples I’m reminded that we, the church, are like those disciples at the Last Supper in a lot of ways too. Yes Jesus was there, the disciples were there; but somebody else was there too. Who else was there? It was the devil himself, and he was working
overtime as usual.....
How many of you believe that the devil walks right into the midst of our church??? I can tell you that he comes in all the time. He comes walking on two legs wearing pants or a skirt, because he comes in with those whose minds, hearts and attitudes are not right with God.
He comes for three purposes – to steal your victory, to kill the moving of the Holy Ghost, and to destroy the work of the Kingdom that goes on in this church....... “Old Slew Foot” is right here, every time we come together because it’s his job to hinder the work of the kingdom of God in any way that he can.
As I think about the 12 disciples sitting around that table, with Jesus talking to them I can’t help but know that there’s one disciple who’s rather quiet and nervous.... He’s not joining in with the others. It’s as though his mind is preoccupied with something outside of the room. Could it be that his mind was filled with the things of this world?
There he was, sitting in the very presence of Jesus, hearing the audible voice of the Son of God, sitting in the middle of some of the greatest men of faith that have ever walked the earth, and still his thoughts wouldn’t on Jesus or on the work that he had been called to do. He was only thinking of what he would buy, where he could go, what a good time he would have, once he had completed the task that he had to finish later that night.
Judas had made a contract with the devil. He looked like a disciple. He acted like a disciple. He knew all the right moves, the right words, the right way to smile, the right way to pray, the right way to dress – in short, he had all the appearances on the outside of being a great man of faith, but his heart was as black as coal, and he was yet dead in his sin, and before that night was over, he would forever be in that prison called the Lake of Fire.
What a terrible tragedy! What a terrible thought to realize that Judas was so close to eternal life and yet missed it by such a great distance. He could be walking those streets of gold right now, but because he kept his eyes on the things of this world, he is burning forever instead!
......................................................................Judas had his dark secret hid for a long time. He hadn’t left the desires of this world behind like all the other disciples..... We know, none of them was perfect either. Every one of them made some bad mistakes, but their heart was changed and their lives were dedicated to following Jesus. Judas’ heart was unchanged! He only followed Jesus for what he could get out of it.
Judas was the keeper of the treasury for the disciples. That job fit him perfectly because he had such a love for money and the things that it could buy. That love of money became the root of evil in his life, and that root sprang forth into a life that was filled with bitterness and sin.
As he sat there, eating and acting like one of the disciples, he was shocked into reality when Jesus spoke those words, “One of you shall betray me.” He immediately knew exactly who Jesus was speaking about!
Judas was exposed! His little secret was out now! How could Jesus know? He hadn’t told anyone! He hadn’t revealed his plans. This was something that only he and the council knew about and no one else. Jesus couldn’t know what Judas was planning, how could he?
But Jesus did know. Judas made the same mistake that so many of us make right now. He forgot that Jesus is God and that God knows all things, even the very thoughts of your mind and the intent of your heart. He knows your motive for doing whatever you do. He knows your selfishness. He knows your fears. He knows your doubts. He knows what you love and what you hate. He knows what decisions you’re gonna make this very night, even before the decision is thought of.
We sit here in this church and we forget that God knows everything about us. We might be able to fool our brother and sister in the church. We might be able to fool the preacher. The preacher may be able to fool the congregation. The Teacher may fool the students and the students might fool the teacher. But no one can fool God!We can come to church and put on a good front – but God knows the back too!
-We can come to church and act our part to the letter – but God knows the actor behind the act!
-We can come to church and appear to be what we are not – but God knows what we really are!
I believe that in a gathering of people just like we are right now, people who have come together to worship the Lord and to serve the Lord, there’s always somebody who’s just like Judas Iscariot. The Holy Ghost moves in and out of the pew and the Lord Jesus Christ himself walks through the midst of the church and I can hear him saying, “One of you, sitting right here with me, right now, in this very church, is gonna betray me!”
As I watch your faces while these words are being spoken, I can almost see the same reactions in you that was in the disciples in that Upper Room so long ago. Suddenly the atmosphere changes from a feeling of happiness and rejoicing, having a good time, and enjoying the fellowship with one another and with Jesus, to an atmosphere that is changed with doubts, fears and anxiety over the words of the Lord!
Is it Me? Who are you speaking to Jesus? Will I be the one to betray you Lord? Oh I hope it’s not me! I want to be found faithful and true all my life. I never want to leave you or betray you. Oh please tell me that it’s not me who’ll betray you Jesus!
Is that the way you feel right now??? I promise you that one of you will betray Jesus very soon.
Who will it be?
Who will be the one who follows in the footsteps of Judas Iscariot?
Who will be the one who brings condemnation upon his own life because he chooses to betray Jesus Christ?
Which one of us is it?
Look around the room.
Look at those in this church who you consider to be brothers and sisters in the Lord and choose who you might think it will be! Which of us is the betrayer?
I guarantee you – I promise you, that as surely as I am standing here, ministering the Word of God to you right now, I have been inspired by God to tell you that one of you will betray Christ, maybe not tonight, maybe it will be tonight; maybe it will be tomorrow, I don’t know the time or the circumstances that will cause you to betray Jesus. But I am convinced that most definitely before this week is over, someone will fall right into the devil’s hands, make a deal with the devil, and betray Christ.
Who will it be? How can it be? No one here wants to be the one, but one of us will!
Who will it be?
It’ll be somebody who allows the devil to put thoughts into your mind that shouldn’t be there. It will be somebody who gives in to the temptation to take hold of the things of this world instead of the things of God.... It’ll be someone whose vision of Christ as the very Son of God is dimmed because the things of this world have become so much brighter........................................................ It’ll be somebody who’s allowed their guard against the temptations of sin to drop and they’ll be took away of their own desires and lust for the things of the world that Satan will surely offer. It’ll be someone who has let their prayer life waiver and falter. It will be someone who has not opened the Bible to feed their soul with the Words of Life within its pages. It’ll be someone whose commitment to Christ is failing and whose eyes are not on things above.
Who will it be? Who will be the betrayer?
Who is it that will allow the devil to convince them, and say in their own mind that no one will ever know what I am doing?
Who is it that will attempt to fool God and think that they can get by with sin?
Who is it that will pretend to love Jesus and yet have a heart after the world?
Church, when Jesus says that one of you shall betray me – he could be talking to any one of us, or all of us, cause none of us are perfect. We’re all subject to fail at any time The power of temptation and the willingness of the flesh are so powerful that any of us, at any time, could be the betrayer of Christ.
How do we betray him? We deny him before the world, and we sell out to sin, even if its just for a minute.
How do we deny him? We deny him by not lifting him up and showing the world that we truly love him and that our only desire is to be in his presence.
Judas tried to repent of his betrayal of Christ. He wanted to give the 30 pieces of silver back to the Sanhedrin’s and buy back the relationship that he once had with Jesus but there was no turning back for him. Judas died in that state of betrayal!
What about you, and me? We have to always be on guard so that when that day comes, when that time comes,..... that we find ourselves denying Jesus like Judas, and embracing the world, that we will turn back to Jesus and repent before it’s too late.
How many times have I sinned against God How many times has each of you sinned against God?............................................... How many times have we grieved the Holy Ghost? How many times have we faked our love for Jesus and then turned away from him to go and do our own thing?
How many times have we betrayed him?
someone will betray Jesus this week. I have no doubt that one of you, or maybe more, will betray Jesus before we come together again. I wonder how many will fail? I wonder how many will sin against God by having a bad attitude, by speaking words that shouldn’t be spoken, by allowing their commitment to Jesus and his work to take a back seat to what they think is more important, or by not doing what they know to do is right?
James 4:17 said:
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Let’s not continue to betray Jesus, but if we do, let’s be quick to turn back to him and repent for our sin. He’s our advocate with the Father in Heaven. He’s always making intercession for us before the throne, and our Father God... He will wash us, cleanse us and lift us out of that miry pit of sin, and put us back on the right path one more time
Don’t be the one who betrays Jesus Christ! It’s so easy to do! It’s so easy to fail in our obedience to Him! But thank God, if we turn back to Jesus in true repentance, he will forgive us.
