Could it be Me?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
On the night before Jesus’ crucifixion we find him in the upper room, with all of the disciples as they prepared for the last supper.
John 13:21-30, "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. He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it 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. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night."
None of us like that word “betray”. There’s no worse feeling in the world than to know that someone whom you thought you knew and that you could really trust, violates that trust and turns against you.
Marriages and relationships are often split and destroyed because of the betrayal of one against another. I think that all of us have experienced betrayal in one form or another.
When JESUS made this announcement, all the disciples wondered who he might be speaking about. They all tried to look like angels to each other. After all, this was an elite group. These were handpicked men, men who would be the first apostles of the church. They should have been above reproach. Surely it couldn’t be one of them. Or could it?
John was so close to JESUS he is leaning against Jesus and even he asks,
Hey LORD tell me who’s going to betray you?
Look closely and you will see that every one of them began to say, “is it me, LORD? Surely it can’t be me. Why I’m a disciple, a Preacher, an evangelist. I walk with you every day, “It surely cannot be me”.
In Matthew 26:25, we see that even Judas asked that question. "Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? …Judas knew the answer. He was still trying to put on a good front. But he was about to be exposed for the snake that he was.
Every single one of them, from John on down, all said the same thing, “I would never do that. There’s no way it could be me.”
(1) Simon Peter (the Rock) says it couldn’t be me because
I am a charter member – I’ve been with Jesus longer than any of the rest. I’m a good man and I am the Rock of this group. Why Jesus himself called me a stone, and that didn’t mean that I had a head as hard as a rock either. It meant that you can really count on me.
I am the security force of this little group. No one will fight off an enemy or stand up for Jesus as much as I will. I’m willing to fight to the death right now.
I am solid (Jesus knows that even if every one of you left him, I’d still be there. I will go with him all the way.) Yet only a few hours later Peter would be cursing the Lord and betraying him before the accusers outside of Pilate’s hall.
(2) James (the Martyr) says it couldn’t be me
I am in the inner circle. There’s Peter, John and myself. We are the most privileged of all. We have seen more, been with Jesus more and will see more than anyone else.
I am a giver and a faithful servant. Jesus knows that I would sacrifice everything for him. Yet James asked, “could it be me that betrays the Lord?”
(3) John (His name means gracious) wonders, “who could it be? Could it be me? Surely it couldn’t be me; anybody but me!”
I am closer to JESUS than any body. He knows how much I love him. Why should I betray the Lord? Why even right now I am the only one in this room who is in the perfect position, close enough to Jesus to talk to him face to face and ask this question. Surely Lord, it can’t be me who will betray you? Yet, even though John loved the Lord, he wasn’t sure that he was incapable of betraying Jesus.
(4) Andrew (his name means manly) says it couldn’t be me
I am a man and not a sissy I would never betray him, NOT ME. I can’t betray Jesus – or could I? Could something happen to make me do such a thing?
(5) Phillip says it couldn’t be me. I’ll admit that sometimes I have trouble with this faith walk. But I can’t help it if I’m the type that needs to see the proof before I can believe. That doesn’t mean that I am a betrayer.
(6) Thomas says, “Could it be me?” I know that I’m the doubter of the bunch. I don’t always accept everything that is said without some added persuasion. But that doesn’t make me a bad fellow. I still love the Lord. I still want to serve him and be faithful to the end. Sure I doubt, but I couldn’t betray Jesus, could I?”
(7) Matthew ( his name means Gift of GOD) says it couldn’t be me. I’ve given that old life of stealing up to follow the Lord and I won’t turn back now. I used to be a thief. I once was a terrible sinner, but now I’m saved. I made a quality decision to follow Jesus. I couldn’t be the one to betray the Lord, or could I? What could come to make me turn my back on Jesus and go after the things of this world again? Is something like that coming soon? Oh, I hope that it’s not me who will betray the Lord. I’m a giver now, not a taker!
(8) Bartholomew, James, the son of Alphasus, Thaddaeus and Simon the Canaanite all asked themselves, Could it be me? Would any of us be the betrayer?
We love being a disciple. We all want to inherit a position in the new kingdom that is coming. We all believe in Jesus as our Deliverer. Why should we betray him and lose it all? It surely couldn’t be one of us, could it?
(9) Even Judas Iscariot says that it couldn’t be him. He knew how to put on such a good show that no one suspected him of anything more than they did of anyone else. He was trusted explicitly. After all, Jesus and the disciples made him the treasurer and anyone knows that money is the greatest tempter of all. If I wanted to be a thief, I could be very easily – but you know, I do love the position and the title and access to the money. I’m never broke like the rest because I have the whole treasury.
And look, I’m sitting closer to Jesus than most of the other disciples. They can’t suspect it’s me, so why reveal my true nature. Let them wonder who the betrayer is. They will never know the truth of what I am doing in secret. My secret sin is mine alone.
Who was the betrayer at that table? Of course we know that it was Judas, but no one knew who it was that day except for the Lord, and he was about to expose the sinful rat that sat at the table.
John 13:26, "Jesus answered, He it 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."
Jesus took some bread and sopped it, then handed it to Judas.
Now I was thinking of what this sop, or S O P would stand for.
(1) Satan OWNED PERSON John 13:27, "...And after the sop Satan entered into him." Before a Christian can betray the Lord, we have to give place to the devil. When we quit fighting Satan, we start surrendering to him. There’s no neutral ground in this spiritual warfare. We must either be full of Jesus, or we will be full of the devil, and we will serve whomever we allow to own us.
(2) SKILLED ON PRETENDING John 13:28, "Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him." Sometimes I look at people and it’s hard to tell if they are for real. We are so good at masking our hearts. People think that we are spiritual, but we aren’t. People think that we are living holy, but our secret sins are hidden, just waiting to be exposed.
I remember a sermon from a few years back that titled, “Are You Live or are you Memorex?” So much of the time, you really have to have some spiritual discernment to know the difference. People are really good pretenders and that’s what Judas was. He pretended to be a disciple that loved Jesus, but he was there for the wrong reason.
(3) STEADILY OCCUPIED POSITION John 13:29, "For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor." No one even realized at first that Judas was the betrayer because he had held his position for so long that he was set permanently.
(4) SON OF PERDITION John 17:12, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
Judas had pretended for so long, and had occupied his position for so long, that he didn’t even know himself that he had become a tool of the devil. He didn’t realize what the full impact of his sin would be. Perhaps he only thought that they would scourge Jesus, or imprison him for a little while, or find him guilty of a lesser crime. I don’t think Judas ever thought that his betrayal would cause Jesus to be crucified. He was an unwitting tool of the devil.
(5) SETTLED ON PRICE In Matthew 26:15 we see that Judas was only after money and he was paid 30 pieces of silver. Silver, in scripture, is nearly always used as a symbol of judgment. 30 pieces of silver was the price of the precious blood of Jesus.
30 pieces of silver was the price for a slave that had been gored by an ox in the Old Testament Law. Thus Jesus was sold as a slave and would be pierced by the nails and spears of those who crucified him. Sold as a slave but he would rise as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The main point of the SOP is that Judas was the SAME OLD PERSON. He had followed Jesus but had never been born again, never changed like so many today, never fully knew Jesus, and he would never know Jesus as his savior because he loved this world and he desired his own religion, Judaism, rather than to believe in Jesus. He was religious but lost.
Now my question to you is, “could any of us betray Jesus?”
None of us are as holy as want everyone to think that we are. None of us are as perfect as we sometimes make out to be. We are all capable of betraying Jesus if we aren’t careful to maintain our faithful walk with him.
Could we be a SOP? I pray that we will all truly know Jesus as our Lord. I pray that God would make us real, not just pretenders; that he would make us into a new creation, not just the same old person. That’s what it will take to keep us from being the Lord’s betrayer just like Judas was.
