Judas Iscariot. He must be replaced.
Judas has failed and another must rise up to take his place.
The church will not end with the failure of Judas, the church will regroup, reevaluate, and pursue its calling - to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Judas was one of the twelve, he was one of privileged few who was able to spend close intimate time with Jesus Christ. Judas sat at the feet of the feet of the master. Judas received the best theological education ever available and he received it from the primary source, Jesus Christ. Judas was given the golden opportunity of a lifetime - still, Judas failed to see the spiritual truth living right before his eyes. Judas failed to understand how to be great in the kingdom of God, Judas strove to be first, but Jesus tells us to strive to be last.
Was Judas doomed to fail from the beginning? Yes, Judas was doomed.
Is it possible for me, or for someone I love to fail like Judas failed? Yes, we all can fail like Judas, we all can fail to see the truth, living right before our eyes.
By all signs Judas was the real thing. None of the disciples suspected a thing. Judas may have looked authentic, but his heart revealed the truth, whatever those around Judas assumed about Judas, Judas, in his heart, was a fraud.
I once served a very wealthy congregation. Over the years the different members had donated various items to the church, many of which were quite valuable. The stained glass windows were valued and tens of thousands of dollars each; The communion table was an intricately carved piece of art, from a world famous artist in Germany - I have no idea how much that was worth; One of the many nativity sets the church owned was a life size set, with beautiful animals and very regal magi, worth tens of thousands of dollars, the list goes on and on - but the most prized item was a painting of the Madonna given to the church in the ‘1930’s’. It was housed in a special room that was temperature controlled and very secure.
Congregation members loved this painting. Brides would have their picture taken with it, and many a new baptized baby had his or her picture taken by this Madonna painting. A small pamphlet was even written about this valuable painting and given to visitors who toured the church.
A toilet overflowed in the basement causing extensive damage downstairs and an unbearable oder lingered for weeks. This caused the trustees to check the current value of the long list of items the church possessed for insurance purposes. So, a well renowned art dealer was contacted to appraise the various works of art in the church.
The man appraised the various items in the church and he saved the famous painting for last, as the trustees did not want the dealer in the room alone with the painting. Finally, the time came for the art dealer to appraise the Madonna painting. The trustees showed the art dealer into the room and were delighted with the astonished look on the art dealers face.
The art dealer quietly took the painting down and slowly looked the painting over. One of the trustees could not contain himself and blurted out, “So, how much is it worth?”
“Well,” said the art dealer, “I need to give the painting a more detailed examination, but I am quite impressed, my first thought that it is worth….seven, maybe eight thousand dollars. This is the best forgery of this painting I have ever seen”
This clearly agitated the trustees and one shot back, “What are you talking about? This painting must be worth several hundred thousand dollars. This is no forgery, you don’t know what you are talking about.”
The art dealer didn’t miss a beat and cooly replied. “If you don’t believe me, you can go see the original yourself, it is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Believe it or not, there were some in the congregation who refused to believe that the painting was a forgery. Some stepped forward and attempted to stop any form of payment to the art dealer saying that he was inept. Others set out to find a “real” art appraiser who would give a true assessment of the painting. There was even a small get together with cookies and coffee to celebrate the authenticity of the painting.
See, for years these people had lived with what they thought was real. Everyone told them the painting was real, they in turn told everyone else the painting was real, they could not see the painting in any other light, it was real to them. Finally, the consensus was made that the church had the real painting, and the Met had the fake.
Yet amazingly, to my knowledge, not one of these people has made a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to see the original Madonna painting.
Judas Iscariot has failed, he has defected, and now the followers of Jesus must deal with replacing him. Let’s take a look at our Scripture and see what it teaches us today about living our lives as Christians.
We start off in verse 12 with the disciples returning from the Mount of Olives where, as we saw last week, Jesus ascended and left the disciples on their own. The Mount of Olives is not mountain, for us in Alaska it is a a low hill, about equivalent to the lower hillside here in town. The men travel a Sabbath day’s walk which is between ½ and 3/4 of a mile, so it is a very short walk back into the city.
The upper room they all arrive at, could be the one they had the last supper in, or it may have been the room they were in when Jesus first appeared to then after Easter, but that is only speculation. The point is that they are all together in a place that is large enough to hold all the people. The point is that all the believers in the city are together to deal with what comes next.
A list of names is given. Not everyone is mentioned who was in the room, only those who are considered very important to the continued ministry of Jesus Christ. I know that when we run into a list as we are reading the Bible, we tend to just blow right through the list. Especially when the list is just a bunch of names. However, understand that names are not thrown around to fill space in the Scriptures, names are always significant. In the NT we have several lists of the disciples. This group of people here are like an early think tank - but they don’t just think, they turn their attention to prayer. The list of disciples vary in order, but Peter, Philip and James always come first, fifth and ninth. This James is not the brother of Jesus and Judas son of James is not Judas Iscariot.
Now, shouldn’t Peter be last on the list? Peter is the one after all who directly denied Jesus three times in a row; Peter’s crime against Jesus is a very close second to what Judas did to Jesus (we will deal with Judas in a bit). Yet here, and always, Peter is first. Here we learn a very valuable fact that is present throughout the book of Acts about the Kingdom of God - The last shall be first. Peter is first, not because Peter is such a great man, rather, Peter is first because Peter reversed himself and placed Jesus first. Peter is first not because of who he is, Peter is first because of who Jesus is. Remember, last week we said that this book is all the person of Jesus Christ, not about his followers. Everything happens because of who Jesus is, NOT because of who the disciples are.
Do you want to become great in the Kingdom of God? Then start with this premise in your life: It is not about me, it is about Jesus Christ; The less I am, the greater Jesus is; The greater Jesus is, the greater I will be in the kingdom of God.
The crazy fact is, all my failures can add up to great success in the kingdom of God. Why is that? Because…..it is not about me, it is about Jesus Christ. Are you catching on?
Notice, Jesus does not tell the believers to stay together, Jesus gives them much wider perimeters and only asks that they stay within the city and wait for the Holy Spirit. But you know, it is a healthy thing for them to gather together, for together they can spur each other on in prayer.
Some women are there too. Notice, Mary his mother, is now worshiping Jesus. His brothers the same, the brother’s of Jesus are now worshiping Jesus as well. They did not believe during Jesus ministry, Jesus’ family rejected him during his ministry. (Matthew 12:46-48.) Since the brothers receive separate mention - it is apparent that none were disciples. His family became confused during Jesus’ ministry, but after seeing the resurrected Jesus, they truly believe.
Now though the brothers of Jesus are not disciples, James, the brother of Jesus, becomes undisputed leader in the early church, probably as a result of a personal visit from the resurrected Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:7, “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” See this is not just about the disciples and their ministry, it is about Jesus and who Jesus is. In the minds of the original 12, James would have never been thought of as the potential leader of the early church - yet again, James is placed into leadership, not because of who he is, but because James placed Jesus first…..
In verse 15, we see that 120 gather. There are many more believers, but here in the city of Jerusalem there are only 120. The fact is, Galilee is the center of Christianity, as for as number of believers go. 1 Corinthians 15:6, “After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” This is not about numbers, the place where there are the most believers isn’t necessarily the place where God will choose to act. Here God chooses to work with a few, rather than many. When we seek where God is active, don’t let mere numbers guide you, it is the Holy Spirit we seek, not people.
At this point it occurs to the disciples that they must replace Judas. In the Greek it reads “it is necessary.” Some have assumed that the disciples make a mistake here by replacing Judas, they might say that Paul is the replacement for Judas, but such an assumption is wrong. Judas must be replaced.
Paul isn’t the replacement, for Paul isn’t the only one considered an Apostle outside of the eleven. Barnabas (Acts 14:14), James (Gal 1:19; 1 Cor 15:7) and Apollos (1 Cor 4:6-9) are also called Apostles, and are not part of the original eleven. This is not about the having only 12 apostles, this is about Israel going forth into the world, this is about fulfillment of Scripture. Matthew 19:28, “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” They all know that Scripture, the words of Jesus must be fulfilled and so they act. There were twelve disciples as they represent each of the 12 tribes of Israel. There are twelve Apostles (at this point) as they also represent each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Note that this idea occurs to them after they were all praying. When we put two and two together we see that this idea of picking a replacement for Judas is a result of their prayers. Some dismiss their pick because it involves the casting of lots, we would say, the rolling of the dice, but be careful in such an assumption, for we see this type of thing as common in the Judaism.
First qualifications are set forth for replacement (21): The replacement must have been associated with Jesus from time of John the Baptist’s ministry. This covers the period of primitive teaching of the gospel and may indicate the these two were part of the 70 Jesus sent out. Look, they do no just choose haphazardly. First they select those who they deem and the most worthy, then and only then, they cast lots.
It may be that there was none other there to chose from except these two. So these two, Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias are brought forth. We read in Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” The thought here is that God is fully in control of even the dice, so that when a decision needs to be made between two fully qualified candidates, they casting of the lots was thought to give the decision over to the Lord.
We see this is a common ancient practice, throughout the Middle East. For example in ancient Athens - magistrates were elected by the casting of lots under Solon’s constitution, but again, only among those who had been chosen on more rational grounds first. It is not just a random choice among everyone, it is a choice among those qualified.
Is this a crazy method of choice? Well, this method was in perfect harmony with OT practice. For example the high priest used this method to choose a scape goat (Lev 16:8) and later to divide the land among the twelve tribes of Israel (Num 26:55) {Also see 1 Chron 24:7 & 25:8 for further examples}. In fact, we see that God made this work even for pagans as they cast lots in Jonah 1:7 and found Jonah to be the cause of their troubles.
Is this something recommended for us today as a way to make final decisions? No, but that does not make their decision wrong. This practice was an accepted norm for the OT, and here in this instance, the disciples are still working under OT guidelines as the Holy Spirit has not come upon them as of yet. Note that this practice is not followed after Pentecost. We never see this again after this point, why is that? Because now there is no need, as we now have the Holy Spirit. We all as Christians should be able to grow close enough to God. We all should be able to grow to the point where we are sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit, and we know what decisions are in the will of God.
So no you are not to use this method of choosing in your life; Yes you are to seek a close relationship with the Holy Spirit and you will have no need for such things.
Finally, let’s take a look at Judas. Yes, Judas must be replaced, but not because he has died, but because of his defection. Yes Judas was doomed to fail, but Judas could have come back from such a great failure.
Judas and his actions were known ahead of time and in fact were prophesied. Psalms 41:9, “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” John 17:12 “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” There are many more Scriptures that point out the doom of Judas to betray Jesus. Here in verse 20, Peter quotes psalms that are messianic prophecies concerning Judas (Ps 69:25, 109:8.)
Further, we see that Judas, does not act on his own, He is under control of Satan, Luke 22:3, “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.” Now Judas is still responsible for his actions, Judas after all was open to the control of Satan. Because of his actions, Peter tells us that judgement was brought down upon Judas, Acts 1:18, “(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.”
So if Judas was doomed, then is it possible for some in our day to not have a chance in following Jesus? Well, no. Though Judas does betray Jesus, a short time later Judas attempts to reverse his actions by throwing the coins back at the chief priests (Matt 25:5-19.) The Greek word used for remorse in this verse is metamelomai which means to feel sad about something. This word is a change in emotions not a change in mind as in repent.
Judas has remorse, Judas has guilt, but Judas does not repent.
Think about this, up to this point, among Jesus’ disciples, the one would be considered successful would be Judas. Judas was successful both financially and politically. He controlled the money so well he could take some off the top without anyone noticing. Most likely in the minds of the everyday people, Judas was first - but again the kingdom of God reverses how life works, and Judas ends up last.
Judas could have repented, but before the resurrection of Jesus, Judas does himself in. If only Judas had been able to wait a mere three days how different would life be, if Judas had been able to wait? Probably nine out of ten churches would have Judas Iscariot in their name. Judas would probably be the most popular name for baby boys. The name of Judas would be held in high honor. Every town in America would have a Judas Iscariot Boulevard. Colleges and Seminaries would bear his name, “Judas Iscariot Theological Seminary,” or “The University of Judas Iscariot”. Even day care centers would jump in on the action, “Iscariot Children’s Academy”. He for sure would have been the most powerful of all the disciples in terms of witness and preaching.
Imagine, meeting the man who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, who would stand before you - now forgiven. How powerful is that? People would flock to hear him. People would weep in astonishment at his witness. Judas would be the rock star of the twelve, the most studied, the most celebrated and the most loved….but, instead, he is loathed and despised. What a waste of such great potential.
Could Judas have repented and turned his life around? Without a doubt yes.
For us here this morning: Do you want to become great in the Kingdom of God? Then start with this premise in your life: It is not about me, it is about Jesus Christ; The less I am, the greater Jesus is; The greater Jesus is, the greater I will be in the kingdom of God.
The crazy fact is, all my failures can add up to great success in the kingdom of God. Why is that? Because…..it is not about me, it is about Jesus Christ.
