Acts 1:15-20 – God’s Power through God’s People #2: Judas
Today we are continuing our series on the Book of Acts, stories of God moving through His people in order to make the world a better place. Now, when I introduced this last week, I mentioned that along the way we would encounter a scoundrel or 2, fellows who missed the point of what God wanted to make happen in the world. Today we meet one of those scoundrels, and he’s probably the most famous Biblical rascal there is. People all over the world, even if they know very little about the Bible or about Jesus, will recognize this guy’s name. His name is Judas. Let’s read Acts 1:15-20.
Well, what do we know about Judas? His full name was Judas Iscariot, which means that he was originally from the region of Kerioth, which was somewhere south of the Judean hills. The name “Judas” itself was not a bad name; rather, it was honourable. There was the Judas Macabbees, a godly and bold leader who in about 165 BC led a war of rebellion against the Greeks that occupied Palestine. Jesus’ own brother was named Judas, and perhaps even another disciple was named Judas. It was a fine name… but history has not been kind to it, and for good reason. Continually, his name is last in lists of the 12 disciples. He was certainly not the least important among the 12, but again, history has not been kind.
We don’t know much about the guy before the Gospels tell his sad tale. Likely, he had previously declared himself a disciple. He was drawn by the preaching of John the Baptist, maybe by his own hopes of deliverance which the Messiah would bring, or maybe by the powerful words of Jesus, words encouraging people to follow Him to new life.
Some have asked why Jesus chose Judas. Now we begin to put together some thoughts that we will never know this side of heaven. We can only surmise why Judas was chosen or his motives in doing what he did, which we’ll discuss in a few minutes. But we will try.
Why was Judas chosen? Let’s remember that Jesus spent a night in prayer with His Father before the 12 were chosen from among all the disciples. So this was not a half-hearted or irrational decision. If we believe that God does not make mistakes, then the selection of Judas was not an accident. God had His reasons. What might they have been?
(1) The disciples then, like the Church now, needed a treasurer, someone who had the talent for managing business. (2) Everybody deserves a chance to show their worth. Even though we believe that God knows what will happen, we don’t believe that God makes people do things, good or evil. God wanted to give Judas a chance to do the right thing. (3) Maybe we all need to know that God’s purposes will succeed, despite the fact that sometimes it looks as if “the bad guys” will win. God is still in charge, and the gospel will still go out, even though people will try to undo its message.
So, what did Judas do that was so bad? Well, Judas offered what Jesus’ enemies wanted: knowledge. Inside knowledge of where Jesus could be found at night when He wasn’t surrounded by crowds of people. Jesus’ enemies also needed a legal witness to arrest Him, and Judas said that he would do that. His betrayal gave Jesus’ enemies the opportunity and the legal ground to capture the leader of this ragtag mob called Christ-followers.
But this treachery was not sudden. It had been building for awhile. Jesus knew what was going long before the night it all came to pass. Way back in John 6, perhaps a year or 2 before his death, Jesus said, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” And the writer John adds this: He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.
We can likely assume that over the course of his time with Jesus, Judas’ character became more and more open to doing what was evil. We can read in John 12 these words: “He (Judas) did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” As keeper of the group’s cash, he occasionally dipped into the funds for himself. That’s not a one-time event, but a regular on-going thing.
Jesus rebuked Judas for this, and we can see that Judas did not receive it well. This is what happened after, from Luke 22:3 – “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.” Over a period of time, through a series of choices, Judas allowed the enemy to start leading him. This is not the same as demon-possession, otherwise Jesus could have taken care of it easily enough. This was a deliberate, willful choice to allow Satan to guide him.
Luke 22 records what happened next: “And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.” Judas did not appreciate being scolded about something he cared about – money. And he let that rebuke be the final straw, the final thing to send him over the edge towards disaster, away from God, and towards the enemy.
You know the story: It was Thursday night, and “the evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.” – John 13. Jesus said that one of the disciples would betray Him, and once again, v27, “Satan entered Judas.” Judas saw the opportunity, sneaked away to tell the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders where Jesus would be, and led them to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Judas led the mob to arrest Jesus, and pointed Him out by giving the Lord a kiss on the cheek, a sign of friendly affection. Jesus asked his so-called friend, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Judas’ response is not recorded, but I can imagine. A shock of realization. The slap across the face administered by his conscience. “What… have I done?” And Jesus is led away to be executed like a criminal. In part, at least, thanks to Judas.
So, why did he do it? The Bible is silent on clear motives, but let’s see what we can piece together.
1) I think that money was a factor. Too much has been written by Gospel writers to ignore this. He was the treasurer, he accepted 30 pieces of silver, and he returned them out of remorse. I think Judas was greedy. He liked money, which can lead good men and women to do the worst things imaginable. And maybe even greater than this… Maybe he wanted to be treasurer of more than just a band of a few disciples. If he could force Jesus’ hand into defending Himself and setting up His kingdom, maybe Judas could be money-keeper for thousands.
2) That ties in with what I think Judas’ other motives were. I also think that Judas wanted Jesus to set up His kingdom ASAP. If he could create the conditions for Jesus to overthrow the Romans at that time, perhaps things would be better. Forcing Jesus’ hand to create His kingdom.
3) Maybe floods of other emotions. Maybe he was disillusioned and disappointed with the fact that Jesus wasn’t overthrowing the Romans – maybe this is a lack of faith. As well, maybe he was hurt that Jesus had rebuked him over priorities – call it a bruised ego. Maybe jealousy, rebellion, hurt, anger… whatever.
Maybe all of these, maybe none of these. Less important than the motives are the lessons we can learn from Judas.
1) Anyone can stumble. Here was Judas, who had walked with Jesus, had seen His miracles and His mercy, His healings and His hope. And yet, this guy walked away from it. We all have the potential to do the same. We all have the capability to leave Him. For that reason, we need to stay focused on Him. Follow Him. Listen to Him. Don’t give up on Him. Speak to Him, hear from Him. Obey Him and put Him first.
2) Don’t let things fester. Whatever it was that led Judas to betray Jesus, it festered and bubbled inside before it exploded to the outside. Don’t let resentful build up. Don’t let anger simmer under the surface. Disappointment with Jesus can lead to disaster, obviously, so don’t let doubts and lingering fears stick around. Deal with them.
3) Jesus gives people the opportunity to be involved in doing good. You have a role to play, each of us has, sinful and imperfect though we may be. Despite our failures and shortcomings, Jesus has a plan for each one of us, and He has some good for each of us to do.
60 years ago there were two popular North American evangelists preaching about Jesus to large crowds in public arenas: Billy Graham and Charles Templeton. They were good friends. Graham remained faithful to Jesus. Templeton abandoned his Christian beliefs and wrote a book called Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith.
Journalist Lee Strobel went to visit Templeton when he was 83 years old and in failing health. Strobel asked him about Jesus and here’s what he said:
"He was the greatest human being who has ever lived. He was a moral genius. His ethical sense was unique. He was the intrinsically wisest person that I’ve ever encountered in my life or in my readings. He’s the most important thing in my life. I know it may sound strange, but I have to say I adore him! Everything good I know, everything decent I know, everything pure I know, I learned from Jesus. He is the most important human being who has ever existed. And if I may put it this way, I miss Him.”
I don’t want to miss Jesus. I don’t want to wander or stray. I’m not no one does. May we keep our innermost thoughts in check to make sure we never reach that point. May God bless His Word today.
