THE DEVIL’S FANGS FOR HIRE – 30 PIECES OF SILVER (JUDAS ISCARIOT) PART 2
CHARACTERS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL - - JUDAS ISCARIOT – PART 2 of 2
[G]. THE ACCOUNT OF THE BETRAYAL. John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron where there was a garden, into which He Himself entered, and His disciples. John 18:2 Now Judas “who was betraying Him”, also knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. John 18:3 Judas then, having received the Roman cohort, and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. John 18:4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth, and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” John 18:5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” Judas also “who was betraying Him”, was standing with them.
This is the second and third time John used the words “who was betraying Him” so he was strongly emphasising that point, the dastardly act of Judas. The passage we have just read is set in the Garden of Gethsemane where the betrayal took place. John deals with it quite succinctly without too many details, and to get those, we go to the other Gospels.
Consider these two verses from Luke - Luke 22 v 47 While He was still speaking, behold, a multitude came and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them, and he approached Jesus to kiss Him, Luke 22:48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” There we learn that Judas was leading the murderous group of demonically inspired scribes and Pharisees and officials who followed vengefully. He had already been to the chief priests and officers to negotiate a traitor’s reward and to work out the strategy. Luke deals with all that.
There is an expression that is famous for traitors, “the Judas kiss,” derived from the ghastly way Judas behaved. Have you ever thought about this point – “Was Judas not aware of the tremendous consequences of his betrayal? Would he not be fully fearful of divine justice? Anyone else would have been quaking in his boots. Why did it not affect Judas?” Well, there is an answer. Satan had entered into Judas as two of the Gospels record, and Judas had become as the devil himself, with all the -ness and filthy evil that is Satan. He was incapable at that point of any moral decision or understanding. He was as Satan in bodily form. He was devoid of any touch of goodness or moral consideration. Satan possessed him fully. In fact, up to this point, Judas was the most satanic who had existed. (A worse one is coming – that will be the Antichrist).
[H]. THE AFTERMATH OF THE GREATEST TRAGEDY. John ends his account of Judas at the Garden but Matthew takes it up after that point. Although this is not in John, I want to complete the story. Look at Matthew 27 v 3-10 Then when Judas who had betrayed Him saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders Matt 27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” but they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” Matt 27:5 He threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself. Matt 27:6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood,” Matt 27:7 and they counselled together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. Matt 27:8 For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Matt 27:9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel, Matt 27:10 and they gave them for the Potter’s Field as the Lord directed me.”
It is recorded in verse 3 Judas felt remorse. The bible does not say so, but I think after the betrayal, Satan left Judas, for he spitefully used him, then cast him away. In a sense, Judas came to his senses, crashing to basement level, and realised the enormity of what he had done and it caused remorse. Note carefully, remorse is not repentance; it is regret only. That is like notable people who get caught out in a public exposure, and regret what has happened and apologise. It is remorse, not repentance. It was impossible for Judas to repent for he is called “the son of perdition” in the great prayer of Jesus in the Garden - John 17 v 12 “While I was with them whom You have given Me, I was keeping them in Your name and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” The only other time that phrase is used is in 2 Thessalonians to refer to the World Ruler/Antichrist in the Tribulation. The word “perdition” means destruction, causing someone (something) to be completely severed – cut off, but not annihilated. Judas is cut off from God forever. He always was. He always was the son of perdition. He will be eternally cut off.
One day, and it is more than 1000 years in the future, Judas will stand in terror before the very One he betrayed and there at the great white throne, he will quake in the horror of his judgement. These things can not be dismissed. Today people think there is no recompense for what is done, good or evil. That is not the case and God had declared that it is appointed that everyone will die once and after that comes the judgement. If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, repent of your sins and ask Him to take control of your life. If you do not do that, then you will share eternity with Judas and all those who have rejected the mercy of God and spurned His grace.
In 27 verse 5 it is recorded that Judas hanged himself and today is in the darkest hell.
[I]. AFTER THIS JUDAS IS NO MORE IN SCRIPTURE. Peter announced to the group of about 120 what happened to Judas and here it is - Acts 1 v 16 “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, Acts 1:17 for he was counted among us, and received his portion in this ministry.” Acts 1:18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out, Acts 1:19 and it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) Acts 1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no man dwell in it’, and, ‘His office let another man take.’
Peter and the disciples must have been in shock regarding one they knew so well and suspected nothing of. Judas must have been very cunning or a great play actor because the disciples had no inkling. What a terrible end he had. Some want to argue about a supposed contradiction here because Matthew said he hanged himself and Peter say he fell headlong and opened up in the middle and all his innards fell out (“gushed out” is the meaning). There is no contradiction; in the attempt to hang himself, something happened and he fell; the branch broke or he slipped and then fell headlong to his death.
[J]. THE CONCLUSION. There are a couple of things that have to be said. The first is that a lot of excuses are made for Judas. They say he never had a choice but was forced by God into that position. Some see him as the scapegoat. There is an early writing called’ The Gospel of Judas” written as a Gnostic work about 180 AD. This next paragraph is a description from the Internet:-
[[The Gospel of Judas is a fragmented Coptic (Egyptian)-language text that portrays Judas in a far more sympathetic light than did the gospels that made it into the Bible. In this version of the story, Judas turns Jesus over to the authorities for execution upon Jesus' request, as part of a plan to release his spirit from his body. In the accepted biblical version of the tale, Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.]]
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ronaldf@aapt.net.au
FOR THOSE WHO MAY WANT TO KNOW A BIT EXTRA ABOUT THIS SPURIOUS GOSPEL OF JUDAS I INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING –
Sometime in the 1970s, in a cave in Egypt, a copy of the “Gospel of Judas” was discovered. The circumstances of the discovery have been described as shady, with those who possessed the copy asking for exorbitant amounts of money for the codex. For decades, no institution was willing to pay for the purchase due to its dubious origins. Eventually the codex of the Gospel of Judas was purchased by a foundation in Switzerland. The existence of the Gospel of Judas codex was made public in 2004, but the actual release of the content of the codex was repeatedly delayed, finally being released in April 2006. The dating of the original writing of the Gospel of Judas is thought to be about AD 150, with the Egyptian codex dating from the late 3rd century. According to various accounts, up to one third of the codex is missing or illegible.
Prior to this discovery, the only reference to the Gospel of Judas was in the writings of a 2nd-century Christian named Irenaeus. Irenaeus essentially wrote that the Gospel of Judas was the “invented history” of a long line of heretics and rebels against God. The essential message of the Gospel of Judas is that Jesus wanted Judas to betray Him because it was necessary to fulfill Jesus’ plan. If it was Jesus’ plan for Judas to betray Him, why would Jesus label Judas the “son of perdition” (John 17:12) and state that it would have been better if Judas had never been born (Matthew 26:24)? If Judas were simply following Jesus’ instructions, why would he commit suicide once he saw that Jesus was condemned (Matthew 27:5)?
The Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel, espousing a Gnostic viewpoint of Christianity. The Gospel of Judas is simply a heretical forgery, much the same as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the Gospel of Philip. Just as Judas Iscariot rejected Jesus and betrayed Him with a kiss, the Gospel of Judas rejects the true gospel and truth of God with a fraudulent appearance of validity.
