DID JUDAS BELIEVE IN JESUS AS LORD? Judas refers to Jesus as “Rabbi,” not “Lord.”
- Matthew 26:22, 25.
- It’s long been a source of contention what exactly the nature of Judas’ belief or disbelief in Jesus was. He was a disciple, saw the miracles, heard the teaching. Yet he ends up betraying Jesus before in sorrow committing suicide.
- Was he a true believer who then changed his mind? Was he never a believer?
- We do not have a definitive answer in the Bible. There is not a chapter titled “What was in Judas’ heart.” There are some clues, though.
- One thing that I think is significant is seen in this passage we just read. Two words give us some insight.
- First, notice in v. 22 that when Jesus tells them that one of them will betray Him that the majority of the group respond, “Surely not I, Lord?”
- But in v. 25 when Jesus is talking to the betrayer, Judas responds, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”
- It’s a small difference, but very important and insightful.
- “Lord” is not an empty title. It’s a significant statement. “Lord” means Boss, CEO. In this case, it also means Messiah.
- “Rabbi,” on the other hand, is a title with some honor attached to it but it’s not in the ballpark of “Lord.” It is publicly respectful but not devoted or committed.
- It points us clearly in the direction of Judas not having real faith. He saw it all, but did not in the end treat Jesus as Lord.
- Now, obviously Judas was in a unique historic situation. He was the betrayer of Jesus.
- I do think, though, that the “Rabbi”/“Lord” is instructive and applicable to a lot of people today.
- There are many people who have a measure of respect for Jesus. He’s an interesting person. He’s a great teacher. He was a sage.
- In fact, I would argue that this is one of the biggest problems among those who claim to be Christians today. Many people will claim to be saved but give absolutely no thought to treating Jesus as Lord. There is no thought of Him being in charge of their lives. There is no thought to submitting to His teaching. There is no thought of considering His teaching to be mandatory for their lives.
- They want to claim Jesus as Savior without having an intention of accepting Him as Lord.
- This echoes a little of what Judas does here. He doesn’t call Jesus by a rude name. He doesn’t say nasty things about Him. But he doesn’t call Him “Lord.”
- I noted a moment ago that it tells us a lot about what’s going on in Judas’ mind that he calls Jesus “Rabbi,” not “Lord.”
- It also tells us a lot about someone who claims to be a believer in Jesus when he or she won’t treat Him as Lord.
- Given the prevalence of non-Lord “believers,” I think it’s a worthy use of our time to spend the rest of the sermon unpacking both why you should consider changing from a fan to a follower as well as a brief description of what it looks like to start walking down that road.
- Let’s start with those who aren’t there but are open to the idea.
- I’m going to put it this way: why change from a fan to a follower?
- There are lots of people who are fans of Jesus. They have a positive view of Him. They like Him. But they aren’t followers of His. The problem with that, of course, is Jesus did not come to the earth to make fans. He came to make followers. He calls those who believe in Him to be His disciples, which is another word for follower. The Bible repeatedly calls us to obey His teaching.
- If you’re not familiar with that idea, here’s a brief overview of why that's a good thing to do.
WHY CHANGE FROM A FAN TO A FOLLOWER?
1. Jesus is actually the Lord.
- The first and most important reason to treat Jesus as Lord is that He really is Lord.
- Jesus is God Incarnate. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the second member of the Trinity. Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is Lord.
- Lord is both a word that is instructive in letting us know how we should respond to Him. (He’s in charge.) Lord is also a title. Jesus is Lord.
- If you’re going to believe in something or someone, you want to believe in something legitimate.
- Why did Jesus gather such attention during His life? Because He was actually Lord.
- How did Jesus do miracles during His life? Because He was actually Lord.
- How did Jesus raise people from the dead during His life? Because He was actually Lord.
- How did Jesus live a sinless life during His life? Because He was actually Lord.
- Jesus is the real deal.
- So the absolute biggest reason to shift from fan to follower is that Jesus is who He says He is.
- Jesus is, in fact, Lord.
- This is, obviously, a big claim. The good news is that you don’t have to accept it on blind faith. There is a ton of reasonable evidence to consider that gives us confidence that Jesus is Lord.
- There is a whole field called apologetics devoted to providing evidence for the reasonableness of Jesus’ claims. If this is something that would help you in deciding to shift from fan to follower, one book I can recommend that is insightful but not a difficult read is Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ.
2. Jesus’ teaching is wise and insightful.
- Accepting Jesus as Lord in the way I’ve been talking about is a big step in part because it means that you are committing to following His teaching. Is that a good idea?
- It’s not a good idea - it’s a great idea! When you actually dig down into the teaching of Christ, it is incredibly wise and insightful. It’s a great basis for a life.
- One thing that's worth noting is that Jesus’ teaching is not generic morality.
- Some people who haven’t read the gospels presume that Jesus’ teaching basically boils down to “be nice and go to church sometimes.” Jesus’ teaching is much more complex, challenging, and life-altering than that. You need to read it and study it to begin to realize how incredible it is.
- One aspect of it that is especially worthwhile is that He is inaugurating a Kingdom. He is pushing us away from valuing and clinging to the world and its temporary treasures and pointing us toward something more lasting and valuable.
- He’s not giving us the “conventional wisdom.” No, Jesus has a unique perspective. It’s amazing but we won’t stumble into it. We have to commit to reading His words and incorporating them into our lives.
3. Jesus is someone worth trying to become like.
- If you’re going to emulate someone, you want it to be someone worthy of your time and effort. Try to be like someone who is amazing.
- Jesus is the most amazing person who has ever existed. There is a reason that even after 2,000 years He grabs and holds our attention.
- Even people who have uncertainty or doubts about the church often will still be fans of Jesus. (Now, of course, being a fan is not the goal but it is a telling reality nonetheless.)
- Jesus fascinates people.
- His amazing mercy. His willingness to boldly call down hypocrisy. His compassion for the suffering. His sacrificial love.
- Jesus did not come into the world just so we could gawk from a distance at His example. He explicitly said again and again that He wanted people to be His disciples, which is another word for followers. He wants us to become like Him. He gave us His teaching to create a road map to become like Him.
- Many people just presume that such a thing is an impossibility.
- Even if they wanted it, there’s no way that they could become like Jesus. Not true. Jesus is willing to work with anyone to help them in this direction.
- In fact, this is the reason why Jesus gives those who believe in Him and begin to follow Him a new spiritual heart and the Holy Spirit. Those two are essential tools for us to actually become like Jesus.
4. Jesus said this is the path to abundant life and eternal life.
- John 3:16; John 10:10.
- As I’ve been sharing, there are great things that happen when we walk down this path. What exactly did Jesus say that walking down this path led toward?
- The first thing is abundant life.
- In John 10:10 Jesus said that what He was offering led to abundant life.
- What’s that mean? It means that God wants to bless us in this life.
- Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to give us wealth and comfort, although it is possible. No, God is working at a deeper level than that.
- Abundant life means that God is going to pour out spiritual blessings on us. Life change, peace, joy, love are among the blessings. A sense of value and purpose are among the blessings. Spiritual power through prayer is among the blessings.
- The second thing is eternal life.
- In John 3:16 Jesus said that what He was offering led to eternal life.
- We know that Jesus not only died on the cross but also rose from the dead. He is the firstborn from among the dead. His resurrection means that death can’t hold down those who believe in Jesus. We have life beyond this life.
- I feel like in America we downplay this. We are so blessed financially that we focus too much on this world. We don’t want to think about the world to come. We try to avoid thinking about our deaths, presuming that modern medicine has more tricks up its sleeve to keep us around a little longer.
- But the hard reality is that all of us die. We need to face that fact squarely and figure out how we are going to respond to that. Steadfastly pretend like it won’t happen? Hope for the best? Or put our confidence in Christ?
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO LIVE WITH HIM AS LORD OF YOUR LIFE?
1. I want to know as much as I can about Him.
- Some people look at reading the Bible as another tedious habit you’re supposed to do if you’re a Christian. But if you are amazed by Jesus and want to become like Him, the Bible becomes a great gift and reading the gospels becomes our school.
- We want to understand Jesus. As I said earlier, that's not going to happen by just pursuing your own ideas about what’s best. No, Jesus charts a radically different path.
- So we eagerly and thankfully dig into the gospels, reading about the life and teaching of Jesus, because we want to know as much about Him as we can.
- What’s our motivation? He’s amazing and He’s incredibly offered us the chance to apprentice with Him.
- If you’re a golfer and Scottie Scheffler offered you a chance to be around him and learn his secrets on playing golf, would you be interested? Of course!
- If you’re a singer and Carrie Underwood offered you a chance to go out on tour with her to learn her secrets of singing and performing, would you be interested? Of course!
- Jesus is making such an offer to us with His wisdom and life instruction.
2. I trust and follow His teaching more than I trust myself.
- This is an important one for differentiating between the fans and the followers.
- Going back to the idea that Jesus is Lord, we then presume that everything He taught is true, even the parts we find difficult to obey or follow.
- Many fans will say that Jesus is great and they think a lot of Him. But when you actually get into His teaching and some of the more challenging things He taught, they will reject that. “Well, I don’t know about that.” What are they saying? I admire Jesus but I am unwilling to buy into everything that He said.
- One example there might be that Jesus talked a lot about hell. That is a distasteful subject for most people. They respond, “No thanks.” But Jesus taught it.
- One of the most important steps in being a follower of Jesus, rather than a fan, is believing that the Bible gives us an accurate record of Jesus’ teaching, that Jesus’ teaching is from someone who was God Incarnate, and therefore I will trust Jesus’ teaching more than I trust myself.
- When what Jesus says and what I want to do conflict, I will choose what Jesus taught.
- I am a fallible human being and He is God Incarnate. I am wrong sometimes and He never is. I will trust Him.
I have been doing this for decades now and I can give this simple testimony: Jesus knows what He’s talking about. He is worthy of our trust.
3. I expect Him to fulfill His promises in my life.
- As we make this commitment and walk down this road, we are committing ourselves to Jesus. One wonderful thing about that is that Jesus is also committed to us - to everyone who is willing to believe in Him and follow Him.
- There are a whole host of promises that He has made to those who follow Him. He is good to keep His promises. So as we walk forward with Him, we do so expecting God’s movement in our lives.
- One good example is Matthew 6:33. In a passage on the financial worries we struggle with, Jesus gives us an amazing promise: seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these (financial needs) things will be provided for you.
- He’s promising that if we focus our attention on the Kingdom and becoming like Jesus, we can delegate our money worries to Him and He’ll take care of us. It’s an incredible promise!
- So we expect to see God moving powerfully in our lives as we entrust ourselves to Christ and following Him.
And God keeps His promises.
