JUDAS, JUDAS, JUDAS
Jesus has just finished washing the disciple¡¦s feet. He sits at the last supper table for a meal with them and the following takes place.
John 13:13-21
13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.
20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
21 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.
What an understatement ¡§Jesus was troubled in spirit¡K¡¨
And why wouldn¡¦t He be?
„h Within a few hours lay one of the most gruesome attacks that man could place on the human body.
„h The Garden of Gethsemane, wrestling with his strongest opponent, His will.
„h The Judgment Hall, mockery trial.
„h The cross and Calvary, where the murder took place.
„h And then being placed in the grave.
But with John¡¦s account of the story, all of these things seem to take a back seat to one detail, the treachery of a friend.
Though He said in Matt 17:22 ¡§The Son of man shall be betrayed¡K¡¨
The agony that was brought about here to trouble Him in spirit was due to the fact that it was a friend.
Have you ever beeen betrayed by what you thought was a friend? I have and it hurts a lot.
Isa 53:3
(Isaiah calls Jesus) a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
He was a man, who knew the sorrow of loneliness,
John 7:5
5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.
He was a man, who knew the sorrow of disappointment,
John 1:11
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not¡K
He knew the sorrow of rejected love,
Matt 23:37
¡§how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!¡¨
He knew the sorrow of losing a friend,
John 11:35
35 Jesus wept .
Yet it was this sorrow of being betrayed and sold by a friend that caused Him to be trouble in His spirit.
Though he chose 12 men to be His pupils, disciples, students, and friends, those whom He would instruct with the gospel news of salvation, one of them has betrayed and sold Him away.
Some of you may relate to this by having experienced betrayal in your marriage. How crushing it was when you found out. Many have loss of apatite, sleep, and cry many tears.
Let¡¦s talk about the destruction of betrayal.
„h Judas Iscariot: Known for one thing, He sold the Lord away.
„h No one names their children after this man.
„h He will always br known for this one deed.
John 6:70
Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
„h His name will always be synonymous with shame.
„h Because of his shame he hangs himself.
The words of Jesus ring true,
Mark 14:21
good were it for that man if he had never been born .
How many funerals have you attended of people whom have died that all you can remember about them is that they were manipulators, deceivers, liars, thieves, drunkards, or adulterers?
Is that the way you want to be remembered?
You may say that no one knows about my sin. Maybe not, but that won¡¦t give you any comfort in Hell.
How did Judas become an apostle?
Have you ever wondered why?
What was Jesus thinking?
Some say that Jesus chose Judas because He needed a traitor as a part of the scheme of things.
Others say that Jesus was deceived by, Judas.
They say Jesus ¡§emptied Himself ¡§ of His omniscience when He came to the earth. He just didn¡¦t know.
Oh! But He knew.
John 6:64
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Truth is, we may never know the answer to all the why¡¦s.
No one ever questioned the fact that Judas was a disciple.
None of the others argued with Jesus about him.
Judas himself apparently followed with allegiance at first with Jesus.
There is no evidence to show differently.
The problem with this whole thing is the why Judas betrayed Jesus.
Could silver have that much power over his heart?
Was Judas angry at Jesus?
What was he thinking? Traitors are never looked upon with honor.
What was the reason?
John 12:6
because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
That was it. Silver. It was what possessed him.
Is there a sin that possesses you, and too what extreme would you go to keep it?
Could it be possible that you are a traitor because of your sin?
He was already a thief because of his greed.
Now his greed made him a traitor.
We might say, that¡¦s too simple a reason for such a terrible act.
But we forget what crazy things that people will do because of their lust.
„h Murder
„h Defile their on bodies
„h Destroy their own families
„h Willing to make enemies of everyone who gets in their way.
The sad thing is that Judas¡¦ sin is a repeated sin.
Not by him, but by us.
You are thinking, ¡§Not me, I wouldn¡¦t do that.¡¨
We look at the sin of Judas and tremble to think what it must have been like in his mind when he put that noose around his neck, yet we crucify the Son of God each time we sin.
Heb 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh , and put him to an open shame.
Jesus said,
Matt 26:21
one of you shall betray me .
The disciples began to ask, ¡§Is it I Lord?¡¨
We too have to ask that question, ¡§Is it I Lord?¡¨
Are you thinking in your minds right now, ¡§I can¡¦t believe that I have allowed myself to do what I am doing. I thought that I would never do that.
Ps 19:12-14
12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep me from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.
14 May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
NLT
What was his reward? Did he dream of what he could do with the money? It was only just to lead them to Him. No big deal. I can just take the money and get out of town, and no one would ever know him or what he had done.
Who knows, he may not have known what they were going to do to Jesus, but when he realized that he had betrayed an innocent man, he returned the money and hung himself.
The reward of betrayal is death.
