Twelve
Ordinary Men: The Traitor
Pastor Mathew Magera – 3/21/18 – Sermon 279
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Judas. Judas. Just
mentioning his name gives you all you need to know. Just uttering those two
syllables across your lips have the ability to tell a story, the story of the
betrayal of and crucifixion of Jesus. He betrayed the Son of God… for a bag of
money. In fact, every time we hear of Judas in the Bible there is also a note
saying that he was a traitor. If we wasn’t in the actual act of betrayal, the
Gospel writers made certain that we knew that’s what he was. Can we learn
anything from Judas like we have from the other eleven? Sure, we can learn not
to be like him. Maybe we might be able to learn something more, though. And if
we can learn something more about Judas, maybe we can also learn something more
about Jesus.
The name Judas means
"Jehovah leads" but I don't think you can imagine anyone who was more
led by Satan than Judas Iscariot. Iscariot is a combinations of words meaning “man
of Kerioth”, Kerioth being the town where he lived, the only one who did not
come from Galilee.
Judas drew as close to the Savior
as it is humanly possible to be, enjoying everything with the other 11. He was
familiar with what Jesus taught yet remained in unbelief. He was as common as
the others and began following Jesus exactly like them. He doesn't appear to
have been excluded or looked down upon by the others but he may have felt like
an outsider. He was probably not as political as the zealots were but he wanted
Christ to overthrow Rome. He knew Jesus was unique and this potential power to
overthrow Roman occupancy was attractive to Judas. But, that's where his
attraction ended. He was attracted to Jesus on a physical level but not on a
spiritual level. He was interested in the kingdom for what he could get out of
it. He wanted wealth, power and prestige.
Do you know what is
absolutely amazing about Judas being a disciple of Jesus? Jesus knew Judas
would betray him. He knew it. Jesus saw it coming. He still picked him. The Old
Testament was full of prophecies. Psalm 41:9, "Even my own familiar friend
in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."
Psalm 55:12-14, "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could
bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I
could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my
acquaintance." Zechariah 11:12, "They weighed out for my wages thirty
pieces of silver." Jesus knew Judas would betray him. It was screaming at
him from the Old Testament. Jesus still picked him. Can you just imagine it? Jesus
didn't want to go to the cross, you know. After the Last Supper, Jesus, in the
garden, prayed that the Father would take this cup from him.
I think even Jesus acted a
bit like we would in a situation when we know something bad is going to happen.
Have you ever been with someone and tried to tell them they had something on
the side of their mouth or something stuck in their teeth. You didn't want to
say anything out loud but tried to do your best to signal to them that
something was wrong. Judas, here's your chance to understand what's going on
and here's an opportunity for you to change something. Jesus even told the
twelve that one of them was a devil. I can just see Jesus looking straight at
Judas when he said that. Hint, hint Judas, I'm talking about you. Anything about
that statement want to change your mind? Judas was unmoved. His heart was still
hardening.
He gave another hint at the
washing of the disciples' feet. Not all of you are clean *cough* Judas. And
then at the table, "one of you will betray me." *cough* Judas. Judas
had every opportunity to change but he never did. "His dark story is a
poignant example of the depths to which the human heart is capable of
sinking."[1] Even
though Jesus was trying to address his downfall, it only hardened the heart of
Judas more and more.
None of the disciples were
spiritually ambitious. They all seemed to want Jesus to have an earthly reign.
But while the others grew in their belief and understanding, Judas sunk into
the quicksand of his darkening heart. He couldn't handle the faith it took to
rely on Jesus for provisions. He wanted money. His worldliness was never
conquered. He always wanted more. He wanted his years of service to lead to
wealth and fame. "At some point in those final few days, his
disillusionment turned to hate, and hate mixed with greed finally turned to
treachery. Judas probably convinced himself that Jesus had stolen his life -
robbed him of three years of money-making potential. That sort of thinking ate
away at him until finally he became the monster who betrayed Christ."[2]
Judas, for the most part,
kept his deceitfulness to himself. He blended in with everybody else. There is
one particular scene in the Gospels where his inner character does come out.
Jesus and his disciples were eating with Lazarus, freshly risen from the grave,
along with Mary and Martha who were serving the dinner. Mary had taken some
expensive oil and anointed Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. Where
on one side this is a devout act of worship, it was also seen, by Judas in particular,
as a complete waste. It was too excessive.
Judas wanted to sell the
perfume for a year's wages and give the money to the poor. It wasn't a bad
idea, actually. In fact, the other disciples agreed with Judas. But, the other
disciples were being taken for a ride. Judas was only interested in the money
because he was the treasurer in the group. He could get the money from the
perfume and fudge the numbers in such a way that he could keep some of that
money for himself. The other disciples didn't know about his deceitfulness at
the time. Either way, this made Judas mad.
It was this event that must
have thrown him over the edge. Realizing that Jesus is not who he wants him to
be, this is what drove Judas to go to the chief priests. If he couldn't get
money out of this deal, then he was going to sell his master. Judas goes to the
chief priests and negotiates to deliver Jesus to them. He only manages 30
pieces of silver. This is a small amount compared to what he was just arguing
about but he likely could not get any more and he had to have something. So, at
the same time Jesus is anointed with overwhelming love by Mary and betrayed
with overwhelming hate by Judas.
The story moves on and we
get to the last supper. If you think about it, it was actually more of an
awkward event than we imagine. Judas had already taken money to betray Jesus
but he came back, blended in and pretended nothing unusual was happening. All
the while Jesus knew all of this was going to happen. He knew Judas was in the
act of betraying him that very moment. Still, we need to see Jesus’ response
because his response to this is just downright stunning. Jesus responds in the
most amazing way that nobody could have ever imagined. Jesus washed his
disciples’ feet.
Andrew, Peter, James, John
had their feet washed. Philip, Nathanael, Thomas and Matthew had their feet
washed. James the Less, Simon the Zealot, and Thaddaeus had their feet washed.
Judas Iscariot, the traitor, also had his feet washed too. Judas' hypocrisy was
overflowing as he just sat there while Jesus worked but at the same time,
Jesus' grace was also overflowing as he, stooped on the ground, washed the feet
of his betrayer, the one who sent him to the cross, the place even Jesus prayed
he didn't have to go.
Later that evening when
Jesus instituted the last supper, the bread he took, gave thanks for, and gave
to his disciples was also given to Judas. As he took the cup, gave thanks for
it, and gave it to his disciples he also gave it to Judas. The sacrifice that
Judas betrayed him into was now being broken and poured out... for Judas.
Judas being there,
unrepentant and steeped in sin, exemplifies the mission of Jesus to be a sheep
in the midst of wolves as he instructed the disciples to go out to be and do.
Sharing himself, sacrificing himself for those who are led into temptation and
who would otherwise have no association with Jesus at all adds to the amazing
love of God shown to us in Christ. The fact that as hard as Judas’ heart had
become, Jesus still cared and welcomed him to receive the sacrifice as well.
Jesus died for Judas too. Unfortunately, even through all of this, the grace,
the mercy, the love, Judas' heart was not softened. His hypocrisy continued into
the garden where Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, a mark of homage, love
affection, tenderness, respect and intimacy. Even for Judas this was pretty
low.
Feeling remorse from his
actions, Judas took his own life. The Bible says Jesus knew what Judas was
going to do even before he did it, yet he still washed his feet and he gave him
the bread and the wine of the last supper. If we look at Judas as the example
of just how hard one’s heart can get, we can look at Jesus as the graceful
servant who, though betrayed, loved Judas. He loved him. Judas reminds us that
no matter what is in our hearts we are still welcomed at the table by Christ
and are still served. Judas wasn't even repentant and he was still there.
Whether he ate and drank into his own judgment, he was still there and was not
turned away.
In the end, we learn a few
things about Judas. Judas is a tragic example of a lost opportunity. He is the
epitome of wasted privilege, having squandered such a close acquaintance with
Jesus. He is a classic illustration of the love of money as a root to all kinds
of evil. He exemplifies the ugliness of spiritual betrayal. Fortunately, as we
learn about Judas, we also learn about Jesus and we are ready to hear the
Gospel. Judas is proof of the patient grace and loving kindness of Jesus. Judas
demonstrates how the will of God cannot be undone.
Honestly, thinking about
Judas creates more questions than answers. For if you believe that Judas
received mercy in the end, it causes you to wonder about universal salvation,
about the separation of the sheep and the goats, the branch that bears no fruit
and is thrown away, John 3:16. It will hurt your head trying to consider how
Judas could have possibly received mercy. Yet, on the other hand, if you
believe that Judas condemned himself to hell, then you will also have to
struggle with the fact that you have also betrayed Christ and that you deserve
nothing different than the same punishment Judas received.
I'm glad I don't have to
make the decisions on who receives grace and I'm even more glad that I can
trust God to do what is just and right. We have witnessed the behavior of a
traitor and we have witnessed the behavior of a savior. God is in charge of the
grace. God is in charge of the mercy. God gives it freely even to people like
Judas, even to traitors like us. We have nothing left to do now but place our
faith and our trust in God, to surrender our lives and our futures to him, that
though we are living in a world full of temptation and spiritual warfare, we
might have hope through Jesus Christ to be brought through the battle safely
into the celebration of victory that comes with Christ's return. To God be the
glory, now and always. Amen.[3]
[1]
MacArthur, John. Twelve Ordinary Men. Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson, 2002. Pg. 181.
[2]
MacArthur, John. Twelve Ordinary Men. Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson, 2002. Pg. 188.
[3]
Some content from: MacArthur, John. Twelve
Ordinary Men. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2002.