Judas and His Kiss

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Prone to leave the God I love

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Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it

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Seal it for thy courts above Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it

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Seal it for thy courts above Amen, you may be seated.

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If you would open your Bibles to the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 26.

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The Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 26. Some of this we're going to be going over a bit of what we went through before.

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And then moving around to get a full picture of Judas and his kiss. Judas the betrayer.

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Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 26, Verse 1.

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Hear now the word of the living and the true God. When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,

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You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.

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Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was

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Caiaphas. And plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

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But they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

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And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.

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But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.

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For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.

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Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

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Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said,

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What will you give me if I deliver him over to you? And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

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And from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray him. Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying,

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Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? He said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him,

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The teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.

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And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them. And they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined a table with the twelve.

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And as they were eating, he said, Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another.

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Is it I, Lord? He answered, He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.

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The son of man goes as it is written of him. But woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed.

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It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas, who would betray him, answered,

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Is it I, rabbi? He said to him, You have said so.

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Thus far is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's pray together. Father, I pray you bless the proclamation of your word today.

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Teach, Lord, by your spirit. We ask for you to open, Lord, your word to our minds.

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Help us to have understanding. Guide and teach us, instruct us, challenge us. Lord, we yield before you, your authority, your holy word.

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We pray that you would get the teacher out of the way. That Christ would increase, I would decrease. In Jesus' name, amen.

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It's interesting. I was meditating on these passages and thinking through.

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What's interesting about the placement for Matthew of this particular moment for Judas. Now, we did the section where Mary prepares

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Jesus' body for burial. So she does something that actually illustrates the fact that she understands what

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Jesus is going to do. Remember that Jesus had kept telling them that he's going to Jerusalem.

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They're going to crucify him. And in three days later, he'll rise again. In fact, he has already told them that one of them is going to betray him.

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So Jesus is preparing his disciples. He's preparing them. He's telling them this isn't secret. I mean, there's one point where Jesus tells them what's going to happen.

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And Peter says that can never happen. And Jesus says to him, get behind me. Satan, he knows where that is coming from and speaks directly to Satan and his influence.

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This is something that they know. And Jesus says so much here in verse two. He says, you know that after two days, the

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Passover is coming and the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified. Now, Mary apparently understood what they didn't.

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She heard. She believed. She was obeying. She was acting on what Jesus said.

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Now, these disciples, they were in the same kinds of conversations. They heard this story.

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But Mary realizes that in the house there's a dead man. And so she's taking this very costly death smell, the smell of burial, the smell of mourning, and it's filling the entire house.

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And Jesus says she understands. She believes she's responding to what

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I've told you. They didn't quite understand. And of course, we know the story there. Judas is saying, why wasn't this sold for the poor?

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He's only saying that because he was a thief and he was in charge of the money bag and he was stealing. You have no concern for the poor. He was trying to line his pockets.

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But what's amazing is that Matthew has this story here. And in verse 13, it says, truly,

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I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

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So we have the memory of Mary. What she did, she heard. She believed.

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She responded. She lived accordingly. Jesus said it. She believed it.

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And it didn't matter what anybody else was doing around her. Even these professing believers, they weren't responsive to Jesus teaching, but she was going to be.

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She treated him as he said. He was a dead man. He was going to die.

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And she acted accordingly. And she filled the house up with the smell of mourning. They knew the smell.

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It antagonized them. They were upset by it. And this was to be done in memory. This story has to be told in memory of her.

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Two points here. One is that Jesus says wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, that's where the gospel is going.

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Right. So Jesus, I mean, we understand the story, right?

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We're behind the story on this side. So we're looking back, knowing the promise, the gospel of the kingdom.

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We know the proclamation going to the nations. Jesus saying, I have all authority in heaven and earth. Go get the nations, baptize them, teach them to obey.

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We understand that because we're on this side of it. But Jesus is saying now in this place that this gospel proclaimed in the whole world, that's where the story is going.

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It's bigger than they could possibly imagine. But Jesus says what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

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There's a contrast here, I believe, between the memory of Mary, this person who hears, truly believes and acts in obedience in accordance with what she knows

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Jesus has taught. This is done in memory of this spectacular disciple.

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This woman who understood what these dudes didn't understand. And Jesus says in memory of her.

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So we have the exaltation in a way of this disciple of Christ who hears, believes and responds, acts accordingly, no matter the consequences, no matter the ridicule.

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Mary is following Jesus and believing him. And then immediately we go to the contrast.

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The contrast is Judas. Now we have to consider the infamy of Judas.

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Dr. MacArthur, when he was speaking on this particular text, he's written a book, I believe, on Judas. He says he still can't wrap his mind around after all these decades, how someone could be so treacherous.

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How you could betray the son of man after walking with him throughout his entire ministry, seeing the astonishing miracles, seeing his power, knowing who he is, seeing his life, the consistency of his character.

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I mean, Jesus would understand people's thoughts. Judas had to have known that Jesus knew what he was even thinking.

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And yet he betrays the son of man for such a small amount of money. Judas's name lives in infamy around the world.

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Dr. MacArthur said people don't name their children Judas, right? People don't even name their dogs

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Judas. That's how bad of a name it is. But in verse three, it says, then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was

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Caiaphas, and plotted together. Listen to this. In order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

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But they said not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. So something to consider that's actually very interesting is as this story begins to unfold, we hear about the

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Sanhedrin, the leadership in Israel. The Sanhedrin means the gathering together. This was the high court of Israel.

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So this is a very big deal that these people are working together to work in stealth to have

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Jesus murdered. I mean, in terms of the law of God, this makes absolutely undeniably no sense.

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When you read about Jesus declaring woes upon the covenant breakers of his day and confronting the leadership of Jerusalem, you begin to understand it.

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When you see something like this, the Sanhedrin, the gathering together, this highest supreme court of Israel is working together against the very law of God itself, pretending to uphold the

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Torah, and they are plotting to do this in stealth to murder Jesus, denying all of their profession, all of their confession.

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Now, this is interesting, too, because this apparently was a point of apparent unanimous agreement amongst people where there were actually quite a few differences.

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You had the Pharisees and the Sadducees in this day. The Pharisees, of course, we know Pharisee for Christians today is like a curse word, right?

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You Pharisee. We use it as a curse word today, right? Because we understand sort of what it means in terms of the bad theology of the

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Pharisees. But understand this, in the first century, Pharisees were highly revered. Pharisees were hard workers.

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They were disciplined. These were sort of the conservatives of the first century. These were the conservatives. They believed in a literal resurrection.

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And you have the Sadducees kind of, I mean, in some ways sort of like, you know, playing with the scriptures, kind of liberal in a way, denying the resurrection.

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So that's why they were sad. You see, you know, you know that, that corny.

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And it's an old joke. I heard it from your people. What's it from you? Okay, so, but here's what's amazing is that even with the disagreements between the

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Pharisees and the Sadducees in this time period, as much as they were at odds with each other, apparently in this moment with Jesus, stealth and kill them.

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There's apparent unanimous agreement. And it's coming from the very top, the very people who should have known better.

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The law of God gives very strict guidelines for justice, accusations, and even capital punishment is the extreme.

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These people are plotting to murder Jesus. And it's coming from the most religious looking people. This is the covenant people of God.

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Why? Why have so much unanimous agreement? Here's why.

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At least some reasons they were envious of Jesus. They were envious of him, his power, his authority, his popularity.

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I mean, they said things like, look, the whole world is going after Jesus. They were terrified of Jesus in this messianic movement.

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And so they had tried to even stone him. You know, they come and they try to trip Jesus up in questions.

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You know, hey, what do you think about this coin? And taxes to Caesar and all. They're constantly trying to trip Jesus up.

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And Jesus confronts them. Jesus corrects their teaching. Jesus condemns them for what they thought were divine traditions handed down to them that they had to obey alongside the scriptures.

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And he says, Moses says, but you say thus, you invalidate the word of God for the sake of your tradition. He is confronting the highest level of religious leadership in his day.

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And they hate Jesus for this. They hate him. They despise him. And so they conspired together at the highest level to destroy him.

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They tried to kill him before, but it wasn't allowed by who?

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Jesus. It wasn't his time. Jesus said, nobody takes my life from me.

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I lay it down of my own accord. Jesus was in full control of the betrayal, the deception, the stealth, the murder.

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Jesus is in full control. There are times where Jesus is confronting them with the truth.

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They pick up stones to kill him. And somehow Jesus slips out. Somehow Jesus escapes because it wasn't his time.

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He makes the determination of when his end is. But we have this very disturbing display of very religious people, part of the covenant people of God who are trying to plot to kill

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Jesus. Why? Well, he had recently raised Lazarus. Remember that? This is shortly before he comes into Jerusalem.

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He raises Lazarus from the dead. And apparently this was such a spectacle that it actually agitated the

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Jewish leadership of that day. They were terrified after the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

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Remember that as Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he comes into Jerusalem. And what happens as he enters?

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He comes in as prophesied on that donkey. And what is everyone in Jerusalem doing? They're laying down these palm leaves and they're saying,

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Hosanna, Hosanna. This is a spectacle. It's a very big deal. These people are apparently believing in Jesus, according to them.

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And they're terrified of him. Jesus comes into Jerusalem with all this fanfare.

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And then he goes to their temple for a second cleansing of the temple. Jesus goes in and he indicts the leadership in Jerusalem who are oppressing

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God's people. They're charging them like 10 times the amount for a sacrificial animal.

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They're abusing the people of God. They're in this for the money, apparently. And Jesus comes in and he drives people out and he cleanses the temple as the priest was supposed to do before its destruction.

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And he declared woes upon them. You know the woes. Take a turn back just a few pages here.

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Go to 23. Just flip the pages back a little bit. You have seven woes in chapter 23.

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He says things to them like this. Verse 25. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

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For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self -indulgence, you blind

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Pharisee. First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

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Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and uncleanness.

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Jesus is not pulling punches. Jesus is going right for the throat. And he did it.

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Listen, not with the people who were down here on the scale for those Jews. He goes to the very top, cleanses their temple as though he had the authority to do it.

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Who do you think you are that you can come in here and cleanse this temple and sort of move past our authority?

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We're in charge here. We're the bosses here. And Jesus says, fakes, you're all actors.

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That's what chupacrita is. It's a person who puts a mask on in a play. You're playing a character.

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And he says to you, you're playing, this is a show. This is all a show. You're just a character. You've got a mask on right now.

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You are a whitewashed tomb. All you care about is what's on the outside when inside you are full of death, stinking death.

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That's what's inside of you. So they didn't like Jesus. They hated him.

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So they decide to work on this murderous plot. Now, what's interesting is that it says in the text that they can only really wait.

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Right? In chapter 26, go back there again. If you look there in verses 3 through 5, they work on this stealth and this plot to murder

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Jesus, to have him killed. But they say in verse 5, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.

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They're worried. They know if they do this to Jesus. They're going to have the people in Jerusalem opposed to them.

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They're going to lose maybe some of their privilege and power and their authority. People aren't going to like them.

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They don't want that. So they can't do this in the daylight. They can't do this out in the open. It's got to be stealth because people apparently think

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Jesus is the Messiah. So here's the deal. They want Jesus dead. They want to do it, but they have to do it in a way that is stealthy and in the dark where people don't know that it's happening, at least on a large scale.

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They could only wait. They want Jesus dead. Here's the problem. How are we going to get someone to get him?

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I mean, think about it from the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the religious leadership. Think about it from their perspective. They want to have

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Jesus taken and killed. They want to do this in a way where they don't get in a lot of trouble for it. But who's going to betray

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Jesus? I mean, everybody here apparently thinks that he's probably the Messiah, is the

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Messiah. How are we going to work this plan out? I mean, where exactly is he staying right now?

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Do you guys know where he's staying? Anybody know who his friends are? His friends aren't going to betray him. He just raised this guy from the dead.

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You can't ask one of them. You certainly can't ask one of his disciples. You certainly can't ask somebody in his inner circle.

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Those are the people who are most loyal to him. So they have to wait. But what's interesting here is that Judas is the one who actually initiates the treachery.

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Judas, he initiates the treachery. Take a look at the text, Matthew 26, 14 through 16.

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It says this, then one of the 12. So there it is again, right? We have the memory.

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Give this in memory of her, what she did, this faithful disciple, memory of her. And it says, then one of the 12, whose name was

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Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you?

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And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray him.

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This is woeful treachery. Judas is the one who initiated this.

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You can see it also in Mark 14, 10 through 11 as well. But notice this, you'll see this a lot.

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This is actually powerful. Many people have made comments on this as they're unpacking these texts about Judas.

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You'll note that in the gospel record, the writers of the gospels actually make it a point when they mention

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Judas, they'll say, Judas, one of the 12. Judas, one of the 12.

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It's repetitious, Judas, one of the 12. And here Matthew says, then one of the 12, whose name was

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Judas Iscariot. It's repeated, Judas, one of the 12. It's as though the writers of scripture are in awe of the fact that this was one of the 12.

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So they keep emphasizing it. Judas, one of the 12. Can you believe it?

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It was Judas, one of the 12. They seem to be truly in awe.

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But you see, why? See, in contrast to Mary, Judas wasn't in love with Jesus, wanting to hear, believe, and obey.

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If you look over, keep your finger in Matthew 26, because he will be back. Go to John chapter 12.

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John chapter 12, starting in verse 3.

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Watch this. Here's the story. This is where it intensifies. Here's John's account of the incident of the smell of mourning with the perfume.

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It says, verse 3, Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

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The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, but Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

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He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

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So there's the story. Judas loved the money and appears to have been angered by the missed opportunity to fill his pockets with Mary and her costly perfume.

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So apparently he went looking for more. Just consider it. All the while they're in ministry,

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Jesus knows it's happening. He knows it's happening. He still treated

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Judas with love and dignity and respect. Nobody seemed to be aware of the fact that Judas is so treacherous that he's the betrayer.

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Just consider it for a minute. If you're in a crowd, a group of people for, say, three years, every day together, living life together, eating together, sleeping together, doing all of your life things together, you might notice if one person in your group isn't so hot about somebody else in the group, right?

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Like, what's the situation with Jesus and Judas? Like, why is he always snubbing

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Judas? There's nothing there. At the Last Supper, just consider it, when

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Jesus says, one of you is going to betray me, everybody's asking about themselves. They have no idea that it's

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Judas. Apparently Jesus was so gracious and so merciful and so loving to Judas and treated him with so much justice that the other disciples had no idea that this was going to happen with Judas himself.

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But he apparently was stealing the entire time. And when Mary has this moment where she fills the house with the perfume and that smell of mourning, it agitates.

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And Judas says, hey, how come this wasn't sold? Put the money in the bag. And apparently he's so in love with money and he's trying to line his pockets that that was the thing.

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That was the thing that sent him on a course to go looking for more. He was so obsessed with the money.

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So look, we can't see into Judas's heart. The text doesn't give us all the details as to what he was thinking and feeling and what he was doing.

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We have very limited information. But when we consider the life of Judas and what was going on, we have to consider questions.

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I think you can ask appropriately questions. What was he doing there? What was

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Judas doing with Jesus? He's a son of perdition. Jesus said,

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I know whom I've chosen and I haven't really chosen Judas. He was in the inner circle, but he wasn't saved.

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He didn't know Jesus. He wasn't trusting in Jesus. In contrast to the memory of Mary, there's a real disciple that hears, believes and obeys.

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Apparently, Judas was in this for what? The accolades? Is he in this because he wants to be on the end team?

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He wants to look like he's part of something important. Is he doing this simply for the money? Does he see an opportunity for capital and ministry?

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Hey, if everyone thinks this guy's the Messiah, there's money in it. Hey, I got the money bag. And he keeps helping himself.

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He's lining his pockets. Mary does something that has him lose money.

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And so now he's off looking for more. And so his motivations are not about submission to Christ, loving

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Jesus, serving him, worshiping him, believing in him, proclaiming him. His mission is to make some capital cash.

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Jesus apparently was Judas' cash cow. And so he goes on looking for more money.

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Now, just consider also he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. 30.

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It wasn't a lot of money. It's like nothing. How could you walk with the

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Son of Man? How could you walk with God incarnate? How could you see him raising little girls from the dead and putting legs back underneath people, giving sight to blind people and hearing to deaf people?

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How could you actually witness the division of the loaves and the fish and see the miraculous ministry of Jesus?

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You saw him walk on water. He literally controls the creation itself.

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There is nobody like him. Judas had seen all of these miracles, and yet he did not actually believe.

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And he betrays God incarnate for 30 measly pieces of silver.

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Why? I mean, you can do speculation, but I think if you look at Scripture, you can see what motivates that kind of treacherous betrayal.

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In 1 Timothy 6 .10, it says, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

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He loved money. Jesus was apparently his cash cow. He's in this for capital and for money and ministry.

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He lost an opportunity for cash, and so he goes looking for more money. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

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You know that at least that was going on in Judas's heart. He was not following Jesus.

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He was following the money. 30 pieces of silver is all it took. Now, any first century

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Jew reading this account is going to take a deep gasp.

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I can't believe it because they know what the 30 pieces of silver is, what it represents according to the law of God.

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They've got the Torah. God has in his laws ways to treat other human beings in a just way.

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In other words, if you steal in God's law, God says in terms of even moral justice, this is what is justly required if the thief steals.

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And he even gives different categories. If it's something for business, it has to come in this way. God gives examples of what is morally the just penalty for this kind of sin and crime.

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God says, you know, things like if man stealing takes place, kidnapping and enslavement, that's a capital crime.

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You have definitions in God's law in terms of what is actually just to protect victims in your society.

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And God has ways that you have to pay somebody back. If you're responsible for something, you got to pay him back.

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You have to make the person whole again. God demands that in terms of his justice.

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And anybody who's a Jew in the first century that reads this account, they've got to be putting their hands over their mouth because they can't believe it.

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30 pieces of silver. They know the law of God. Exodus 31, 32, if the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master 30 shekels of silver and the ox shall be stoned.

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So not only is he going to betray the son of God, he's going to do it for what you had to give for a gored slave.

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Repayments in that account. This would have dumbfounded people.

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How could you even imagine doing something like that? 30 pieces of silver. You did that to Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

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It's actually a good question to start asking yourself. It's funny. Here's a funny way this is done. And then there's a more evil way this is done.

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Pastor Zach is hilarious if you don't know this. Pastor Zach Morgan. He really is one of the funniest people

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I know. I love Pastor Zach. I don't want him ever to change. He has such a unique personality. He does not take himself seriously.

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I don't think any of us do. We take the truth seriously, but not ourselves very seriously. We love to tease and joke with each other.

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And since I've known Pastor Zach, I will, to this day, still get random text messages, usually like a voice text.

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He'll send me, and this is his thing, and everybody who knows him knows that he does this. Pastor Zach asks random questions about what would you do for a thousand bucks.

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So you'll get a random, like at midnight, you'll get a random voice text, Pastor Zach. I'll play it. He's like, so would you eat a living octopus for $1 ,000?

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And that's it. It's 12 o 'clock at night, about to go to bed, and here's

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Pastor Zach. You think it's an emergency, and apparently he's up devising, you know, what would you, what can

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I get Jeff to say yes to? And so I'll say no, and then he'll go back.

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I'll say five. Five thousand? And we'll play this game until he gets to like a hundred and a million.

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I'm like, okay, yes, a million. I'll do it. I'll eat the live octopus for a million. He's like, good night. He'll ask questions, random questions.

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It'll be a very serious day, and then he'll walk past me, and he'll say, hey, would you fight a bear wearing

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Speedos only with meat hanging around your neck? 50k.

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Now, Zach doesn't even have this money. He does not even have the money, but he's offering it, and he wants to see what you would sell yourself for.

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So he asks those questions. They're regular. He'll say things like, this is one for sure.

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This is a real one. Would you let Mike Tyson punch you in the teeth for a hundred thousand? Five hundred?

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A million? Those are funny things we do to see, like, what would you do to go all the way like that?

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To do something that's really gross, or really hard, or really embarrassing? And, like, you throw out those numbers, and, you know, finally, most of us break, don't we?

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You finally get to, like, 10 million. You're like, all right, yeah, I'd do it for 10, right? Something totally embarrassing or awful.

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You're like, not 50, not 100, but a million I'll sell out. Now, those are fun ways that we think about, like, what are you willing to give up for an amount of money?

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How much does it cost for you to embarrass yourself? But there is a sinful side to this in terms of how much is your soul worth and your reputation worth?

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What is the cost of betrayal and treachery? What would you give up your soul for? Think about that.

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Now, I think most of us would probably want to instinctively say, it's not for sale. It's not for sale.

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But if you've lived long enough, you know that there are many, many, many people that we once thought were solid.

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There were principled people that were strong, wise people. You might even have a favorite politician that you thought, that's the guy.

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That's the guy who cares about principle, who cares about the law. He'll do anything it takes.

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He'll live and die by these truths. And all of a sudden, you see a little while later, what happened to this person?

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Why are they now so compromised? Why are they giving up? Why are they not willing to die for this? What is going on?

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I think we can recognize the politicians who sell their souls. Apparently, a lot of them are for sale.

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A lot of them are for sale and recognize that it's the money that feeds this.

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They let go of principle. They let go of law. They let go of reputation. Because why? They're being paid.

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They're being paid. We recognize that, yeah, people's souls are for sale.

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Apparently. It's amazing. We live in a time where this is, this is amplified. It is on full volume right now.

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Don't go to it. But it's a very popular thing right now, OnlyFans. You've got regular people, young girls, college -age girls, 21, 20, 22 years old.

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And they are selling their souls and reputations. Why? Because they're being told.

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And it works. You can get 3 ,000, 4 ,000 subscribers that pay you $10 or $15 a month to do what?

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To sell your soul. To take pictures and videos and to have your own site.

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So you'll be making somewhere between half a million and a million dollars a year. And they do. They do.

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There's a huge market for it. And the question is, how could somebody ever betray their family, betray their reputation, give their souls away?

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And the answer? Cash. It was true of Judas.

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And it's true today. People sell their souls for money. And the amazing thing about Judas is he does it for a measly amount of money.

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For nothing. 30 pieces of silver is on the lowest end of the scale, according to the law of God. Again, they knew what it meant, 30 pieces of silver, to betray the

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Son of Man. What is your soul worth? Here's the peculiar aspect of this.

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Judas was with Jesus during the entire ministry. Jesus called him. Just consider it in terms of placement now of Judas, right?

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He's not in the outskirts. Jesus called him. He was entrusted with the money.

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He held the money bag. He was, listen, close enough to Jesus to eat with him.

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Close enough to Jesus to eat with him. Now, this is interesting because oftentimes I think in our culture, we've lost the beauty of supper, of eating together.

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I recognize even in myself, I have to learn to do better with that. I grew up in a family where it wasn't an important thing.

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When I was a latchkey kid, I mean, six years old, I was feeding myself, getting myself to school, coming home, letting myself in, making food.

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When parents came home late at night, never, hardly ever saw them. I was a latchkey kid. So dinner wasn't a big thing. Supper wasn't a big thing.

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But in this culture, eating together was everything. We went to Australia to help with some churches out there for end abortion.

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Now, a couple of years ago, and we have these amazing Arab Christians who are, they love us over there.

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They are just so passionate about blessing us. And so they picked us up and drove us around. And they were, all they could talk about was taking us out to dinner, taking us out to dinner.

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It was the biggest deal. And for me, I'm like, okay, that's fine. McDonald's or whatever. No, no, no, no, no.

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You want to come? It's a feast. And we sat there and they stuffed our faces full of the most delicious food for like hours.

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My stomach hurt. It was so amazing. And it was just fellowship and smiles and food.

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And then more food would come. And then more food would come. And then more food. And it hurt. And then it was like, and dessert.

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And it was just, and it was everything. And it was wonderful. To them, it's everything.

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Their culture is like, you're sitting next to each other. You're loving this person. In these cultures, the way you show love and honor to a person is you invite them to a meal and you feed them.

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And it is highly offensive in some cultures. If somebody offers you the meal and to sit with them and eat, it's highly offensive to refuse or to not eat.

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You have to. I remember being in Japan when I was a little boy. And they told us when we got to Japan, we had to do this little meeting with the military.

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Like, okay, you're an American, you know, military. You know, if you go off base, you need to have a good reputation.

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So here's some rules you need to understand by the Japanese culture. If they bow, you bow. You have to bow.

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Don't disrespect them. And if they offer you any food, you better take it and you better eat it.

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Because it is highly offensive, highly offensive not to take the food and to eat it.

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They will see it as you throwing your fist up in their face. So you better eat it. So I made the mistake as a little boy.

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By the way, some of you guys are strange. I hate seafood. So I'm just teasing.

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Okay. But I do hate it. And I remember that I made the mistake of walking through the fish market in Japan, off base.

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And all these wonderful Japanese people, they want to bless me. And they want to be loving to me. So as I pass by, they're offering me all of this fresh, weird stuff.

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And I have to eat it. By the time I got to the end of these stalls, I was green.

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And I never made that mistake again. I would always walk way around the market. So I didn't have people throw these weird,

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I ate some strange stuff that day. I don't know where it was from, except maybe the bottom of the darkest part of the ocean.

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It was weird. But you know, some cultures are like that, eating together and fellowshipping and together.

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That's everything. And in this culture, it is that. And Judas is reclining together with Jesus at the table.

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They would eat basically on the floor. If the table wasn't barely off the floor, it was literally on the floor.

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And you would sit and lie and you would recline with one another. And it was intimate. And they ate that way.

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It was very close. And Judas not only has the money bag, not only is called by Jesus, but he's close enough to actually eat with Jesus.

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And here's what's amazing about it. I've thought about this. Even knowing the treachery of Judas, Jesus treated him with love, dignity and respect.

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Nobody suspected that it was Judas in the way that Jesus treated him. Look at 26 again.

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Read 26. And look at verse 20. It says, when it was evening, he reclined a table with the 12.

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And as they were eating, he said, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. So and so.

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And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another. Is it

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I, Lord? Is it I? Apparently, they hadn't pegged

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Judas as the betrayer. Jesus wasn't treating him differently. He was loving and merciful to him, respectful towards him.

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They didn't put a pin in it. They didn't know. So they're saying, is it me? Is it me? Am I the one?

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And I think that's a powerful testimony to how Jesus treated people in the moment, even knowing all about them and what they were going to do.

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He was apparently, Judas was very good at pretending. But here's what's important about this as we talk through Judas's betrayal and Christ's sovereignty,

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God's sovereignty. This was something that was prophesied. This wasn't a surprise to Jesus. Judas was in control of nothing.

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Go to John chapter 13. John chapter 13, verses 16 through 19.

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It says, truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is after Jesus washes their feet. Truly, truly,

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I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

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I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But there's a sovereignty of Jesus, hashtag

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Calvinism. But the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.

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I'm telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am.

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Now, what's powerful at this moment is Jesus now has them in this place where he's telling them, one of you is going to betray me.

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And this is to fulfill what was written. And I want it when it happens. I want you to I want you to see it as it happens as something that directs you to believing in me, to trusting in me.

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He's the sovereign over this entire moment. Judas is doing what he wants. Jesus isn't making Judas sin.

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He's not making him have evil in his heart. Judas has evil in his heart. He loves this money. And he apparently does not believe in Christ, truly trust him.

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And Jesus says this is to fulfill what was written. This was prophesied.

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It says in Luke 22, 3 and John 13, 7.

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Just look at 13, 7 here. Actually, I might have 27, 13, 27.

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Same text. It says, then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him.

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Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly. So it begs the question, doesn't it?

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It begs the question, was Judas just an innocent victim? Did he do something against his will?

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Because here we have Judas plotting already with the religious leadership to betray Jesus and to give them into their hand, give them into their hands.

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Judas is angry, apparently over the loss of the money. He wants more money. He's already set this plan in motion.

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And it says at the table, reclining with Jesus, is it me?

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Is it me? Is it me? And Judas even asked Jesus the question and he knows it's him.

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This is the craziest thing. He knows it's him. And in Matthew 26, he says, is it

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I? Is it me? He's already been plotting. And he's so disgraceful that he says, is it me?

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And Jesus, of course, tells him what you are going to do, do quickly.

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But it says Satan himself entered Judas. Now, listen, don't let that pass you by.

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This is a very big deal. In the New Testament, you have examples, of course, of demons filling people. Demon possessed people.

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You have legion, many demons filling a person. Jesus casting demons into a bunch of pigs going off a mountain.

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You know all that. But this is something that Satan took a special interest in.

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It wasn't demons. It was Satan himself that fills

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Judas. But remember that Judas is already plotted. He's already in sin. He's already going to betray Jesus.

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And in this moment, by divine permission, Jesus says, go do what you're going to do. Satan fills

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Judas. And so we have to ask the question, is

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Judas just an innocent victim here? Right? Like God has this plan. He's already said this is going to take place.

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God is the one who decrees the end from the beginning, declares the end from the beginning. God's the sovereign. There's no maverick molecules.

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All of that is true. So is Judas simply an innocent victim? Did he do something against his own will?

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I like what John Piper says about this particular moment. He says, quote, Satan does not take innocent people captive.

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Nobody is innocent. To describe this, Piper points to Ephesians chapter 2.

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I think it's a quick, good description. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. I think it's a good commentary on this in terms of like, where does this come from?

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Where does it start? Does Satan take an innocent victim, a person who just loves God, doesn't want to sin, fill him and make him do things against his will?

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That's not what the text says. Ephesians chapter 2 says this, verse 1. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.

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That's every believer was once dead in their sins and trespasses.

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Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

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Let's stop there for a second. So Judas is not an innocent victim. Judas is a person who's dead in his sins and trespasses, following who?

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The course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

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So what comes first? Spiritual death, alienation from God, hostility towards God.

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A dead spiritual person will do dead spiritual things. An alive spiritual person will do alive spiritual things.

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Satan is not filling an alive spiritual person and causing that person to do something against their own will.

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Judas was lost. He was dead. He was not a true believer. And he wanted to betray

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Jesus. He had plotted to betray Jesus. Satan capitalizes on that, fills him, and uses

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Judas to do this awful, awful thing. Again, God is sovereign.

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Man is responsible. People are doing what they want according to their spiritual condition.

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Again, alive spiritual people do alive spiritual things. Dead spiritual people do dead spiritual things.

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Judas wasn't saved and then lost. He was never a believer.

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Good questions. I like how Piper did this when he talked about this particular portion. It's a powerful way to think about this, actually.

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And this is where I think if you've checked out for a minute, come back because this is actually pretty insightful in terms of Satan and what was going on because it seems like suicide, doesn't it?

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For Satan to fill Judas, to get Jesus to the cross.

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Jesus is a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The devil knows his Bible better than most people.

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He knows it well. He's been around for a long time. He has something that you and I do not have.

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And he had direct contact before God's throne with God. He falls.

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He's been there since the beginning. He knows the story. So isn't it suicide for him to fill

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Judas, to lead Jesus to the cross? Why would Satan ever do such a thing? And Piper makes some good comments here.

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Wasn't this suicide for Satan? Didn't he know that this was how

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Jesus was going to save his people? And it's really amazing because you look at the beginning of the gospel, according to Matthew, the book that we're in.

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And what do you have? You have the temptation or the trial of Jesus. And what does Satan do at that point in Jesus' ministry?

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This is powerful. What does Satan do in the trial of the temptation of Jesus? Think about the temptation.

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He says to Jesus, turn these stones to bread. What's that mean?

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Jesus, don't suffer. Don't suffer. You're here in the wilderness.

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Don't suffer. You're hungry. Don't suffer like this. You don't have to suffer, Jesus. Turn these stones to bread.

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Don't suffer. By all means, don't. His angels will catch you.

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Don't die. Use your power. Don't die.

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In Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, Satan at that point in the ministry is actually trying to thwart the crucifixion itself, the death of the

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Messiah. He wants Jesus. Use your power. Use your power. Don't die. And Jesus, don't suffer.

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Don't suffer. And he says, you can have this kingdom without suffering.

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Jesus, just compromise a little. You get everything. I'll give it all to you. You can have everything you came for, all the world, all the nations.

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You can have them. Don't suffer. Don't die. Don't do that, Jesus. I'll give them all to you.

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Just worship me. Just bow. That's at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

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And then during Jesus' ministry, same gospel, Matthew 16, 21 to 23. You know the story.

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Jesus tells the disciples he's going to Jerusalem to be crucified. And what's

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Peter do? Peter says, no, never. Right? Jesus says, I have to go die.

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And at that point in the ministry, Peter tries to stop him with the thought of death as the

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Messiah. Jesus knows what is bringing it. He says directly, get behind me,

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Satan. At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, near the middle of Jesus' ministry, Satan is apparently trying to stop

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Jesus from dying, from suffering. Don't do it. Don't suffer. Don't die.

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Use your power. Don't go to Jerusalem to be crucified. And Jesus says, get behind me, Satan.

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Jesus knows he has to come and die. And it's strange because now it seems that the script has flipped.

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At this point now, Judas is going to betray Jesus to have him killed. And now

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Satan fills Judas to do just that. What happens? Why?

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And again, I think good insight here. I thought it was a good summary of this. Piper makes a good insight.

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I think it's proper. I think it's good suspicion. He said that his suspicion is that Satan knew his demise and future.

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And at this point, apparently, he just wants Jesus to truly suffer.

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He wanted to make it as horrible as possible. Why?

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Why would Satan, knowing that this is suicide for himself, that it's his own demise, why would you do something so irrational?

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And the answer is this. Sin makes us irrational. Sin blinds you.

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It stops you from thinking correctly. It makes you think things about the future, about what you're doing, that this is the payoff.

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This is really going to pay off. At least in this moment, I'll have some pleasure. At least in this moment, I'll have some satisfaction.

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This will work at least for the moment. I'll get what I want. It's irrational. It won't. It won't.

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If I just engage in this relationship, I'll have the pleasure that I want. If I just am unfaithful to my wife in this point,

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I'll get what I want. If I just steal this money, if I just betray this friend, if I just gossip, if I just slander, it's irrational.

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Sin is irrational. And it's displayed fully here in this moment where Satan does something that leads to his own suicide.

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But Judas was so deceived in evil, he already plotted to turn Jesus over and pretends to not know that it was him,

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Matthew 26, 22 through 25. But I want you to notice this. Go to John.

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Again, John chapter 13, 21 through 30.

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Again, after saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified truly, truly,

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I say to you, one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples whom

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Jesus loved was reclining at table at Jesus side. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask

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Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple leaning back against Jesus said to him,

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Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, it is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread.

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When I have dipped the morsel, he gave it. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas.

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The son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel,

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Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly. Now, no one at the table knew why he said this to him.

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Some thought that because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast or that he should give something to the poor.

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So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out and notice the words there.

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It was night. He's doing all of this. He has to under the cover of darkness.

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But notice that Judas couldn't do it without permission. Jesus says, no one takes my life from me. I lay it down my own accord.

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Judas is wicked and sinful the whole time, stealing the whole time. He would have turned Jesus over much sooner.

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But it was only when he had divine permission from Jesus to betray him that he was allowed to actually betray him in this way.

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Notice also that it was Satan himself, not demons. Judas knew where Jesus was going. Passover was happening there.

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Remember this? Passover was a big deal to the Jews. This would have been a big celebration. There would have been people coming in from all over.

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Families are gathering together. This was the part of life and the year where you showed the most fidelity, the most loyalty towards your family.

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You would gather together. You'd be with your family, your closest friends, and you would celebrate the Passover.

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So this would have been a time of year that was so busy. But Judas knew where Jesus was staying.

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Judas knew where he was staying. There wouldn't have been a lot of places to stay. I mean, we could pull up Priceline right now.

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And if a hotel is full, you just swipe up and go to the next one. If you don't like that one, go to the next one. I mean, it's just this plethora of hotels everywhere you go.

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Lots of hotels. Not so in these days. People would have actually slept outside.

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If you didn't have space, you slept outside. And apparently, Jesus was at this place, sleeping there, and Judas knew where he was going to be.

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He does this under the cover of night. In John 18, chapter...

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Sorry, John 18, verse 1, it says this. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook

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Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.

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So Jesus knows... Sorry, Judas knows where Jesus is going to be. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the

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Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Now, a spiron in the

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Greek, Roman soldiers... Essentially, you have Roman soldiers, you had temple police.

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Now get this, very important in terms of context. It's dark. Have you ever been somewhere that is like very, very dark where you can't see your hand in front of your face?

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I remember when I first came to Arizona, and I was in Bible college, a bunch of guys said, hey, how would you like to go camping with us?

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By the way, don't ever invite me camping. I hate it. I just do.

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I just, it hurts. Like one time I went out with my pastor before, and he had come camping for four days with us.

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At 6 a .m. after the first night, Candy and I were packing up the tent. He comes out of his tent. What are you guys doing?

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I was like, ah, we don't like this. And we took off. Like it's just, I don't know.

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Why would you want to sleep on the ground? I know some of you guys love it. You think it's the most amazing thing. I, we all have different gifts.

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Okay, we all have different gifts. But it's pitch black.

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One time when I was invited out into the wilderness in Arizona, we drive like an hour down a mountain, and we get down there, and it's just pitch black, and you can't see anything.

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We're playing like capture the flag in the dark. And I don't even know where I'm at. I've never been to the desert in Arizona.

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I'm running through like trees and pitch darkness. I'm hitting trees. I remember one point I run, and I kick something, and I heard it squeal.

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And I just kept running. Like what was, why is there a pig? And I heard it like chasing me.

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And I'm thinking, why is a pig out here in the middle of nowhere chasing me? What's a pig doing? I made it.

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Thank God I made it out. Talked to my guys afterwards. I was like, hey, why are there pigs in this?

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Why are there pigs out here? And they were like, there's no, that's javelina, bro. You better be glad I didn't get you.

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Thank God for his mercy in my life. And that moment I kicked a javelina in the middle of the, I couldn't see anything.

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I couldn't see, I couldn't see trees. I couldn't see pigs, nothing. This is like that.

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It's pitch black. There's no like lamps. And you know, there's no street lights.

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It's darkness. And that's what Judas takes advantage of.

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And what happens is because this is going on, they would have had lots of extra soldiers in Rome, from Rome at that time.

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Remember why? Is there was actually just an insurrection that took place recently in Mark 15, 7.

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And who was leading that insurrection? Who knows? Barabbas.

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And so there was just an insurrection. Now you've got all kinds of Jews coming into Jerusalem for Passover. There would have been a lot of Roman soldiers.

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And so who comes to Jesus is the Roman soldiers and the temple police.

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The Roman soldiers are armed with swords and they're armed with sharp devices to kill people with.

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And they were very good at it. And you've got the temple police that have clubs. They're not allowed to have those things.

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And so they come together. And apparently Judas was working hard because under the cover of night, he's able to, after working very hard, he was very, very busy.

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He was able to get close to a thousand, possibly. People speculate about a thousand people to show up under the cover of darkness to come and capture

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Jesus. And they come with lanterns to try to light up the night.

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Judas knows where Jesus is. And filled with Satan, Judas gives the order.

01:00:03

I want you to see it for yourselves. Look at Mark 14. Mark 14.

01:00:13

Mark 14, 43. It says this.

01:00:19

And immediately while he was still speaking, Judas came one of the 12 and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

01:00:31

Now the betrayer had given them a sign. So he's now talking to the Roman soldiers and the temple police.

01:00:38

And this is what he says. It's Judas filled with Satan. He says, the one

01:00:44

I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.

01:00:52

So Judas is the one who actually first goes to the leadership in Israel to work with them, to get paid to betray

01:01:00

Jesus. And filled with Satan as he works all this out with all these people coming to Jesus with swords and clubs, he tells them the one that I kiss, seize him and take him away.

01:01:13

What darkness. What absolute darkness and deception.

01:01:19

He betrays Jesus with a kiss. He gave the order. Judas gave the order.

01:01:27

Seize him and lead him away under guard. And as it continues in 45, and when he came, he went up to him and at once said,

01:01:39

Rabbi, and he kissed him. He even comes to him with this massive crowd with swords and clubs, this massive crowd.

01:01:53

And he has the audacity to say, teacher. And he kisses him.

01:02:03

Betrayed with a kiss. Now in this day, slaves would often kiss the feet of their masters to show that kind of submission, in some sense, respect and affection, kiss the feet.

01:02:20

Subordinates would kiss people's hands, but equals kissed cheeks.

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And Judas betrays the son of man with a kiss.

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Jesus says in Luke 22, 48, in response to Judas's treachery, he says, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss?

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You know what's amazing? Can I pause here for a second? This is huge. Because you can just read this as a narrative, as history, and you could say that A, B, C, here's the timeline.

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Here's who was there. Here's what took place. Okay, fine. Historical narrative, you can do that. You can tell the story. One, two, three, four, five.

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Or you could stop for a minute and realize something. That this is, it's part of our catechism right now.

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It's part of our catechism we're doing before church. That Jesus is the one who is the

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God man. This is the incarnation. This is God and man. And Jesus doesn't just suffer and die for his people on the cross, receiving in himself the wrath of God for their sins.

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He's not just the sin bearer on the cross. Jesus actually endures the miseries of this life.

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You know, oftentimes people can look at life in general, the fall and evil that's happening all around us.

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And they can say, I can't believe in God. Don't want to trust in Christ. Don't want to believe that book.

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I don't want to go to church. Why? Because there's so much sin in the world and betrayal and evil.

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How could you believe in Jesus when there is so much evil and betrayal? How can you believe in Jesus after what my family member did to my body?

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This person was supposed to be the one who loved me the most. They betrayed me.

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They were in my closest circle and they did things to my body that were so disgraceful.

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There's such a betrayal there, right? Such a betrayal of somebody who's supposed to be the closest to you.

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They're supposed to have the most loyalty. And they have such nefarious intentions.

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And they do it even at times with physical love. And Jesus understands that this is the son of God, God incarnate who actually can sympathize with all of us because you can bring all that pain to Jesus.

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I say this often. What can you bring to Christ about your own suffering and pain and misery that he doesn't understand experientially?

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And at most points, better than you. Say, I can't go to church anymore.

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I can't serve this way. I can't believe in God anymore. Why? Because I was hurt by somebody in the church. I get it. I get it.

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Somebody that's supposed to know better. They're supposed to trust in God. They're supposed to be the person you can trust the most.

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And they betray you. At times, they're one way in front of your face and behind your back, they're another way.

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You ever have that happen to you where someone that you thought loved you, you find out was just slandering you behind your back, putting the knife in your back.

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Jesus sympathizes with that. The betrayal took place with somebody in his inner circle that he poured into and he loved, knowing all about him.

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When he did it, he still apparently was loving to Judas. And Judas is the one who plots the entire thing.

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And he comes and betrays Jesus and calls him rabbi and kisses him. And they were gonna murder him.

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Now, I want you to see this. It's just a, it's a quick one, but it's actually powerful in terms of this moment.

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I want you to get a feel for it. John 18, John 18. This is actually an amazing section.

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I didn't wanna miss this. John chapter 18, verses four through 11.

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It says, then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, whom do you seek?

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They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, Agoy me,

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I am. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

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When Jesus said to them, Agoy me, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground.

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Jesus here pointing to the Tetragrammaton. This is the divine name of Yahweh, God.

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Who are you seeking? Jesus says, Agoy me, I am. And listen, we tend to think about the moment of the betrayal is like Judas and a couple of buddies come with a couple of clubs and swords.

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I want you to picture the massive crowd that was behind Judas and his betrayal.

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And when Jesus says, Agoy me, I am, they fall.

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What does hundreds of people at the same time falling back look like?

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Can you imagine how this would embolden you in that moment? You're with Jesus, who's

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God in the flesh. You've got all these soldiers, Roman soldiers and temple police. You've got swords and clubs.

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And here is Yahweh in the flesh. They think they can take him down.

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And he says, I am. And they fall by the force of his power.

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Would it embolden you? Apparently it emboldened Peter. So he asked them, verse seven again, whom do you seek?

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And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. So if you seek me, let these men go.

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This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken of those whom you gave me. I have lost not one.

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Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear.

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The servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into its sheath.

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Shall I not drink the cup that the father has given me? Now again, I think we should be a little merciful to Peter.

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Because in this moment, you've got hundreds of people, swords and clubs, I am. And then boom,

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Peter was like, yeah, let's get this now. And he pulls his sword.

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Here's the problem. He apparently was kind of a bad shot. He was trying to obviously kill this person to hit the throat, but he struck his ear.

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And amazingly, we know the guy's name, Malchus. Jesus healed his ear.

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This, by the way, this has been pointed out, is the only place in the New Testament that is a miracle based upon a fresh wound.

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Jesus heals legs, ears, eyes. He raises people from the dead.

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But here now is a fresh wound. And Jesus gives Malchus a new ear. Peter was so emboldened.

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Jesus is powerful. He's in full control. In that moment, Jesus was like, it's on, this is God. You can't touch him.

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They just fell back because he revealed to them who he was. And Peter goes for the throat, hits the ear,

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Jesus heals him. But notice what Jesus says. He says, shall I not drink the cup the father has given me? Jesus knows where this is going.

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And he is going willingly. Now, final words on this,

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Matthew 27. Here's the demise, final end of Judas.

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Matthew 27, one through five, it says, when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

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And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate, the governor. Then when

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Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying,

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I've sinned by betraying innocent blood. They said, what is that to us? See to it yourself.

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And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and he went and hanged himself.

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This isn't repentance towards Christ, repentance towards God.

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You see it in Peter, I'm not gonna get into it now, but Peter, it happens with him. He says, I'll never deny you.

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Jesus says three times before the rooster crows, and it happens, he betrays Jesus too. They all fled from Jesus when he needed them most.

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And yet the other disciples are restored to Jesus. They come to him for forgiveness in life.

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Judas betrays Jesus and doesn't even have genuine repentance. He feels sorrowful because he knows that he's sinned.

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And so he comes to the guys and he's like, hey, I've betrayed innocent blood. He's innocent. You're gonna have him killed?

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I've betrayed innocent blood. And what do they say? I don't care. It's none of my business.

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What do I care? He's ours now. And Judas is so wrecked over this.

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So Judas doesn't come to God for forgiveness and grace and mercy. All he does is he goes and he kills himself.

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Now, apparently in hanging himself in Acts 1 18, we learned that he fell headlong and his intestines burst open.

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So apparently he fell, hit the ground, hit some rocks and his intestines came out. His demise was an awful demise.

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And there's the end of Judas, the betrayer. In summary, there's a lot to take in here in terms of God's divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

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But I want you to consider this in terms of even the evil that you see with the betrayal of Jesus, filling with Satan, handing him over such disgraceful, black hearted things.

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If not for human sin and the fall in the garden, we wouldn't see the glory of God's grace in Christ.

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So you can ask questions like, why would this person do this?

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And what would fill their hearts? And why did it have to happen this way? What we know is that God is sovereign. And what we see even in a choice that was made in the garden itself, what we see is the glory of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

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God was sovereign over their decision there too. And he either allows or disallows things for his purposes and his glory.

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If not for the murder of Jesus, we wouldn't have our redemption.

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It's often quoted here at Apologia. It's actually one of my favorites. It's where the Christians are praying in the book of Acts and they say, gathered together in this city against your holy servant,

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Jesus. And they start naming them. Herod, Pontius Pilate, peoples of Israel, the Gentiles.

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To do what? To do whatever your hand predestined to occur. Was God making the chief priests in the

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Sanhedrin making them hate Jesus? No, their hearts were dark.

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They hated Jesus. God was giving them what they wanted. But they couldn't take

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Jesus until God said, now, now you can have him for his purposes.

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Think about this. If not for the betrayal of Judas, this disgraceful, despicable, evil betrayal of Judas, we wouldn't have

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Christ, our perfect Passover. Which is where it took place. Jesus experienced not only death, but the heartache of betrayal.

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He never stopped trusting the father. Now, if I look at this text and I want to get something that challenges me and changes me, here's a tough one.

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Are you ready for this? Jesus knew who was going to betray him, knew what was in Judas's heart, knew what he was going to do.

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Jesus experienced the betrayal. Rabbi! And kisses him. And Judas is behind all this.

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And yet Jesus never, ever, ever, once stops trusting the father.

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Not once. And it's the father who's commanded him to go.

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It's the father who has decreed all of this. And not once with all of this betrayal and all of this evil, does

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Jesus blame the father or does Jesus turn his back?

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Jesus is the perfect image of God. He's what we're all supposed to be. He lives that life of righteousness and perfection and obedience that all of us have not lived, are not living, will not live.

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It's his righteousness that we need for salvation. But that's on full display in this moment. Even with sin and betrayal in the camp,

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Jesus never stopped trusting the father. He was always faithful.

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My challenge to us is this, even in the midst of betrayal and deception and evil like this in the body of Christ even, that you may experience, follow your savior and your

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Lord. He trusted the father. He rejoiced in the

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Lord always. And even in the midst of this evil, he never lost sight on his faithfulness and obedience to the father.

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That's what we're called to do, even in the midst of a betrayer like Judas. Let's pray.

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Father, I pray you bless the words that went out to your, for your glory and your purposes.

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I pray that you grant to us the strength of your spirit to live lives that glorify you, even in the midst of betrayal.

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Lord, if anybody in here has a little bit of Judas in them in terms of weakness, sin, and deception,

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I pray that you cause us to repent of it now. Heal us of that. Help us to be the disciple who hears, believes, and obeys.

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Lord, I pray if anyone in this room has not truly repented and believed in Christ, his perfect life and death and resurrection,

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I pray that you grant to them even now eyes to see and a heart that is soft. Please grant repentance and faith and the only one who can save.