Sunday Night March 24, 2019 PM

Judas Iscariot’s Character and Motives

What was it that Judas Iscariot saw in Christ that led him to betray him? What do we remember about Judas Iscariot? He loved money. Well, they sure weren't going to let Matthew handle it, right? You know, tax collector, you know, you're not going to touch the money.

Well, let's think about what we know about Judas Iscariot because it is a foreboding question, is it not? I mean, to think about the fact that Judas was walking with Christ, he was one of the 12, and yet, you know, he betrayed him.

We remember that Jesus, he went to the high priest to try to get the money back. Yeah, the elders. Yeah. So, what did Judas see in Christ that made him betray Jesus? And how was it that that was different qualitatively in Judas versus Peter who denied Christ?

When we think about who Judas Iscariot was, am I right in remembering he was the only one that wasn't a Galilean? He was a little bit different in that sense. Peter was afraid, but there was a threat of loss somehow for Peter, wasn't there?

But there was also the threat of loss for Judas. What was he afraid of losing? Why trade out his discipleship with Christ, his relationship, not only with Christ, but with all who follow him for 30 pieces of silver?

We know at some point the devil entered Judas to go and do that work, but Judas had already made the deal. He was already willing and proven himself that he was going to go do this. He wanted to do that.

Jesus Knew What Was in Judas from the Beginning

Did Jesus know that there was something wrong with Judas Iscariot? The answer is yes. The answer is yes. An early passage in John reminds us of this. In John chapter 2 verses 24 and 25, well verses 23 through 25, let's just think about this kind of a general statement that could be applied specifically to Judas Iscariot.

In verse 23, it says, now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs, which he was doing. Now, this is a verse, John 2, 23, that you might perhaps mistake for a verse in Acts 2, thousands coming to faith in Christ, Pentecost.

But what's going on here is that there is belief, there is some kind of acceptance, there is some kind of trust, but what does Jesus think about it? Verse 24, but Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them.

Why? For he knew all men, and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man. This is a sobering reminder that just because someone is confessing or professing Jesus, and is a fan of Jesus, and says they believe in Jesus, does not necessarily then mean that Jesus entrusts himself to that person.

Many claim Christ for their own reasons, and perhaps own him in a way that's not really who he is. They have ulterior motives and so on, and we see that in various ways throughout the Gospels, just the four Gospels, let alone the whole of Scripture.

And so, Jesus is not entrusting himself to them because he knew what was in him, and he knew what was in Judas as well. He knew what was in Judas. I'm trying to remember the address of the verse that says that, have I not, oh, this is John 6, right?

Thank you. Ken knew it. The end of John 6. I was like, where is that? The end of John 6, yes. This was another instance where there were people who believed in Jesus, believed in his name. They were following him because he had fed the 5 ,000, and said, hey, this is the new Moses.

Why don't you feed us with this bread every day? We'll follow you to the end of the world. I mean, you're amazing. They were huge fans of Jesus. And then Jesus began to be more specific about his own person being the fulfillment of Passover.

It's not about the lamb anymore on the table. It's me. I'm the broken flesh. I'm the spilled blood. I'm the savior. I'm the lamb. He begins to teach this, and they're flabbergasted. It's a hard saying.

Many leave John 6, 66, and many who were following him left and followed him no more. He asks, you know, if the disciples are going to leave, Peter says something amazing, a great verse, verse 68, Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life. And he says, we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Notice how Peter says we, right? He's speaking for the whole group, right? That's Peter's job.

I don't speak for everybody here. I think I speak for everyone when I say. And then, and Peter, so Peter says this wonderful thing, and then Jesus does not then slap him on the back, say, attaboy. He corrects him ever so gently.

He's going to qualify, say, you just spoke for the whole group. Let me qualify exactly what's going on here. As he does when Peter makes really profound doctrinal statements, he reminds Peter that you didn't come up with that.

Okay, so verse 70, Jesus answered, did I not, did I myself not choose you, the 12, the group that Peter just spoke for, and yet one of you is a devil? Peter just said, we have believed. We, we're all for you, Jesus.

Where else will we go? He just spoke for the whole group, and Jesus says, you know, one of you's a devil. Peter, you're speaking for the whole group, but not the whole group is actually the same here.

One of you's a devil, and he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the 12, was going to betray him. So Jesus knew what was in Judas. He knew it was in man. Nope, nope, nope, nope. His character was clear from the beginning.

His character was clear to Jesus from the beginning. So we have another story somewhere, and maybe Ken can help me with the address again. Please help. So there's a story about, I think, is when there was the major complaint about the, the woman who came with the alabaster flask box to anoint the feet of Jesus, washing his feet with her tears and her hair.

We have an address for that. Yes, sir. Oh, yes. Thank you, Ken. Ken has also pointed out in John 664, after clarifying that it's the spirit who gives life, who gives life is the Holy Spirit, the flesh prophets nothing, the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life, verse 64.

But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. So again, Jesus is very clear headed about this. Yes, Matthew 26.

And do we have a John 12, five? I want to pick at that one. So Marty and john, and then we'll go to Matthew. You said what chapter? Matthew? Jacob is Matthew what? 26. Keep that in mind. Okay, john 12 is going to help us out.

So there's a supper there Martha serving Mary takes a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard and anoints the feet of Jesus wipes his feet is verse three with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Notice Judas Iscariot what was in Judas verse four, Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him. So already there's something within him. He is in disagreement somehow. He's not with Christ in this.

Okay. He said, why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to poor people? Which makes Judas Iscariot, the first social justice warrior. Don't waste this on Jesus, give it to the poor. That's the right thing to do.

Verse six. Now he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. And as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it that there's his character, his character.

Now think about the money box and how he treated the money box. Money would come in from various widows who were supporting Christ in his ministry and maybe some other sources as well. But we know there were several widows who supported Christ in his itinerant ministry.

So here comes the money and Judas has the box. And he was interested in this for himself. Interested in this for himself. This is a microcosm of his relationship to Christ. What's in it for me? What's in it for me?

Right. This is a glimpse into his character. So that was what was going on in Judas concerning Jesus Christ. So we see that this has been a long established pattern. I'm trying to think if there's anything said.

Certainly Jesus continually, we see that he knew what was going on. And in the sovereign grace of God, there was no intervention. And there could have been. I mean, there was, you know, where is Judas Iscariot's Damascus Road event?

Right. Where is it? It's not there. If it was there, it's pure grace, but it's not there. Judas is just doing what he wants to do. And what he wants to do is opposing Christ, just like Saul from Tarsus.

Only difference between Saul of Tarsus and Judas Iscariot is that God out of pure grace and mercy did not slap down Judas Iscariot, but he did Saul. Right. God intervention is the only difference between Judas Iscariot and Saul of Tarsus.

Judas, Peter, and the Difference Between Premeditated Betrayal and Weakness

So that's what we see was in Judas. When was it that he began to intend to betray him? The gospels point at this particular moment. In other accounts, this is, is there, Matthew 20, Matthew 26. I know there's something where it's something, there's something said about this particular moment being a critical turning point for Judas Iscariot.

I believe so. I think it's what it has to be. Well, imagine how all these disciples came to follow Christ. How many times were they said, we have found the Messiah, come follow him. And Judas Iscariot.

Yes. You know, I may not be on the right hand or the left hand of the, of the new Judas Maccabeus, you know, general type to deliver us from the Romans, but man, I'm going to be in the inner circle. You know, there's something really good is going to happen for Judas Iscariot if he follows the new Messiah.

And how could he not be the new Messiah? Because I'd look at all these signs, these powers, but he, but Jesus was turning out to not be the kind of Messiah that Judas Iscariot was wanting him to be. And so the Matthew 26 passage that Jacob was talking about, we had the same kind of situation where the woman anoints Christ.

And instead of the perfume being sold for a high price and money given to the poor, verse nine, which was Judas Iscariot's complaint. And then right after that story, right after Jesus makes his priorities crystal clear, when Judas put it at a lot, that's when one of the 12 in Judas Iscariot went to the chief priest and said, what are you willing to give me to betray him to you?

So there seems to be, it's interesting, isn't it? It's quite possible. But there was something about 30 pieces of silver, price of a slave. There was something about, isn't this interesting that in our sin, we still look for the fair price to do sin.

Yeah. But, but feel good about it. You know, I want to be able to sleep at night. I think so. I think so. He got called down. And notice when Peter gets called down, he comes back for more. He's like, I still want to follow Jesus.

I mean, he gets to get behind me, Satan. That's pretty strong, but he, he's still going to follow Jesus. He's still coming, you know, there's, there's true faith there. There's genuine faith there. And Judas, Judas, you know, enough of this, right?

There's a difference between a true disciple versus a fair weather disciple, 30 pieces of silver. That's right. So, and then ultimately what we find with Peter is Jesus, Jesus said, this is going to happen to you, Peter.

You're going to, this night, you're going to betray me. And Peter's like, no, it can't possibly be, you know, and we, and we can just certainly blame Peter for being arrogant and denying the very words of Christ when Christ said it would happen.

But when Peter was put on the spot, he did deny Christ and he did it twice. And we see him in the moment, his, his weakness and his betrayal of Christ. Is, is this not qualitatively different than Judas who's plotting and planning to betray Christ, who with premeditation tries to arrange the situation to turn Christ over and does so at his, you know, at a, at a price and so on.

So I think there's, there's a clear difference between the two. You can kind of tell between the difference of the character and the difference of how they went about these things. Yes. Something at the beginning of Acts, I think also kind of the, uh, the postmortem analysis of Judas Iscariot and verse 15.

Peter’s Sermon in Acts 1 and the Fulfillment of Scripture

Here is, here is a passage where we have Peter talking about Judas. Interesting, right? For thinking about Peter and Judas, but here's a passage where Peter is preaching about Judas. Acts 1 .15. At this time, Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, a gathering of about 120 persons was there together and said, brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

He was counted among us and received his share in this ministry. Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness and falling headlong. He burst open in the middle when all his intestines gushed out and it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem.

So that in their own language, that field was called a Keldama. That is the field of blood for it is written in the book of Psalms that his homestead be made desolate and that no one dwell in it and that another man take his office.

And therefore, Peter says, we must have a new apostle, a new disciple, a new, a new member of the 12. And they proceed to do what I think is the right thing to do and casting lots for Matthias. So he said it had to be, it was scriptural.

It was, it was prophesied in more than one way, not even the 30 pieces of silver, but also from, from the prophet David. Yeah, we don't know. Paul says he appears as, as an angel of light and so do his ministers.

So and whatever is, whatever was the most attractive and appealing possible. Okay. Yeah. Right. So the beautiful, right? Appealing. Certainly whatever Satan was doing inside the serpent and the side of the snake, when he was tempting Adam and Eve was not to repulse them.

It was to attract them. Yeah. Very good point. Jesus could see through, you know, if he knew what, you know, he knows what was inside Satan as much as he knows what's inside Judas. Well, yes, James, good.

Go ahead. Well, the only way we can avoid that gut punch is to say, God has no idea how things go, which I think is, you know, the death of everything. Well, honestly, so if we, if we think about it, okay, even if, even if, if you're unwilling to acknowledge the direct sovereign involvement in salvation, the regeneration of the heart and the grace gifts of faith and repentance, activating the dead sinner's will and revealing Christ so that that person turns to Christ.

Um, even if you deny all of that and, and, uh, restrain yourself to simply saying that God, um, uh, just looked the prescience argument of looking down the corridors of time and seeing how people will, uh, determine things.

And based on how people determine things, I will determine my own will that God is dependent upon human will to decide what he plans. Even so weak a God is still those who would even pertain to that kind of a God would even still say, um, that God knows if, if God knows who's going to choose him and not choose him, even so weak a God is still the one who gives those people life, right?

And what business does he have giving people life who he knows are going to choose against him. So even a weak God who determines everything he does based on the whims of man is still responsible for creating people who he knows will never turn to him.

So in my, in my understanding, it's the gut punch of all authentic Christianity to whatever scale in within orthodoxy there is that this is the case. Um, uh, so God is all powerful. He is sovereign. He can do anything he wants.

And all he wants is good. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. And aren't we glad that everything he pleases is righteous and good, but again, let's read a little bit more out of Romans nine so that we can, the Romans nine 22 is the verse that James referenced.

And, and Ken is right. When we, we see that the, um, that, uh, Peter's sermon on, uh, Pentecost and Acts two, and also the way that the apostles prayed at the end of Acts four, after the persecution really began to heat up, they acknowledge that all happened in the, uh, in the execution of Christ and the crucifixion of Christ all happened according to God's predetermined plan, exactly what the way.

And all these rulers came together to do what they wanted to do against Christ, but they ended up doing what God said was going to happen and had ordained to happen. And again, what we're talking about there is that mystery where men are willingly doing what they want to do and end up fulfilling exactly what God said was going to happen, exactly what God had planned and ordained in his eternal counsel that would happen.

And, and, and yes. And so that's the thing. It's like, you know, if, um, if we get the idea that God's sovereignty is something where, um, he is robotically, uh, or like a puppet making everybody do what they don't want to do, or that they don't even have any kind of will at all.

That's a very small kind of God. The God of the Bible, his sovereign power is so, is so unfathomable that we're all doing what's in our hearts and he's still bringing everything according to his own plan.

That's how big his sovereignty is. So we can't, we can't, uh, parse that out in a formula. Uh, but that's the way the Bible presents it. And you know what the Bible rarely exhibits any kind of qualms with the absolute sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

It just states it. But Romans 9 is one of those places where we explore some of it. So backing up to verse 18, after the example of Jacob versus Esau, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Remember God would never leave Jacob alone.

He loved him. And then Esau, he just abandoned him, never did anything with him. Esau I've hated. Um, after that example, and the example of Pharaoh in that, uh, he says, for this very purpose, I have raised you up to demonstrate my power in you that my name may be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.

Verse 18, Paul's conclusion is, so then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires. And again, everything that God desires is right. Everything that God desires is good. Um, so we know that.

And then the objection comes in verse 19. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault for who resists his will? Here's the objection. If it's really all about his will, then I'm not responsible for anything I do.

Right? This is the ultimate excuse. It was not the devil made me do it. It's God made me do it. It's his fault. Um, but this is the wrong understanding. Um, and it's actually a, um, a rebellion against the mystery.

Verse 20, on the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, why did you make me like this? Will it? So here, here's the beginning of the context of first 22 that, uh, Paul brings in this illustration of a, of, of someone molding something of a potter, molding, uh, a pot, molding the clay into something, uh, of his own choosing.

And he takes this from Jeremiah and an example in Jeremiah, where God, uh, tells Jeremiah, tell Israel, they're like a pot on my wheel and I am working with them and so on and so forth. And don't you understand Israel that I can totally throw you into the corner or I can actually make something out of you.

It's all entirely up to God. Um, and so Paul brings up this illustration verse 21, or does not the potter have a right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use.

In other words, the potter can make something that could be used in the temple, honorable use, and then he can make something that could be used under your bed at night. What if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience, vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.

So he's even, uh, with patience, he is showing mercy and kindness, even those that are prepared for destruction. And it did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory.

Even us whom he also called not from the Jews only, but also from among the Gentiles. And he goes on to quote Hosea, those called not my people. I say, my people, those whose name used to be no mercy.

I say of these mercy in this way, Paul answers exactly the way Jesus answered. There was a field. A farmer went out to plant the field. The field is the world, Jesus says. And the farmer went out to plant seed and he planted good seed, but an enemy came at night and sowed a bad seed.

And thus, tares grew among the wheat. The words that Jesus used are well known in the agricultural society that when these two types of plant came up, they looked very similar, very much the same. But as they grew, the differences were clear.

There was weeds among the wheat, tares among the wheat. The servants came to the master and said, master, an enemy has done this. We must go and get all of these tares from among the wheat. And the master says, no, we're going to wait.

If you try to take all the tares out, you're going to uproot the wheat. Let them grow side by side until the day of harvest. And then we're going to separate the wheat from the tares. And we're going to bring the wheat into the barn and we're going to burn the tares.

That's the way Jesus explains the whole story. And so he says, and this is the same thing here, Paul's saying, God is being patient with vessels prepared for wrath because he is doing so to make known his riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy.

So yes, there are those who are prepared for wrath, but there's also those who are prepared for mercy. And those who are going to be destroyed for their sins are those who, like Cain and like Esau, want to sin.

Those who desire it, those who are willing to sell their birthright for a bowl of porridge, those who are willing to betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver. That's what they wanted. And these are the vessels prepared for destruction.

And God is patient with them and bears with them so that he may show his mercy on those who are prepared for salvation, prepared for his glory. That's right. So by the end of chapter 11, Paul just launches into doxology.

We have to recognize what happens in Romans 9. It's the same thing that happens in Job, folks. Right? God, what you did isn't fair, Job says. I don't deserve this. I don't like you being in charge so much that I don't get to determine how you do things.

And by the end of it, Job says, yes. Do you remember Mary and Martha complaining to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. How often do we have that same heartbreak? God, you could have done it differently.

We have that heartbreak about the personal things in our lives. We have the heartbreak about those who die without Christ and go to hell. We have that heartbreak. We don't understand why. There is mystery involved.

Herman Baving is known for saying, mystery is the life blood of dogmatics. If you have a way of believing God and believing in the Bible that has no mystery whatsoever, you've got it all figured out, you don't have God, you don't have Christianity, you don't have the truth because you can't, you can understand God and his revelation.

You can't comprehend God as if you have it all figured out. It wouldn't be God if you had figured it all out. Yeah. So we're kept in a humble place, aren't we? By the fence that says, this far, no further.

We only enjoy the Grand Canyon when we stay behind the fence, right? If you rebel against the fence, okay, this far, but no more, we can stand and gaze at the mystery and marvel at it. But as soon as you rebel against the fence and say, no, I'm going to own this mystery.

Well, you know, down, down you go. And many men have made that error and have betrayed the faith. And I don't have enough time to list them all. So speaking of mystery that we can understand and appreciate, let's sing the doxology.