Our Sermons

Bible Passage: John 13:18-30
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  March 6th, 2019

In Dante’s Inferno, he is the central figure in the innermost circle of Hell. He is the heartless traitor who would double-cross his friend with a kiss. He is the satanic hypocrite who sold his soul for thirty pieces of silver. There is no more reviled character in the Bible than the man who betrayed the Son of God, Judas Iscariot. But for one so well known and so unanimously despised, the Gospels do not give us much information about Judas. We know he had a problem with stealing; he was the dishonest money keeper of the disciples. We also know he was a from the region of Kerioth and therefore he was the only disciple who was not a Galilean. But really, apart from the dreadful act which has soiled his name for 2000 years, we don’t get much more which makes his character and motive all the more intriguing.

Consequently, throughout the years, all sorts of theories have been offered to fill in the gaps. Back in the day, there were Gnostic teachers who tried to prove that Judas had noble motives, that he wanted to force Jesus into confrontation with the Romans and set in motion the liberation of the Jews in Israel. There was even a falsified “Gospel of Judas” which is a series of conversations between Judas and Jesus where Jesus commands Judas to betray him. Still today you can find many historical fiction pieces which take interesting lines at Judas’ motive and the final reason for his untimely death. In the end, however, they are all based on pure speculation because the Scriptures simply do not tell us his exact reason. And perhaps that is by design. Because if we could comfortably sit back and diagnose his problem we might miss the vital warning that is meant for each and every one of us in his sad example.

This evening, in the upper room, we watch as Jesus of Nazareth is Passing By, passing by Judas Iscariot with one final opportunity of grace. As we look at this fateful scene, let us take to heart the warning which Judas tragically provides and may we ultimately find comfort in our Savior who proves that God’s plans do not fail.

John 13 opens on the Thursday of the Passover Festival in Jerusalem. Jesus had made arrangements to have a room prepared in advance for him and his disciples so that they could celebrate the Passover meal together in private. That evening he began by washing their feet and teaching them about the greatness of humility and selfless service. But after the meal begins, the atmosphere changes. Jesus becomes troubled in spirit; something was wrong. He started to speak, saying: “I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is so that the Scripture may be fulfilled: ‘One who eats bread with me has raised his heel against me.’ I am telling you this right now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am he… Amen, Amen, I tell you: One of you will betray me.” (John 13:18-21) These are vitally important words, not necessarily for Judas, but for all of the other men around that table. Jesus knows how fragile his disciples are. This very night he is going to be betrayed and arrested and his disciples will be scattered. They will all run away and Peter will even deny him three times. Jesus wants their faith to withstand the doubts and questions that are sure to arise. He knows that they will reassess all of his claims. If he really was the Son of God how could he fall victim to the plots of the Jewish leaders? Was his mission ruined? Shouldn’t he have seen Judas’ betrayal coming?  Was he really the Messiah? These would be devastating questions for his disciples if he did not prepare them.

Jesus needs them to know that he knows what is going on. And he starts by saying, “I know those I have chosen.” Jesus didn’t make a mistake when he chose his twelve disciples. He didn’t mess up when he called Peter who would deny him, or Thomas who would doubt his resurrection, and he didn’t make a mistake when he called Judas Iscariot. He knew he would be betrayed; he knew the man; he knew the reason; he knew the time; he knew the place; he knew everything. In fact, Jesus says, “This is so that the Scripture may be fulfilled,” and he quotes Psalm 41:9: “One who eats bread with me has raised his heel against me.” These were originally words of King David spoken of his close friend and advisor, Ahithophel, who betrayed him and plotted a rebellion with his son Absalom. (2 Samuel 16-17) The point here is that God foresaw what Judas would do. In fact, he is also clearly depicted in a vivid prophecy from  Zechariah.

Listen to this: “…they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages.  Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.”  This is exactly what Judas did. He betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. But after, in guilt and despair, he took the 30 pieces of silver back, threw them down on the temple floor, the house of the Lord, and then went out and hung himself. An eerie coincidence is that Ahithophel, the one who betrayed David, also committed suicide by hanging himself. But regarding Zechariah’s words, after the Jewish authorities found out about Judas’ suicide, they took the silver, the price at which Jesus was valued, and, because the temple treasury wouldn’t accept blood money, they purchased the Potter’s Field, fulfilling in great detail Zechariah’s prophecy. So unquestionably yes, Jesus, as true God, knew about Judas. He saw him coming a thousand years  in the past and wrote it into Scripture itself. Judas’ betrayal did not undermine Jesus’ authority but validated it. Judas was part of the plan.

At this point, I must explain that Judas was not fatalistically driven by God to do what he did. 2 Peter says that God does not want anyone to perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Judas did what he did because he fell into sin, he spiraled down until Satan took complete control of him. He did what he did and he spurned every loving appeal of Christ along the way. When he did what he did, he fulfilled what Scripture said he would do. This is so important that the disciples get this because, as Jesus says in verse 19, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.” Even though he would be betrayed into the hands of sinners, Jesus is he, the promised one, the Messiah, the Son of God. His Word is true and he is still in control.

And if the Scripture reference wasn’t clear enough Jesus spells it out, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: One of you will betray me.” It seems like a bomb went off in the room. The disciples were in shock. They have no idea who it was and begin to get incredibly self-conscious. You might be able to laugh it off if someone else said it, but this was Jesus Christ, the one who never lied. One of the brothers was false. One who had lived and traveled with them for three years was going to sell them out. After a while, Peter, as usual, took some initiative and motions to John, the one sitting closest to Jesus, to seek the identity of the betrayer. And we have to assume that the meal continued and John was discrete and waited for an opportune moment to ask Jesus about this because none of the other disciples overhear Jesus’ answer. Jesus told John, “It is the one whom I will give this piece of bread, after I have dipped it in the dish.” And then Jesus dipped a piece of bread in olive oil and gave it to Judas.

Isn’t it interesting how Jesus protects Judas throughout all of this? He waits until this final hour to unmask him. And he even chooses an anonymous way to identify him. In fact, after Judas leaves only John and probably Peter know that he is the one because Jesus never identified him by name. Jesus has given him every opportunity to save face and turn back from this. But Judas had already committed. He took the bread and John records the chilling words, “Satan entered into him.” Satan takes possession of Judas. And Jesus simply says, “What you are about to do, do it quickly.” Jesus says, “Get on with it, Judas. If you must betray me, at least do it fast.” With these words Judas leaves and the other disciples, God bless them, assume that he may be purchasing more things for the Passover festival or giving money to the poor at Jesus’ command.

There are a host of lessons that we could take from this story. There is the lesson of lost opportunity, the wasted privilege of being with Jesus, to know his power and love, and yet to refuse to follow him. There is the lesson of the danger of loving money. There is a lesson here simply about how detestable it is to betray someone. There’s a beautiful lesson of the patience and mercy of God. Jesus never stopped loving Judas. You know, when they came to arrest him later that night in Gethsemane, Jesus addressed Judas by calling him “friend.” That night in the garden would be the last time Judas ever saw the light of day. He hung himself that night and separated himself from God eternally, but Jesus never stopped loving him. There are many good lessons here, but I want to take time for just two tonight which seem especially clear.

WARNING: First, there is a solemn warning for each and every one of us here. And it lies in the question “Why?” Why did he do it? Why did Judas betray Jesus? Most people think Judas did it for the money, but I disagree. I do not think that Judas joined the disciples with any false motives in the beginning. He wouldn’t have lived with those men, following Jesus in that vagabond lifestyle for three years just for thirty pieces of silver. 30 pieces of silver wasn’t that much money. It was only about 4 months wages. Actually, perhaps the better comparison was that it was the usual price paid for a slave, according to Ex 21:32, which tells us more about the utter contempt the religious leaders had for Jesus and the shame of Judas in agreeing to that price. But, in any case, when Judas first started following Jesus there was no plot by Jewish leaders; there was no bribe money on the table at all. The root cause wasn’t the money. The question “Why?” remains.

I’ve always enjoyed reading play scripts, although I haven’t found as much time for it since I got married. But I once read “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” by Stephen Guirgis. I recall it was rather inappropriate and rife with profanity, but there was something that affected me. The play is set as a courtroom drama and characters range from Judas to Satan, Sigmund Freud to Mother Teresa, some guy named Butch, and Jesus himself. But the character that struck me was the mother of Judas. In her opening lines, she says this, “I remember the morning my son was born as if it were yesterday. The moment the midwife placed him in my arms, I was infused with a love beyond all measure and understanding. I remember holding my son, and looking over at my own mother and saying, ‘Now I understand why the sun comes up at day and the stars come out at night.’” The real value of the play, in my mind, was that it reminded me that Judas Iscariot was a real, human person. I very much imagine that his mother did cry tears of joy when she first held him in her arms. He was not born a villain. He was not some ill-fated spawn of hell nor did he wake up one day and decide to be evil. He was as warm-blooded as any of us. He had hopes and dreams, days of joy and celebration, he had friends and loved ones. He had the same God of grace as we do, who called him to follow and to serve.

That’s why the question “why?” bothers us. The disturbing truth is that what happened to Judas is what can happen to any Christian. He allowed sin to fester. Over time he succumbed to the devil’s temptations. He began stealing from the little that was in the money box and decided to take thirty pieces of silver as compensation for what he thought of as wasted years. Over time he decided that following Jesus wasn’t worth it. And finally, at some point, he rejected God. It was a process; it was a descent. He had the same privilege to know Jesus as the rest of the disciples, the same privilege we have as well, and yet he fell.

This account provides for us a solemn warning of how engaged the devil can be in spiritual hypocrisy; how people, with every spiritual advantage, can descend to a place where they reject the grace of God. If you are here tonight simply going through the motions, know that while you can fool the rest of us, the Lord knows your heart. He knows if you’re here just to appease someone or to look good. If you pretend to follow in Jesus but have false motives, you are in grave danger. You cannot avoid a rotting heart when you live a lie. My friends, every human has the same terrible capacity to reject Jesus, like Judas did. May we respect the fact that there are spiritual forces which want to take us away from Christ. There is a Devil and he wants to enter in. Paul’s words are apt here, “Be careful, if you think you are standing firm, that you do not fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12) Or as he writes in Ephesians, “Do not give the Devil a foothold. (Eph 4:27) My friends, do not give him an inch! Weigh this warning carefully. Worship God with integrity. Be ruthless about cutting out the sin in your life and say “No!” to temptation. Let us love our Savior in truth.

COMFORT: But the lesson I want to leave you with is the one which our Lord wanted the other disciples to learn, and it is one of comfort. The lesson is: Nothing that sinful people or the devil can do will ever ruin the plans of God. Yes, sin has infected God’s creation ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, but our God is still in control, working for the good of those who love him. Remember that Judas’ betrayal was the fulfillment of Scripture. God was still in control, even if it was hard to tell. Think about it, Jesus’ crucifixion looked like a tragedy, but was actually the triumph of our salvation! What looked like Satan’s victory was really his defeat! What looked like a sealed tomb was just setting the stage for a resurrection! My friends, no matter how sin affected your life, God has foreseen it before time began and it has not ruined his plan for you. Maybe a disease has hit your family hard. Maybe a divorce has darkened your hope for the future. Maybe you have been betrayed like Jesus. Maybe things are more than tight financially. Maybe you are so focused on your sin that you struggle daily to grasp the reality of God’s forgiveness. Maybe depression has set in over a long winter. Maybe you are concerned about the future of our country and the world our children will inherit. Maybe you are anxious and exhausted, wondering whether all your work and effort will amount to anything. Sin hits hard, but God’s purpose does not bend or break, it is not even scratched. He has defeated sin; he has crushed the serpent’s head and he knows all that is to come. He will follow through on his promises as he always has. He is always in control, even if it is hard to see how. If he can turn the cross of his own Son into our eternal glory, then imagine the good he has in mind for you through the crosses he has allowed you to bear.  Jesus of Nazareth is passing by tonight not just with warning, but with comfort. He is reaching out with forgiveness and mercy. He is reaching out with his very body and blood to give us the peace of a clean conscience. He is passing by with the joy that nothing in all creation can separate us from his love. He is passing by with comfort because nothing could stop him from accomplishing your eternal salvation.  

Jesus of Nazareth is passing by with warning and with comfort. Let us take both to heart.

Amen.