Sermon Supplement: Kihei Baptist, Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Morning Worship Services, Lord’s Day, April 23, 2006
WHO WAS JUDAS? Matthew 26:14
Glenn Armstrong D.D.
WHO WAS JUDAS ISCARIOT?
INTRODUCTION:
Other Gnostic writing may include: Gospel of Judas, First Apocalypse of James, Epistle of Peter to Philip, the Book of Exodus in Greek, Letters of Paul, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, etc. These writings have historically been considered "historic frauds" in the sense that they are in fact historic documents, but fraudulent in the original purpose. The major thesis of this document is that Jesus insisted that Judas betray him to the Sanhedrin so he would be crucified and thus fulfill Old Testament prophesies by becoming a martyr.
It needs to be understood that the National Geographic is no more a friend to Christianity than the early Gnostics! The Gnositcs were an appositional group during the time of the early Christian church who, 1) emphasized that they, unlike common people, had a special higher intelligence and thus were "the enlightened" in contrast to the unsavable others, 2) taught that all matter was evil and thus if Christ was man, he would be an evil person, 3) that Christ was not man, but spirit in kind, 4) cosmic dualism, 5) the fall was the failure of wisdom, 6) certain people have sparks of deity, 7) the goal of life is to escape physical life and travel into heavenly spheres and become gods, 8) creation of women was the source of evil, 9) resurrection was spiritual and never physical.
The early Coptic Christians dismissed the Gnostic books as "non-Christian babblings" designed to infuse the church with mysticism and eastern religions. We can add the National Geographic to this evaluation. Certainly neither qualifies to become critics of God and His revealtional truth.
I. THE PERSON:
Mark 3:19; 14:10, 43
Luke 6:16; 22: 3, 47, 48
John 6:71; 12:4; 13:2; 26, 29; 14:22; 18:2, 3, 5,
Acts 1:16, 25
II. THE POSITION:
A. Judas was called, commissioned and conferred with honor by Christ.
B. While the first mention of Judas, written after the fact, clearly defines him as the one who would betray our Lord, it is clear the early disciples had no reason to suspect him at the time of his appointment or even during the time they traveled with him.
C. The picking of the disciples involved a time of teaching, training and proving. There is no reason to believe that Judas was treated differently even when it is also clear that Jesus knew what he would eventually do.
D. Every opportunity was given to Judas to become a leader in the early church if he had chosen to become a follower of Jesus rather than a subversive.
E. We know nothing about his history before he is picked by Jesus to become a follower and trainee. Traditions are as unreliable as their sources.
F. Jesus knew the future actions of Judas from the time he picked him as a follower, John 6:64. The other gospel writers do not include this information.
G. We are not told why Jesus picked Judas when He knew what he would do, so speculation is as profitless as it is interesting.
There seems to be at least four forces that motivated and moved the heart and mind of Judas.
III. THE PASSION:
A. Money
1) John 12:6, Judas cared about the money in the bag rather than the poor for which it might be used. He is also listed as a thief in this text.
2)John 13:29, When Jesus told Judas to do what he was planning to do, the disciples assumed he would buy food for the poor, as was the custom at Passover. Instead, he sold the Lord for money, Matthew 26:15.
B. Power, Matthew 26:14-16, The desire for power may be seen in his political/religious relations with the enemies of our Lord.
C. Pride, Matthew 27: 47-49, Whatever other private motives Judas had, we may not know: but it is clear that he wanted to push the Lord into a planned death rather than submit to His right to rule over him.
D. Personal character, Matthew 26:16, Judas is described in general terms as an oppotunitist, thief, traitor, dishonest, and petty person.
IV. THE PRIVILEGE:
A. He was hand picked by Jesus.
B. He was personally trained by Jesus.
C. He was given a position of responsible trust.
D. He was perhaps related to the Simon of Bethany, John 6:71, 12:4. He is identified as Simon’s son twice and on one occasion he is called that while in Simon’s house. It is very likely that Judas’ father was Simon of Bethany, where Jesus often stayed while in the Jerusalem area. This would be a normal reading of the text. If Simon of Bethany was Judas’ father then the following privileges were afforded Judas:
1) His father was healed from leprosy by Jesus, Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3.
2) His brother would have been Lazarus who was resurrected from the dead by Jesus, John 11:43.
3) Mary and Martha would have been his sisters who worshiped and served Jesus, John11: 1, 2, 12:2.
4) Then Mary who anointed Jesus for His burial would have been his sister, John 12: 3-7.
5) The money that was lost by anointing Jesus that Judas objected to would have been family money that Judas wanted, John 12:6.
6) Judas knew that betraying Jesus also involved betraying Lazarus, who would have been his brother, to certain death, John 12:10.
7) No one had more privilege offered in making a spiritual decision than Judas. Certainly, this would be in keeping with the love, grace and mercy extended by Jesus even to the one who would betray Him.
The price of Christian convictions seems to often sell very cheaply in the market of public acceptance. This is noticeably true in today’s Christian compromises. We may be selling Christ at a discount less than Judas required. Every attempt made by the church to please the unregenerate world is far less than thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 10:4
V. THE PRICE:
There is an incompatible conflict between Christ on one hand and the world on the other. Every believer is wise to settle this matter in all areas of life. It is incongruous to think it is possible to have contradictory elements equally in control of our lives. Matthew 6:24
The price Judas required for betraying Jesus was thirty pieces of silver. Actually, this was the value of a slave that had been injured and could no longer do manual labor. Christ was sold at the bottom of a basement bargain.
A. Judas left the Passover table immediately following the Passover dinner. He had every right to be at that part of the evening celebration. However, as an unbeliever, he had no right to be at the Lord’s last supper that followed immediately. John 13:29
B. Judas had already made arrangements with chief priests to deliver Jesus to them in an opportune manner that would not arouse the public opposition. For this service he settled for thirty pieces of silver, the price required by law for a slave gored by an ox, Exodus 21:32. The price was for a common slave that could be purchased daily at the market. Matthew 26:14-16
C. The price was a fulfillment of Zechariah 11:12 and Jeremiah 18:1-4.
D. Judas’ reaction to his deal for the death of Jesus came the following morning after Jesus was bound and delivered to Pilate for trial. The repentance of Judas seems to be only that of sorrow for his action rather than repentance toward God and faith in Christ -- required for redemption. When Judas attempted to give the money back to the temple it was refused as "blood money" and not acceptable to the temple. It was used to purchase land for burying strangers.
E. Judas took his life immediately following the condemnation before Pilate, as he had arranged. The religious leaders could not have cared less about the spiritual, emotional or physical state of Judas. They had used him and he had served them well – he was no longer of value.
F. The seeming contradiction concerning the method of Judas’ death is not without agreement. Matthew records that Judas hung himself, Matthew 27:5, while Luke adds Peter’s comments that in doing so, he also fell and "he burst asunder", Acts 1:18. Both could happen either in the manner in which he hung himself or in the manner in which he was cut down from the hanging. Judas perhaps had more of a privileged opportunity to become a leading believer than any of the other disciples.What we know about Judas is restricted to the following scriptural information.
VI. THE PROPHECY:
A. Perdition
1) The word "perdition" is used eight times in the English New Testament as a translation of different words that all mean destroy, destroyer, destruction, destructive, ruin, breaking, shattering, corruption, etc . The word is used twice as a title by adding "son of" to the word "perdition". When it is used as a title the Greek word is apoleia, which when connected to a person signifies who they are by their character, spiritual standing and eternal state.
2) Jesus used the title in John 17:12 in reference to Judas as the "son of perdition." It is significant that the reference is used during the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus speaking to the Father, said He had preserved and protected all the believers with the exception of Judas who really was never a true believer. What is important in this text is that Jesus identified Judas with a title that said he was the son of the destroyer!
3) The second and only other time the title, "son of perdition" is used it is used by the Apostle Paul to identify who the anti-Christ is, namely the same one about whom Jesus had already spoken to the Father. While there are at least twenty titles used in the scripture to identify the anti-Christ, such as: "king of Babylon", "little horn", "the willful king", "the prince that shall come", "beast" and the "man of sin", etc, it is significant that Paul used the same title for the anti-Christ that Jesus gave to Judas,II Thessalonians 2:3-8. While this alone may not be sufficient to document that Judas will be the anti-Christ, it is, none the less, very suggestive.
B. Progression
There is a declining progression of references to Judas in his special relationship to Satan. This is in spite of the privileges offered to Judas to become a believer in Jesus as the Messiah-Savior.
1) Judas sided with the enemies of the Lord by associating with the Pharisees, to whom he later sold Jesus, Matthew 12: 24,30-32. The reason for listing this text is to show that the Pharisees attributed the works of Jesus to the devil. The text also warns that Satan's attempt to defeat the lord will be by "binding the strong man of the house" (Jesus) and in doing so attempt to overthrow and thus control the entire house (world). What follows is vital to the life of Judas since he later worked in agreement with the Pharisees. Jesus first clearly stated that anyone not with Him was against Him. He then taught that some had or would commit a sin that God the Father would not pardon under any circumstances. Judas, along with others with whom he associated, committed the "unpardonable" sin by attributing the earthly miraculous works of Jesus to be in reality the accomplishments of Satan. (This is a dispensational sin that could only be committed while Jesus was ministering on earth.) Judas clearly knowingly committed this sin and in doing so became unforgivable.
2) Judas became like those with whom he secretly associated. He became a traitor to the person and program of the Lord, Luke 6:16. The company we keep will always determine the trouble we meet. No one is an exception to this truth, certainly not the church in the "last perilous times", II Timothy 3:4. The word traitor is only used twice in the New Testament and in both occasions describes what happens when compromise is acceptable. The word is the Greek word, "prodotes", meaning to give in to the enemy by surrendering ahead of time.
3) Satan entered into Judas, Luke 22:3. It would be a very small matter for Satan to enter into anyone who associated and sided with those who where against the Lord, credited His earthly works to be empowered by the devil, and who was in fact a secret traitor. The Luke text compared with John 16:27 identifies the time and place in which Satan took up residence within Judas. It was immediately following the Passover supper and just before the Lord's Table was instituted. Observe that Satan's greatest achievement was in the presence of believers at a most sacred event! Satan is a religionist.
4) Judas became the devil incarnate, John 6:70. Jesus knew ahead of time that Judas would become the devil incarnate. The text in John is about six months before Satan took up residence in Judas. Yet, Jesus in a test of the disciples’ faithfulness, revealed that one of the twelve was the devil, "diabolos".
5) Judas, under the willful control of Satan, was prompted to betray the Lord to the Pharisees, knowing they had arranged His crucifixion. Satan accomplished his deceptive plan through Judas at a most unexpected time. It was just when the Lord began to wash the feet of the disciples in an open sacred show of humility, John 12:2.
6) Judas betrayed the Lord. Following the Passover supper and before the Lord's Last Supper Judas left the group and arranged a meeting for the arrest of the Lord. The actual event followed the Lord praying in the Garden of Gethsemane while the disciples slept, Matthew 26:36-49. The betrayal took the form of a kiss and sarcastic greeting, "Hail, Master".
C. Place
Peter spoke about Judas, following his betrayal and death, by saying he went "to his own place", Acts 1:25. He did not use a term for heaven, hell or even paradise. Apparently God treated Judas differently than anyone who had or will die. "Own" is the Greek word "idios", meaning; private, separate, apart and alone. It is my understanding of this text that God has a different and particular place and plan for Judas. The best I can do with the text is to suggest that Judas still has an unfilled place in the eschatological program of God.
D. Prophetic Possibility
The anti-Christ will be a resurrected person. The apostle John saw the end time events in vision form. When God reveled the nature of the anti-Christ he saw one who was once dead and alive and who not only duplicated the resurrection of the Lord, Revelation 13:3,12,14 but had power to give life to others,13:15. By comparing Revelation 17:8 with John 17:12 it maybe suggested that Judas will be resurrected during the tribulation as the anti-Christ, "the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition", II Thessalonians 2:3,4 and who through powerful "lying wonders", II Thessalonians 2:9 present himself as God and be worshipped as the redeemer, II Thessalonians 2:4. John saw the resurrected anti-Christ as one who ascended out of the "bottomless pit" after going into "perdition", Revelation 17:8.
Conclusions:
1. Judas had every opportunity to become a believer rather than a deceiver.
2. Judas did what he did historically by actions of his own will. He was not programmed against his will.
3. Wrong associations are often the downfall of even great persons. No one is too great to fail and fall. Especially those who think they are exempt.
4. While there may be unanswered complications to the possibility of Judas being the anti-Christ, there is also some evidence that he may be the resurrection individual who in a "Christ-like" recovery fools even believers with his knowledge and background.
5. The anti-Christ will come back to earth as a religious man, offering a program of worldwide peace in the middle east and personal prosperity through the redistribution of unearned wealth.
6. The church as well as the world is waiting and being groomed for the propositions of the anti-Christ.
GAA/April 20, 2006
