This sermon, Judas: Our Sin Sells Out Our Savior, is
published in its entirety at Preaching.com. You
can read the whole article
here.
Listen to the sermon,
Judas: Our Sin Sells Out Our Savior, here
and here.
In his self-seeking sinfulness and greed, Judas betrayed
Jesus for 30 silver pieces. Greed is one of
The Seven Deadly Sins. However, it
is important for us to realize all sin is deadly (see
Rom. 6:23). Judas
is known as the betrayer of Jesus, and his name has become synonymous with
betrayal. Before we get too down on Judas, it is important for us to
realize all sin is betrayal. Our sin betrays: betrays God, our
neighbors and ourselves. In addition, when we sin, our sin sells out our
Savior. It is because of our sinfulness that we all have need of the gospel; we
have the need for repentance and the need to walk in obedience to God and His
will.
Let's look at what we can learn from the life of Judas Iscariot,
one of the 12 disciples who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver because of
his sinfulness and greed.
Psalm 41:9 is a
prophecy about Judas' betrayal of Jesus: "Even my close friend,
someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me." Judas
was one of the 12 disciples who Jesus himself had chosen, yet this close friend
betrayed Jesus.
Jesus called Judas, and he was given authority along with
the other disciples. Judas was sent out along with the others to do
ministry. We see this in
Matthew 10:1-15,
"And He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every
affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is
called Peter…Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him."
In
John 6:67-71,
Jesus talked about choosing the 12and how one of them would betray Him and how
this person, Judas, had a devil. Jesus said this in John's Gospel, "'Did I
not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.' He spoke of Judas
the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray
Him" (John 6:70-71). Jesus chose a disciple whom He knew had ulterior
motives and would betray Him, yet Jesus trusted him with ministry and to
be in His inner circle.
It is a fascinating thought to consider Jesus would allow
someone who was not a true believer, who had mixed motives, who had treacherous
plans, who had a devil to be one of His disciples. Could it be possible that
some who claim to be following Christ today are not truly His followers? Jesus
spoke of this, concerning those who do good deeds in His name, in
Matthew 7:21-23
when He said, "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name
perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away
from Me, you evildoers!'"
In
John 12:1-11,
we see the true nature of Judas revealed in stark contrast to Mary of Bethany,
who anointed Jesus' feet with a pint of pure nard, perfume. In this account,
Judas was exposed as a thief when he said, "Why wasn't this perfume sold
and the money given to the poor?" (John 12:5). John then noted this
perfume was worth a year's wages and went on to tell of Judas' true motive of
greed, making a statement of his character when he said Judas, "Did not
say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper
of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it" (John
12:6).
Judas was a thief according to this passage in John, and he
was looking for personal gain from following Jesus, stealing from the moneybag.
Ironically, Judas was attempting to steal what Mary was freely giving to Jesus
as a selfless act of worship, pouring out on Him all she had in reckless
abandon. The value of this gift was about a year's wages and was meant to
prepare Jesus for His burial, from the death Judas' betrayal would set into
motion. This gift was worth what would be about $23,000 by today's standards,
approximately three times the amount of Judas' blood money.
Jesus said what Mary did in worship of Him would be
remembered every time the gospel's proclaimed. In
Matthew 26:13,
Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout
the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her." This
contrast between Mary's generous and extravagant worship and Judas' greed and
treachery is no exception. We see these two accounts side-by-side in the
gospels and it is clear we should look at these accounts together in comparison
and in contrast.
Judas' price for betraying Jesus was 30 pieces of silver, as
recorded in
Matthew
26:14-16, "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the
chief priests and said, 'What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?'
And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began
looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus." This payment was worth
about four months wages, about one third of what Mary poured out onto Jesus in
worship. This would be around $7,500 in today's market.
Thirty pieces of silver was also the price of a slave.
According to
Exodus
21:32, "If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay
thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be
stoned to death." Did Judas, and the Jews to whom he betrayed Him, value
Jesus as a slave? It appears to be so. More interesting is the reality that
Judas was a slave to his own greed and his love of money. As Jesus said in
Matthew 6:24,
"You cannot serve both God and money." Judas was also a slave of the
religious leaders when he agreed to sell Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver.
Here he would do their bidding and would be beholden to them as their slave.
What makes Judas' betrayal of Jesus harder to imagine is the
scene painted in John's Gospel account of the Passover in which John
describes Jesus' announcement of His impending betrayal. In
John 13:1-30,
about six days after Mary's anointing of Jesus, John tells of Jesus washing all
of His disciple's feet. Judas was there and Jesus washed his feet, as well (see
John 13:2-5). This responsibility of foot washing was reserved for non-Jewish
slaves. In this act of service, Jesus became a slave of the lowest regard to
serve all His disciples, including Judas, whom Jesus knew would betray Him.
Jesus freely offered Himself as an humble slave, and Judas still betrayed Him
at a slave's price for his own selfish gain.
In Haiti, there are silver coins worth .50
Gourdes, equating to about one 80th of $1, a little more than a
penny. These coins are despised and rejected by vendors and are looked upon
with distain. They are worthless. People do not use these coins, and merchants
will laugh you away if you try to pass them off on the street or in the market.
Thirty of these silver coins would not buy a soda on the street corner. These
coins are worthless. No one would sell anything they owned for these coins, let
alone betray someone they love for them.
These worthless coins are like our sins. They appear to have
value, but they are worthless. Indeed, all the money in the world is valueless
compared to Jesus, our Lord. Christ is of infinite value. As Paul said in
Philippians 3:7-8,
"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them garbage, that I may gain Christ."
Everything is a loss compared to Jesus; He is our gain
and reward. If Judas believed this about Jesus, he would not have betrayed
Jesus for worthless silver coins. If we believe this about Jesus, we
will not sell out our Savior for cheap trinkets of sin. However, like
Judas, we betray our Lord for personal gain when we sin and seek our own
selfish desires. In our sin, we ask with Judas, "What are you willing to
give me to betray Him to you?" (Matthew 26:14-16).
CompellingTruth.org addresses
this issue of following Jesus for selfish gain in the article "What
Prompted Judas to Betray Jesus?" According to this article, Judas was
not the only person in Jesus' life who used Him. Countless people today do
the same thing. They hear about Jesus' healing power, His ability to grant
wishes or comfort. Many respect His teaching, and they learn about His
character, His claims, and His crucifixion. Yet they don't accept Him as
Lord. We are just as guilty as Judas when we use Jesus for our own selfish
gain.
This sermon, Judas: Our Sin Sells Out Our Savior, is published in its entirety at Preaching.com. You can read the whole article here.
Listen to the sermon, Judas: Our Sin Sells Out Our Savior, here and here.
For poetry on Judas,
click the following links:
