Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

We have all probably had an experience of betrayal in our lives, to some extent or another.

Sometimes, that betrayal is from someone that was not particularly close.

You confide in them, and the next thing what you said has been broadcast to the world.

Perhaps you do something for their good, and they end up taking the good, but stabbing you in the back in the process.

When betrayal comes from a distance, it’s difficult enough.

But when betrayal comes from a person that you’ve trusted, that you’ve spent time building a relationship with, that you’ve sacrificed for… that is exceedingly difficult.

I think of the account of King David, a man after God’s own heart.

He was kind and considerate, but right under his nose, his own son Absalom started working to turn the hearts of people away from him, so that he could take over the throne.

Betrayal is real, and, in many respects, it is quite devastating.

But the betrayal of Jesus that we will be looking at today must certainly be the worst case of betrayal ever carried out in history!

Not only was Jesus the very Son of God, but He was the one who emulated perfect self-sacrifice.

He did not come to be served, but to serve.

In deep humility, He served those to whom He ministered.

He gave up all the glory that was His at His Father’s side, and took on flesh, and became a servant of His created.

And then He spent three years pouring His life, spending His servant-heart on the training and teaching of 12 particular disciples.

One of these, would choose to betray.

This is betrayal that we cannot easily comprehend.

This morning, we will consider that betrayal, and I hope that we will get a glimpse into the wickedness of the heart of man, the power of the enemy, but also the grace and mercy of our Saviour as He would ultimately willingly endure the suffering and shame that would come about as a consequence.

1.

A Murderous Desire

We begin by considering this ongoing sinful desire in the hearts of the religious leaders.

We’ve considered this over the course of our study in Luke, but we must recognise that the extent of the evil and murderous desires of the religious leaders was only growing stronger.

As we consider this, we are reminded in verse 1 of the time that this was taking place.

The Time

We know from our study that much of the past couple of chapters has taken place in Jerusalem, at the time when people had started to gather for the observance of the Passover

We are now even closer to the actual day when this Passover would be observed.

But I would like us to pause at this time, and just take stock of what this time was supposed to represent in the hearts and minds of the Jews.

The Passover had been instituted by God at the time of Israel’s deliverance from captivity and bondage in Egypt.

In other words, it was a time of remembering that God, in His great mercy, had delivered this particular group of people, the Israelites, from bondage, from oppression.

But more than this, it was a time when God’s judgment and wrath were going to be poured out on the oppressors.

God was going to put to death all of the first-born of Egypt.

Only those who had the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their houses would be spared from the angel of death.

This was a time when the Israelites were remembering that God had spared them from death.

But as this time was approaching, all the religious leaders can think of as they approach it, is putting to death.

All that they can think of is murder.

Note verse 2...

The Murderers

In this verse, Luke presents for us who the murderers were.

He tells us who it was that was looking to get rid of Jesus.

The group consists of none other than the chief priests and the teachers of the law.

(v.2)

In the parallel account in Matthew, it says that the Elders of the people were involved in this.

Matthew 26:3

Essentially, it was the hosts of the religious leaders of the Jews that were in on this plot to find some way to deal with Jesus.

Even Caiaphas, the high priest - the chief among them.

In fact, we read in Matthew 26:57 that these religious leaders met in the house of Caiaphas the High Priest after arresting Jesus.

They brought Jesus to the house of Caiaphas after arresting Jesus.

The Guile

In verse 2, we also read that they were "looking for some way to get rid of Jesus..."

We've seen this woven through the Gospel account, this opposition to Jesus and the attempts to have him put to death.

Christ himself had confronted the religious leaders on their desire to kill him.

He knew what was in their hearts.

If you read through John’s Gospel, you see this repeatedly.

John 7 is a key example.

But again, there was a particular obstacle in their way.

The obstacle was not their consciences.

It was not the law of the land that was stopping them from carrying out their plots to kill Jesus.

The Obstacle

"They were afraid of the people...." (v.2)

The hindrance was the sheer number of people that followed Jesus.

We also saw this previously...

A little later on in our text, in Luke 22:6, it says...

If the religious leaders would try and have Jesus put to death, there would be a revolt against them.

They would probably end up with a mini war on their hands.

The Roman authorities would in all likelihood intervene, and this would spell trouble for the Jews.

What they really lacked at this stage was an opportunity to arrest Jesus without the consequences of a revolt.

But the only time that they saw Jesus was really when the people were all around Him in the temple.

Observations.

Sin begets sin...

The initial response from the leaders when Jesus began to preach and teach was some measure of frustration.

There was an element of fear - fear that Jesus would take away their own power and authority.

But eventually, that frustration and fear developed into a hatred towards Jesus.

It festered and continued to grow.

Their anger and hatred in their hearts had by this time grown so large, that it was about to go to its inevitable consequence… murder!!!

In Matthew 5:21-22, we read of Jesus warning that anger in the heart is effectively murder…

Jesus said very much the same thing about lust in the heart.

Whoever lusts commits adultery…

We need to recognise from this that sin begins with an evil thought or desire within the heart.

When that evil desire or thought is not put away, it develops and grows.

It festers and grows until ultimately it results in far greater sin actually being carried out.

The religious leaders had already murdered long ago in their hearts.

But now it was becoming fully developed... it would lead to the logical conclusion!!

When sin is not dealt with in our lives, it will often lead to further sin developing in our lives.

Turn across to Romans 1:21 in your Bibles…

Note the passage in Romans 1... God gave over... repeatedly.

Ends up in grievous sin.

We must be careful not to give place for Satan...

2. An Evil Influence

We read in verse 3…

This is a very striking verse, and in some senses a frightening one.

There are a few things that I’d like to point out from it…

The first thing I’d like us to consider is the phrase, “Satan entered Judas...”

Satan Enters Judas

The same thing is mentioned in John 13:27

John 13:27 (NIV84)

27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him....

Not necessarily Possession

Just because it says that Satan "entered" Judas, we mustn't assume that this was a case of demon-possession, Satanic possession.

It may have been a case of true Satanic possession.