Treaties and Traitors
Notes
Transcript
Treaties and Traitors
Treaties and Traitors
So you have finally, FINALLY conquered the continent of Asia. Famously hard to conquer and hard to hold. But you hold Australia to the South East, and you have a firm treaty with your buddy in Africa and strong defenses in place between you and Europe and the North East route to North America.
Guess what happens?
I like to think of myself as a forgiving person. I just “like” to think of myself that way.
But you break a treaty… oh man, you are a traitor in my book.
And I will remember. Not just this game… oh no. In the next game, I will remember the treaty you broke in the last game. You are a traitor and you get no treaties from me. None!
Where was I?
Oh yeah… Easter! We approach the cross, the road to the cross… which is ultimately the road to resurrection.
Last week we heard the “Triumphal Entry” with the crowd singing Hosanna.
There was one among the crowd, maybe saying all the words, but not singing in his heart. Instead… someone blending in with all the other disciples.
But he’s a Traitor. He is the Traitor. Probably the most famous traitor in all history.
Spoilers for those who didn’t read the book or see the movie… and the Chosen hasn’t caught up to this yet.
Judas. Betrayer of Jesus. Branded traitor.
Just before the “Triumphal Entry” Judas hits a breaking point.
Judas Offended
Judas Offended
Both Matthew and John relate that there was a moment right before Judas betrays Jesus, that seems to have been the final straw.
Matthew speaks of a woman anointing Jesus’ head with “alabaster flask of expensive ointment.”
John speaks of Mary herself,
3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,
5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
Now, that’s kind of a good point It could be sold for the poor!
6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Woah!!! What??? Doesn’t that mean Judas has been embezzling funds this WHOLE time!!!
Should we be shocked when people use religion to make money? When they abuse non-profits. This was happening underneath Jesus’ nose!!!
7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
When Matthew tells this story, or a very similar one, the very next event is Judas going to the chief priests.
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
And then he betrays Jesus with a kiss.
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.”
49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
Wow, even in the act, Jesus calls him “friend.” I don’t think it was scornful or sarcastic in the way I would say it. “Thanks, friend. Do it!”
The kiss makes it worse, doesn’t it? An act of great honor, a student to his master, his kiss said “I honor and respect you...”
But it is betrayal most foul. And Jesus is seized and condemned and crucified.
Maybe Judas didn’t intend it to go that far, we don’t know. But we get some kind of joy out of him getting his just desserts.
Just Judas Desserts
Just Judas Desserts
1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.
3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,
4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”
5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.”
7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.
Judas the traitor. That’s his story.
The villain, for sure. Our culture maybe barely even gets how much this guy has been reviled. In Dante’s inferno, at the very center of all the circles of hell, being chewed on by Lucifer himself...
Brutus and Cassius who betrayed Caesar. And Judas, who betrayed Jesus.
And we get the cathartic ending we are hoping for in the story. The villain dies, hurrah! He is full of remorse and kills himself.
In Acts, Luke includes that he burst open and all his bowels gushed out. Gross.
Judas chosen
Judas chosen
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
And if Jesus spends that much time and effort in prayer, don’t you think he’s going to make the right decision?
13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew,
15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot,
16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Did Jesus get confused about the names? There’s more than one Judas there, he called “Judas” and two guys answered, and Jesus was too embarrassed to send one away?
Same reason there’s 6 Marys???
No, Jesus prayed on this all night, and all night he spoke to God about this, and then day came and he chose twelve and named them Apostles.
Which means delegate, special messenger. An envoy. Representative of him in some powerful way… and in the inner circle.
Disciples are going to come and go, sometimes thousands, sometimes just handfuls, but these 12 remain.
For three years, this man, Judas has been chosen by Jesus.
Jesus, who could see and size up a heart in a moment. With a look, know that money had a hold of the rich man’s heart, who could see that this prostitute and tax collector were beautiful and wonderful and ready for change… and this Pharisee was a hypocrite...
Jesus, who could see the heart of a man… you think he didn’t know Judas’ heart? That Judas was full of wounded pride, of greed, full of confusion about the Messiah, and cooking the books.
And yet, he called him. And he loved him the whole time. He taught him the whole time. He shared bread and wine with him, and said to him, this is my body for you… this is my blood for you...
He sent him out on mission, as his apostle, as his witness… knowing his traitor heart.
The Potter’s Field
The Potter’s Field
6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.
Isn’t that strange, ever wonder why Matthew mentions such a weird detail as the “potter’s field”? Possibly called a “potter’s field” because that’s where they dug up clay for… pots.
And Matthew mentions the prophet “Jeremiah”, but “Jeremiah” is the first of the prophetic books and sometimes stands for all the prophets. Because this isn’t a reference to Jeremiah himself, so either Matthew was using the term generally or this could be a later scribal error...
Either way, this is a reference to our friend Zechariah.
The “Failed” Shepherd
The “Failed” Shepherd
Do you know the story of the Failed Shepherd? I didn’t. I missed this one. And we skip this one because most of it is really hard to understand. God’s going to need to explain most of this. But we see pieces, and Matthew draws a connection from this prophecy.
4 Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.
7 So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep.
12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.
And Judas took his thirty pieces of silver, the price of selling out the “good shepherd” of a flock doomed to be slaughtered… and it was given to the potters field.
520 BC, Zechariah is the failed shepherd.
30 AD, Jesus shows how it’s done.
This was the plan the whole time.
Before there was a Judas to choose, in human terms.
Jesus loved him the whole time, while he was a traitor in truth.
Jesus chose him the whole time, knowing his heart.
Judas Repented?
Judas Repented?
Matthew 27:3–4 (ESV)
3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”
He changed his mind.
Metamelomai (vs Metanoia). Means “regret”, it means “change one’s mind… and it means “feel repentance.”
Metanoia may also include more of the “right action” that follows the change of mind. Judas was right to go and confess his sin to the chief priests.
… but his response after that was to give in to despair and kill himself.
This is one of those I hope to be surprised by. I hope there is salvation for Judas. I see the seeds of it here.
John records Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” just before the betrayal… and calls Judas the “son of destruction.”
Now, I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means… but I think it means, and it has traditionally been read to mean, that Judas is lost.
That’s the word Jesus used.
John 17:12 (ESV)
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Lost.
Judas changed his mind. He regretted what he did deeply. But that isn’t all of it.
You might well regret some of the things you have done.
Good, some of those things were terrible mistakes. Evil choices.
But don’t let that regret drive you to despair. Let it drive you to Jesus.
Judas was a traitor… and so was I
Judas was a traitor… and so was I
It was always the plan for Jesus to go to the cross. That was his road, that was the plan the whole time.
Judas was chosen on purpose. Knowing his sin, knowing his theft, knowing his conflict.
In the end, what sent Jesus to the cross?
Yes, it was the kiss of a friend who betrayed him.
It was the pride of religious leaders who should have recognized him.
It was the desire for popularity of a governor who should have bowed to him.
It was the bloodthirst of a crowd who had shouted “Hosanna” days before.
It was the kiss of a friend who betrayed him.
It was my sin. and it was yours.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were yet sinners. Traitors. Hypocrites. Prostitutes and tax collectors. Idiot teenagers. Drugged out. Drunk. Just plain stupid.
While we were still making mistakes and covering those mistakes up.
While we were stuck in the stupid. While we were still making excuses, embezzling, lost in our anger and bitterness.
While you were still Judas, kissing Jesus on the cheek.
He called you friend. And died for you.
That is the road of the cross.
And that conviction we feel, where it all comes together, and we know we did wrong.
Don’t let it drive you to despair. Go to Jesus. Turn to Jesus. Run to Jesus.
He knew it all… and died for you anyway. Chose you, anyway.
Made the ultimate treaty, forgiveness and life and life more abundant.
Run to Jesus, our Savior. Amen.