Twelve Ordinary Men, Week 21
Notes
Transcript
His Greed
His Greed
Shortly after the raising of Lazarus, and just before Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany, on the outskirts of the city. This was the place where Lazarus had been raised and where he lived with his sisters, Mary and Martha. Jesus was invited to a meal at the home of one “Simon the Leper” (Matthew 26:6). His dear friend Lazarus was present with Mary and Martha, who were helping serve the meal. John 12:2–3 records what happened: “There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”
This act was shocking in its extravagance. Not only was it an overt act of worship, but it also had the appearance of wastefulness. Obviously perfume—especially such an expensive fragrance—is designed to be used in small amounts. Once poured out, it cannot be reused. To pour out a pound of expensive oil and use it to anoint someone’s feet gave the appearance of gross excess.
“Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ ” (vv. 4–5). Three hundred denarii was a lot of money for perfume by any measure. Remember, a denarius was basically a working man’s daily wage (Matthew 20:2).
2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Three hundred denarii is a full year’s wages (allowing for Sabbaths and holidays off). This was an amazingly lavish act on the part of a family who must have had some means.
Judas’s response was a clever ploy. He feigned concern for the poor. Apparently, his protest seemed reasonable to the other apostles, too, because Matthew 26:8 says they all echoed Judas’s indignation. What an expert Judas had become in his hypocrisy! The apostle John, reflecting on this incident years later, wrote, “This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it” (John 12:6). Of course, neither John nor any of the other apostles saw through Judas’s deceit at the time, but in retrospect, and writing his book under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, John told us plainly what Judas’s motive was: sheer greed.
Jesus responded to Judas in verse 7: “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” Given the circumstances, and since Jesus knew perfectly well what was in Judas’s heart, this seems a rather mild rebuke. He could have blasted Judas with a fierce condemnation and exposed his real motives, but He did not.
Nonetheless, the gentle reprimand seems to have made Judas resent Jesus even more. He did not repent. He did not even examine his own heart. In fact, this incident seems to have been the turning point in his thinking. Three hundred denarii would have been a lot to add to the treasury, offering a prime opportunity for Judas to skim money for his own pocket. Because of Jesus’ willingness to receive such lavish worship, Judas missed a prime opportunity to embezzle funds.
It appears to have been the last straw as far as Judas was concerned, because immediately after telling the story of Jesus’ anointing, Matthew says, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him” (Matthew 26:14–16). He crept away, left Bethany, walked about a mile and a half to Jerusalem, met with the chief priests, and sold Jesus to His enemies for a pocketful of coins. Thirty pieces of silver. That is all he could get. According to Exodus 21:32, it was the price of a slave. It was not much money. But it was all he could negotiate.
32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
The contrast is staggering: Our Lord is anointed with overwhelming love by Mary and betrayed with overwhelming hate by Judas at the same time.
Notice that this is the first time Judas had ever exposed himself in any way. Up to that point, He had blended in perfectly with the rest of the group. This is the first time on record that he spoke out as an individual, and it is the first time he merited any kind of direct rebuke from Christ. Apparently, that is all that was needed to provoke his betrayal. He had kept his bitterness and disillusionment bottled up as long as he could. Now it spilled forth in secret treachery.
HIS HYPOCRISY
HIS HYPOCRISY
John 13:1 begins the apostle John’s lengthy account of what happened in the Upper Room on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Having already taken money to betray Christ, Judas came back, blended into the group, and pretended nothing unusual had happened. John says it was the devil who put it in the heart of Judas to betray Jesus (v. 2). That is no surprise. Again, Judas did what he did willingly, without any coercion. Satan could not force him to betray Jesus. But Satan through some means suggested the plot, tempted Judas to do this thing, and planted the very seed of treachery in his heart. Judas’s heart was so hostile to the truth and so filled with evil that Judas became a willing instrument of Satan himself.
It was at this very point that Jesus gave the apostles a lesson in humility by washing their feet. He washed the feet of all twelve, which means He even washed the feet of Judas. Judas sat there and let Jesus wash his feet and remained utterly unmoved. The world’s worst sinner was also the world’s best hypocrite.
Peter, on the other hand, was deeply moved by Jesus’ act of humility. At first he was ashamed and refused to let Jesus wash his feet. But when Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me,” (v. 8), Peter replied, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” (v. 9).
Jesus replied, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (v. 10, emphasis added). A buzz must have gone around the room when He said that. There were only twelve of them, and Jesus was saying that someone in the group was not clean. Matthew adds, “For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, ‘You are not all clean’ ” (v. 11).
In verses 18–19, Jesus spoke even more directly: “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.” Of course, He was saying Judas’s act was the fulfillment of Psalm 41:9.
All of that seems to have gone over the heads of most of the apostles. So in verse 21, Jesus makes an even more explicit prediction about the impending act of betrayal: “When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ ” All the disciples except Judas were perplexed and deeply troubled by this. They apparently began to examine their own hearts, because Matthew 26:22 says, “They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’ ” Even Judas, ever careful to keep up the appearance of being like everyone else, asked, “Rabbi, is it I?” (v. 25). But in his case there had been no sincere self-examination. He asked the question only because he was worried about how the others perceived him; he already knew that he was the one of whom Jesus spoke.
The apostle John concludes his account of this incident: Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke. Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. (John 13:23–30)
23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side,
24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.
25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.
29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
The day of salvation closed for Judas. Divine mercy gave way to divine judgement. Judas was in essence handed over to Satan. Sin had triumphed in his heart. Satan moved in.
Notice, however, that even though Jesus had just spoken of the betrayer and had given Judas the morsel to identify him, it still did not compute in the minds of the apostles. No one seemed to anticipate that Judas would be the traitor. So expert was he in his hypocrisy that he fooled everyone but Jesus, right up to the very end.
Jesus sent him away. That is easy to understand. Jesus is pure, sinless, spotless, and holy. Here was this wretched, evil presence into whom Satan had literally entered. Jesus was not about to have the first communion service with the devil and Judas present in the room. Get out.
Only after Judas had left did our Lord institute the Lord’s Supper. To this day, when we come to the Lord’s Table, we are instructed to examine ourselves lest we come hypocritically to the table and bring judgment upon ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:27–32).
The apostle John says that throughout this entire episode, until Judas left the company of apostles, Jesus was deeply “troubled in spirit” (John 13:21). Of course He was troubled! This wicked, wretched, Satan-possessed presence was polluting the fellowship of the apostles. Judas’s ingratitude, His rejection of Jesus’ kindness, the hate Judas secretly harbored for Jesus, the repulsiveness of the presence of Satan, the heinousness of sin, the horrors of knowing that the gaping jaws of hell were awaiting one of His closest companions—all of that troubled and agitated Jesus. No wonder he sent Judas away.
HIS BETRAYAL
HIS BETRAYAL
Judas apparently went straight from the Upper Room to the Sanhedrin. He reported to them that the final breach had been made, and he now knew where they could apprehend Jesus under cover of darkness. Judas had been secretly seeking a convenient opportunity to betray Jesus ever since making his bargain with the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:11). Now the time had come.
Remember, Judas did not act in a moment of insanity. This was not a sudden impulse. It was not an act borne only out of passion. This dark deed was deliberately planned and premeditated. He had been planning this for days, if not weeks or even months. He had already taken the money for it (Matthew 26:15). He had just been waiting for an opportune hour. Along the way, he had continued his campaign of embezzlement, kept up the hypocritical facade, and carried on with the rest of the apostles as if he were truly one of them. But now Jesus had spoken openly to the other disciples about Judas’s plot to betray Him. Judas had nearly been unmasked in front of the others. It was time for him to act.
What had he been waiting for anyway? According to Luke 22:6, Judas had been seeking an opportunity “to betray [Jesus] to them in the absence of the multitude” (emphasis added).
6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
He was a coward. He knew the popularity of Jesus. He was afraid of the crowd. Like every hypocrite, he was obsessed with concerns about what people thought of him, so he was hoping to betray Jesus as quietly as possible. He was looking for the doorway to hell that was most convenient. And when he found it, he plunged right in.
So at the very moment when Jesus was instituting the Lord’s Supper in the Upper Room, Judas was making arrangements for His capture. He knew Jesus regularly went to Gethsemane to pray with His disciples. Luke 22:39 says it was Jesus’ custom to go there. John 18:2 says Judas “knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.” So Judas knew exactly where to bring the authorities to capture Jesus.
The next time we see Judas is in John 18, when his conspiracy of betrayal reaches its culmination. The evening was at its end. Jesus had gone from the Upper Room to His customary place of prayer in the little olive grove known as Gethsemane. There He poured out his heart to the Father in such agony that His sweat became as great drops of blood. He had left eight of the disciples some distance away and gone deep into the garden with Peter, James, and John (Mark 14:32–33).
“Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons” (John 18:3).
3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
The “detachment of troops” was most likely a Roman cohort from the Antonio Fortress, adjacent to the temple. A full cohort numbered about six hundred men. No exact figure is given, but all the Gospel writers say it was a great multitude (Matthew 26:47; Mark 14:43; Luke 22:47)—probably hundreds of soldiers. They obviously expected the worst. They came armed to the teeth.
“Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, ‘Whom are you seeking?’ ” (John 18:4). He did not wait for Judas to single him out; He did not try to hide; He “went forward,” presenting Himself to them, and said, “I am He” (v. 5).
4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
Judas had a prearranged signal to identify Jesus: “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him” (Matthew 26:48). What a diabolical way to point out Jesus! But his wretchedness was so profound and his hypocrisy so malicious that he seemingly had no conscience. Furthermore, since Jesus stepped forward and identified Himself, the signal would have been unnecessary, but Judas—cynic and scoundrel that he had become—kissed Him anyway (Mark 14:45).
45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’ ” (Luke 22:48). Kissing is a mark of homage, love, affection, tenderness, respect, and intimacy. Judas’s feigned feelings for Christ only made his deed that much darker. It was a devious hypocrisy, trying to keep up the veneer of respect even to the bitter end.
Jesus, ever gracious, even addressed him as “Friend” (Matthew 26:50). Jesus had never been anything but friendly to Judas, but Judas was no true friend of Jesus (cf. John 15:14). He was a betrayer and a deceiver. His kisses were the kisses of the worst kind of treachery.
Judas profaned the Passover that night. He profaned the Lamb of God. He profaned the Son of God. He profaned the place of prayer. He betrayed his Lord with a kiss.
HIS DEATH
HIS DEATH
Judas sold Jesus for a pittance. But as soon as the deal was complete, Judas’s conscience immediately came alive. He found himself in a hell of his own making, hammered by his own mind for what he had done. The money, which had been so important to him before, now did not matter. Matthew 27:3–4 says, “Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ ”
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.”
His remorse was not the same as repentance, as subsequent events clearly show. He was sorry, not because he had sinned against Christ, but because his sin did not satisfy him the way he had hoped.
The chief priests and elders were unsympathetic. “They said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’ ” (v. 4). They had what they wanted. Judas could do what he liked with the money. Nothing would undo his treachery now.
Matthew says, “Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (v. 5). Judas was already in a hell of his own making. His conscience would not be silenced, and that is the very essence of hell. Sin brings guilt, and Judas’s sin brought him unbearable misery. Again, his remorse was not genuine repentance. If that were the case, he would not have killed himself. He was merely sorry because he did not like what he felt.
Sadly, he did not seek the forgiveness of God. He did not cry out for mercy. He did not seek deliverance from Satan. Instead, he tried to silence his conscience by killing himself. This was the grief of a madman who had lost control.
Matthew concludes his account of Judas: “But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.’ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day” (Matthew 27:6–8).
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.
8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Acts 1:18–19
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
adds a final note to the tragedy of Judas, with more detail about his death and the acquisition of the Field of Blood: “This man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.”
Some have imagined a contradiction between Matthew and Acts, but all apparent discrepancies are easily reconciled. Matthew indicates that the priests purchased the field with Judas’s blood money. Thus it is true that Judas acquired the field “with the wages of iniquity.” It was purchased for him by the chief priests, but the purchase was made with his money. The field became his possession. His heirs—if he had any—would inherit the field. So it is correct to say that “purchased a field with the wages of iniquity,” even though the field was purchased for him, by proxy.
Why this particular field? Because it was the very place where Judas hanged himself. Apparently he chose a tree on an overhang above some jagged rocks. (There is a place that precisely fits that description in the field in Jerusalem where tradition says Judas hanged himself.) Either the rope or the tree branch broke, and Judas fell headlong onto the rocks. The biblical description is graphic and ugly: “He burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out” (Acts 1:18). Judas was such a tragic figure that he couldn’t even kill himself the way he wanted to. Nonetheless, he died.
This is virtually the last word in Scripture about Judas: “His entrails gushed out.” His life and his death were grotesque tragedies. He was a child of hell and a son of perdition, and he went to his own place where he belonged. Jesus said these chilling words: “It would have been good for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21).
THE MORAL OF HIS LIFE
THE MORAL OF HIS LIFE
We can draw some important lessons from the life of Judas. First, Judas is a tragic example of lost opportunity. He heard Jesus teach day in and day out for some two years. He could have asked Jesus any question he liked. He could have sought and received from the Lord any help he needed. He could have exchanged the oppressive burden of his sin for an easy yoke. Christ had given an open invitation for anyone to do so (Matthew 11:28–30). Yet in the end Judas was damned because of his own failure to heed what he heard.
Second, Judas is the epitome of wasted privilege. He was given the highest place of privilege among all the Lord’s followers, but he squandered that privilege—cashed it in for a fistful of coins he decided he did not really want after all. What a stupid bargain!
Third, Judas is the classic illustration of how the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).
Fourth, Judas exemplifies the ugliness and danger of spiritual betrayal. Would that Judas were the only hypocrite who ever betrayed the Lord, but that is not so. There are Judases in every age—people who seem to be true disciples and close followers of Christ but who turn against Him for sinister and selfish reasons. Judas’s life is a reminder to each of us about our need for self-examination (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:5).
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Fifth, Judas is proof of the patient, forebearing goodness and loving-kindness of Christ. “The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9). He even shows His loving-kindness to a reprobate like Judas. Remember, Jesus was still calling him “Friend,” even in the midst of Judas’s betrayal. Jesus never showed Judas anything but kindness and charity, even though the Lord knew all along what Judas was planning to do. In no sense was Judas driven to do what he did by Christ.
Sixth, Judas demonstrates how the sovereign will of God cannot be thwarted by any means. His betrayal of Christ seemed at first glance like Satan’s greatest triumph ever. But in reality, it signalled utter defeat for the devil and all his works (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).
Seventh, Judas is a vivid demonstration of the deceitfulness and fruitlessness of hypocrisy. He is the branch spoken of in John 15:6 that does not abide in the True Vine. That branch bears no fruit, is cut off, and is thrown into the fire to be destroyed. Judas was so expert at his hypocrisy that none of the other eleven ever suspected him. But he could never fool Jesus. Nor can any hypocrite. And Christ is the righteous Judge who will render to every person his due (John 5:26–27). Hypocrites like Judas will have no one but themselves to blame for the destruction of their souls.
When Judas bartered away the life of Christ, he was in effect selling his own soul to the devil. The tragedy of his life was a tragedy of his own making. He ignored the light he had been exposed to for all those years, and thus he relegated himself to eternal darkness.
After Jesus’ resurrection, Judas’s office was filled by Matthias (Acts 1:16–26). The apostle Peter said, “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office’ ” (v. 20). Matthias was selected because he had been with Jesus and the other apostles “from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us” (v. 22).
Nothing is known of Matthias other than that. His name appears only twice in Scripture, both times in Acts 1, the account of how he was chosen. Thus in the end, another perfectly ordinary man was chosen to fill the place of that extraordinary villain. And so along with the other eleven, Matthias became a powerful witness of Jesus’ resurrection (v. 22)—one more ordinary man whom the Lord elevated to an extraordinary calling.
John F. MacArthur Jr., Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness, and What He Wants to Do with You (Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2002), 188–198.