Judas Iscariot: Traitor

INTRODUCTION

Today we are looking at the most hated man in all of history

He is the last disciple in Mark 3:19.

He stands out against the background of the others

He is isolated, lonely, and alone

His name?

Judas Iscariot

His name is mentioned last in all of the lists of the disciples along with a comment about his betrayal of Christ

His story is a dark one

It’s a blight on the page of human history

His name became a byword for betrayal

It has become so despised that it is not used in human society

The only place where his name is used is for a particular kind of livestock…a goat

But not just any kind of goat

This goat was called the “Judas goat”

It was called that because it was trained to lead other livestock to a specific location, like a slaughter house or loading dock

The “Judas goat” was a practice of betrayal and deceit

You can see where it got its name

Speaking of…

I. His Name

It was a common name

It was the Greek form of the name Judah

Some say his name comes from a root meaning “Jehovah leads”

Others say its root has reference to “one who is the object of praise”

But from what we learn from Scripture, there was never an individual who was more obviously led by Satan than Judas

If it means “one who is the object of praise,” there was never an individual more unworthy of praise that he was

His name Iscariot comes from the Hebrew term ish, which means, “man” and Kerioth, which is a name of a town

Judas was a man from the town of Kerioth

Judas is the only disciple that is identified geographically

This is important because he is the only non-Galilean, the only Judean Jew

Judean Jews or southern Jews from Judea considered themselves to be superior to the rural Jews from Galilee

Judas might have looked down on the other apostles with a pride that deepened over time

The town of Kerioth was 23 miles south of Jerusalem and 7 miles from Hebron

The town was part of a farming village

This town would one day give birth to a child who would become the most hated human being who ever lived

What does the Bible say about…

II. His Call

Nothing

The first time he is mentioned in the gospels, is in the list of all the disciples in Matthew 10.

We don’t know how he got into the group or the circumstances

But we do know the Lord called him

We also know that Jesus knew Judas would betray Him and that’s why He chose him

The OT predicted that one of Jesus’ own would betray Him

Psalm 41:9.

Psalm 55:12-14.

Psalm 55:20-21.

Zechariah 11:12-13.

The OT spoke of the Messiah being betrayed by His own familiar friend for 30 pieces of silver

The NT records the fulfillment of prophecy in Matthew 26:14-16.

When Jesus chose Judas, He knew he was the one to fulfill the prophecies of betrayal

He chose him because of the prophecies or the plan

Jesus said in John 17:12, “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”

Judas was lost because it was fulfilling Scripture

Jesus chose him because He knew Scripture and He knew that prophecy must be fulfilled

Even though prophecy spoke of Judas betraying Jesus, he was responsible

Listen to Luke 22:21–22, “But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table. 22 “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!””

It was all determined and Judas was responsible for the betrayal

As we dive deeper in what the Scripture says about Judas, let’s look at…

III. His Character

Outwardly

His character was flawless

No one detected his hypocrisy

He was with the disciples for three years

When Jesus announced in John 13 that one of them would betray Him, they didn’t expect Judas—they suspected themselves

They had no more reason to suspect Judas than they had reason to suspect themselves

John 13:22, “The disciples began looking at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.”

Judas must have been a fantastic hypocrite that they elected him treasurer of the group

That shows how much they trusted him

There is no recorded speech from him until he complained about the money Mary wasted on anointing Jesus’ feet (John 12:3-6)

This is the first time he opens his mouth in the entire biblical record

He must have guarded his mouth well in order not to give himself away

Inwardly

Judas had the same potential as any of the others

Christ could have transformed him—if his heart had been willing

He had the same raw material and was no more unqualified than the rest

While the other men were being molded, he was being hardened

He was probably a young, devout, zealous, patriotic Jew who didn’t want the Romans to rule, and he saw in Christ an opportunity to follow one he believed was the Messiah

He thought Jesus would set up His earthly kingdom, overthrow Rome, and reestablish the days of prosperity and glory to Israel

He was drawn to the wrong things

He was never really drawn by the person of Christ to believe in Him and to love Him

He only saw Jesus as a means to an end—gain for himself

All he saw was the road to personal prosperity

IV. His Chance

Jesus offered Judas every opportunity not to follow through with his plan

Judas heard the lessons that Jesus taught in the three years he was with Him

Many of those lessons directly applied to him

Like…

The lesson of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-13)

The lesson of the wedding garment (Mat.22:11-14)

The lesson about money (Mat.6:19-34)

The lesson about greed (Luke 12:13-15)

The lesson about pride (Mat.23:1-12)

Jesus even said in John 6:70, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”

He said this to warn him but he never listened and never applied the lessons

He just kept up with his deceit

Jesus knew exactly what Judas was and still loved him and tried to reach him

A perfect example of this is in John 13:21, “When Jesus had said these things, He became troubled in spirit, and bore witness and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.””

In John 13:25, John asked Jesus, “Lord, who is it?””

Jesus answers in John 13:26, “He is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”

The “piece of bread” that Jesus dipped and gave to Judas was called the “sop”

The “sop” was a piece of bread that was soaked in a jam-like paste made of fruit and nuts

It was common practice in the Orient for the host of a meal to give the honored guest the sop

When Jesus gave the sop to Judas He was honoring him, respecting him, loving him, and lifting him up

It was an act of love an affection

Jesus was always reaching out to Judas—but he never responded

That leads to…

V. His Betrayal

Judas developed a hatred toward Jesus (John 12:1-8)

His first interview with the chief priests is found in Matthew 26:14-16.

After Jesus negotiated the price to hand over Jesus, he joined Jesus and the disciples in the upper room in John 13.

In the first part of the chapter, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet (including Judas) (John 13:3-10)

Then Jesus begins to expose Judas’ intent at the end of verse 10 when He says, “you are clean, but not all of you.”

Verse 11 says, “For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

In verses 18-19, Jesus continues to expose Judas: “18 “I do not speak about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ 19 “From now on I am telling you before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.”

Even though Jesus was in the process of exposing Judas, verses 21-30 shows just how effective Judas was in his hypocrisy:

John 13:21-30.

Judas didn’t act in a moment of passion or insanity

His dark deed was quietly and deliberately planned

Matthew 26:16, “And from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”

Mark 14:11 adds, “And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.”

And then in Luke 22:6, “So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.”

Judas was afraid of the crowd

He saw all the people flock to Jesus during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and he was afraid of what they might do to him

So he planned to betray Jesus in private—in an out-of-the-way place

According to Matthew 26:15, Judas negotiated with the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver. He asked, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.”

This is exactly what Zechariah 11:12–13 said: “12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Yahweh.”

Thirty pieces of silver would be worth somewhere between ten and twenty dollars today

This price tells us three things: (1) greedy people will settle for any price (2) the chief priests had such disdain for Judas that they wouldn’t give him a larger sum; and (3) they hated Jesus so much that that’s all they thought He was worth

Judas negotiated with the chief priests that he would point Jesus out in a secret, quiet place, in the pitch of night

The sign he would give them was in Matthew 26:48, “Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.””

The next time we see Judas is in John 18:2-4.

Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him with a kiss so He removed the necessity of the kiss by walking out and saying, “Whom do you seek?”

But because Judas’ heart was so dark, he kissed Him anyway

Judas was filled with hate, worldly ambition, revenge, hatred of what was good

He was full of anger, pride, ingratitude, and greed

Judas sold Christ, he sold his fellow apostles, he sold his own soul, and he bought hell

Judas later felt bad about what he did

Matthew 27:3, “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders”

He didn’t ask God for forgiveness

Matthew 27:5, “And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.”

His death is described in Acts 1:18, “(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his unrighteousness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.”

Matthew 27:6–7 describes what the chief priests did with the thirty pieces of silver: “6 And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” 7 And taking counsel together, they bought with the money the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers.”

This was a fulfillment of Zechariah 11:12-13.

CONCLUSION

God can use anyone if he is willing, if he is repentant

He even used Judas

There are 3 lessons we can learn from Judas:

Judas was the world’s greatest example of lost opportunity

Twelve men had the privilege of walking for three years in the presence of the living God incarnate

Eleven of them took the opportunity to turn to Him, but Judas missed it

He stood in the fairest surroundings the world has ever known

And he was content to associate—nothing more

And because of that he’s damned forever

A second lesson we can learn from Judas is…

Judas is the world’s greatest example of wasted privilege

Judas wanted money, riches, and possessions

He could have possessed the universe forever but he sold it for ten or twenty dollars

Last…

Judas was the word’s greatest illustration of the love of money being the root of all evil

He loved money so much that he actually sold the living God

That’s how far greed can take you

Judas is a monument to the destructiveness and damnation of greed

He was the ultimate hypocrite of all time—an illustration of people who can hide in the presence of Christ and be filled with Satan

Acts 1:25, “Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

Right where he belonged

It is the same place all men go who reject Christ

Don’t make the same choice today

Don’t be a Judas

Take advantage of the opportunity right now to receive Christ

Let’s pray