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Intro

This week we are jumping into the second week of our Easter series. Last week we talked about the emptiness that the Pharisees felt, and how they tried to fill it with being good, and how even though they were trying to fill all the commands that they could never be good enough to make it into heaven, and in fact they were so focused on their commands that they even missed Jesus being right in front of them.

We are going to continue to talk about emptiness this week, and how its not just the empty feeling of craving something you cant have but its also an empty feeling that can come with loneliness. That feeling that was described by Tom Brady when he said “There has to be more than this.” This emptiness entered the world in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rebelled against God and ate of the one tree they werent allowed to eat from, and now because we have all sinned and we are no longer in perfect relationship with God we can sometimes be left with an empty feeling.

Its kind of like this pitcher.

Pour water into pitcher and let it run out

It looks nice, it looks like it would work as it is created, however when we put something into this pitcher we realize that it can no longer function properly because its been damaged. It cannot fulfill its true purpose to carry liquid. As much as I can put into the pitcher it doesnt matter because eventually it will all run out.

We can be the same way, we can feel empty, which isnt necessarily a bad thing but it can be depending on what we try to fill our emptiness with. If we turn to the wrong things it may temporarily give us satisfaction but in the end will always leave us wanting more. As I mentioned earlier last week the Pharisees used the law and good deeds to find their fulfillment.

Judas

Today we are going to talk about Judas, however instead of looking to the law or good deeds, Judas is going to be looking to money to fulfill himself.

Now even if you havent been in church much you may know a little bit about Judas. Judas has been so well known for what he did people dont even really name their kids Judas anymore.

Who can guess how many people live in the US with the first name of Judas? 190 approximately

So out of 341 million people only about 190 of them are named Judas. In comparison there are more people named Adolf in the US then there are people named Judas with about 2767 people with the name Adolf. So it seems that in the US more people are ok with sharing the name with Hitler than using the name Judas. So what made Judas such a terrible name to have? Well Judas was the guy that sold out Jesus and told those looking for him right where they could find him.

But as we look at him, he couldnt have always been such a terrible person right? I mean he was one of the twelve disciples, and not just one of the disciples but he was the one that was in charge of all of the money for them. Which means that he must have been trusted by the other 12. So what happened to go from one of the more trusted disciples to selling out Jesus? Lets take a look at what the Bible says about him.

John 12:1–3 NIV

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

So here we see Jesus hanging out with friends, and Mary takes out an expensive bottle of perfume and pour it oh Jesus feet and wash His feet with her hair. Now for some of you ladies you may be thinking thats disgusting, im not putting my hair near somebody’s nasty feet. And I wouldnt blame you one bit, but for Mary she did this as an act of worship to Jesus. She understood who Jesus was as the Messiah that was sent to take away our sin, and she wanted to Serve Jesus.

Mary understood that there is nothing in this world that is more valuable than a relationship with Christ. And she was willing to give everything she had, even her own hair to wash the feet of Jesus. This must have been a moment that many people would have watched in awe, or maybe a little disgust, but still realizing that she was willing to give up everything for Jesus. So lets take a look at Judas’ response.

John 12:4–6 NIV

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He 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.

So we see here that he was in fact the money keeper so he handled all of the money for Jesus and the disciples. Also however we see here that Judas would help himself to the money that was collected for Jesus and His ministry. So we can see that he was a thief. Although we never really find out what the motivations Judas had for stealing it appears that he just wanted to be greedy and have more money for himself.

Judas’ Greed

So we dont really know why he first started following Jesus, maybe he started following Jesus for all the right reasons but somewhere things went wrong and he fell into the temptation of greed, but what we do know is that somewhere Judas felt empty and tried to fill that whole with money and things.

This must have made things difficult for Judas to continue to follow Jesus because Jesus spoke frequently about money and greed, and there must have been times where Judas must have thought, is he talking about me?

Jesus even taught a parable about a man who had such a great harvest he built bigger barns because he thought money would fill the emptiness however before he could use those big barns he died. Lets take a look at what Jesus said at the end of that parable.

Luke 12:20–21 NIV

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

We can see that instead Judas was looking to lay up treasure for himself. In the same way we can frequently try to store things up for ourselves instead of giving cheerfully to God. So many times we think if I only made a little more money my life would be easier, or if I only had those clothes, or only had that computer, or video game console, maybe a better phone, but the thing is all of these things are temporary and none of them can fill the emptiness that is in our hearts.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

Eventually Judas loved money so much that he was willing to betray Jesus. He went to the religious leaders and made a deal.

Matthew 26:15–16 NIV

and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

After that Judas gathered a group of soldiers and took them to where Jesus would be for only thirty pieces of silver. All of that to satisfy his emptiness where ironically the one person that could fulfill him he was betraying.

Matthew 27:3–5 NIV

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

We see here that Judas realized that what he had done, and tried to return the money and yet the religious leaders refused to accept it and he went and hung himself because of his own shame that he felt.

So where do we go to find fulfillment. Do we look for it in doing “good things” like we talked about last week, or maybe we look to always having the best stuff, or money. The truth is that none of that will actually fulfill us or bring us true satisfaction.

Pitcher part 2

It doesnt matter what liquid I would try to fill this pitcher with, it will always drain out of the bottom. I may be able to fill it momentarily but it will eventually be empty. The same thing is true with our lives. We can try to fill them with things, and it may satisfy temporarily, but eventually you will be left empty. It will take Jesus to come into your life and create a new creation in your life to find true satisfaction and fulfillment.