Two Betrayals - Judas

We’re sitting just 3 weeks out from Good Friday and Easter. It’s one of the most spiritually significant times of the year for us as PLCers and as followers of Jesus—because:

It’s the time of year that we get a much-needed reminder about | maybe the most important part of our story with God:

Jesus’ death on the cross—and his resurrection.

(Pause.)

Life for most of us moves pretty fast. It just does. And it’s easy to kinda look at Good Friday and Easter as a holiday—just another thing that requires meal planning and gifts and family dynamics… another thing amidst everything else we’ve got going on.

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And so for these next couple of weeks, unapologetically, we want to compete for your attention and help you shift your focus in this short series by looking at two of Jesus’ closest friends—

Judas Iscariot, and Peter—

Both of whom probably heard this haunting question bang around in their heads after each had just made the biggest mistake of their lives.

Each of them, in the span of about 8 hours of one another, had just done worst thing they ever could have done:

They both betrayed Jesus. To his death.

At some point—probably more than once—each of us will do the same:

We’ll betray Jesus. We’ll betray our faith. We’ll do something or say something or make some kind of decision or go in some kind of direction that is exactly the opposite of what we say we believe or what Jesus tells us.

Judas did it. Peter did it. And we’ll do it. All of us will find ourselves in a spot we’d never thought we’d be in. All of us will play the role of betrayer.

(Happy Easter.)

But when we do,

The question for us will be:

How will we respond?

Will we respond like Peter, or like Judas?

Because even though they both were guilty of the same treachery, their stories after looked very different.

What made Peter run back to Jesus while Judas ran away?

Because the difference between those two responses might determine the direction of your whole story.

Judas’ Story

The other gospel writers give us the bookends of Judas’ story—how it started, and how it ended.

But John…

John shows us what happened in between.

Turn with me to John 6.

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John 6:64

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We’ll be in verse 64 to begin. But this is the first of (3) places in John’s gospel that we get a picture of who Judas is… the chapters that made up his story, so to speak. (Explain how to find John.)

Take a look with me. This is Jesus talking:

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John 6:64 “Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.”

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Ok. This is one that we’re gonna do a much deeper dive into—because this verse (and this section of John’s gospel, really) is like the Rosetta Stone for understanding Judas’ story.

But what we can know from just this verse is that Judas’ eventual betrayal didn’t begin with that identifying kiss on Jesus’ cheek under the dim torch light in the garden.

His betrayal began with his unbelief. Remember that.

Let’s go to the next place where John references Judas just a few verses down—verse 70:

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John 6:70–71 “Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”

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Jesus calls Judas “a” devil. Not the devil, but a devil—meaning Judas had become an instrument of evil; a tool in the hands of the devil.

One more place. Fast forward with me a few more chapters in John’s gospel and Judas story to kind of round him out. Go to chapter 12, now, verses 4-6. Kinda mid story:

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John 12:4–6 “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.”

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So the story here is this:

Judas watched as a sinful woman, overwhelmed by Jesus’ love for her, take some very expensive perfume—likely the same perfume that she probably used to lure clients into bed with her—and instead bend down and anoint Jesus’ feet. A beautiful act of repentance and belief in Jesus’ love for her.

But as he looked on, all Judas sees is less money coming in—which means less for him to skim off the top.

Eventually this leads Judas to a handshake agreement with religious leaders who want Jesus gone: they’ll give him 30 pieces of sliver, and he’ll betray him with a kiss. All four gospel writers document it.

Two of the gospels—Matthew and Luke—go on to tell us that Judas was so overcome with remorse that he took his own life. He watched as Jesus was tried, beaten, flogged, then crucified.

But John doesn’t mention that at all—which I think is interesting.

The guy who knew Judas the best tells us nothing of how his story ended.

And this omission grows even more significant when you consider this:

John is the only gospel writer who tells us of Peter’s restoration.

By omitting Judas’ tragic end but sharing Peter’s full restoration, here’s what I think John is telling us:

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With Jesus, your betrayal doesn’t determine your future.

Your belief does.

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(Repeat.)

And this is the crux of the difference between how Judas responded to his betrayal—vs. how Peter did.

This is why Peter’s future (and even eternity!) went on to look very different than Judas’.

This is why, despite the similarity of their worst mistake on the worst day of their respective lives, their stories went in such different directions:

It has everything to do with what they believed.

What Do You Mean By “Believe?”

So here’s what I’d like to do:

I’d like to go back up to right before John tells us about Judas for the first time in his gospel. Because right before John talks to us about Judas’ unbelief,

Jesus talks about what belief in him actually looks like—something Peter understood, but Judas never did.

So head back with me to John 6.

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John 6:27

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As you go back there, here’s what’s happened;here’s what we’re helicoptering down into:

Jesus fed a huge crowd with just five barley loaves and two small fish. (Love that detail.)

And then he’s sent his twelve disciples in boats across the lake and tells him he’ll meet them on the other side later.

And then he does so by walking on water through a storm.

And then the same crowd that he just fed all hopped in boats to see if they could find where Jesus landed so they might get hooked up with another free lunch.

Verse 27:

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John 6:27-28 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

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If the language here seems a little confusing, it’s because the translators are trying to capture in English what was a very Hebrew, Jewish idea. And without getting into the weeds of all of that, essentially here’s what they are asking:

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What does God expect from us if we want to be ok with him?

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(Repeat.)

Get this:

How you answer that question ultimately determines which path you follow in life—

Whether you follow in the footsteps of Peter…

Or Judas—

What does God expect from us if we want to be ok with him?

I don’t know how you’re answering that question for yourself—but I’d humbly suggest you listen to how Jesus answered this question. He probably has the inside scoop:

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John 6:29 “Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

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(Pause.)

If we summarized the question Jesus was asked like this:

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What does God expect from us if we want to be ok with him?

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Then we could summarize Jesus’ answer like this:

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What does God expect from us if we want to be ok with him?

If we want to be ok with God, we have to believe in Jesus.

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Now:

I’m guessing that for most of us in whatever room you’re in—

For most of us, this is already a foregone conclusion.

You already knew this. You already agree with this.

You know that your betrayal doesn’t determine your future. Belief does.

You know that if you want to be ok with God, you have to believe in Jeusus.

You know that already.

Now for others of you, this might be new—

But for most of us, this is 101-level stuff: Jesus’ answer to this question has been our answer to this question for years and years—maybe most of our lives at this point.

But whether it’s a brand new idea to you, or it’s something you’ve known for most of your life,

I want to make sure that what you mean by “believe,”

And what Jesus means by “believe”—

I want to help you be confident that they are the same thing.

Because:

Anybody can say it. And a lot of people do.

But why is it that for every 10 people who say that they believe in Jesus you get 10 very different lives? Why is it that not everyone who says they believe in Jesus seems to look like Jesus, talk like Jesus, live like Jesus?

My guess is this:

It has something to do with what they mean by “believe”—and how it doesn’t match up with what Jesus means when he says it.

“Believe:” Come to Me

There’s one phrase that Jesus uses over and over again in these few chapters and conversations that defines what he means by belief.

One phrase that captures the difference between what Peter believed and what Judas didn’t,

That determined why Peter responded one way while Judas responded to the other,

That explains why even today there’s so many people who say they believe but don’t all look like they do.

One phrase.

See if you can point it out:

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John 5:37–40 “And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

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John 6:35–36 “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”

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John 6:37 “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

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John 6:44–45 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.”

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John 7:37–38 “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

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Time and time again, Jesus links these two phrases:

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Jesus says:

If you believe in me, you’ll come to me.

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If you believe in me, you’ll come to me.

Even on your worst day—

If you believe in me, you’ll come to me.

Even on your worst day.

Earlier in his ministry, Jesus’ opponents start spreading the rumor that he’s able to do all of these miracles not by God’s power, but by the devil’s.

In response, Jesus says:

Good people do good things; bad people, bad.

And then he says this:

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Matthew 12:36–37 “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

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All of Scripture confirms this, by the way—both Old and New Testaments.

There will come a day for all us where we will give an account to God—for what we did; what we said.

Hebrews says it this way:

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Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

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What’s your defense? When the day comes that the worst thing you’ve ever done gets brought into the light…

On the day that everything that we’ve hidden away underneath a pile of self-justification or self-deception or regret or shame gets pulled out and laid bare…

When the image that you’ve propped up gets broken down or the walls that you’ve put up get torn down and a lifetime’s worth of incriminating evidence gets put before the Judge of the living and the dead,

Where will you run? To whom will you turn?

Jesus says:

If you believe in me,

You’ll come to me.

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John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

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Our only defense is Jesus.

On the last day, when we’re confronted with all of our worst days,

Our only defense is Jesus.

Because we’re guilty—but Jesus took our guilt upon himself on the cross.

Because we’re in debt—but Jesus paid it all.

Not begrudgingly, but willingly—

Not with disappointment in his heart, but love.

And when we believe that, we’ll come to Jesus—

Because there’s no use in hiding,

Or excusing,

Or wallowing in shame,

When the Savior of the World is offering us the bread of life.

Betrayal doesn’t have to be the end of our story.

Your worst day doesn’t have to determine your final day.

Because our Judge became our Redeemer—

If we come to him and believe.

Because the Doctor Says So

Since August 10th, 2023—the day I got discharged from Mayo Clinic after a successful open heart surgery—

From that day until my dying day,

Every day,

I’ll take an Aspirin and Losartin in the morning,

And I’ll take Metroprolol and Warfarin in the evening.

Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about,

And others of you felt like I was speaking Greek.

You wanna know why I take those pills every day?

It’s not because I understand exactly what they do. I don’t understand all of the chemical compounds and how they function relative to what a body with a mechanical heart valve requires.

You wanna know why I take my pills?

Because my doctor said I should—and that if I do, I’ll be healthy.

And I believe him.

You don’t have to know everything before you believe.

You can just believe that Jesus knows.

He knows what you’ve done.

He knows what you need.

He’s got what you need.

And believing is more than just agreeing with him.

It’s trusting him enough to go to him.

If you believe, come.

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