The Plot: Looking for a Betrayer

Introduction

Series Introduction

Looking to Easter: Luke's Reflections on the Resurrection

We will take a break from the book of Acts and move over to begin a short series leading up to the celebration of Easter.

In keeping with the book of Acts, we will be following the documentation of Luke’s writing of the Gospel as he is the author of the book of Acts.

We are going to explore various themes and the story board will take us through the last days of Jesus’s ministry before the Easter Story.

The other day, I was asked are we doing anything specifically for Lent. In years past, during this time we have done a collaborative piece as believers as we look forward to Easter.

This year we are just spending sometime looking at the story line on Sundays.

If you have taken on a personal commitment to prepare yourself for Easter, I would love to hear about your journey.

I am excited to share that in the preparation for Easter, we are planning on having a baptism in the coming weeks and if you have been thinking of taking he steps of obedience in believer’s baptism, please talk with either Pastor Josh or myself and we would love to accommodate your following in the steps of obedience.

This morning we are going to begin our series by looking at a key part of the story.

The plot begins

Looking for a Betrayer

How many of you enjoy the writings of Agatha Christie. She was a famous writer often known for her detective stories. Recently we watched a movie based upon one of her stories.

A good story, especially a murder mystery has a good plot and a key character that does something, well, Bad.

In today’s text, we are introduced to this character,

This is not a mystery novel but the very Word of God.

Turn with me as we look into Luke chapter 22 and I will begin with verse 1

Luke 22:1–6 ESV

1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. 3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

Let’s Pray

Understand the Enemy

In the mystery we watched the other week, they began to tell the stories of the various characters. We knew there was going to be a murderer, but we were unsure who it would be.

But in this story, like any story, you need to understand the enemy.

As you read through this passage, we recognize that the enemy is anyone who is against the work of Christ’s mission.

We look at various people, but we must remember that the enemy who is out to thwart the work of Christ is Satan.

But to clearly understand the enemy we need to understand the following.

He works through people

He works through people to accomplish his goals.

If there is a greater caution, it is this,

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

If we are not careful,

The devil’s plans

the Devil’s desire is to destroy the work of Christ here on this earth.

Although Christ’s work on the cross has given us victory, there is still that awareness that we can, if not careful, be used to aid his Cause.

Be Sober Minded.

It takes a willingness to look inward as to how we are living.

It takes a willingness to own up to our own failures and to give them over to Christ to work through us.

Be Watchful.

I can always tell when I work with someone who has had experience with the evils of the world.

They could be a police officer, prison officer, former solder or a past criminal themselves.

When you spend time with them they are always watchful for the enemy and can spy them out quicker than most people.

In this current age of technology, we are to be very diligent to scams that are so easily affect our lives.

We are bombarded sometime weekly with either a phone call, an email, a letter, a text, all promising that we have either won some money or a prize, need to check our bank account, please enter your password, send money, buy this product, or my favourite, a warrant for my arrest.

Be Watchful, be careful

Well the Christian Life is also filled with the same warning,

Be watchful,

Be Sober minded.

Before we are too hard on the characters in this passage and their choice to go against Jesus, we need to be reminded that we too need to be sober minded about our lives and be watchful.

The devil is not picky on who fails, he is looking for those who are not watching.

Let’s take a moment at these folks in the text and their actions.

The Chief Priest

The first are the leaders in the established faith

Take note, at this point in the passage we are a long way into the earthly ministry of Christ.

There has been various interactions with the leaders of the established faith.

I find it interesting to note

that the leaders of the established faith,

one set out by God to prepare the people for the coming messiah.

To know the way to God do the very opposite.

The Chief priest were the spiritual leaders of the day. They were established by God to lead the people to God.

Ironically, here sits a person empowered with spiritual responsibility and social power and when they came face to face with God in the flesh their desires to hold onto their importance and power turned them away from God.

They knew that the Messiah was to come. They knew the signs of the Messiah and when they saw and witnessed these signs, they did everything within their power to remove Jesus.

The chief priest wanted Jesus out of the way of their success and power.

The Problem for them was this

Luke 19:47–48 ESV

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

One person put it this way

Waiting for him to slip up isn’t working. He isn’t saying anything that they can drag him away for.

He was becoming popular with the people.

His message, that Jesus brought was resonating with the people’s spirit.

If we jump to the book of Mark, we see their plan

Mark 14:1 ESV

1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him,

The very people they were serving and ministering to in the temple were not with them on their Thoughts about Jesus,

The Chief Priests in some way needed their support, but were currently were against them.

They needed to find another way to stop Jesus.

A way of secret.

Doing this out in the open would cause a great uproar at this time in Jesus’ ministry.

John Wesley penned this poem dealing with FEAR

FEAR for a moment may withhold,

And curb the man to evil sold;

But if a stronger passion rise,

He every consequence defies,

And nature all restraint disdains,

And sin and Satan take the reins.

- Taken from John and Charles Wesley poems

Fear of what could happen

Their cause was about to be aided by what seemed to be an allie

Judas

The perfect opportunity arises.

Along comes Judas

This individual has a key point in Christ’s Story.

It was a friend that betrayed him, but it was brought about by Satan.

I would imagine one of the greatest sorrows that Jesus had to endure was that of Judas,

The movie the passion of the Christ has one scene when Jesus sees Judas after the betrayal and stares at him.

The movie captures what I believe to be the heart of God.

He had great compassion for him but at the same time great remorse.

Christ came in obedience to the father and subjected himself to the road of death, but it was triggered at the hands and work of Judas.

The indwelling Spirit of God has not yet come to the people, as we have learned in Acts, so Satan had the ability to enter into the life of Judas.

He had a hold on him, and now Judas is looking for an opportunity away from the crowd to hand his friend, his master over to the people.

His Desire is to Rule

Our enemy had a desire to rule.

He desires to rule our hearts, to turn our lives away from the living God.

In this storyline, His confrontation with Christ himself in the desert didn’t work, so Satan used other means to accomplish what he thought would bring him power and authority.

The opportunity to have Jesus Killed.

He has won some battles

When we face an enemy, we must remember that in a battle not every battle is won, but some are , but the war is not over.

Satan in this point in the passages had seemed to won a victory.

He was able to enter into the life of a close disciple of Jesus.

The reality is that Jesus knew this as well.

Matthew 26:24–25 ESV

24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Mark 14:18–21 ESV

18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

John in his gospel tells how he knew as well.

John 13:25–26 (ESV)

25 So that disciple (JOHN), 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.

Satan thought the greatest battle that I can ever win is to have Jesus experience great sorrow. The betrayal of a friend.

That would turn him away from his plan

He Will be Defeated in the End

The things we need to know about Satan our enemy is that He works through people, His desire is to rule, and yet the greatest is that He will be defeated in the End. God will win the war.

Christ’s Death and Resurrection by God has defeated the curse of sin. We are redeemed by the Blood of Christ and accepting this free gift we are forgiven.

There is coming a time when we will be fully restored.

The story of God in the lives of his people goes as this,

Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration.

We look forward to the day of Christ Return to usher in God’s eternity.

As our tenth statement of faith reads,

God's gospel requires a response that has eternal consequences.        10.  We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

We are in a Spiritual Battle

What can we take away from this passage.

It’s Short, seems to end abruptly, we want to keep reading, but wait.

As we look into the life of Judas and what Christ has done as we prepare for the Easter season, we must realize that the life we live now is a spiritual battle.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

This is not a time to sit back and relax but we are in an earthly battle for people and their eternal lives.

we wrestle with things that are unseen as we live our lives for Christ and to share the gospel with others.

Many of you have been praying and we continue to pray for the conflict in Ukraine and Russia. This has and continue to affect the world.

We pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in both countries as they face this act of aggression and power.

They are facing a reality that we too often take for granted.

If you were watching the news, as Russia began to invade they have specific targets in order to control power.

Are you a target?

When we think of a spiritual battle and we are fighting against the unseen and powers that are at work among us, are we a target?

Satan sought after a close allies of Jesus to betray him.

He came into Judas, a man that was up until this point, making an impact with Christ.

It is therefore justifiable to think this

If you are making an impact for the kingdom, the enemy wants you out of the way.

Are you living your life for Christ so fully, so passionately that the devil has your sights on you because you are making a difference for the Kingdom.

Is your life so clearly aligned with the Spirit that Satan is working overtime to discredit your testimony.

As I said earlier, scripture reminds us that

we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces in heavenly places. (Eph 6:12)

Satan is also prowling about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

If you are a target, then pray for God’s strength to hold you strong.

If you don’t feel like your a target, your life seems to be going along and you seem to lack the passion for God,

Pray for a revival in your life.

Maybe God has been calling you to do something and you have been holding back.

Don’t hold back any longer. Stand up and be counted for what God has placed upon your life whether it is big or small.

Make sure your life is on the track to counting for God so that you will be a target.

Are you engaged in warfare?

The second thing we need to realize in our lives that we are in a spiritual battle and we need to be engaged in warfare.

Ephesians 6:10–11 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

This is an action that is required by all those who call themselves followers of Christ.

Strength comes from the Lord.

When we realize that we are engaged in spiritual warfare and we have decided to stand up and be counted and being a possible target, we need his armour.

This is

“the immeasurably great power that the resurrected Christ exerts at God’s right hand and gives to his people.”- ESV Study Bible

Paul reminds us in Eph to take up.

Grab a hold of

Stand,

Stand firm

Knowing that your engagement in the spiritual battle is backed by the power of God.

You have as your armor,

Belt of Truth

Breastplate of Righteousness that guards your heart.

Shoes for Peace. To have them ready to move to bring about peace.

The Shield of Faith. What we hold to be true.

The very Word of God

And of course the communication to God through prayer.

Are you ready to be engaged in spiritual warfare?

Are you living in the Spirit?

Knowing we are in a spiritual battle, being willing to be a target, engaged in warfare, we finally need to live in the spirit.

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

That since God has started the good work, He will complete it.

We need to take the steps to be willing to live by the Spirit, Notice the it isn’t us, it’s God that takes responsibility.

Gal 5:25 “25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

Our main character in today’s text chose to walkout

To leave the steps of Christ’s teaching

Maybe your asking yourself this question

“how do I know I will not turn out to be like Judas?”

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

When we abide in Jesus, we will bear fruit.

Are we abiding in Him.

Are we in the bible, reading to learn more about God

Are we spending time in prayer, keeping contact with our father.

The fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. It is the result of the Holy Spirit working in you.

John 15:8 ESV

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

v.8 tells us that God is glorified when we bear fruit.

When we have fruit, it shows that we are disciples, that God has begun a good work in us, and therefore will be faithful to complete it.

Today’s text is a strong reminder for us as followers of Christ.

When we look at the life of Judas Iscariot. This is someone who saw Jesus feed five thousand. He witnessed Lazarus raise from the dead. The lame leaping, the blind seeing were all firsthand experiences for Him.

Even more amazing.

By the records of Jesus sending out the 12 in Luke 9, we know that Judas himself healed disease and cast out demons.

Judas is a stark reminder of Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus states that not all who call me Lord, not all who have done miraculous works in the name of Jesus will enter the kingdom.

We need to be fully followers of Christ.

We need to be disciples of Christ

Knowing God, Growing to be like Christ, Giving our lives for him

In Summary

As the worship team comes forward to lead us in a response to worship, we are going to sing a song about the Holy Spirit

The Spiritual Battle we are in will succeed when we rely on the Spirit to live in our lives.

The words begin with this

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God, Breathe new life into my willing soul. Bring the presence of the risen Lord To renew my heart and make me whole. Cause Your Word to come alive in me; Give me faith for what I cannot see; Give me passion for Your purity. Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

If God has been speaking to you and you would like prayer, the alter is always open either during the last song or after.

Maybe you want to join the battle, be a follower of Christ, come to the alter and I will pray with you.

Maybe God is calling you to fully commit your life to him, come and we can pray together.

Or maybe you just want to come and bring your burden to the Lord, come.

Let’s join our hearts together and sing

Response to Worship

Benediction

Jude 24–25 (ESV)

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.