Beware of the Priceless Trade

Matthew 26:6–16 ESV

6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” 14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

INTRODUCTION

Betrayal Definition: violation of a persons trust or confidence; usually a moral standard has been broken.

The treacherous exposing or deceiving of people by those they formerly trusted. It is usually associated with an enemy masquerading as a friend, or with a broken or abused relationship. Betrayal was suffered by Jesus Christ and can be expected of followers.

Betrayal is a part of the human experience, it is not if but when someone will betray you.

Examples of Betrayal:

Jdg. 16:18 Samson is betrayed by Delilah.

1 Sa.18:17 Saul betrayed David and sought to have him killed.

Genesis 37:1-11 Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery.

Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-41 Jacob betrayed Esau cheated him out of his birthright of the firstborn, then deceives his father Isaac into giving him the blessing.

Luke 22:54-62 Even Peter betray’s Jesus in His denial of association with Jesus as his teacher and Messiah.

Betrayal is seen as a particularly wicked act.

Matthew 26:24 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.”

An Extraordinary Day

The day that Jesus chose his 12 apostles is probably one of the more significant day’s throughout his entire ministry. After praying all night and possibly agonizing over the choosing of 12 he chose His disciples and Judas was among those chosen.

Consider that these men were to pioneer the missionary movement which is still going on and will go on until Christ returns. They would be the ones to pass on Christ’s teaching to future generations and through whom he would give further teaching. They would be the ones, therefore, to whom the infant Churches would turn to for direction and guidance. None of them could have expected what was to come but most assuredly they understood the great privilege of being chosen.

By this time it was already clear that Jesus was on a collision course with the Jewish leadership. The newly appointed apostles would share in this. The word apostle means ‘messenger’, one who is sent out. It was not until considerable time had passed before Jesus began teaching about his impending suffering and death.

Note: Judas could have hardly envisioned that one day he would betray his Master to protect his own skin.

Did He cherish ambitions for earthly glory as one of Jesus’ chosen few? Sadly, that was true of all the apostles at some stage in Jesus ministry.

Did He realize at this early stage that he was in fact fundamentally at odds with Jesus?

Did Jesus know that one of His disciples did not have true faith?

Of course Jesus knows all men, and had not need that anyone should testify to him about man. But the mysterious purpose of God to call a man who was destined to betray the son of God and who did not have true belief.

How else could the Scriptures be fulfilled? How else could he share the sufferings of the human race, unless he experienced the anguish of being betrayed?

Why might unbelievers profess to follow Jesus today?

How does the sermon on the mount apply the 10 commandments in ways that accuse us all of betrayal?

How many have every coveted something that was not yours?

How many have every told a white lie or half truth?

How many have ever had an impure thought?

How many have ever chosen to honor or worship something above God?

How many have ever decided to stay home on the day of worship instead of being with God’s people.

NOTE: You see in one way or another we have all betrayed the son of God. We are all guilty of betrayal. In fact in the Old Testament God continued to accuse the nation of Israel of playing the whore and adulterer, or prostituting themselves out to another.

BETRAYAL: How do we daily show our lack of trust and confidence of God in our lives. We are all guilty of trading the most priceless gift for the lie.

Big Idea: Will you choose the Judas tree or the Jesus tree?

The Judas tree says I can do things myself; I can get myself out of this mess; I know what is best.

The Jesus tree says no, you can't, but He can, the Jesus tree says you come to me and die, the Jesus tree says you must decrease so that He can increase.

There are three things we must do to embrace the Jesus Tree.

Learn to Love God.

Learn to Trust God.

Learn to remove your mask.

1. Do we love God or do we love the things He can do for us?

Note:Judas was one of Jesus twelve chosen apostles, but apparently he was more concerned about what Jesus could do for him.

With Judas’s notorious betrayal you also have Peter’s equally notorious denial. You will notice in both cases that they aren’t along for the tough times. They may be chosen disciples, but when times get hard, you see why they are really following Jesus.

Both have unspoken expectations of Jesus that he doesn’t fulfill. Neither signed on to accompany him to the cross. They had seen great things that Jesus could do, but they were not up for suffering and death. It turned out they loved Jesus for what he could do for them.

Lot’s of people say they want to follow Jesus but few can truly call themselves his disciples. How many believers when they come to Christ their first thought is I may have to die or go to the cross for this relationship with Jesus.

*Loving God becomes clear in the hard times.

It’s easy to follow Jesus when times are good. Everyone likes God when life is going along as you had hoped. But what about when you are not getting the things you want, will you still follow him? When it looks as if following him is going to bring you benefit, it’s fine. But what about when it costs you, what will you do then.

What about when it costs you your family

What about when it costs you your friendships

What about when it costs you your finances

What about when it costs you your job

In the end it all boils down to this: do we love God, or do we love the things he can do for us? It’s worth asking the question?

What happens to my relationship with God when he isn’t giving me the things I think I need in order to be happy?

Have I ever complained to God that I have got it a lot worse than people who aren’t Christians, or people I feel are less mature or servant-hearted Christians?

*Loving God means Jesus is Enough.

It’s easy to betray Jesus in the ordinary course of our lives. If we choose to believe the lie that Jesus isn’t enough, or if we believe that he isn’t living up to our expectations, it’s subtle but is a real betrayal. It’s easy to stand up and make big professions of faith on Sunday morning but what happens when Monday morning rolls around.

The call to follow Jesus is a call to endure and even suffer for his sake. It is the call to deny the easy road for you, give up earthly comfort; a call to follow him and trust the course that he sets even when it ‘s not working.

2. Do we trust God or do we trust in ourselves?

Matthew 27:3–5 ESV

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.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.

Two disciples betray Jesus but one will go down in history as the ultimate villain and betrayer, while the other becomes a hero. Why?

What they did after the betrayal made the difference. Judas changed his mind and may have even shed some tears like Peter. He certainly felt a deep guilt for what he had done. He regretted his actions and the consequences of them. But that was it, no seeking forgiveness or turning his life over to God. He just felt remorse, and it sent him to his death.

Peter on the other hand repented and wept bitter tears for his sins, but he didn’t just weep. You can tell he truly repented of his sin because his life changed after that moment. Peter was reconciled and received forgiveness. Peter became bold in his faith and eventually as tradition had it was crucified upside down.

*We show we trust God when we learn Godly grief.

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Judas thought he could right the wrong himself by taking the money back to the temple. How often do we feel bad about something we have done, or the way we are living our lives and try to fix things on our own. Most people in the world would admit they have some regrets somewhere in their lives. Regret many times comes when we feel the weight of the consequences of our actions.

Judas response to the feeling of grief was not true Godly sorrow over what he had done. Godly sorrow mourns over our sins and goes to the only place where true healing can take place and that’s at the feel of Jesus. Peter was able to touch and seek the resurrected Christ. Peter was able to see thousands and Pentecost get saved. Peter was able to see the start of the early church established of which the gates of hell would not prevail.

But for Judas, his journey ended in a potters field hanging from a tree of worldly regrets.

*We show we trust God when we give him worthship.

What does it mean to Trust God?

To trust God is to believe in the reliability, truth, and ability or strength of something. So, when it comes to trusting God, that means believing in His reliability, His Word, His ability, His strength.

How do you trust God is good in difficult circumstances? How do you trust Him when you do not understand what is happening? When you cannot see a resolution? These are all valid questions and God wants to help you navigate through them.

Trusting in God is more than a feeling, it’s a choice to have faith in what He says even when your feelings or circumstances may be telling you something entirely different. Feelings are important to how God made you, however, you cannot base everything on how you feel. Feelings can betray you, they can be fickle and betray you.

Trusting God is not pretending everything is OK when it is not.

Trusting is living a life of obedience to God when it’s difficult.

Dark Enlightenment

When Adam and Eve chose not to trust, not to obey, not to supremely love God above everything else. They decided to lean on their own understanding and pursue the hidden treasure of the forbidden knowledge by eating the fruit.

God was true to His word, the fruit did yield knowledge as the eyes of both of them were opened. But the serpent was not true to his word: the knowledge did not make them God-like; it only made the miserable. They experienced a dark enlightenment that immediately produced shame and death.

They learned that by leaning on their own understanding that there is a way that seems right to a man that ends in death (Prov. 14:12). The knowledge they thought they wanted was beyond what they were designed to bear. And all of us have been laboring under that same lie and crushing weight of this knowledge ever since.

Note: When Judas had his eyes opened to what he had done the weight of his sin literally crushed him. In order to handle such a weight one must be omniscient - posses the capacity to comprehend all possible contingencies and possibilities. One must also be able to choose the right course of action every time with perfect righteous wisdom.

Human-beings do not have these omni-capacities to handle such knowledge. Individually our capacities are tiny, put them all together and they still only scratch the service of the knowledge of God.

Every Human effort to define morality and ethics leads eventually to some cruel end.

This is because we were not designed to be “like God” in defining what is good and evil. We were designed “to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil”

God did design us to think for ourselves, that is the one reason that the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil was placed in the garden in the first place. However, God did not design us to think for ourselves

The Eden Tragedy

Is the fact that man traded the wise sanity of thinking for themselves in the save context of “entrusting their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good (1 Peter 4:19) for the foolish madness of thinking by themselves in the context of unhinging their reason from their faithful creator, which resulted in doing great evil.

*We show we trust God by giving Him His fruit back.

The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Eden Effect

What Judas did was to act on his own human understanding apart from the infinite knowledge of God. The thing that came out of such a betrayal and self-centered mindset was regret, sadness, and death.

This is why God is at war with mere human wisdom-our rebellion leading to our own understanding.

1 Corinthians 1:19 ESV

19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

He requires us to hand him back the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil, that we might once again have access to the tree of life.

This is why God, in his wisdom, does not permit us to know him through rebellious human wisdom. He requires us to come to Him on His terms.

This was the problem with Judas, He was come to Jesus on His own terms. Like the fruit that Adam and Eve took, Judas tried to take back the 30 pieces of silver. The only problem was where he was taking it back to. He was taking it to the seat of the worlds wisdom not God’s.

Note: remember in Romans 1:22 “Claiming to be wise they became fools” “They knew God but did not honor him as God.” There is a difference between knowing God and Knowing God! We see people everyday who like it say’s in Hebrews 6 they have tasted the good things of God but then fell away, like Jesus illustration of the sower and the seed, the one who fell on rocky ground quickly sprang up but since it had not depth of soil and no roots, when the scorching sun came up in withered away.

Judas I’m sure immediately found great satisfaction in being one of Jesus chosen Apostles, but, when Jesus did not meet his expectation of what Messiah should be, he had not depth of soil and had shallow faith and trust.

The Folly of the Perishing

This is the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The world stands offended that God judges its desire to independently understand and define what is good and evil for themselves.

The world is greatly offended that God refuses to answer for the evil that ravages this planet.

The world looks at the foolish spectacle of the cross, the empty tomb, and the promise of eternal life, and marvels that these strange things could ever address the most important issues facing the human race.

The Power is in the Wisdom of God

To those who are being saved the cross is the promise of eternal life.

To those who are being saved the cross is the wisdom of God.

Note: We do not claim to have all the answers to all the perplexing questions in the world. But we have come to understand like Job that “with God are wisdom might …counsel and understanding” (Job 12:13); and that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of true knowledge, but fools despise the wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7); that “whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered” (proverbs 28:26); that only in God’s light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9).

The Light we now have is the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

It’s time to give the fruit back to God where it belongs......................... It’s time to go to God.

3. Do we go to God or do we go to the well of guilt and despair?

What do you do when life seems to be falling apart all around you. Many of us go back to the well of guilt and despair. We are like the blind man at the pool of Bethesda. Every time the water is stirred and we try to get to the water of healing we feel pushed down in the mud and mire of the world. People are trampling us down to get to the water and pretty soon we give up.

Perhaps it’s the one who has an unbelieving spouse. The trials of living with someone who doesn’t believe and worship the God of the bible is a very real struggle. Perhaps it’s an addiction you haven’t been able to break. You go back to that well of guilt and despair over and over again.

Remember the question that Jesus asks the blind man. “Do you want to be made healed?” The response to Jesus question by the man is very telling, “Sir I have no one to put me in the pool.” It’s easy to wallow in our guilt and despair and miss the healing that is right in front of our face.

Instead of going to God Judas went to the well of guilt and despair that ultimately led to his destruction.

*The unrepentant go to the well of guilt and despair

The time came for Jesus to send out the twelve to preach the gospel. At this point the irony of Judas’ position could not have been more terrible. He was an unrepentant sinner preaching repentance. He was called to present the Savior when he had not entrusted that Savior with his own soul.

God is gracious and on occasion will save people through preachers who are themselves unsaved. But that does not alter the fact that it is horribly inappropriate for unbelievers to undertake such work. There are many betrayals in this life but none I see as damaging as the professing Christian minister who proves to be false! How damaging to the hearts of those who trusted him! One bitter fruit of such betrayal is that it can make trust harder in the future even when it is deserved.

THE LOST ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO LEAD THE LOST

How can a lost person be a safe guide? It’s like the blind leading the blind. Later Jesus refers to Judas as the son of destruction.

John 17:12 ESV

12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

An unconverted person does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

No one can be an ambassador for a kingdom to which they do not belong.

The Apostles are called to represent the kingship of Jesus Christ, to act as the heralds of his arrival. A Kingdom cannot be set up without a King. Yet Judas had not submitted his heart to the kingship of Jesus.

*The Masked go to the well of guilt and despair.

One trouble with our hypocrisy is that the mask we wear become precious to us. We all do it do we not, we cannot lose the mask without loosing face, because then people will know that we are not what we seemed. That was what happened to Judas. Even when presented with Jesus compassion he would not relinquish his mask.

I wonder how Judas felt at the Last Supper as Jesus knelt to wash his feet. Perhaps he though his little secret was concealed from Jesus. Could Jesus had shown such love and compassion towards him if he really knew what was in his heart and motives. While Jesus explained the purpose of washing their feet he said ‘…you are clean, but not all of you’ (John 13:10). John adds, ‘for he knew who would betray him.’ Jesus unmasking Judas’s betrayal came in several different waves.

First - Jesus declared ‘not all of you are clean.’

Second - Jesus later dropped another hint when he said: ‘I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen’ (v.18). This made it clear that Jesus knew who was clean and who was not.

Third - Judas still remained silent and kept his mask tightly fastened. Minutes later the unmasking was at a final conclusion as Jesus announce that one of them would betray him. By this point Judas found himself caught between two fears. On the one hand Jesus was coming closer and closer to unmasking him in front of the whole group. On the other hand if he responded to Jesus compassion he would have to remove his mask. By now all of the disciples are looking at one another wondering who the betrayer might be.

Fourth - Jesus moves closer to Judas and said “Woe to the man whom the Son of Man is betrayed, it would have been good if that man had never been born.” When Judas failed to respond to even these words, nothing was left but exposure. Failing repentance, woe would come to the traitor. Judas at this point should have been dying to rip his mask off, but still nothing.

Fifth - Now Jesus abruptly interrupting their discussion directed their attention to the answer to this agonizing question, ‘the one whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” The very act by which Jesus exposed him was a very act of compassion. Jesus used the very picture of his body and blood that were going to be sacrificed for the sins of the world to point out his betrayer. Judas now had rejected Jesus act of mercy and forgiveness.

Note: The day of unmasking is coming for all of humanity. How can we like Jesus be both faithful and compassionate in warning people of the coming judgment.

Romans 2:16 ESV

16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

One of the greatest stumbling blocks to Christianity, especially among those who are drawn to the idea of a loving, compassionate God, is the Bibles teaching on judgment.

Divine justice demands a payment for sin, he desires that all would turn to him and find shelter from the wrath to come. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. Jesus cross was the place where “heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love,” perfectly balanced judgement with compassion.

Disorienting Truth

Deeply misguided religious people confuse Jesus’s teaching when they express enthusiasm about judgement, leaving others hesitant to discuss this subject.

When believers do unchristian things “in the name of Christ” - whether it be Jesus disciples seeking revenge on the Samaritans, Peter cutting off the ear of one of Jesus’s betrayers, a fundamentalist minister blaming “the homosexuals” for September 11 terrorist attacks, or a fringe group falsely identifying as Christian parading around the country with “God hates you” signs - it is behavior like this that makes it difficult for believers to raise the subject of judgement.

How are we suppose to live with the line that say’s Jesus has come to judge the living and the dead?

The idea of heaven is easy to embrace even at a nonreligious funeral.

“We need a God who gets angry. We need a God who will protect his kids. We need a God who will once and for all remove bullies and perpetrators of evil from his playground.”

If there is no accounting for evil what do we say to the Jews about Hitler? What do we say to little girls who have been sold into sex trade by greedy oppressive people? What do we say to the boy who is abused by his father, or the unassuming widow who is robbed?

It’s too simple to merely say that our God is a God of love and nothing else. If God decided to put his gavel down once and for all would it not create more problems than it would solve.

If a judging God did not exist we would be living in a Darwinian chaos in which the strong eat the weak and only the powerful survive.

If we believe in God, and if we love the people that God places around us, do we not owe it to them to risk social awkwardness to tell it like it true. As we do, we must also remember that hard truth must be delivered truthfully - in a spirit of gentleness, respect, and love-saturated tears.

Note: Jesus was showing Judas compassion, however, in the end he was not willing to take off his mask and look into the face of a loving compassionate Father who seeks and saves the lost.

Conclusion

A tale of two trees. The Judas tree, the Jesus tree. Which tree do you choose? The Judas tree, that is an attractive option.

The idea that somehow we can clean up our own messes, that when we break something we can fix it ourselves. There is something attractive about maybe I can just take care of this myself. I can do it myself. That’s the Judas tree.

Dr. Leonid Rogozov was assigned to Antarctica, that’s the South Pole. He flew all the way to the South Pole, got there, a small, little community. He was the only doctor there so when he became sick and he wasn’t getting better, he self-diagnosed himself. He had appendicitis. He was within days of his appendix bursting. What do you do when you’re snowed in, you can’t get out of the South Pole, and you’re the only doctor there? He decided to operate on himself. He put together his own makeshift medical team. Got the meteorologist—you’re going to hold the clamps. Got the driver—you’re going to hold the mirror for me. And he put them together. He even taught them CPR in case he started to go out, they could bring him back to life so he could finish the surgery. So on that day the doctor was also the patient, and he through weakness, through fever, two hours of navigating through the incision, found it, removed it, stitched himself back up, and guess what? He survived. You hear a story like that and you can’t help but respect the courage to admire the incredible strength that that would take. There’s even a little bit of inspiration that happens, you hear about a guy like that: He had that kind of problem and he fixed it himself? Well, if he could do that, well, then surely I can fix my problems. We get lulled into this idea: If I’m just strong enough, if I’m just courageous enough, I can deal with the problems in my life. No, we can’t. Because our problem is deeper than we ever imagined. When we realize that our problem is sin and that sin has been downloaded onto the hard drive of every single one of our hearts, and we can’t get in there and we can’t get it out.

No matter what we try and do, we can’t remove it. We cannot do our own soul surgery. There is only one great physician; he’s the only One qualified to deal with what’s going on with us. So we must reject the Judas way of life. I can do it myself, do it yourself. No, we must find the tree that says, "Done for you." That’s the cross, the Jesus tree.

Look at the Colossians 2:13-15. Here you have the apostle Paul, and he is explaining all the things that Jesus did for us on the cross.

(Read Colossians 2:13-15)

Do you see all the things done for you by Jesus on the cross? We were dead but he has made us alive. We have been forgiven. Our debts have been canceled, taken away, triumphed over on the cross. Done for you. That’s the Jesus tree.