Betrayed and Abandoned

But Matthew’s telling of the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus and a unique way of highlighting the relatability of the characters in the story.

They are just characters, they were REAL people. People just like us, and we are just like them.

I want to challenge us to see ourselves in Jesus’s journey to the cross. So that we can understand the reason He came, the reason He lived, the reason He died, and the reason He rose with for us…He did it IN OUR PLACE.

We are Judas.

We will start today with the infamous Judas Iscariot.

Anointing in Bethany

Matthew 26:6–13 CSB

6 While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. 11 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. 12 By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Jesus is in Bethany, which is about 1.5 miles east of Jerusalem).

He had come into Jerusalem just a few days ago from Jercho, and was welcomed by a crowd of people laying down palm leaves and singing “Hosanna”.

The event we call Palm Sunday, which is actually next week.

He had been to the Temple teaching, challenging the Sadducees and Pharisees, creating quite a stir in the city.

To the point that the Jewish leaders were looking for an opportunity to take Him out.

By chapter 26, they had developed a plan to corner Jesus in a quiet place, away from the crowds, in order to arrest Him without sparking a riot.

But they needed someone on the inside, someone who could let them know where to find Him.

But where would they find such a person?

So in Bethany, reclined at the table of one of the men Jesus had miraculously healed at some point in His ministry, a woman approached the table and pours out a jar of very expensive perfume onto His head.

Other gospel accounts tell us that the woman was Mary the sister of Lazarus the one Jesus raised from the dead and that she anointed his feet as well.

We also know that this jar of perfume would have been something of great value to Mary and her family.

Maybe an inheritance or a dowry.

And it would have been in a jar that would have needed to be broken open in order to be used.

Matthew remembers what happened when they disciples (him included) did and said when they saw Mary pour out the perfume.

They became “indignant”, outraged at the wastefulness of Mary. Pointing out all that could have been done for the poor with what she just poured out on Jesus’s feet.

It is interesting that Matthew doesn’t single out one disciple in this response.

John records that Judas was the one who speaks up in opposition, adding a comment about the true heart of Judas (John 12:6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.)

But Matthew remembered, even though Judas was the one who spoke up, he was speaking from everyone else.

It is easy to see Judas as the cold, greedy bad guy here, but in Matthew’s telling of the story the ground is level.

By no means is he defending Judas, but showing where he and the other disciples are not so different than Judas.

And in effect, neither are we.

1) We struggle for to SEE like Jesus.

Like Judas, and the others, we struggle to see and understand things from the perspective of Jesus.

They saw Mary’s act as wasteful, foolish, and senseless.

But Jesus saw it as worship.

Mary sacrificed something of significant value express how valuable Jesus was to her.

Jesus saw the love and devotion of her heart poured out in this act of worship.

Like Judas, we struggle to see people, events, and stuff; the trials and blessings of life; and our successes and failures in the same way Jesus does.

We here the words in this book and think “I know that is what He says, but it just doesn’t make sense.”

We struggle to believe He knows what He is doing, or whether He really understands how hard we have worked to get to where we are.

The things He seems to value seem out of place, especially in the world we live in.

Like Judas, we speak up, often in confusion, and even frustration.

Yet we forget who it is we are questioning.

He wasn’t just some early-thirties, Middle eastern Rabbi with some outlandish ideas.

He was (is) the one who created the heavens and the earth.

The one who defines what is real, what is true, and what is right.

Our struggle, like Judas, isn’t with Jesus really, it is with our own ignorance, our own selfishness, and our own prejudice.

We are Judas...

30 Pieces and a Passover Meal

Matthew 26:14–25 CSB

14 Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him. 16 And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him. 17 On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18 “Go into the city to a certain man,” he said, “and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time is near; I am celebrating the Passover at your place with my disciples.’ ” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22 Deeply distressed, each one began to say to him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 He replied, “The one who dipped his hand with me in the bowl—he will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, his betrayer, replied, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” “You have said it,” he told him.

The gap between verse 13 and 14 doesn’t seem to be far, but it does seem to be significant.

I think we often mislabel Judas as the misfit of the 12 disciples of Jesus.

The one who was never really “in”, was always pushing the boundaries, questioning, or just acting out of line. (like it was really no surprise that he was the one who betrayed Jesus.)

But that was a misconception. Judas was “One of the 12” (vs 14). The very one everyone chose to handle the money (before even Matthew, whose previous job was handling money all day).

As the disciples sit around the table with Jesus the Thursday night before His crucifixion, and Jesus declares “One of you will betray me.” There eyes do not go straight to Judas, like “of course it’s him.”

He believed, at least at one point, that this Jesus was the one they had been waiting for for hundreds of year.

The Messiah, the Savior of the World.

And he has been committed, ready to give up everything for Him.

But something broke in Judas when Jesus defended Mary pouring out the perfume.

It isn’t THE thing that caused him to go to the Jewish leaders, but it was the last straw.

He just couldn’t do it any more.

But why?

Judas struggle to see past who he wanted Jesus to be to see who He really was.

For Judas, the Messiah was to be a conquering King, come to overthrow the Romans, reestablish Israel to an even greater Kingdom than in David’s time.

He would be powerful, and Judas was going to be one of His followers. He was going to be wealthy, and so would Judas.

But Jesus was talking about His death more and more.

Instead of growing in power, He seemed to be growing in weakness.

Instead of wealth, He was letting thousands of dollars be wasted by ignorant women.

This Jesus wasn’t matching the one he had in His mind.

We are like Judas in that...

2) We make Jesus into the SAVIOR we WANT, not the SAVIOR He IS.

At the root of Judas's betrayal was a belief in a particular kind of Messiah who would lead him to a prosperous future. He could not accept a suffering servant who bears the sins of others and lays his life down in order to conquer death.

If we're honest with ourselves, we struggle with the same things.

Who would want to trade in their plans for a prosperous life to follow the way of Jesus?

Who really believes “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” in our world?

Judas painted in his mind what Jesus should be and when He failed to meet that expectation, he lost hope and began plotting for himself how to force Jesus to do what he wanted.

Either Jesus would resist the arrest and live up to what Judas desired, or he would at least have a nest egg to start over with.

Like Judas, we have ideas and expectation for our lives that we assume are the same ones God has for us.

Ideas and expectations for prosperity, health, happiness, and victory.

We love the preachers who tell us these are the things God wants for us too.

We struggle with passages like “sell all you have and give it to the poor, and receive the treasure that I offer.” and “if you are going to follow me you must deny yourself and take up your cross, willing to die with me.”

Like Judas, when our expectations of God are not met we are left with 2 choices:

Either can either give up on God and go our own way (what Judas did).

Or we can give in and submit our lives to Jesus fully and completely.

In the words of Peter in John 6:68-69 “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

We don’t have to be like Judas…but the price is often too high for us.

It is easy to sell out, and we often do.

3) We SELL OUT to LESSER things.

Randy Alcorn writes,

“Satan works on the assumption that every person has a price. Often, unfortunately, he is right. Many people are willing to surrender themselves and their principles to whatever god will bring them the greatest short-term profit” — Randy Alcorn

We all have a price:

Judas’s price was 30 pieces of silver (like $7500).

The man he had said he was willing to give up everything to follow, is the one he leads a mob of armed men to the quiet place Jesus had gone to pray, and kisses Him with a kiss of betrayal.

Maybe it isn’t money for you, maybe it is more like Peter, it is safety or fitting in with those around you.

Peter and the other disciples abandoned Jesus to prevent arrest, punishment, or being condemned.

Maybe it is a picture of the future.

The ideal marriage or relationship.

Security, success, or comfort...

We all have a price, but the price of our sin is paid by the one so easily betray, the one we so quickly abandon when the road gets to hard to maneuver.

Denial, Despair, and Death

Unlike the other disciples, Peter followed Jesus at a distance. Staying in eyesight to all that was happening to him.

But Just as Jesus had prophesied hours earlier, when he was recognized as a follower, he quickly and adamantly denied.

The third time Matthew records:

Matthew 26:75 CSB

75 and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

His denial led to despair.

Similarly, the very next day, as Jesus is given over to Pilate, Judas also is struck with despair.

What had he done?

Matthew 27:3–5 CSB

3 Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. 4 “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!” 5 So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.

Denial, betrayal, despair, death…a sad story that was meant to be.

Yet, what if it was different?

We know the despair Peter felt didn’t lead him to take his own life.

Rather he was forgiven, restored, and used by God in extraordinary ways.

Was there a chance for Judas?

Of course, the blood of Jesus is sufficient for all sin, to ANY who believe.

Judas was at the table when Jesus served the meal of bread and wine, His body and His blood that proclaim the hope of the Gospel.

Judas ate, he was welcomed at the table.

Like Judas....

4) We all have a chance at FORGIVENESS and RESTORATION.

What if he had waited.

His shame, guilt and remorse was too much for him to carry. Too big a burden for him to shoulder.

What if he had waited for the trial to be over?

What if he had waited for the punishment to be declared?

What if he had waited for the nails to be driven into His wrists and ankles?

What if he had waited for the last word “It is finished”?

What if he had waited for His body to be buried?

What if he had waited through the darkness of Saturday?

What if he had waited for Sunday morning?

When the body that was broken was rebuilt, the blood that was poured out was restored, and the life that was given had been resurrected?

What if he had waited?

The thing that separates the story of Peter and Judas isn’t only that Judas sold out, Peter walked away as well, denied the one he claimed to love and promised never to leave.

The difference is that Peter waited...

But Judas didn’t

We can villainize Judas, and we are right to highlight his selfishness, his sinfulness, his evil intentions, and his depravity.

But are we not him?

The difference is this my friends, we do not have to die in our rebellion.

We do not have to stay in our depravity.

We do not have to continue to try and force Jesus into being the Savior we WANT, we can repent and begin RIGHT now to worship Him as the Savior He IS.

We are Judas, brothers and sister, but we do not have to have the same fate.

What is holding you back from being restored?

What are you selling out for, giving in to, or giving up on?

We can be FORGIVEN and RESTORED.

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