Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning!

Today we’re going to look at Judas, one of the twelve disciples, probably one of the most enigmatic, distorted, maligned disciples.

Now, I’ve already preached this sermon twice, once at St. James and once at Cordata Presbyterian.

So, on the third go, I have to change the opening.

I’ve got to first mention one of the most maligned, distorted Judas-figures in American history — Aaron Burr.

On Friday night, my little family, Stacy and Asher and I, saw the amazing musical, Hamilton, in Seattle at the Paramount Theater.

If you’re not familiar with the stage production, it is an incredible retelling of the life of founding father, Alexander Hamilton, telling of his contributions to American democracy and his tragic death in a pistol duel with his friend and nemesis, Aaron Burr.

It’s a tragic story

Death doesn’t discriminate

Between the sinners and the saints

It takes and it takes and it takes

History obliterates

In every picture it paints

It paints me and all my mistakes

When Alexander aimed

At the sky

He may have been the first one to die

But I’m the one who paid for it

I survived, but I paid for it

Now I’m the villain in your history

I was too young and blind to see...

I should’ve known

I should’ve known

The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me

The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me

Hamilton invites us to rethink Aaron Burr’s legacy.

How does this iconic event of an American Judas teach us about regret, tragedy, and legacy?

How might we be invited to consider the events of history through the pain and loss of such a man who want to make the most of his shot as a politician and in doing so, ends up being a murderer, an outcast, and a pariah?

Can we suspend our judgement of Burr in order to see the broader picture?

Not that he was right, but that his motivations were so much greater than a simple duel and disagreement.

Perhaps this can help us wonder at how this distorted disciple Judas is remembered as well.

Now, a disclaimer: Judas’ story is a heartbreaking tragedy that ends in his death by suicide.

So before I go any further, I want to mention that there will be a Scripture reading that includes a brief description of Judas’ suicide.

I use this to highlight the tragedy of Judas’ story, not to make a spectacle of death by suicide.

If you, or anyone you know, is contemplating suicide or is in need of emotional, mental, or spiritual support, please reach out to someone.

You are not alone.

You are a beloved child of God and no matter what the circumstance, God is ready to welcome you, love you, and bring healing where you most need it.

I know the support system of this church is strong and your pastor, your deacons, your friends are here to stand with you.

Please, know this.

If you would like to talk with someone after the service, I will stick around up front here.

The other thing I want to say up front is that it is important for us to suspend our presuppositions about who Judas is.

The standard perspective is for us to blame Judas, to make him the scapegoat, the betrayer.

There’s actually a whole unfortunate legacy in Christian tradition that may have seen Judas as a representative for the “Judeans” or Jews and turned Judas’ actions into a justification for broad antisemitic anger.

We mustn’t run in that direction.

Judas is also seen as the villain.

Obviously, this idea makes sense in the context of Jesus’ death, but again, hold on for a moment.

Why would Jesus need a villain?

Weren’t there already so many other wicked social problems and pressures upon Christ’s ministry?

The oppression of the Roman empire upon the people of Israel.

Corruption in and through the entire religious establishment.

Poverty and hunger that clearly impacted those who followed Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t need another villain.

So, then, why do we have the Judas story?

Could it possibly be that we have something to learn from him, from his witness to Jesus’ life, and even from his act of betrayal to his beloved rabbi?

With this in mind, let’s begin.

First, I want to take us back to the Isaiah text we’ve just heard.

Backing up to the beginning of the passage, we hear this:

53 Who has believed what we have heard?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by others;

a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

and as one from whom others hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Who is the man of suffering, the man of sorrows?

Who is the one who was despised?

This prophecy foretells the Messiah, the Christ, the servant upon whom God’s favor rests.

We must keep this suffering servant in mind as we consider the disciple Judas.

We praise the Man of Sorrows, the man of afflictions, because those sorrows and afflictions are what we have come to believe are the key to Christ’s undoing of the power of death.

No small thing, is it?

Through Christ’s death and resurrection the power of sin and death are broken.

That’s what we believe in, proclaim, right?

Can I get an amen?

Alright, let’s get back to Judas.

We find him interacting with Jesus as Jesus encounters the woman, Mary, who poured out precious perfume to wash his feet.

Who is Judas Iscariot?

Well, he’s one of the twelve disciples.

We hear about him only a handful of times in the gospels.

And, as we see in this reading, we hear about Judas through the lens of hindsight — he’s the one who would betray Jesus, he’s the one who loved money a little too much, it seems.

Even the gospel writers seem to have made up their minds about Judas.

A bit more biographical info on Judas — Iscariot is not his last name, just like Christ is not Jesus’.

Rather, Jesus is the Christ, the second member of the trinity, the one who was with God before all things.

And Judas is an Iscariot, which is likely a Greek version of the name of the village he came from, the village of Kerioth.

Helpful, as well, to understanding who Judas is is noting that some scholars believe he was a political zealot.

We hear about zealots elsewhere in the gospels.

These are folks who believe that political revolution must take place to over throw the unjust oppression from Rome and the synagogue.

Zealots were willing to take back power by force.

This is key in understanding Judas.

Let’s pause there.

Have you ever felt so deeply convicted about something that you would fight for it at any cost?

I imagine some of us here or some dear ones we know have served in the armed forces.

Or perhaps on a simpler, more intimate level, wouldn’t you fight for your kids, your partner, your friends?

No greater love is this than the one who lays down his life for his friends.

We know Jesus had this kind of mindset.

Elsewhere in the prophet literature of Scripture, we hear that the messiah’s face is set like flint, focused and prepared to encounter his suffering.

And, so, likewise, we might imagine that Judas believed the cause of overthrowing the powerful was worth any cost.

In fact, there were many who followed Jesus who longed to see him be more of a social revolutionary.