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Judas Iscariot: So Close; Yet, So Far Away John 13:16-30

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Judas Iscariot: So Close; Yet, So Far Away John 13:16-30 Judas Iscariot: So Close; Yet, So Far Away John 13:16-30 It would be difficult to think of a more notorious biblical character that Judas Iscariot; except the Devil himself. -Even people who never attend church know the name Judas Iscariot. No one would think of naming their son, Judas. They might name their dog, Judas, but never their son! -Judas betrayed and sold out, not only a man or a country, but the precious Son of God. The Bible calls him the son of perdition, a devil, a thief, and the traitor! His life started out so promising. The name “Judas” means “praise unto God”. How his parents must have wanted him to live up to that name! -The name Judas was a popular name in Israel. One of our Lord's half-brothers was named Judas, but after Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord, he changed his name to Jude, as did most of the others who were named Judas in that day. What Judas did destroyed the value of that name forever. -The words of Jesus tell the tragic story when He said, “It would have been better for Judas if he had never been born.” The life of Judas Iscariot is a real tragedy when you consider: 1.The opportunities he had He was one of eleven other men who were chosen by our Lord to follow Him and to be with Him during His earthly ministry: To hear Him teach, To be in His presence, To see His power in working miracles; yet, with all those opportunities, he betrayed our Lord. 2.The opportunities he missed For at least two and a half years, he was with the very Person of salvation; yet, he missed being saved! No wonder Paul said for us to “examine yourselves,” for if it were possible for one to follow Jesus while he was on earth and still remain lost, it is possible that there are folks in church every Sunday with their names on the church rolls who have never been saved. As we study thin man, Judas Iscariot, I want us to see: I. His Discloser John sprinkles the truth about Judas throughout his gospel. Notice John 6:64, 70-71; 13:11 If Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him, why did He choose him? Why would Jesus invite a man into the company of disciples who would become a traitor? 1.To Fulfill Scripture – 13:18 What scripture? Ps. 41:9; 55:12-14 David is referring to his best counselor, Ahithophel, who turned traitor and joined Absalom's rebellion against his father, David. Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandpa and he was angry with David for what he had done to his granddaughter. 191 When Absalom refused Ahithophel's advice to strike David quickly, he knew David would regroup, gather more men to battle, and he would be found out as a traitor. Like Judas, Ahithophel went out and hung himself. -Another scripture that must be fulfilled was Zach. 11:12-13 where we are told that the Messiah would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. 2.To Prove His Deity – John 13:19 3.To Serve as a warning to religious folks 4.Our Lord's choosing Judas, knowing that he would betray Him, was a wonderful act of grace. Jesus regarded Judas as a potential follower. Jesus called him to discipleship just as sincerely as He did Peter, James, John and the others. If Judas had responded to the love and teachings of Jesus, he could have been a pillar in the early church. -The question of why Jesus chose Judas as His disciple is no more difficult to answer than this question: “Why did He choose us?” When the Lord first looked upon us, did He see pure people? No. Like Judas, we possessed a fallen nature that wanted to seize for itself glory that rightly belonged to God. Jesus chose Judas, and us, to be His followers, not because we had anything to offer Him, but because He had everything to offer us. It was all because of His grace. How did Satan get Judas to work for him? The same way he gets us to do his bidding. Notice 13:2, 27 We should not be ignorant of Satan's devices. He has the power to put things into our hearts and minds and he also has the power to take things out of our hearts and minds. Satan is still going to and fro in the earth, seeking whom he may devour. -First, he wants to enter into our minds. He knocks at the door of our mind and asks permission to come in. Then, once admitted, he takes complete control and rules the whole inward man. -If we allow Satan to sow wicked thought in our minds, we will soon find within our heart a crop of wicked habits. -Our only safety against Satan is to resist him at the earliest moment. He has no power over our God who is stronger than he. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). You may think that the last place that Satan would want to join would be where the people of God are. To the contrary, it is the first place. If Satan is going to overthrow the work of Christ, his best chance is to infiltrate the people of God and sow seeds of discord among the believers. -In fact, Satan will put his man in the place of leadership if he can. Among the Twelve there was only one office, that of treasurer, and it was held by Judas. The main quality people want in someone who handles their money is honesty, and the disciples thought they had found it in Judas. They trusted him to the end. II. His Decision Life is made up of decisions. The greatest decision in life is, “What will you do with Jesus?” -Judas was in the presence of Jesus, but the presence of Jesus was never in him. Judas sold Jesus, but behind the Traitor was the Tempter. He listened to the voice of Jesus, but he also 192 listened to the voice of Satan. -Though Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, He never gave it away to His disciples. If he had, the eleven would most likely have killed Judas on the spot as Peter tried to kill Malicious in the Garden. -Jesus loved Judas like He did the rest of the Twelve and expressed the same love to him. He reached out to Judas over and over again and wanted him to be saved. Everything that had happened in the Upper Room was one last effort to reach Judas: He washed his feet, quoted O.T. Prophecies, even the seating arrangement around the table when Jesus placed Judas on His right side, the place of honor. -But Judas would sell Jesus to His enemies for 30 pieces if silver. Would you do that? Never! But some have sold Him for much less: For Pleasure, Position, Popularity, Possessions, Pride. SOLD It may not be for silver, it may not be for gold, But yet by tens of thousands the Prince of Life is sold, Sold for a godless friendship, sold for a selfish aim, Sold for a fleeting trifle, sold for an empty name. Sold at the shrine of fortune, sold in pleasure's bower, Sold for your awful bargain none but God's eyes can see. Ponder my soul the question, shall He be sold by thee? Sold! Oh God, what a moment! Stilled is conscience voice; Sold! And a weeping angel records the fatal choice. No wonder Jesus said that it would have been better for him if he had never been born. Hypocrites are hard to spot. When Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me,” the Bible says that the disciples began to look – not at Judas, but at one another. -Imagine, after three years of living with Judas, no one suspected him. How easy it is to hide behind religion and religious activity and never really be saved. I hear folks say, “I can't stomach the church because of its hypocrites.” -Listen, let's put away our excuses. Until Jesus returns, the church will always be contaminated with hypocrisy. Jesus said so. We should be neither surprised nor repelled by it. What we should do is examine our own hearts. -If a hypocrite is standing between you and Christ, then that person is closer to the Lord than you are. The other Gospels tell us that ALL of the disciples, including Judas, asked, “Is it I?” I think Judas asked along with the others just to cover himself. -Simon Peter really wanted to know who it was, so in 13:24, he caught John's eye some way and “beckoned” to John. John was on our Lord's left side, laying his head next to Jesus' heart, and Peter nodded to John or signaled to John or gave John the eye and said, “ASK Jesus who it is!” -Without giving a name, Jesus said that it was the one to whom He was about to give the sop. Jesus dipped the bread in sop and gave it to Judas; then quietly said to him, “That which you are about to do, do quickly.” And Judas leaves to set the plan in motion. 193 Even when Judas leaves, the disciples don't put two and two together. They think that since he has the money bag, Jesus must have sent him for provisions.
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