As we are going through the marvelous gospel of Matthew, we are in the tenth chapter. Christ is training his disciples and sending the twelve out as apostles for on-the-job training and field experience. Chapter 10 includes the instructions that He gives them as they are sent out, and its instruction is vital to any of us who are sent to represent Jesus Christ and preach the gospel. Before he gives instructions, we have the list of the twelve apostles.
We took some time to understand each of the apostles. We have seen eleven so far. Each one is a great encouragement: how the Lord took Peter, a rustic stone, and made him a leader; Andrew, behind the scenes, quiet, but who kept bringing souls to Christ; James and John, sons of thunder, and how God changed their fervency in the right way; then Philip, a spiritually dull, worldly analytical man who, even after three years, was asking, “show us the Father, that is enough,” and how he became an apostle; Thomas, with what affection for Christ, and how people completely misunderstand him as a doubting man; then Matthew, the tax collector, stunned by the grace of Christ, who doesn’t openly speak in all the gospels until the Holy Spirit moves him to write the longest and greatest gospel to the Jews; then “Little” James, son of Alphaeus, who, though he didn’t have many talents, was short and inferior, yet was a mega-faithful man; Thaddaeus, the pet child of his home, but after following Christ, was in a group among cruel terrorists. Then we saw Simon the Zealot, how a dangerous terrorist against the Roman government became an apostle.
We saw how the grace of Christ completely changed these ordinary men like you and me and made them official representatives of the Eternal Kingdom of God. They built the church, and they are the foundation of the church for all coming generations. These men were really the key to all the rest of human history and changed world history. If they had been unfaithful that day, we would not be here today. We are the fruit of their work. We saw wonderful and encouraging stories for each. But today, it will not be an encouraging story; it is a very, very sad story and a great warning to all disciples.
The last of the apostles stands out as a contrast to the others. He is alone. His name is Judas Iscariot. He had the same potential as any of the others. He could have been a John, or a Peter, or whatever. If his heart was right, Christ could have transformed him. He was the same raw material; a very ordinary, unworthy man. But the same sun that on one side melts the wax, on the other side hardens the clay. And while the other men were being melted and molded, he was being hardened.
He is a horrifying, colossal misfit. He is the epitome of depravity and disaster. He is the vilest, most treacherous, and wickedest man the Bible knows anything about, and he is our subject this morning: Judas Iscariot. He is the last on the list of the apostles. Usually, they say “last but not the least.” Here, he is not only the last and the least, but the worst apostle. And he is always listed last, and with a comment about his betrayal, because that was his brand and will be for all time. His story is a dark story. His name became a byword for treachery and betrayal. His name is so despised that it is not used in human society, though its meaning is full of loveliness.
There are forty verses in the New Testament in which there is a reference to the betrayal of our Lord, and in each of them, there is the implication of the incredible sin of this man, Judas. In fact, in Dante’s passage through hell, Judas is depicted as occupying the lowest level of hell, fit only for Lucifer himself, and Judas is not even allowed to rise to the caverns of the rest of the damned. He is so deep in the pit.
He is a standalone figure. He is a mystery in many ways—an enigmatic man. How can a man sit under the greatest teacher, under embodied truth, but live a life of lie and hypocrisy? He saw all the miracles, heard all the truth, tasted grace, felt the power of Christ, enjoyed the fellowship, and joined the ministry, yet nothing ever impacted his heart. He sinned against the fullest knowledge of truth and descended into the hottest part of hell forever. Judas is an example of the outwardly religious but not saved, having a form of godliness but denying the power. He is an example of how to go to hell from the doors of heaven. No one was ever so close to heaven, yet ended up so far from heaven. He was a hypocritical disciple, a false convert, who learned how to play the game outside, but his heart was never impacted in any way. He is the father of all false disciples. Christ will join all false disciples who play hypocrisy to his punishment.
In Church history, there have been great preachers, so-called believers, who did many things for Christ for twenty, thirty, or forty years, but later departed from the truth. They go after the world. So, how do we assess them? One great preacher from a big church, after twenty-five years of ministry, said he doesn’t believe the gospel because he is homosexual. How do we take it? So many people for many, many years looked like Christians and then went back to the world, to covetousness, lust, idolatry, and never repented. What shall we call them? People who do not know the truth say they lost salvation or backslid. But according to the Bible, if we know the truth, we understand that their departure actually proves that they were not truly saved, but just had an outward godly form. Nobody whom Christ saves ever loses salvation. A great sign of a true born-again believer is perseverance in faith. If people fall back and don’t repent, that means they were not truly saved, and that is why the church puts them out—because their departure now proves they were not saved by God.
Today, the gospel is not preached properly, so many unbelievers join the church and live in self-deception. Jesus himself said many will say to him on that day, “We did preaching, miracles, and prophecy,” and he will say, “You are self-deceived. I don’t know you.” What a tragedy—self-deception even till judgment! That is horrifying. It is the duty of the church to regularly preach piercing, examining sermons so they examine themselves. This is such a sermon. Judas is a serious warning to each of us to do what 2 Corinthians 13:5 says: to examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith, to test yourselves. What fools we would be to sit here, hear about the hypocrisy of Judas, and for any of us not to examine ourselves, lest the same be true of our own lives. It is a great warning on how easy it is to be self-deceived, to play church, to be a disciple, yet not to know Jesus Christ. The greatest deception is being deceived about our soul’s state. Anything else we can correct in time. If you are deceived about your eternal state, if you gain the whole world and then are deceived about your soul, what benefit is there? We need to examine if we are truly saved. If we are truly saved, the Holy Spirit gives us assurance of salvation. If you do not have assurance, it is time to examine your hearts. Do you see the signs of salvation—the signs Christ showed in the Sermon on the Mount: poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hating sin, and loving your brothers? I cannot tell you how important spiritual exercise and examination is. A counterfeit will hate to be tested. A genuine person will always love to be tested. Self-examination has saved many, many souls from eternal destruction. It is because of a lack of self-examination that such false believers continue. If we hate examination, we may also face a terrible end like him. He never examined his heart. Give heed to your eternal soul today as we look at Judas.
Judas: Identity, Call, and Hypocrisy
His Identity
He has two names. Judas—he probably grew up in a very devout family. The name Judas is a form of one of the important tribes of Israel, Judah. The Southern Kingdom was Judah; they had the temple and worship. It was a name given by his godly parents, meaning “Jehovah leads.” Godly parents gave him the name that he should be led by Jehovah. The irony is that there never was one who was more obviously led by Satan than was Judas. His father’s name was Simon, a very common name; this family lived a common existence.
Iscariot is an indication as to where he grew up, like “Jesus of Nazareth” indicating his hometown. Iscariot is two Hebrew words merged together: Isch means “man,” and Kerioth is the name of a town. Twenty-three miles from Jerusalem, there is a little town, Kerioth. In this town, many years ago, a little child was born that was one day to be the most hated human being who ever lived. It would have been better if he had not been born. When you combine Isch with Kerioth, it means “man of Kerioth,” a man from that town. He was raised there. What is interesting is that Judas is the only disciple not from Galilee; all the others are. He came from Judea; they came from Galilee. Most of them knew each other—they were brothers and fishermen. The only outsider, location-wise, is Judas. He was least known by the others because he was from a faraway town. This probably helped him to live undetected. They never knew. He is at the very end in every list of the apostles. He is greatly separated and far from Jesus Christ. He is as far from heaven as heaven is from hell. He is separated from the sinless Son of God. He was never regenerated or converted.
His Call
And I hasten to add that the call of Judas is not recorded in the Bible. We meet him for the first time right here in this list, and we don’t know how he got in the group. I mean, we know the Lord called him in, but we don’t know any of the circumstances. But he stayed with Christ. I don’t think he was particularly attracted by the spiritual; I think he was attracted on the selfish level. He saw the power of Jesus, and he believed that this man would bring the Kingdom and overthrow the Romans. He is also from a terrorist group (the Zealots).
But on the other side, from Christ’s perspective, he was chosen to follow. Now, one thing is certain: Jesus knew Judas would betray Him, and that is why He chose him. Jesus knew the plan, you see. And from the very beginning, John 6:70 says, when it states, “Many went away and the twelve remained,” Jesus at that early time said, “One of you is a,” what? “Devil.” So, from the beginning, He knew in his omniscient knowledge. And He knew because of what the Old Testament said. The Old Testament predicted that one of His own would betray Him. Psalm 41:9: “My familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of My bread hath lifted up his heel against Me.” The Psalmist saw in the future the Messiah being betrayed by His own familiar friend. If you look into the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 11, it speaks of buying a potter’s field for thirty silver coins. So, when Jesus chose Judas, He knew he was the betrayer, and He knew the prophecies about His betrayal, so He understood the entire plan. And He chose him because of that plan. John 17:12: “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” He chose him to be the fulfillment of that scripture.
Now, listen to me: you have here the paradox—God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. You say, “If it’s in the plan, in the prophecies, God’s predestination, then is Judas responsible?” We don’t understand God’s decree, but we know God is not the author of sin; he makes no man sin. And man is responsible for his sin, and the Bible always lays the responsibility for his sin on him. God didn’t make Judas sin, but out of his own depravity, he sinned and was doomed for that. God overruled for his purpose. Only God can connect these two things in his infinite mind. But see Luke 22:22 says this: “And truly the Son of Man goeth, as it was determined.” In other words, I am going into betrayal, I am going into arrest, I am going into death as it was determined. The betrayal and the man were determined. But, and here it comes, “Woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed.” You see? On the one hand, it is determined; on the other hand, Judas is responsible.
So, his call: Jesus chose Judas because of the plan, yet offered Judas every opportunity not to fulfill it. I mean, Jesus spoke so much repeatedly about worldly love, covetousness, and the love of money. He even said, “one of you is a devil,” to warn Judas, but Judas never listened and never applied anything. And he kept up his deceit. Jesus knew everything the disciples didn’t know. Jesus knew exactly what he was. But Jesus loved him and tried to reach him.
His Hypocrisy
He was a fantastic hypocrite. He was so good at it, they elected him treasurer of the group. He was a thief at heart. He could talk like the world when he was in the market, like sinners among sinners. Then when he was with the disciples, he could innocently talk as a true believer. He seemed like a committed disciple, as if he gave up his job, left his family, and followed Christ like the other disciples. In John 6, many who followed left, saying, “this is a hard saying.” He remained with them and acted as if he was a very committed disciple. You know what Christ said? That is when he said John 6:70:
“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!'”
He continued as a disciple. He continued even when he was chosen as an apostle to be sent out to preach the message of the kingdom. He was made an ambassador of Christ. Judas was given miracle power. He had authority to cast out demons and do miracles. Judas was indistinguishable; you could never point him out as a false one. That is how easy it is to play church, learn to talk like a believer, sing, preach like a believer, and even do miracles like a believer or an apostle, but you may not be saved at all. Yet you can easily cover your heart even though you are not born again.
He was so great in hypocrisy that nobody could detect him, and he was made the treasurer. Would they just give the money box to anyone? How much they must have trusted him! He was the treasurer. John 13:29 mentions he had the money box. He was respected and trusted; others thought so highly of him. They looked around, thinking, “Who is going to keep our money? We feel most confident that Judas can take care of the money.” He seemed responsible, trustworthy, good at math and negotiation, and trusted. He had blended in and was highly respected, so no one detected that Judas was unconverted. He was involved in the ministry fully: traveling with Christ, praying with Christ, preaching the gospel, seeing and doing miracles, and keeping the money. All the while, remaining unconverted and hypocritical in heart.
I don’t know for whom this message is today. Eleven didn’t know Judas was lost. I don’t know your heart. If the Lord is bringing conviction as I am saying, this is intended for your good, for your eternal good. The Lord chose him in his mercy: 1. It was predetermined by God, so that he is part of the sovereign plan of God for the crucifixion and that resulting in our salvation. He is a model example of the doctrine of reprobation.
He was also chosen so that he would stand as an example for all generations before our eyes today—how dangerous it is to play in the church, how easy it is to come to church and play church and never have a supernatural relationship with Christ. If you are not saved and know that you are not converted, it is very, very dangerous to play with Christ. I plead with you: come to faith in Christ; do not continue to be like Judas and be self-deceived and lost.
He was probably young, a zealous Jew, a patriotic Jew who didn’t want the Romans to rule, and he believed Jesus could overthrow Rome and establish the kingdom as the Messiah. He thought maybe it would be a few days of difficulty following him, but when we make this investment, we can bear it. When the kingdom comes, “I will be a great minister and earn a lot of money.” And for him, it was all earthly, and it was all crude and materialistic. Judas was waiting patiently for Jesus to take over the kingdom so he could become a minister.
All the disciples had this same hope and followed like this, but our Lord, through regular teaching and training, lifted them to a spiritual plane. Judas never got there. The Lord elevated them to a spiritual Kingdom to see things in a divine dimension, like Simon the Zealot, but Judas never got off the crude, materialistic, earthly level. The other disciples had worldliness, yes, and greed and selfishness, but it was overcome by the love of Christ. But he was a man full of covetousness and worldly desire. He had an adamant love for the world and a covetous heart. And the others were lifted, and he stayed. Christ’s teaching and truth sanctified others, but he became more corrupted, and he had at the root of his character a terrible, terrible passion for money, and he was never willing to relinquish it. He didn’t allow the truth to sanctify him. No truth could shake him. He sold his soul to covetousness; no money, no life. Money was God for him; he was ready to do anything and leave anything for money. Judas sold his soul to money.
He joined Christ with an ambition, with an agenda. He was waiting and watching Christ for three years. He maybe spoke and tried to control Christ for his reasons, but he couldn’t do that. Christ was not doing anything big for setting up the kingdom, always trying to teach the truth for changing his heart. He couldn’t turn Christ in the direction he wanted. He couldn’t change the message of Christ. He didn’t like the way Christ was going. Initially, he bore it for three years, hoping things would change, but he lost patience when he saw the direction Jesus was going and not doing anything for setting up the kingdom, and saying that “I am going to die.” That frustrated and disappointed the man.
We have seen his identity, his call, and his hypocrisy.
His Blasphemy and Betrayal
His Blasphemy
Let’s follow the sequence, John chapter 12. We’re coming to the final events, moving to the cross. Judas is utterly and totally upset and disappointed with Christ, maybe thinking he has wasted his three years following him, with no gain—not one penny. He is angry. He no longer could contain his hypocrisy; he no longer could mask the vile, filthy, wretched soul that was within him. And so, in Bethany, there was an incident that unmasked him.
John 12:1 describes the event: six days before his crucifixion, at the end of his life, there is an event that is the first time he opens his mouth and says something in the Bible, and oh, how revealing his words are! His blasphemy. This is the point of no return for Judas. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead; what a powerful display! He saw that in the previous chapter. Mary did something amazing: she took costly perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus. This was not just any perfume. This was from a plant, likely imported from India, brought at great expense and sacrifice in those days, transported to the other side of the Middle East. It was equivalent to an entire year’s salary. Mary knew that he was going to go away and that they would not have him. The disciples didn’t understand that. She knew he was going to die, and it was time for burial. In great, extravagant love for Christ, she was preparing his body for the burial. So, she begins to anoint the feet of Jesus Christ and wiped his feet with her hair—what humility and submission! The house was filled with the scent. This is the first time the man opens his mouth in the entire Bible. Notice verse 4:
“But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.'”
He hated Jesus so deeply now that he couldn’t stand any homage paid to Him. The hate had taken over. What started as attraction, and love, and fascination had turned to hate. Because Jesus didn’t do what he expected, he became more and more frustrated at wasting that on this One, in whom “I have invested three wasted years.”
All the while, hiding in the shadows, he never opened his mouth, never stepped out from his hiding. Now he cannot control his mouth. Verse 4: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” It sounds reasonable. It sounds so pious, spiritual, and merciful, but it was a cover-up to hide his wicked heart. The disciples couldn’t detect it. They may agree with Judas: “Yes, why did this foolish girl do this?”
This is rank hypocrisy. If that money had come into the money box, he would’ve had more money to steal some more. “That should have gone into my money box.” He was stealing from the fund the whole time, all three years. Can you imagine that kind of a guy? Here’s a poor band of people going around doing good, and he was stealing out of their resources all the while. He had absolutely no love or affection for them. His covetousness was so great that he even put his hand in this poor, sacred money. Judas was one who lived for the world, for the things of this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. His heart was never broken. Judas was interested in treasure on earth. Money was his god. It motivated him, controlled him, and consumed him. Judas saw in Christ a way to make more money for his covetous heart.
Some people have tried to ascribe a good motive to him. You cannot ascribe a good motive to Judas any time, in any way, for two reasons: One, Jesus said, “One of you is a devil“; two, before he betrayed Him, Jesus said, “And Satan entered into him.” There was nothing good about him. He was wretched.
We have seen his identity, his call, his hypocrisy, and his blasphemy.
His Betrayal
After he speaks, he crossed the line. All the sinful covetousness he had harbored for three years were not just thoughts now; they were conceived and now giving birth in action. Evil choices and evil thoughts lead to evil actions and a corrupted life. That night, Jesus gently rebuked Judas: “‘Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ‘It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.’”
After that incident occurred, he was fed up—he could not bear any more—and immediately that night, Judas left Bethany and brought about the first fatal interview with the chief priests. He began to negotiate with them, as prophesied in Zechariah chapter 11, for 30 pieces of silver. If you read Matthew 26:14, he went to the high priest and acted out his sins. He acted out the sinful thoughts in his mind. He didn’t want to continue with Christ. He cut a deal with the high priest for 30 pieces of silver: “At the right moment, I will lead you to him.”
After having initiated the betrayal, our Lord is meeting in the upper room with His disciples. In John 13, he had already made the deal. The Devil now had a direct influence on him, more and more. Nothing of Christ’s truth would work on him, not even the communion and other wonderful truths in John 13-16, the riches and treasure of the Bible. Judas has worked out his scheme, and now he comes back to join the group and play the role of the hypocrite even further. He comes back in; he’s welcome to the fellowship again. Jesus washes his feet, if you can imagine that, in the first part of the chapter.
John 13:21 says, “After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, ‘Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.’” He was burdened, anxious, and upset. This trouble was due to the ingratitude, the rejection of love, the hatred for hypocrisy, the repulsiveness of the enemy, the heinousness of sin, the horrors of knowing that hell was waiting for Judas, and the anticipation of the sin-bearing on the cross.
If you read the other Gospels, the disciples didn’t immediately rise up and say, “We knew it was this Judas.” No, they never doubted him—he was such a great actor. They asked, “Is it me?” Judas had the nerve to look into the eyes of Christ and say, “Is it me?”
John 13:26-30 says: “Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, ‘Ask him which one he means.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.”
When a host gave a piece of bread, it was an act of honor, friendship, and great love. All the while, Jesus was warning, teaching, loving, and trying to turn Judas’s heart in every way, but this was the final appeal to Judas’s heart, honoring him. It was then, when he was unmoved by this appeal, that Satan entered into him. This is so serious. When the Lord keeps giving warnings—He warns the conscience—and a man continually denies the call of God, the warning, and the voice of God, and remains unmoved, he opens his heart for the devil. Immediately, Satan takes over. To ignore the Word of God is to give yourself to the devil.
I don’t think the others heard Jesus’s specific statement, because if they had, there would have been an attack. John, in his quietness, accepted it as the plan because Jesus had said, “I say this now so you’ll know when it happens that I am He.” John went along with the plan.
“As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’ But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.”
Christ, in His patience, gave a morsel to Judas and said, “What you do, do quickly.” He knew this was part of the sovereign plan. “It was night”—it was the darkest night in his soul. The door was shut. Satan entered Judas. One can’t imagine anything more horrifying. It’s one thing to be demon-possessed; it’s another thing to have the Devil himself get in there. The ruler of this world, the prince, possessed him. He went to the Sanhedrin, took the military, hundreds of soldiers, knowing Jesus would be in Gethsemane. “I will signal him to you with a kiss.”
Matthew 26:16 says he sought an opportunity to betray Him. Mark 14:11 says he sought how he might conveniently betray Him. And in Luke 22:6, it says he sought how to betray Him in the absence of the multitude. He was afraid of the crowd. He wanted to do it sneakily, he wanted to do it right, and he wanted to do it the easiest way. He feared the populous because he was there at the triumphal entry; he saw the crowd. He was afraid of that. He also wanted to do it in a way that Jesus wouldn’t suspect. He wanted to do it in a sneaky way, so he met again with the chief priests, and they made a negotiation, and He was sold for 30 pieces of silver. Today, that would be worth somewhere around $1500.
That tells us three things:
- Greedy people will settle for any price.
- Those chief priests had absolute disdain for Judas. They wouldn’t give him any more than that.
- They hated Jesus because that’s all they thought He was worth.
Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32). He looked down on Christ as no more highly valued than a slave, to be sold like a piece of furniture, and he sold him for 30 pieces.
He negotiated that he would point Jesus out to them in a secret, quiet place. In the pitch dark of the night, they had to have a sign, so he said the sign would be “the One I kiss.” Otherwise, they wouldn’t have known which one He was in the darkness.
That brings us to John 18, the next time we see Judas. Jesus is in the garden. Verse 2: “Judas also, who betrayed Him, knew the place, for Jesus often resorted there with His disciples.” He gathered together a band of men and officers, and chief priests and Pharisees, and they came with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth and said to them, ‘Whom seek ye?’
Jesus knew that Judas was going to come in, come up to Him, and kiss Him. Then, the soldiers would attack, and Judas would feign shock, as if he knew nothing. Judas would kiss Him to put Him at ease, so He wouldn’t think anything was up. Jesus knew all that. So, do you know what He did? He removed the necessity for the kiss. He walked out and said, “Whom seek ye?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And He said, “I am He.” Thus eliminating the need for a kiss. But just to show you the pit of blackness in the heart of Judas, he kissed Him anyway. That too, after the Lord had suffered so much, prayed, and sweated blood for three hours—seeing Him in torment. This devilish man with the diabolical heart forced that unnecessary kiss, even though it was no longer a kiss to point Him out. It was a kiss to fake his innocence, a supreme act of hypocrisy.
By the way, in Matthew 26, the Greek says, “He kissed Him repeatedly.” You’ve got to be a vile character to pull that off. I can’t imagine the heart of our Lord. I just can’t imagine it. I can understand how He could endure the hatred of the priests, the raucous noise of the multitude. I can understand how He could endure the cowardice of Pilate, the brutality of the soldiers. I can understand how He could sort of go through the denial of Peter, but how in the world could He handle this? And then, do you know what Jesus’ reply was? In Matthew 26, it says that Judas kept on kissing Him and Jesus said to him, “Friend, what are you doing? Betraying the Son of Man with a kiss.” Friend, He said. Always the lover, always the forgiver, and so He was betrayed by a man who lived for greed. Judas was shocked at how Christ knew it, and he knew the game was up. And if he could only get ten dollars, it was better than nothing else.
Let me ask you a question: Is the act of Judas unique? Is it the only act of its kind? Not so. You will read in the Old Testament, in the book of Ezekiel, how that God was polluted among the people for handfuls of barley and bread. If you read the prophet Amos, you will read of those who sold the righteous for money. And may I suggest to you today that men have and always will sell Christ for whatever they think is worth more. Listen to this: “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, fame, perishing riches. Sold in the seat of power. Sold at the shrine of a luxury lifestyle. Sold in pleasure’s hour. Sold for your awful bargain, none but God’s eye can see. Ponder, my soul, the question: how shall He be sold by thee?” Sold out. For how many of us is Christ already sold out? For a moment, we ask, has this stilled his conscience voice? Heaven looks at this trading and weeps—how depraved can mankind be? Invaluable, eternal, glorious Son of God! Blinded, foolish men, like a donkey not knowing the value of saffron, selling the Son of God so cheaply! “Sold!” the weeping angel records the fatal choice. Oh, for all eternity, we will repent this selling.
Judas sold Jesus for greed. People are still doing it for their ill-gotten gain, their lifestyle, and everything else. Why did he do it? Sure there was malice, sure there was worldly ambition, revenge, hatred of what was good, rejection of what was pure, pride, ingratitude, and anger. But most of all, just greed: crass, worldly materialism.
Finally, His End
May I talk for a moment about his death? James says that lust, when it is conceived, brings forth sin (James 1), and when sin is conceived, it brings forth what? Death. And Proverbs 10:7 says: “The name of the wicked shall rot.” Poor Judas. He sold Christ, he sold his fellow apostles, he sold his soul, and he bought hell. And the price was too high. You know what he did? He knew it, because his heart was filled with such pain and remorse that Matthew 27:3 says this: “Judas who had betrayed Him, when he saw that he was condemned.”
And how was he condemned? By his conscience. Conviction must have been so heavy on him that it pounded in his head. “He repented,” it says. Now, that might sound good to you, but that’s not the Greek word for spiritual repentance; that’s the word for wanting to change your feelings. He felt bad. He regretted it.
A spiritually minded man deals with his conscience in a spiritual way; he goes to God for forgiveness. But a materialist, a crass, earthly man, deals with his problems on an earthly basis. So, instead of going to God with his need on a spiritual plane, he went back to the chief priests on a physical level, and he threw the money back, thinking by the physical act of returning the money he could relieve the spiritual conviction. Verse 4: “‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood.’ ‘What is that to us?’ they replied. ‘That’s your responsibility.’ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”
But he couldn’t relieve his conscience. His unforgiven heart screamed out for vengeance on himself, and so he took the vengeance on himself. The Bible says, “He hanged himself, after having thrown the money on the temple floor.”
His mind was so terribly tortured. He was so much in a hurry to die that he probably didn’t tie the knot properly, or his weight was too heavy. He didn’t properly secure himself. He couldn’t hang himself any better than he could do anything else. And either the knot was insufficient, or the branch broke, and having hanged himself over a precipice, he plummeted to have his bowels burst on the rocks beneath. In Acts 1, it says he died having his bowels burst asunder.
And by the way, what did they do with the money that he threw in the house of the Lord? They said, “It is not lawful to put it in the treasury.” So, now all of a sudden, they’re getting lawful? “Because it is the price of blood, we can’t use blood money in the treasury.” They took counsel and they bought with it the potter’s field to bury strangers in. That is exactly what the Old Testament said—that the 30 pieces would be given to the potter in the house of the Lord. And the plan was fulfilled.
And you know what this is telling us all through this? That God is overruling the stupidity and the evil of men to fulfill His own word. If by taking his own life, Judas thought he could end the misery of his conscience, he made a terrible mistake, for he has a miserable conscience now and forever and ever in hell. He went to the hottest place of hell, where the devil will be put. Today, he cries out in agony as a warning to every hypocrite.
So we see the man who betrayed Christ: his identity, his call, his hypocrisy, his blasphemy, his betrayal, and his end. How sad. This is the story of every hypocrite. The tragedy of this man’s life can be summed up in the words of our Lord, who said in Matthew 26:24: “It would’ve been better for that man if he had never been born.” And that’s the way it will be for people who reject Christ. “For 30 pieces, Judas sold himself, not Christ.”
Applications
First, Judas is the world’s greatest example of lost opportunity. I told you these apostles got the greatest calling in the whole history of mankind. No one is at their level, both in history—as true heroes of history—and in eternity, where they will sit on thrones. He had the opportunity to be one of them, to be lifted to heaven, but he descended to the lowest hell. No man, ever, is a greater tragedy than that man. Twelve men in human history had the privilege of walking three years in the presence of the living God incarnate, and he missed it. The other eleven got it. Incredible. And there are people who will sit in the presence of Christians, and thus in the presence of Christ, having the opportunity of hearing the deepest truths of God. Christ patiently allows them in his church even if they are not born again. Yet, they lose all that opportunity, run after the love of money, covetousness, and lust, and go into eternity without Him. But Judas is the worst. And those who continue to miss the opportunity are in the line of Judas. He stood in the fairest surroundings the world has ever known, and he’s damned forever.
Secondly, he is the world’s greatest example of wasted privilege. He wanted money, he wanted riches, he wanted possessions. He could have possessed the universe forever, but he sold it for 1500 dollars. God offers you and every soul the riches of eternity. What kind of a stupid bargain are you making by saying no to that? To say yes to some pittance that will burn at the end of this earth?
Thirdly, Judas is the world’s greatest illustration of the love of money as the root of evil. See what the love of money can do to you. He loved money so much that he actually sold the living God. That’s how far greed can take a man. He is a monument to the destructiveness and the damnation of greed. But today’s Christianity is promoting the love of money. Prosperity preaching, promising richness and health, is leading many people to listen to this and not the true gospel. And all it does is fill the church with Judas converts who go to hell.
Fourthly: Do we realize what a horrible, horrible sin it is to sell Christ for anything in the world? What blindness. Why didn’t this man realize it earlier? One pointed application about the nature of sin we need to understand is seen in Judas’s false repentance. If all he wanted was 30 silver coins, why did he just go with it? Why did he feel so guilty and even commit suicide? Why did he not feel that guilt before betraying? We see the blinding nature of sin.
When we commit a sin, lusts are so powerful that they blind us. They cast a mist over us and blind us. They attack our soul faculties and numb them. They numb the conscience and don’t allow us to realize how wrong we are. They attack our reasoning and weaken our judgment and don’t make us think how enormous, terrible, and horrible the consequences of this sin will be. So, sin blinds us to the monumental magnitude of the sin. It is as if a big rod is hit on our head, and we lose consciousness for a time. No man sees the ugliness of sin until he comes out of it. But after it is done, we see the great magnitude of sin. Like when a man does something in anger, he thinks he is doing right, but after his anger subsides, he thinks he has acted foolishly—why? A man gets blinded by lust. The Devil blinds us so we don’t see the enormity of sin.
That is what happened to this fellow. When blinded by lust, he didn’t realize the enormity of his sin. After committing it, he sees the enormity, and his conscience pricks him, and he is filled with the horror of guilt that he cannot bear. First, Judas had many reasons, but after he came to his senses, he saw the magnitude of his sin. This is the nature of sin. This man was blinded by covetousness, and the shining silver pieces of fleeting pleasure blinded his eyes; he could not see.
Now, after the sin, tortured by his conscience, that which was the delightful promise of our sin—30 silver coins—he throws them down. When the realization of the sin of selling comes upon him, he realizes how big it is. The coins become more burdensome. He thought 30 pieces of silver would bring great pleasure. After the crime, he casts them away. So whatever you achieve through sin—favor, riches, or a name—by selling Christ, it will prove a curse.
He went and hanged himself. Once our sin presses the conscience, we see that suicide is such a horrible act. How afraid all mankind is to die! What terrible torment he must have experienced to commit suicide? Why didn’t he commit this before betraying? After he commits the sin, his blindness goes off, and he sees the enormity of sin. His conscience torments him; he cannot bear it.
When God lays the guilt on our conscience, we feel the burden, a torment beyond anything in this world—unbearable. This happens when the mind is enlightened and sees the enormity of sin. It creates so much terror and fear. When a man feels and knows his sin, when God opens a man’s eyes to see his sins, the enormity of sin causes unbearable pain. That is the reason that in the day of judgment, men will cry to the rocks and mountains to fall on them, because then God will open their eyes to see the bigness of sin. If He does it now, they will do the same; they will commit suicide.
Is sin blinding you today? Do you see the enormity of your sins today? What are you selling Christ for—which lust, which sin, which gain? That sin has blinded you. When God opens your eyes to see the enormity, oh, you will not be able to bear it. When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, that will make us poor in spirit and a mourning man. If not, sin has attacked your conscience and judgment. There will be a day, maybe when it’s too late, that God removes that blindness. That day, you will also cry for the rocks, but today is the day of salvation. You can realize your sin and come to Christ, repent, and believe in Christ.
Lastly, he is a warning and a reminder to every one of us to test whether we are in the faith and put ourselves under a microscope so that we would be certain that we are saved. If you are thinking, “I wish I had come on another Sunday,” you may be deceived. Watch out. If you thought, “Oh, I wanted a comfortable message,” or “When will this sermon on Judas end?”—check out your heart. You may remember this sermon throughout eternity in hell. You will remember this warning that was put in your path to hell in the great mercy of God, but you ignored it and went on. Do not say today, “I don’t have time to think of judgment or hell.” If you don’t have time today, you will have all eternity to think about it. May you examine your heart and life.
Are you saved from the world, no longer living for the world and the things of this world? Is there a higher cause for your life? Have you done anything more than bringing your body to church every week? Have you decided to follow Christ? Have you denied yourself? Taken your cross? Have you confessed your sins and looked to the cross? Have you believed on Jesus Christ? Have you surrendered your life to Christ, to the Lordship of Christ? Have you entrusted everything to him? Have you committed your life? Have you come through the narrow gate? Do you know God has truly saved you?
If you come to Christ today, He will use this message as a blessing in your life to stir your soul and awaken your conscience to come to a believing knowledge of himself.
Examine yourself whether you are in the faith.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 