Survivor Series: CSI: Betrayal

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, April 2, 2006

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The crime scene for this morning is a little bit harder for us to identify. There are actually several places we could look to get an insight into what's happening with Judas in the last days of Jesus' life. For instance, we could venture forth to the chief priest's palace. There we could listen in on a covert conversation between the religious leaders and Judas as Judas asked the question, “How much are you willing to give me for Him?” Maybe we could go to the upper room. There we see the table is set for the Passover meal, and we notice there is one spot that's unoccupied and the meal is half eaten. Someone is definitely missing from the table.

Perhaps we go out to the Garden of Gethsemane . There we can see by the footprints around that a large band of people had arrived at some point in time and, of course, we know that to be the soldiers who came to make an arrest. Maybe all of those could be the crime scene.

But this morning, I would propose, of all the events surrounding Judas, the real crime scene could be found in the temple. There, thrown about the floor, are thirty silver pieces. And just outside the temple and a little further away is a field and, in a tree in that field, a man has taken his own life. The real crime, the real tragedy of all of this just might be found in that field.

Well, as always, we need to focus then on the evidence. And this morning, we're going to do a little bit more of that than what we usually do. So I'm going to ask you to kind of stay with me on this as we examine all of the events surrounding these last two days of Jesus' life and also as we try to dig in deeper to this man called Judas. So maybe I'm going to ask you to suspend some judgment on Judas. Maybe some of your own ideas that you've had about him, just put them on hold for a few moments and let's, as much as we can, take a fresh look at Judas Iscariot.

The first scene we probably should examine is that of the upper room. We know it's Passover time, and Jesus is going to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. Now the gospel writer, John, has an interesting insight for us as to what happened that night between Jesus and Judas. Because Jesus has just said that one of the disciples is going to betray Him. And, as the conversation ensues, it ends this way: “Jesus answered, ‘It is the one whom I give the piece of bread when I have dipped in the dish.' Then, dipping the piece of bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. ‘What you are about to do, do quickly,' Jesus told him. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out and it was night.” Strange occurrences are going on in this Passover and, even stranger, the actions of Judas. Now Judas has already plotted to turn Jesus over to the authorities. He's just looking for the opportune time. He has settled upon the amount, thirty pieces of silver, he'll receive for that but now, if we really think about it, it's awfully strange that Judas is there sharing a meal with Jesus. To understand the strangeness of that, we need to understand the culture of Jesus' time and really even the culture of Middle East today. You know, for you and I to invite somebody over for supper, that's no big deal. Maybe we see the neighbors out back and we wave them over and we have burgers on the grill. But not so in Jesus' time. You didn't just share a meal with anybody. If you sat down at a table with someone, you are making a statement. The statement was that “I accept you.” The statement was that you're my friend, that I trust you, and there is a connection between the two of us. Is it any wonder then the religious leaders just had fits when Jesus sat down with the tax collectors and the sinners and the prostitutes? How in the world could Jesus do such a thing? How could Jesus be accepting of them? So also here, isn't it strange that Judas, who is going to betray Jesus, he's made up his mind, that he would sit down with a meal with Jesus? Either that makes his deed all that much more despicable or all that much more curious. What's going on in his head?

Well, let's travel out to the Garden of Gethsemane . We read it a few moments ago from the gospel of Matthew, interesting things that are happening here. Jesus is out in the garden with His disciples. He's been praying. He gets up to wake up His disciples and, as He's talking to them, scripture records this: “While He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs sent from the chief priest and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. ‘The one I kiss is the man. Arrest Him.' Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi,' and kissed Him.” Now I know you've heard that hundreds of times before, which means maybe you don't get the shock value of everything that's happening here. What's going on in Judas' head? He arrives with all of these soldiers. They have swords. They have clubs. It's obvious what they're there for. It's obvious to everyone that he's there to arrest Jesus. The gospel writer, John, gives us further insight when it says, “When they first arrived, Jesus said, ‘Who are you looking for?' They said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus says, ‘I'm the one.'” Which means Judas didn't need to identify Jesus anymore. He may have arranged the signal for them but, when they got there, they all know who Jesus is. So why then, why does Judas go up to Jesus and, in a respectful fashion, call Him ‘Rabbi,' and greet Him then with an affectionate kiss. Now either Judas is some sadistic person who's finding joy in greeting Him this way as he betrays Him or there's something else going on with Judas. What's behind all of this?

Well, let's keep gathering facts. Let's go now to after Jesus has been condemned and Judas finds out. Matthew records this for us: “When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priest and the elders. ‘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.” More strange events if you look at it with fresh eyes. If Judas is just this greedy so and so, if all he's interested is in how he can make a buck, and now he has the thirty pieces of silver, then why in the world does he return them? Why is Judas surprised, shocked that Jesus is condemned? Didn't he plot with them that he was going to turn Him over to the chief priest, to the religious leaders of the time? Then why is it that Judas is so shocked and dismayed that he takes the very money he bargained for, throws it on the temple floor, and then he goes out and he kills himself?

We need to understand Judas a little bit more to get a clear understanding of what's happening here. What kind of person was Judas? Scriptures illuminate a little bit more about him. For instance, in each one of the gospels, he's identified as one of the original twelve disciples. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all list him as part of the apostles, which Judas was called just like all the rest of the twelve. So, just as Matthew was called, so Judas was called. He's no different. He's no better, he's no worse than any of the rest of the disciples. Now we do find out an interesting fact about Judas, though, and that is the fact that Judas was the treasurer of the group, which is awfully strange because he wasn't exactly the best fit for treasurer, as we find out from the gospel of John. John has some insight for us as to Judas. Now the setup for this story here is the fact that Jesus has gone to Bethany and He's in the house of Simon, the leper. He's there for a supper. Mary comes in, of Mary and Martha fame, and she breaks open an expensive jar of perfume and she pours it on Jesus and anoints Him. And we later find out that's a foreshadowing of Jesus' death. She's preparing Him for His burial, but they didn't know it at the time. So here's this expensive perfume that is poured out on Jesus. John records this, “But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who would later betray Him, objected. ‘Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.' He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. As the keeper of the moneybag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Pretty stinging words from John. Judas objects to this waste of money. But John points out it's not because Judas is concerned about the poor. It's because Judas is greedy. Because Judas says that's a year's worth of wages. That could be put into the coffers if it was sold. And then we find out he's an embezzler, that he helps himself to the moneybag whenever he pleases. So we find out Judas is a lover of money and Judas will do anything to get money. One other interesting fact about this story is, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as they each tell this story of the anointing of Jesus with the expensive perfume, immediately after that, those gospel writers record that Judas sought out the chief priest and asked, “How much will you give me for Him?” They linked together Judas' indignation of the waste of money and then, all of a sudden, him bargaining for Jesus' life with the chief priest. That tells us something about Judas.

One more piece of evidence we need to look at is the concept the disciples had of Jesus. Now you and I know Jesus, when He talks about His kingdom, is talking about a heavenly kingdom. We understand post-resurrection, that Jesus was talking about establishing a heavenly kingdom and, through His death and resurrection, He would open up the gates of heaven for all of us to join Him. But His disciples didn't get that. It's important to note the disciples didn't understand that. The disciples, before the resurrection, thought Jesus was going to establish an earthly kingdom. They looked at Jesus as, yes, the deliverer, the Messiah, but He would be the one to reestablish Israel, to bring them back to the glory days when King David was there, to free them from the oppression of the Romans, so they were looking for a time when Jesus would lead them, lead them in rebellion against Rome and establish Israel once again. The gospel writer, Luke, links some events for us that tells us this is how the disciples were thinking, once again, surrounding Judas' betrayal. Jesus has just told the disciples that one of the twelve is going to betray Him, so the disciples react this way. They begin to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. The very next verse, though, “And also a dispute arose among them to which was considered the greatest.” The dispute is who's going to have the highest ranking position once the kingdom is established? Do you recall James' and John's mother coming to Jesus and saying, “Jesus, listen, my boys here, I want you to take care of them. Can one of them sit at your right hand and one of them sit at your left hand when you establish your kingdom?” She's looking for a position of authority for her two sons once the kingdom is there. So also the rest of the disciples are figuring to themselves who's the greatest in all of this. Who's going to have the best position? The link here is Judas is part of this. Judas is banking on the fact that Jesus is going to establish His kingdom and, in that kingdom, he's going to have a place of authority. He's going to have a place probably of wealth. So Judas, being greedy, doing anything for money, is banking on that position.

Let's bring all of the evidence together. What do we know for sure about Judas? We know Jesus called him as one of the twelve. We know he's a thief, he loves money, and he's greedy. And he has proven he'll do even unscrupulous, illegal things to get that money, helping himself to the coffers. We know he is frustrated with Jesus, frustrated with the fact He would allow this expensive perfume to be poured upon Him when it's worth a year's worth of wages. We know he's banking on Jesus establishing His kingdom. And, more than likely, he's anxious for that to happen. He's anxious to keep things going. Maybe he objected to the year's worth of wages in perfume because that could have been used to fuel the army. Look at it from Judas' perspective. The timing is right. As they come into Jerusalem during Passover week, on Sunday, palm branches are laid in front of Jesus. They hail Him as the king. Now is the time to strike. Now is the time to rally the people together, to pull them together and to lead the rebellion against Rome and establish that kingdom because, the sooner it's established, the sooner Judas gets his position in that kingdom. But, just in the middle of all of this happening, Jesus “lets the perfume be wasted.” Jesus starts talking about His death, and He starts talking about He's going to be going away from them.

Judas says, “No.” Judas decides to take matters into his own hands. He's going to kick-start the events. He's going to get the rebellion going sooner rather than later. So he arranges with the chief priest. Who cares what the cost is? “Thirty pieces of silver? I don't care.” That's really irrelevant because what's going to happen here is, if they come to arrest Jesus, I'm guessing he figured in his mind they'll never actually arrest Him because the troops will rally around Jesus and prevent it. Or even if they do arrest Jesus, He'll never be taken to trial because those crowds of people who were hailing Him as the king, as soon as they see what's happening, they're going to rally to Jesus' side. They're going to lead the revolt. They're going to free Jesus and, finally, this party's going to get started and we're going to lead the revolt and Judas is going to have that position. He's going to have that authority and that wealth he's after. You see, Judas got tired of waiting. He got tired of waiting for events to happen, so he decided he'd take matters in his own hands. He'd make things happen.

The problem is Judas' plans were not God's plans, and they ended in disaster. Judas watches as Jesus is arrested and then, to his shock and dismay, Jesus is condemned and taken off to be crucified. “This isn't how it was supposed to happen.” He watches as the crowd that hailed Him as a king now call for His crucifixion. This isn't right. This wasn't the plan he had. This wasn't the idea of how things were supposed to happen. And that brings us back to the temple and an explanation of the thirty pieces of silver thrown on the floor and to the field not too far away and a man hanging from a noose.

You see, Judas let his own desires and his own agenda supercede God's. The application for us is glaring. How often do we let our own ideas and our plans supercede God's? Haven't you ever been tired of waiting for God to act? Haven't you, at times, been frustrated things aren't happening according to your schedule, life isn't turning out the way you want it to turn out? So you take matters into your own hands. You start living according to your rules instead of God's rules. Are you tired of waiting? So do you say to yourself, “You know, I tried being good. I tried being faithful, and I didn't make any friends. So maybe I'll try being naughty just a little bit and see if that doesn't get some attention.” Or the conversation goes something like this, “You know, as long as we love each other, as long as we're committed to one another, what difference does it make whether we're married or not. It's only a piece of paper. How could something that seems so right be wrong?” Or one person talking to another over a cup of coffee saying, “You know, God couldn't want me to be this miserable. He just doesn't want to see me go through this pain day after day. Certainly, He understands the marriage must end. I have a right to be happy, just like everyone else, don't I?” Because you've heard it say “nice guys finish last,” and you have no intention of being last. So we let our plans and our agendas supercede God's and we take matters into our own hands, only to discover your plans are not God's plans. And I wonder how many times have they ended in disaster and how many times have they ended in pain in your life and in deep remorse?

The real crime that has taken place this morning, the real tragedy you and I must avoid is what happened to Judas. Because the real crime of Judas, as serious as it is that he betrayed our Savior for thirty pieces of silver, the real tragedy of the whole situation is that Judas refused the love Jesus offered to him. Because Jesus never stopped loving Judas. Jesus never stopped reaching out for Judas. Let's replay it, once again, looking at it from a different perspective. Let's go back to the Passover meal. Jesus has welcomed Judas to the table. He lets Judas know, in no uncertain terms, He's knows exactly what his plans are. He knows he is the betrayer. He knows what he's done, the deal he's cut with the chief priest and yet Jesus still welcomes him at His table. He reaches out in love to him and accepts him. But Judas still marches on. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane , as Judas betrays Him with a kiss, Jesus refers to him with the affectionate term “friend.” “Friend, do what you've come to do.” Couldn't Judas replay in his mind a previous conversation that Jesus had with His disciples? When Jesus said, “No greater love is a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” And then He looked at His disciples and He said, “You are my friends.” And He says to Judas, “You are my friend.” Jesus is reaching out His hand of love and forgiveness. He knows Judas' heart. He knows of the betrayal, but He still loves him and He still wants to forgive him. But, once again, Judas takes matters into his own hands. He refuses to believe Jesus could love him. He couldn't accept the forgiveness Jesus offered t o him, so he throws the silver coins down and he takes his own life, robbing himself of God's love and forgiveness.

The evidence is overwhelming, and the application for us is this: Jesus loves you the same. No matter how many times you've taken life into your own hands, no matter how many times your plans have superceded God's plan. No matter how many times you have betrayed Him or denied Him, no matter what you have done in the past, no matter what you might do in the future, Jesus will always love you and He will always reach out His hand of forgiveness and grace to you. That love was demonstrated. It was demonstrated in the fact He allowed Himself to be arrested. The gospel writers tell us Jesus could have called out legions of angels to come, but He didn't. He let Himself be arrested. It was His love that remained silent during all of the inquisition. It was His love that allowed us to nail Him to a cross, and it was in His love when He cried out to the Father, “It is finished.” The sins of Judas, denial of Peter, the lies we've told, the deceit in our lies, our anger, our mistrust, all of that was paid for.

And just as Jesus reached out His hand to Judas and called him “friend,” He reaches out to you and calls you “friend.” The world is full of wounded people who won't accept that, who just can't believe God could love us that much. Don't be one of them. Accept the love God has for you. Accept the forgiveness Jesus offers. Let Him enter into your heart and change your life. Let God's plans be your plans.

The evidence is overwhelming and if we learn nothing more from this crime scene, then we need to learn this: God's love is deeper than any crime you could ever commit, and the worst tragedy would be for us not to accept that. Amen.