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Betrayed and Arrested Msg 1220 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Worship is absolutely vital for the survival of the believer.
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Speaker 1: Private worship, corporate worship, we're doing both as God's people.
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Speaker 1: It occurred to me just driving to this place this
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Speaker 1: morning that this is probably the only other place on
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Speaker 1: earth that we sing with other people. Unless you're a
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Speaker 1: A real good singer and you're a part of a
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Speaker 1: chorale somewhere. Church is probably the only place you sing
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Speaker 1: with other folks. And you're probably thinking, and I hope
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Speaker 1: they sing louder than I do because my voice isn't
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Speaker 1: that great. I never read in the scriptures that we
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Speaker 1: need great voices to sing to the Lord. We're to
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Speaker 1: make a joyful noise to the Lord. And that saves
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Speaker 1: a lot of us from anything more than that. This
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Speaker 1: is the only place where we really give of our substance,
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Speaker 1: our money, corporately and together. We do it together. I
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Speaker 1: don't know of any other place where we do that.
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Speaker 1: We don't do it at school. We don't do it
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Speaker 1: at our offices where we work or our shops. This
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Speaker 1: is a place where we give. We release our money
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Speaker 1: for the glory of God. Somebody has called worship a
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Speaker 1: human response to a divine revelation. So as you throw
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Speaker 1: yourself into this, I would urge you with the words
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Speaker 1: of Charles Wesley, that you be lost in wonder and
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Speaker 1: love and praise. Aren't those great words? Listen to what
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Speaker 1: is being sung. Listen to the words that your lips
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Speaker 1: are saying. Every once in a while, I stop in
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Speaker 1: the middle of singing and realize that I can't sing
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Speaker 1: that truly because I'm not there yet. And I refuse
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Speaker 1: to be a hypocrite in my singing, just as I
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Speaker 1: don't want to be a hypocrite in my life. So
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Speaker 1: this is a serious part of our worship. Let's do
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Speaker 1: our best to block out all the other stuff that
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Speaker 1: is of life. And let's try to be preoccupied in
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Speaker 1: our worship with the Lord Jesus. Lost in wonder and
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Speaker 1: love and praise. Father, make this time the best time
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Speaker 1: of the week for us. Turn our thoughts to those
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Speaker 1: things that are eternal. We're a little weary of stuff
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Speaker 1: that has price tags on it and shallow, superficial stuff.
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Speaker 1: We long to have a fresh word from the living
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Speaker 1: God of all things. We'd like for some of the
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Speaker 1: mystery of the Bible to be lifted today and for
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Speaker 1: us to become acquainted with truth that we may have
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Speaker 1: never encountered before. We need you to help make that happen.
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Speaker 1: We need you to guard us from selfishness when it
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Speaker 1: comes time for our giving to your work. Give us
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Speaker 1: a generous spirit. We need you to silence our lips
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Speaker 1: for a while. And to block out the worries of
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Speaker 1: this world and the care of other things so we
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Speaker 1: might be lost in wonder, love, and praise. We focus
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Speaker 1: on your majesty, Father. Your great work carried out by
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Speaker 1: your son at the cross, at the cross where we
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Speaker 1: first saw the light. And the burden of our hearts
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Speaker 1: rolled away. Now, may you become more important to us
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Speaker 1: than anyone else during this next hour, hour and 15 minutes.
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Speaker 1: I ask this in the name of Jesus. I want
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Speaker 1: to talk today in a few moments about one of
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Speaker 1: the greatest enigmas in all of history. And I'm referring
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Speaker 1: to the man who became the traitor, Judas. Interestingly, no
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Speaker 1: one today would ever name his son Judas because of
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Speaker 1: the events that transpired in the erosion of his character.
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Speaker 1: We're going to think about that today, and it's a
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Speaker 1: serious message for all of us to ponder, and I'm
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Speaker 1: reminded when I come to places like Matthew 10, where
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Speaker 1: I'd like to read from to begin with, let him
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Speaker 1: who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. This
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Speaker 1: isn't about picking at a man named Judas. It's about
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Speaker 1: learning from what happened, knowing that it can happen, and
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Speaker 1: in fact, is still happening as erosion occurs in the
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Speaker 1: lives of individuals who allow this kind of thing to
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Speaker 1: take place. Now, Matthew chapter 10, may I read for
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Speaker 1: you the first four verses, and then we'll go to
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Speaker 1: Matthew 26 as we observe the contrast. Matthew 10, 1.
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Speaker 1: And having summoned his twelve disciples, he gave them authority
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Speaker 1: over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal
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Speaker 1: every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Now
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Speaker 1: the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon,
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Speaker 1: who is called Peter. And Andrew, his brother. And James,
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Speaker 1: the son of Zebedee. And John, his brother. Philip and Bartholomew.
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Speaker 1: Thomas and Matthew, the tax gatherer. James, the son of Alphaeus.
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Speaker 1: And Thaddaeus. Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the one
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Speaker 1: who betrayed him. Matthew 26, verse 14 through 16, and
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Speaker 1: then we'll read toward the end, 47 through 50. Matthew 26, 14,
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Speaker 1: follow along, please. Then one of the 12 named Judas
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Speaker 1: Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, what are
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Speaker 1: you willing to give me to deliver him up to you?
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Speaker 1: And they weighed out to him 30 pieces of silver.
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Speaker 1: And from then on, he began looking for a good
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Speaker 1: opportunity to betray him. And then, if you will, same chapter,
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Speaker 1: verse 47 says, referring to Jesus, and while he was
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Speaker 1: still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up,
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Speaker 1: accompanied by a great multitude with swords and clubs from
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Speaker 1: the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he
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Speaker 1: who was betraying him gave them a sign, saying, Whomever
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Speaker 1: I shall kiss, he is the one. Seize him. And
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Speaker 1: immediately he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Rabbi, and
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Speaker 1: kissed him. And Jesus said to him, Friend, do what
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Speaker 1: you have come for. Then they came and laid hands
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Speaker 1: on Jesus and seized him. We're studying the life of
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Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have come to that
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Speaker 1: serious section where things have turned against him. Last time
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Speaker 1: we saw the gathering clouds of opposition. We watched as
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Speaker 1: the Pharisees attempted to bring him down through tricks and
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Speaker 1: manipulations and trials that they put him through, and he
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Speaker 1: stood against them. We heard as he pronounced woes against
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Speaker 1: them on a number of occasions, calling them hypocrites and
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Speaker 1: whitewashed sepulchers and even vipers and snakes in the grass.
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Speaker 1: And that was for them almost the unbearable to stand
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Speaker 1: in public. We even saw as he took a whip
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Speaker 1: and drove them from the temple as so many had
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Speaker 1: turned the place of prayer into a place of merchandise
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Speaker 1: and mercenary interest. And we knew when we left that
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Speaker 1: last scene that we'd be back to something even worse.
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Speaker 1: But I found myself comforted, as you may have, thinking
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Speaker 1: that at least he had his own circle where he
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Speaker 1: could find a sense of comfort and relief. I don't
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Speaker 1: know about you, but the presence of friends in our lives,
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Speaker 1: in my personal life, really makes it possible for me
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Speaker 1: to go on at times. Knowing that at least there,
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Speaker 1: there is a safe harbor and understanding and relief. And
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Speaker 1: Jesus had that with his 12. Or did he? Did
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Speaker 1: he really? That question has to be answered with a
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Speaker 1: dogmatic no. By now, a cancer was growing among the disciples.
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Speaker 1: And there was one. Unknown to the others, to the
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Speaker 1: very end, he had hidden. it so well. There was
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Speaker 1: one who determined that he would be a traitor. I
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Speaker 1: don't know if you love history like I do, but
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Speaker 1: if you do, your mind may go back to the
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Speaker 1: 18th century. September 21, 1780, when a young, disillusioned, albeit
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Speaker 1: brilliant soldier attempted to sell his country down the river
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Speaker 1: on the slippery slopes of the Hudson, he met with
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Speaker 1: a few of the British officers and for a few
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Speaker 1: paltry pounds of British loot, Benedict Arnold attempted this dastardly deed.
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Speaker 1: of betrayal, treason. And to this day, just the mention
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Speaker 1: of his name causes our lips to curl. But I'm
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Speaker 1: going to tell you something. As strong as an American
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Speaker 1: as I am and as most of us are, and
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Speaker 1: as much as I stand against that act of treason
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Speaker 1: that Arnold committed, I can understand it better than than Judas.
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Speaker 1: I can understand the disillusionment of a soldier, but I
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Speaker 1: cannot fathom a man who was chosen to be one
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Speaker 1: of the twelve, called alongside Jesus to be mentored by him,
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Speaker 1: one who was given authority over demons and diseases and
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Speaker 1: who sat alongside, ate with, slept beside, and spent three
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Speaker 1: years and more with the Son of God, not having
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Speaker 1: once seen him do anything or say anything wrong, to
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Speaker 1: turn against him and betray him, of all things with
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Speaker 1: a kiss.
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Speaker 2: Why?
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Speaker 1: Why? Why would he do that? One of my sources
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Speaker 1: is authored by a man named William Barker, and his
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Speaker 1: book is entitled Twelve Who Were Chosen. His words will
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Speaker 1: surprise many of you. The name Judas brings a shudder
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Speaker 1: to us. It is a synonym for traitor. and seems
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Speaker 1: to symbolize the worst in treachery and deceit. We even
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Speaker 1: call the stockyard animal that guides the others to the
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Speaker 1: block the Judas goat. Judas is the last name in
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Speaker 1: the world we would ever give a child. It may
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Speaker 1: come as a shock to us to learn, however, that
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Speaker 1: the name Judas was once very popular. It was a
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Speaker 1: proud name in Jewish history. Judah, or Judas, was the
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Speaker 1: name of one of the 12 sons of Jacob in
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Speaker 1: the Old Testament. And the brilliant uprising for independence in
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Speaker 1: 164 B.C. was led by a man named Judas. This Judas, Maccabeus,
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Speaker 1: was looked upon by all Jews as a sort of
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Speaker 1: George Washington. Judas was a name of heroes. Parents proudly
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Speaker 1: named sons Judas. Jesus' parents even named one of Jesus'
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Speaker 1: brothers Judas or Jude, which are one and the same name.
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Speaker 1: One other in the group of the twelve was named Judas,
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Speaker 1: Judas son of James, nicknamed Thaddeus. It was a name
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Speaker 1: parents were proud to give and a name men were
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Speaker 1: proud to carry. Probably a father and a mother in
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Speaker 1: the village of Kerioth, south of Jerusalem, were happy. When
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Speaker 1: a baby boy was born to them, probably the same
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Speaker 1: father and mother being devout Jews were anxious to give
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Speaker 1: their child a name with meaning and tradition. Judas was
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Speaker 1: a natural choice. The implication from all this, writes Barker,
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Speaker 1: is that Judas had the advantage of a good home.
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Speaker 1: He was probably raised like other Jewish boys with a
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Speaker 1: thoroughgoing grounding in the Bible. So Judas grew up to
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Speaker 1: be known as the Judas from the village of Kerioth
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Speaker 1: or Judas Iscariot. Did you know that? That had you
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Speaker 1: lived in the first century, one of the choice names
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Speaker 1: you could have chosen would have been Judas Iscariot. The
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Speaker 1: man has ruined the name forever, but back then it
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Speaker 1: wasn't so. And if that wasn't enough, a good home,
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Speaker 1: a good name, a good background, good training. We read
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Speaker 1: in Matthew 10 that he, the Lord Jesus, when he
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Speaker 1: summoned the 12 disciples, carefully selected Judas among the group.
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Speaker 1: Even though his name always appears last in the list,
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Speaker 1: in every list where the names are given, because those
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Speaker 1: writers are writing with hindsight, looking back to where they
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Speaker 1: once were rather than at the time of writing, he
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Speaker 1: was among the twelve. He was chosen to be one
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Speaker 1: of those who would be the closest to Jesus. Amazing. Amazing.
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Speaker 1: In fact, it's interesting, when you look at Matthew 10
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Speaker 1: and verse 4, that the writer Matthew, the tax gatherer
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Speaker 1: who's now come to the Lord and come among the twelve,
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Speaker 1: writes looking back saying, and Judas Iscariot, the one who
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Speaker 1: betrayed him. The writers here and elsewhere will all do that.
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Speaker 1: They don't want anyone to miss the fact that he's
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Speaker 1: the traitor. But he wasn't when he was called. Why
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Speaker 1: did he betray Jesus? What happened? Well, some would say, well,
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Speaker 1: to fulfill scripture. And sure enough, that's true. If you
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Speaker 1: compare the words of John 17, 12, where Jesus calls
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Speaker 1: him the son of perdition and And that he turned
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Speaker 1: against him that the scripture might be fulfilled. He was
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Speaker 1: referring to Psalm 41.9 where his own familiar friend would
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Speaker 1: lift up his heel against him. So it's true. Theoretically,
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Speaker 1: it was to fulfill scripture. But wait a minute. We're
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Speaker 1: not dealing with theory here. We're dealing with humanity. What
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Speaker 1: was it about the man? By the way, the only
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Speaker 1: Judean of the group. The rest were Galileans. And the
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Speaker 1: trusted man, because he's the one who held the bag
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Speaker 1: of money or the box of money. Did you know that?
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Speaker 1: No doubt, the most trusted and I would suggest probably
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Speaker 1: the most intelligent and under control of the twelve. Galileans
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Speaker 1: being by nature and temperament hot-tempered, short-fused men. Judas would
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Speaker 1: probably be seen as the one with what we would
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Speaker 1: call a level head. Trusted, chosen, the recipient of personal
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Speaker 1: time with Jesus, sent, and he became the betrayer. Let
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Speaker 1: me give you another thought. Iscariot is intriguing. Iscariot is intriguing.
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Speaker 1: Barker suggests it's because he is from Kerioth, Judas from
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Speaker 1: Kerioth or Iscariot. His father was Iscariot from Kerioth. But
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Speaker 1: there might be another rendering. Sicarius meant dagger bearer. And
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Speaker 1: when in plural, it meant assassins. Sicarii would be the
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Speaker 1: plural of Sicarius. I'm going to show you an obscure
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Speaker 1: verse of Scripture in Acts chapter 21 that you'd probably
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Speaker 1: pass over hurriedly while reading about Paul's being captured and
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Speaker 1: taken under arrest, but you shouldn't hurry through it because
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Speaker 1: in this obscure verse, Acts 21 verse 38, there is
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Speaker 1: a little hint that I think is worth remembering regarding Judas. Judas.
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Speaker 1: Verse 37, Paul was about to be brought into the barracks,
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Speaker 1: and he said to the commander, may I say something
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Speaker 1: to you? And he said, do you know Greek? Then
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Speaker 1: you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred
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Speaker 1: up a revolt and led the 4,000 men of the
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Speaker 1: Sicarii out into the wilderness, translated here assassins, at least
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Speaker 1: in the New Americans. Standard Bible. Don't know what it
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Speaker 1: reads in yours. What are we saying? Well, in those days,
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Speaker 1: there was a man who led a revolt and had 4,000
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Speaker 1: men in this crusade to overthrow the authority of Rome,
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Speaker 1: which was the desire of these nationalist Sicarii. And he
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Speaker 1: thought the man who was taking Paul under arrest thought
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Speaker 1: he must have been the guy who was in cahoots
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Speaker 1: with the group and was leading this insurrection. William Barclay
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Speaker 1: writes this. It has been suggested that Iscariot is connected
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Speaker 1: with the word Sicarius, the Greek form of the Latin Sicarius,
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Speaker 1: dagger bearer. In Acts 21.38, the word Sicarius is used
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Speaker 1: in the plural to describe the followers of a certain
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Speaker 1: Egyptian revolutionary. In the AV, it's translated murderers. In the
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Speaker 1: American Revised Standard Version, the word is translated assassins. The
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Speaker 1: capital letter denoting that the word is not only a
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Speaker 1: description but also a title. The Sicarii, writes Barclay, were
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Speaker 1: wild and fanatical nationalists pledged not only to war against
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Speaker 1: the Romans but to murder and assassination at every opportunity.
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Speaker 1: Could it be Could it be that in the heart
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Speaker 1: of Judas was the hope that this Jesus would be
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Speaker 1: the one who would overthrow Rome and he would join
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Speaker 1: the band and follow the group knowing that Jesus would
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Speaker 1: become king over Israel and would lead them into a
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Speaker 1: kingdom where they would know peace and quiet and abundance?
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Speaker 1: Could that be? And could it be that if he
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Speaker 1: really wanted that, Something snapped in him when he realized
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Speaker 1: Jesus wasn't a revolutionary and that wasn't his plan. All
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Speaker 1: food for thought. Turn from Matthew 10 to Luke 6.
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Speaker 1: This is an intriguing subject and it's made us scratch
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Speaker 1: our heads over the years. And I'm sure my few
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Speaker 1: comments will not solve all the riddle. And it is that.
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Speaker 1: Churchill once referred to the actions of Russia as a
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Speaker 1: riddle wrapped up in a mystery inside an enigma. I
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Speaker 1: think Judas is a lot like that. This is a
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Speaker 1: riddle wrapped up in a mystery inside an enigma. But
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Speaker 1: this is a man. Could have been your son. Or
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Speaker 1: my brother. Or my father. This was a real man.
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Speaker 1: This is no caricature that... Da Vinci paints on his canvas.
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Speaker 1: This is a real man. One of the 12. And
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Speaker 1: according to Luke chapter 6, verse 16, I think this
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Speaker 1: is eloquent. Judas, the son of James, that's one of
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Speaker 1: the other disciples who's called Thaddeus elsewhere. And Judas Iscariot,
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Speaker 1: who became a traitor. He wasn't at the time he
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Speaker 1: was called a traitor. He became a traitor. There was
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Speaker 1: one time when Benedict Arnold was not a traitor. He
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Speaker 1: became that. Something happened in the erosion of his character
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Speaker 1: that led to that. What happened in Judas' life that
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Speaker 1: took him from a chosen member of the band to
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Speaker 1: one who kissed the Lord Jesus and said, seize him?
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Speaker 1: What brought about the change? W.F. Moulton says in one place,
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Speaker 1: the germs of the traitor spirit were growing within him.
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Speaker 1: No one could see it. Not even those who sat
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Speaker 1: alongside him and witnessed on the street with him. We
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Speaker 1: need the counsel of John, I think. I think John
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Speaker 1: helps the most. He's had 60 years to think it over.
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Speaker 1: And his words in John chapter 6 and then later
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Speaker 1: chapter 12 to me help the most. I want to
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Speaker 1: show you something. John 6, 14. On the heels of
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Speaker 1: the feeding of the 5,000. That's what the first 13
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Speaker 1: verses are about in John 6. At the end of
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Speaker 1: that scene, please observe. When therefore the people saw the sign.
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Speaker 1: What sign? That 5,000 people were fed from five loaves
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Speaker 1: and two fishes. When they saw that miracle, which Jesus
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Speaker 1: had performed, they said, this is of a truth, the prophet,
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Speaker 1: who is to come into the world. And Judah's heart,
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Speaker 1: I'm suggesting, must have beaten faster in his chest. At
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Speaker 1: this moment, he thought, they're realizing it. This is the one.
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Speaker 1: The insurrection, the seeds have dropped for the overthrow of Rome.
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Speaker 1: And look exactly at their thinking. Verse 15, Jesus perceiving
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Speaker 1: they were intending to come and take him by force
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Speaker 1: to make him a king, withdrew again to the mountain
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Speaker 1: by himself alone. Look at that. No, no, thinks Judas.
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Speaker 1: Don't withdraw. Don't withdraw. It's time to stand on the
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Speaker 1: shoulders of your supporters. This is your moment to run
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Speaker 1: for office, we would say today. This is your hour.
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Speaker 1: Jesus didn't come to overthrow Rome. He came to pay
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Speaker 1: for the sins of the world. His kingdom would come,
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Speaker 1: but not now. It would be postponed. Judas didn't want that.
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Speaker 1: In fact, stay in chapter 6 and look at Verse 60.
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Speaker 1: I want to suggest that Jesus is actually thinning the
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Speaker 1: ranks deliberately. He gives them a hard saying in verse 60.
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Speaker 1: The larger group of people, some of whom are still
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Speaker 1: remembering the feeding of the 5,000. Many, therefore, of his disciples.
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Speaker 1: This is not the 12. This is a broader number
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Speaker 1: of followers. By now the crowds are growing. The crowds
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Speaker 1: are growing. Many of his disciples, when they heard this, said,
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Speaker 1: this is a difficult statement. Who can listen to it?
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Speaker 1: Jesus did not water down his message when the crowd grew.
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Speaker 1: In fact, he intensified the message and deliberately purged the
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Speaker 1: group from hangers-on. Unlike today, where the constant emphasis is
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Speaker 1: on growth, more, more, more, do whatever you can do
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Speaker 1: to get the crowd larger. Get it larger. Build the
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Speaker 1: buildings bigger. Get the crowds larger. Jesus is continually addressing
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Speaker 1: the heart and center of the message of the gospel.
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Speaker 1: This is going to take a toll. This is going
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Speaker 1: to be hard to bear. This is going to exact
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Speaker 1: from you a requirement in your business, in your thinking,
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Speaker 1: in your home, in your family. They will turn against you, folks.
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Speaker 1: This is a hard saying. Look at verse 66. As
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Speaker 1: a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew. And
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Speaker 1: they were not walking with him anymore. More leaving. What
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Speaker 1: do you think Judas thought when the crowd decreased and
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Speaker 1: the ranks thinned and his dreams were dashed and his
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Speaker 1: hopes for a king began to be lost? I mean,
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Speaker 1: is he really going to be a king or not?
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Speaker 1: I don't want to follow some servant leader. Look at Jesus,
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Speaker 1: verse 67. He therefore said to the 12, you don't
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Speaker 1: want to go away also, do you? Isn't that a
27:52
Speaker 1: great question? You don't want to walk away, do you?
27:59
Speaker 1: Peter said, I love Peter. Every once in a while,
28:01
Speaker 1: Peter just outdoes himself. Now, sometimes it's a foot-in-mouth problem
28:06
Speaker 1: with Peter. This is not one of those moments. Lord,
28:09
Speaker 1: to whom shall we go? You have the words of
28:11
Speaker 1: eternal life. There's no other one to turn to. This
28:14
Speaker 1: is a great moment for Peter. Good for you, Peter.
28:18
Speaker 1: But not all 12. Verse 70. Jesus answered them, did
28:25
Speaker 1: I myself not choose you, the 12, and yet one
28:28
Speaker 1: of you is a devil? Wow.
28:32
Speaker 2: Wow.
28:35
Speaker 1: I wonder how that felt. He said one of you.
28:39
Speaker 1: He didn't point. You know what I think? I think
28:47
Speaker 1: Judas didn't have a clue. I don't think Judas thought
28:51
Speaker 1: of himself as that at all. One of you is
28:58
Speaker 1: a devil. We're attempting to put together a A Rubik's
29:07
Speaker 1: Cube here. It's hard to do. No one around Judas
29:15
Speaker 1: would have chosen him as the traitor. No one knew
29:20
Speaker 1: except our Lord. By the way, this is a great
29:21
Speaker 1: moment to add. And a lot of us have been
29:24
Speaker 1: in small groups for a long time. I wonder what
29:26
Speaker 1: it would have been like to have been in a
29:27
Speaker 1: small group with Jesus. Who knew the heart of everyone
29:32
Speaker 1: in the group. You can sometimes fake it, even among
29:36
Speaker 1: your close friends, never with Jesus. I don't believe Jesus
29:40
Speaker 1: even looked at Judas when he said this. He just
29:43
Speaker 1: looked at the group and said, one of you is
29:45
Speaker 1: a devil. What a great moment for Judas to say,
29:48
Speaker 1: help me, Lord, help me turn, help me change. I'm
29:52
Speaker 1: the one. You don't find that kind of vulnerability very
29:55
Speaker 1: often in a group, but sometime it emerges. That's wonderful.
29:59
Speaker 1: when one who was wrong says, I was wrong, and turns.
30:04
Speaker 1: It's a great moment. The group invariably surrounds that individual,
30:09
Speaker 1: but Judas stays silent. It gets worse. John 12. Here
30:20
Speaker 1: it's more obvious. I love scenes like this. Here's supper
30:28
Speaker 1: with a man who's come back from beyond. How'd you
30:30
Speaker 1: like to have dinner with Lazarus? That's where we are
30:33
Speaker 1: in John 12. Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover,
30:36
Speaker 1: came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised
30:40
Speaker 1: from the dead. So they made him a supper there,
30:43
Speaker 1: and Martha was serving, naturally. But Lazarus was one of
30:47
Speaker 1: those reclining at the table with Jesus. And out of
30:52
Speaker 1: the blue, stepping out of the shadows, comes Mary.
30:55
Speaker 3: Mary.
30:57
Speaker 1: Ladies, watch this. This is a great moment. This is
31:00
Speaker 1: spontaneous worship at its best. Mary, therefore, took a pound
31:06
Speaker 1: of very costly, genuine, spikenard ointment. How much more specific
31:13
Speaker 1: can you get, John? I mean, this is from Neiman Marcus.
31:19
Speaker 1: This is Nordstrom's best. Very costly, genuine spikenard oil. It's
31:30
Speaker 1: the kind of elegant perfume, ladies, that you have a
31:35
Speaker 1: very small amount of. And for special occasions, you put
31:42
Speaker 1: just a little here and there.
31:46
Speaker 2: Right?
31:48
Speaker 1: Married. pours it the whole jug that she's been saving
31:55
Speaker 1: all this time and she pours it on his feet
31:59
Speaker 1: of all things and pulls her hair loose and with
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Speaker 1: her hair she massages it on his feet and the
32:08
Speaker 1: fragrance verse 3 concludes the fragrance of the ointment fills
32:12
Speaker 1: the room oh that was a great and rapturing moment,
32:21
Speaker 1: except to Judas. Listen to the traitor at his hypocritical best.
32:30
Speaker 1: Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples who was intending to
32:33
Speaker 1: betray him, there's John again, don't forget, don't get impressed
32:38
Speaker 1: with Judas' words. Said, why was this ointment not sold
32:44
Speaker 1: for 300 denarii and given to poor people? How pious
32:50
Speaker 1: can you get? And the audacity of Judas to criticize
32:57
Speaker 1: anyone for worshiping her Lord in any way she pleased.
33:01
Speaker 1: Especially extravagantly. I think most of us would have just
33:09
Speaker 1: applauded her. Good for you Mary. Good for you. And
33:12
Speaker 1: we'd have embraced her. Ah Judas. He is incensed. Furthermore
33:18
Speaker 1: this is the one who wimps out on being a king.
33:21
Speaker 1: Now watch closely. Why was this ointment not sold for
33:33
Speaker 1: 300 denarii and given to poor people? Now, he said this,
33:37
Speaker 1: John adds, 60 years later, not because he was concerned
33:41
Speaker 1: about the poor, but because he was a kleptase. The
33:45
Speaker 1: Greek word is kleptase. We get our word kleptomaniac from it.
33:50
Speaker 1: He was a thief. And he had the money box.
33:54
Speaker 1: That means he was the trusted member of the group.
33:57
Speaker 1: People knew that the disciples weren't occupied in an occupation.
34:02
Speaker 1: They weren't working in a job. And so they needed
34:05
Speaker 1: to live from the gifts of people, which is the
34:09
Speaker 1: way ministries have been sustained for centuries. And he had
34:17
Speaker 1: the box. He had this treasured, trusted receptacle that held
34:21
Speaker 1: the gifts of people. And John says, looking back, he
34:27
Speaker 1: was a thief. He had the money box. He used to...
34:31
Speaker 1: Bastazo is the Greek word. It's translated pilfer here. It
34:35
Speaker 1: means to lift. The Scots still use the word. We
34:38
Speaker 1: have the word shoplifting. We still have it lingering in
34:42
Speaker 1: our English language. He would lift from the box. Meaning what?
34:46
Speaker 1: meaning he stole from the treasury of the disciples. As
34:55
Speaker 1: one man put it, a warped mind brings a warped
34:58
Speaker 1: view of things. By now, why not steal from this bunch?
35:03
Speaker 1: They're going in the wrong direction anyway. Isn't that interesting?
35:07
Speaker 1: And again, it's secret. No big announcement. They didn't know
35:11
Speaker 1: it then. Of course not. He used to pilfer from
35:18
Speaker 1: what was put in it. Look at Jesus' words, verse 7.
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Speaker 1: Jesus therefore said to him, back off, Judas. That's the
35:26
Speaker 1: way we'd put it today. Let her alone in order
35:31
Speaker 1: that she may keep it for the day of burial.
35:33
Speaker 1: The poor you always have with you, but you do
35:35
Speaker 1: not always have me. You know what he did? He
35:38
Speaker 1: embarrassed Judas. For a moment, remember back when someone embarrassed you.
35:46
Speaker 1: Remember being in a group where you were with friends, peers,
35:50
Speaker 1: perhaps colleagues, and someone said something to you that was
35:55
Speaker 1: a put-down as direct as this. Remember the feelings? If
36:00
Speaker 1: you already had ill feelings toward that person, it only
36:03
Speaker 1: embittered you further. I know a man who today is
36:08
Speaker 1: in his 80s now, but back many, many years ago
36:12
Speaker 1: on a Thanksgiving afternoon, he said, I remember sitting in
36:16
Speaker 1: a group and my father-in-law walked to the door and
36:18
Speaker 1: looked over at me and called my name. And he said,
36:20
Speaker 1: you know what? I never had much use for you anyway.
36:24
Speaker 1: And he revealed that story as if it happened yesterday.
36:28
Speaker 2: Why?
36:29
Speaker 1: Because he was publicly embarrassed by the words of his father-in-law.
36:34
Speaker 1: And you could tell by the way he told me
36:36
Speaker 1: that he was still embittered against him. Though the father-in-law
36:41
Speaker 1: was dead. In this case, Judas has begun to build
36:47
Speaker 1: a case against Jesus. He's seen him for what he
36:50
Speaker 1: really is becoming and it's not what Judas had wanted.
36:54
Speaker 1: Judas wanted Jesus on his terms. God wanted Judas on
37:00
Speaker 1: Jesus' terms. It's as simple as that. But when you
37:04
Speaker 1: change the agenda, you become disillusioned about the Christian message.
37:11
Speaker 1: Judas was in it for what he could get out
37:13
Speaker 1: of it. Jesus was in it for what he could
37:17
Speaker 1: give away. Back off, Judas. She's done the right thing.
37:26
Speaker 1: I think it is interesting, on the heels of this event,
37:29
Speaker 1: in the chronology of things that occurred, what happened recorded
37:36
Speaker 1: in Luke 22.3 follows. I don't want you to miss this.
37:41
Speaker 1: If you've not turned to the others, turn to this section.
37:45
Speaker 1: Luke 22, if I follow the chronicle of events, one
37:50
Speaker 1: after another, the chronology of events, I find on the
37:53
Speaker 1: heels of the embarrassing statement made, back off Judas, this
37:58
Speaker 1: occurs in Judah's life. Luke 22, now the feast of
38:04
Speaker 1: unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. And
38:08
Speaker 1: the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they
38:10
Speaker 1: might put him to death. For they were afraid of
38:12
Speaker 1: the people. We read that last time, you remember. But
38:15
Speaker 1: we didn't read the next verse. And Satan entered into Judas.
38:25
Speaker 1: Pause there. This is not merely demonic influence. This is
38:33
Speaker 1: not a passing satanic thought. This is a clear-cut case
38:38
Speaker 1: of satanic possession allowed by Judas in the erosion of
38:45
Speaker 1: his character. He opened his life to the invasion, to
38:53
Speaker 1: the intrusive spirit of the adversary. Puts a chill up
39:01
Speaker 1: my back. We live in a day when this is
39:09
Speaker 1: made light of. Kids play with a Ouija board. We
39:14
Speaker 1: live in a time where witchcraft is one of the
39:16
Speaker 1: favorite themes of popular films. To this day, young and
39:21
Speaker 1: older alike are intrigued by films, movies, plays that play
39:26
Speaker 1: with the theme of satanic and especially demonic activities. It
39:31
Speaker 1: is nothing to play with. Every time you do, you lose.
39:40
Speaker 1: Here Judas has come to a place in his life
39:43
Speaker 1: where he allows the very Person of Satan who can
39:50
Speaker 1: only be one place at one time.
39:54
Speaker 3: To enter.
39:59
Speaker 1: Listen to several quotations. Godet. He entered into him so
40:05
Speaker 1: as to take entire possession of his will. A.T. Robertson.
40:11
Speaker 1: Judas evidently opened the door of his heart and let
40:14
Speaker 1: Satan in. Then Satan took charge and he became a devil,
40:19
Speaker 1: as Jesus said. John Calvin. Luke means that he was
40:26
Speaker 1: at that time wholly given up to Satan. So that
40:30
Speaker 1: like a desperate man, he violently sought his destruction. He
40:37
Speaker 1: is said to enter into the reprobate. when he takes
40:42
Speaker 1: possession of all their senses, overthrows the fear of God,
40:48
Speaker 1: extinguishes the light of reason, and destroys every feeling of shame.
40:58
Speaker 1: Daryl Bach has written probably the finest scholarly work on Luke. Um,
41:05
Speaker 1: of the last several years, Dr. Darrell Bach is a
41:08
Speaker 1: member of the seminary faculty, Dallas Seminary. He writes this,
41:11
Speaker 1: just a statement from his work. Judas does not act alone.
41:17
Speaker 1: Deception has infiltrated the camp. The passage does not explain
41:21
Speaker 1: how this happened or what may have led to it.
41:24
Speaker 1: What is important is that the subsequent events occur because
41:28
Speaker 1: Satan has his way with Judas. No matter what the
41:32
Speaker 1: devil promises, Satan's entry into one's life is destructive. For
41:37
Speaker 1: when Satan enters a life, he leads the person in
41:40
Speaker 1: sinister directions. I'm going to be very candid with you
41:45
Speaker 1: right now. Invariably, when I speak publicly on the subject
41:52
Speaker 1: of demonism and especially of Satan, all hell seems to
41:57
Speaker 1: break loose in my life. This past week has been
42:01
Speaker 1: one of the most difficult weeks of Cynthia's in my
42:05
Speaker 1: entire life. From all different sources, and we're not witch
42:11
Speaker 1: hunters by nature. I don't mean to over-dramatize this. I
42:16
Speaker 1: mean only to underscore the truth of it. The enemy
42:19
Speaker 1: knew he would be exposed today. And he would love
42:22
Speaker 1: for you to continue thinking that he is a little
42:25
Speaker 1: imp with a red epidermis and a pitchfork. and horns,
42:31
Speaker 1: and a cynical little smile, and a forked tail sitting
42:37
Speaker 1: on one's shoulder, whispering nasty little thoughts into one's ear.
42:41
Speaker 1: That is the most ridiculous caricature of the enemy, and
42:45
Speaker 1: he loves it when you think of him like that.
42:49
Speaker 1: He is, in fact, fabulously beautiful, appealing, attractive, an angel
42:58
Speaker 1: of light, who apes the things of God, leading you
43:05
Speaker 1: from the path of righteousness insidiously into a path of wickedness,
43:12
Speaker 1: all the while thinking this is best. Do not think
43:17
Speaker 1: for a moment that he is some kind of figment
43:20
Speaker 1: of some medieval imagination that flits across the scene of
43:25
Speaker 1: some film to keep you entertained. He is a murderer
43:31
Speaker 1: from the beginning. He despises the things of God. He
43:36
Speaker 1: wants nothing more than your death, your demise, the loss
43:42
Speaker 1: of your testimony, the ruining of your walk, the shaking
43:47
Speaker 1: of your marriage, the destruction of your thinking. He wants
43:51
Speaker 1: to fill your thoughts with impurities, making you think all
43:56
Speaker 1: the while that really this isn't too bad. It's only natural.
44:03
Speaker 1: I don't know if Judas knew it at this moment.
44:07
Speaker 1: But I know this is what happened. I don't know
44:11
Speaker 1: if at the moment Satan enters, one knows it. Certainly
44:16
Speaker 1: he doesn't or she doesn't sense the depth of it.
44:20
Speaker 1: But however it occurs, the presence of wickedness embodied in
44:25
Speaker 1: the enemy infiltrated the person of Judas. And he is
44:30
Speaker 1: now a walking model. of the enemy himself without shame
44:36
Speaker 1: and without fear of God. Just imagine. If you have before,
44:44
Speaker 1: don't ever again play with the enemy. He will win.
44:50
Speaker 1: Don't play with him. Judas, without a sword, without a weapon,
45:00
Speaker 1: without anything violent, without a beast beside him, and without
45:04
Speaker 1: appearing at all sinister, walks into the garden, Matthew 26,
45:09
Speaker 1: having just set up the plan. And look at the
45:13
Speaker 1: contrast between two things. First, between what he says, verse
45:19
Speaker 1: 48 of Matthew 26, and what he does, verse 49.
45:26
Speaker 1: Here is satanic infiltration embodied in human form like you
45:30
Speaker 1: will never see, perhaps have never seen. 2648, now he
45:36
Speaker 1: who was betraying him gave them a sign saying, whomever
45:39
Speaker 1: I shall kiss, he is the one. Seize him. There
45:44
Speaker 1: is no shame. There is no hesitation. There is a
45:48
Speaker 1: game plan that will work. I'll kiss him. You seize him.
45:53
Speaker 1: Look at the next verse. Immediately he came to Jesus
45:58
Speaker 1: and said, Hail Rabbi! Another way of saying, on with
46:03
Speaker 1: your work. Continue the plan. Run its course. Hail Rabbi!
46:10
Speaker 1: See the next word? He kissed him. It's the identical
46:14
Speaker 1: Greek word used for the father of the prodigal when
46:17
Speaker 1: the prodigal returns home and he smothers him with kisses.
46:21
Speaker 1: He kisses him all over. He falls on his neck
46:23
Speaker 1: and he kisses him. Same tense, same verb, same work,
46:28
Speaker 1: same event. He smothers the face of Jesus with his kisses.
46:35
Speaker 1: How dare he do such a thing? knowing that in
46:41
Speaker 1: the shadows were those with clubs and torches and swords
46:45
Speaker 1: ready to take him under arrest. How could he do it?
46:50
Speaker 1: He is filled with Satan. There's an old English couplet
47:01
Speaker 1: that says, still as of old, man by himself is priced.
47:04
Speaker 1: For 30 pieces, Judas sold himself, not Christ. And he
47:13
Speaker 1: didn't even know it. Across the page in chapter 27,
47:25
Speaker 1: you read the ending of Judas' life. I go there
47:29
Speaker 1: just to complete the story. Again, verse 3, when Judas,
47:35
Speaker 1: who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned,
47:38
Speaker 1: meaning Jesus had been condemned, he felt remorse doesn't mean
47:42
Speaker 1: he repented it means he felt guilty suddenly there was
47:46
Speaker 1: a presence of shame maybe satan had left him by
47:48
Speaker 1: now usually does after the dastardly act is performed saw
47:54
Speaker 1: that he had been condemned he felt remorse and returned
47:56
Speaker 1: the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and
47:59
Speaker 1: elders saying i have sinned by betraying innocent blood and
48:02
Speaker 1: you don't think satan would ever allow him to say
48:04
Speaker 1: that if he infiltrated them at this moment he's gone
48:07
Speaker 1: But he leaves the man in his remorse. And they said,
48:10
Speaker 1: what is that to us? See that to yourself. 30
48:15
Speaker 1: pieces of silver. Get out of our life. And he
48:19
Speaker 1: threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, departed, went
48:22
Speaker 1: away and hanged himself. That's exactly where the enemy wanted him.
48:31
Speaker 1: Four lingering lessons. Stay with me. when I come to
48:35
Speaker 1: a conclusion of a sobering passage like this. Let me
48:39
Speaker 1: give them to you in a row. Number one, association
48:42
Speaker 1: with the godly is no guarantee of godliness. Hear this well.
48:54
Speaker 1: Association with the godly is no guarantee of godliness in yourself.
49:00
Speaker 1: Remember Judas' roots, remember his being chosen, remember his Three
49:05
Speaker 1: years with the Twelve, remember those moments when he linked
49:11
Speaker 1: arms with his fellow disciples, associating with the godly. There's
49:19
Speaker 1: no guarantee of that. godliness within yourself. It's a frightening thought,
49:23
Speaker 1: isn't it? Second, wickedness in secret is as wrong as
49:31
Speaker 1: wickedness in public, probably worse. Wickedness in secret is as
49:39
Speaker 1: wrong as wickedness in public. Probably worse. Because it's subtle.
49:47
Speaker 1: You could tip off the public if they saw the wickedness,
49:49
Speaker 1: but if you do it in secret, they don't know.
49:55
Speaker 1: While others believed him to be genuine and trustworthy, the
49:59
Speaker 1: ground is laid for satanic infiltration in his life. Number three.
50:05
Speaker 1: Satan and his demons are willing to work with anyone
50:10
Speaker 1: who desires to work against God. Satan and his demons
50:15
Speaker 1: are willing to work with anyone who desires to work
50:18
Speaker 1: against God. I don't care who you are. Even a
50:23
Speaker 1: close disciple and follower of Jesus. Even one whom others
50:27
Speaker 1: trust with their money. Even one who says pious things.
50:33
Speaker 1: She could have given this to the poor. Even one
50:37
Speaker 1: who probably the public was impressed by. Satan and his
50:45
Speaker 1: demons are willing to work with anyone who's willing to
50:47
Speaker 1: work against God. Here's the fourth. No sorrow can compare
50:59
Speaker 1: to the remorse of one who discovers too late that
51:03
Speaker 1: he's on the wrong side. No sorrow can compare to
51:10
Speaker 1: the remorse of one who discovers too late that he's
51:17
Speaker 1: on the wrong side. I see now that he's innocent.
51:23
Speaker 1: Too late, Judas. These 30 pieces of silver, I haven't
51:28
Speaker 1: even spent one of them. Take them back. We don't
51:31
Speaker 1: want them, Judas. You've done the deed. It's too late. Think,
51:40
Speaker 1: men and women. Think. Think. Think. God brings us to
51:48
Speaker 1: moments like this to prepare us for times not yet
51:52
Speaker 1: lived where these warnings will save your life. I'd like
52:04
Speaker 1: us to bow our heads and close our eyes. Please. Please.
52:10
Speaker 1: Just bow your head, close your eyes. Just whose side
52:18
Speaker 1: are you on? Don't show me a well-marked Bible. Don't
52:25
Speaker 1: remind me of how many groups you've been in or
52:27
Speaker 1: what church you attend or even if you've taught the scripture.
52:30
Speaker 1: Just whose side are you on? Talk about motive, think
52:33
Speaker 1: about secret life. Who you are when nobody's looking. Where
52:43
Speaker 1: you're really going when it, well, it looks, everybody would
52:46
Speaker 1: say you're going in the right direction. Are you really?
52:52
Speaker 1: In your journeys, have you ever journeyed to the cross
52:57
Speaker 1: where the Savior did die that you might live and
53:02
Speaker 1: paid a price you couldn't pay to redeem you from
53:06
Speaker 1: sin that you couldn't handle? You've never come there. Come
53:11
Speaker 1: there now. He died for you. He rose from the
53:17
Speaker 1: dead for you. He had you in mind. He waits
53:22
Speaker 1: for you to come to him. Could it be that
53:26
Speaker 1: some of you are playing with what is wrong and
53:29
Speaker 1: today you realize just how dangerous it is? Stop. Now.
53:42
Speaker 1: Ask for the strength you need to pull away from
53:44
Speaker 1: that association, that habit, that fascination that has intrigued you
53:51
Speaker 1: long enough as you play in the enemy territory. Very
53:59
Speaker 1: serious moment. My longtime friend, John Cologne, will lead us
54:04
Speaker 1: in a time of closing prayer. If you will, John, please.
54:16
Speaker 3: Father, it is easy to cluck our tongue and our
54:21
Speaker 3: minds at Judas and throw a finger out and say, you.
54:28
Speaker 3: When part of him exists in each one of us. Father,
54:34
Speaker 3: we are prone to wander.
54:35
Speaker 1: Lord, we feel it.
54:37
Speaker 3: Prone to leave the God that we love. And so
54:42
Speaker 3: we come to you, Father, asking you to reveal yourself
54:45
Speaker 3: to ourselves, ourselves. And now to you, O Lord, who
54:51
Speaker 3: is able to keep us from stumbling and to make
54:55
Speaker 3: us stand in the presence of your glory without blame
55:01
Speaker 3: and with great joy. To you, the one and only God,
55:07
Speaker 3: our Savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Be glory and
55:13
Speaker 3: majesty and dominion, and all authority, before all time, and now,
55:21
Speaker 3: and forever, and yes, even this day, we pray. Amen.
55:28
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Betrayed and Arrested, was copyrighted in 1999, 2000, 2008,
55:33
Speaker 2: and 2023, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2023
55:36
Speaker 2: by Charles R.
55:36
Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
55:45
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
55:49
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.