Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / On the Trail of a Traitor

Transcript

On the Trail of a Traitor · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On these mornings leading up to the Easter Sunday celebration
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: at the resurrection of Christ, we're tracking the Savior in
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: that passionate journey along the way, stopping for periodic.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Moments where we.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Peer into the scene of what took place at various times. Unfortunately,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: there is not just one passage of scripture that takes
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: us all the way through, but you must go from
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: one gospel writer to another. In fact, there's a book
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: titled The Harmony of the Gospels, where A.T. Robertson has
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: gone to the trouble of putting the various passages together
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: in a chronological order, and you can work your way
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: through the events that lead from the early part of
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: the Gospels all the way to the ultimate crucifixion, resurrection,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and ascension. Last time you'll remember, we were at the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: home of Simon the leper as Mary interrupted the meal
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: by bringing this highly expensive ointment which she poured over
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: the hair, the head of Jesus and even his feet
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and massaged his feet with her hair.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: And you'll recall there.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Was a moment in that scene where she was rebuked
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: by the disciples, especially Judas. And Jesus looked at him
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: and said to him, as well as the other disciples,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: leave her alone. She has saved this for this very
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: special occasion, in fact, from a burial. One wonders if
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: things snapped at that point in Judas' mind, because the
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: very next scene that's covered is the scene that we'll
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: look at today where Judas dies. goes and makes arrangements
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: for the betrayal of Christ. We call this message on
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: the trail of a traitor. We're looking at Luke 22
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: verses one through six together. I'd like you to turn
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: to that passage.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I'll read it.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: For you from the New Living Translation as we stand
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: for the reading of the scriptures. Please remain standing for prayer.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Luke 22, 1. The festival of unleavened bread, which is
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: also called Passover, was approaching. The leading priests and teachers
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus. But
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: they were afraid of the people's reaction. Then Satan came
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12 disciples.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: And he went to the leading priests and captains of
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the temple guard to discuss the best way to betray
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Jesus to them. They were delighted and they promised to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: give him money. So he agreed and began looking for
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: when the crowds weren't around. Serious words leading to a
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: serious soul-searching message. We need to prepare our souls for
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: that time of soul-searching. Join me in prayer, will you?
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: At this busy time in our lives, our Father, we
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: deliberately pause. We linger over the scene.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: That is both tragic and true.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: And before we point an accusing finger at Judas, we
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: need to search our own hearts and realize that within
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: each one of us there is the same sinful nature.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: The songwriter has put it well, we're prone to wander, Lord,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: we're prone to leave the God we love. There may
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: be some right now within the sound of my voice
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: pondering the thought of drifting away, making a tragic decision
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: that will change the direction or the course of his
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: or her life. I pray that you will arrest their
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: attention today, whoever they may be, whatever may be the temptation.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: We know we all have it within us, this tendency
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: toward turning away from truth. I pray that today will
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: be an exception as we turn toward it. As we
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: pause and listen especially well to what you have to
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: say to us, not only about a man whose name
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: has become familiar to us, albeit a study in tragedy,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: but as we hear words that apply even to our
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: own lives. Today, our hearts are heavy for a country
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: fighting for survival. And we pray for the people of Ukraine.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: They lack food, they lack water, they lack safety, they
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: lack their homes, places of worship. comfortable beds, the unity
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: of family. They lack so much. Our hearts go out
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: to them. You have the power. We do not. You
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: can change all of that. We plead with you to
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: do so. If you find it within your will, Lord,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: to do that soon, we would be so grateful. we
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: can only imagine the relief it would mean for these
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: dear people who have become familiar with the unfamiliar open
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: mass graves running for their lives from bullets and shells
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: and bombs. How we pray that you will intervene. Oh God, please,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: we pray, come to their rescue You're the faithful one, Lord.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: And in the midst of so much unfaithfulness and so
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: much heartbreak, we pray that you will show yourself strong
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: and do what only you can do.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Bring relief, the ending of this conflict. Please do so, Lord,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: we ask. You have always been faithful.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: We've never known a day in our life when you
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: turned your back on us or betrayed us. May we
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: enter into these words personally and remember times in our
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: own lives when you faithfully came to our rescue, met
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: a need, brought encouragement, delivered.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Us from.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Bondage, longstanding addictions and habits. You've always been faithful.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: We give you.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Thanks for that, and we do so in the name
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: of Jesus, our master and faithful God.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Everyone said, Amen. Amen. Please be seated.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Few experiences are harder to endure than being betrayed. This
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: is especially true if the betrayal has been going on
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: for a long time under a cloak of secrecy. You
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: didn't know it. And you trusted the individual to be
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: sustaining faithfulness but he or she wasn't doing so can
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: happen in a marriage the two of you took your
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: vows together at the altar and both of you so
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: sincere full of hope feeling of truthfulness, sincerity, and your
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: marriage began to run its course through months and into
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: the years, then there began to be a cooling off
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: for some reason. You couldn't quite put your finger on it,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: but something was different than it had been at the beginning,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: only to find that your partner in life had been
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: living a secret life. And he or she had been
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: betraying the vow that was taken at the altar. Hard
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: to bear that. If you've ever been in ministry and
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: you've counted on the team around you to be solid
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: and moving ahead in the same direction, and find out
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: later that one of them has been betraying their calling.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: They've been unfaithful.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: You realize that it's taken a toll on the ministry,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: and all the while that person has been living a lie.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: That's hard to endure.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: But perhaps of all the examples we would name, The
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: one that is most public and seems most shameful to.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: The world at large would be a national traitor.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: Someone who took the oath of office, if you will,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and became a member of the military to wear the
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: uniform and to fight the battles when necessary and to
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: stand true to that calling, only to turn against his.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Or her fellow troops as a traitor.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: If you ever visit the Battle of Saratoga, you will
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: find a towering obelisk. And it's impressive because there are
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: bronze statues of those those generals that made that significant
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: battle for the revolution a success. You look at the
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: base of that obelisk and you see their names. Horatio Gates,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: a general in the United States Army, and there stands
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the bronze statue of Gates. You look across the way,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: and there's Philip John Schuyler, another general, who fought in
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: that battle. And then on the other side, there's Daniel Morgan,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: another general.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: There stands his statue. The fourth.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Catches you off guard because the niche is empty. There's
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: no statue, but there is a name. As soon as
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: you read the name etched in stone, you know why
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: the honor of a statue was removed. Benedict Arnold appears
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: at the base of that obelisk without a statue. you
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: immediately understand why there is no statue. It's a name
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: that is a synonym for traitor. Matter of fact, I.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: Did something I usually don't take time to do.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: I pulled out probably the heaviest volume I have in
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: my library, 1697-page Webster's Biographical Dictionary, and I looked up
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Benedict Arnold. gave the date of his birth, date of
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: his death, and then said with a colon, American army officer.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Traitor. That's it. Says it all. When you study that life,
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: you realize he died in infamy. having escaped to England penniless,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: without dignity.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: He's an enigma, however, there's a greater enigma than Benedict Arnold.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: Judas Iscariot. How could it be? I mean, stop and think.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: The man was chosen by Jesus to be one of
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: the 12. He walked alongside Jesus over three years. He
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: saw every miracle the other disciples saw. He heard all
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: the teaching the other disciples heard. He ate alongside Jesus.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: He slept beside him. He watched him. Never once did
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: he find himself a flaw in the character of his master.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Never once was there even a hint of hypocrisy. Stop
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: and think.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: He went out and preached with the other 11. He
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: preached the gospel that he himself did not believe. Jesus
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: referred to him on one occasion, as the son of perdition.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: An everlasting enigma. That name goes down in infamy.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Why did he become a traitor? What was it that
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: convinced him that He should betray the one who had
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: done him no wrong, who had only shown him grace
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: and love.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: At every turn. You know what's interesting?
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Not one of the gospel writers answers the question of motive.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Not one.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: You'll not find a place that says, Judas betrayed Jesus because.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Or this was the reason that pushed him to becoming
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: a traitor. It's not there.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: So when there's nothing in the scriptures, you're left to speculate.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: And you have to be careful there. Because none of
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: the speculations may be true. One of them might be
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: more a possibility than another. But you cannot say with dogmatism,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: that's the reason. Some have said it would be covetousness
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: and greed. Jesus was a wanted man by the end
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: of his ministry. There was a bounty on his head.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: There was money to be gained by someone who would
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: turn him in, if you will. Maybe Judas did it
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: for the money. He did take 30 pieces of silver,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: which was not that much, which tells you something of
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: the The hurry he was in to do it. It
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: probably wasn't covetousness. Probably wasn't greed. Some would say jealousy. Judas,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: since all of them were competitive, maybe Judas more than
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the others because he's the only Judean of the group.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: All the others are Galileans. And maybe he saw himself
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: as a cut above. There are a number of scholars
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: who see Judas as the brightest of the twelve. He
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: was chosen to be the treasurer of that band of brothers.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: He held a purse. John tells us after the fact
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: he was also a thief.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: He stole some of that money.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: However, he was jealous for leadership to be seen as significant,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: but that faded when John became the beloved disciple and
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Peter's leadership emerged among the twelve.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Judas saw his own position fading.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: And others have said, maybe it was just raw ambition.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Just a desire to come out on top.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: And that faded as well. And then there was the
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: possibility of disillusionment. When you track the name Judas Iscariot,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: it's interesting, especially Iscariot. It's been pointed out by others
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: that Judas was a closet zealot, political zealot. He longed
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: to see the overthrow of Rome and he thought in
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: following Jesus, Finally, he's with someone with enough.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Power to do that.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: But Jesus' political interest was passive. In fact, there was
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: even the occasion when he said, render to Caesar what
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: is Caesar's.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: And render to God what is God's.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Of all things, he suggested not dodging your taxes, but
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: paying them. And zealots like Judas would look for any
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: way possible to dodge that. The word Iscariot could mean
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: man from Cariel. Some have traced it to mean Scarites,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: which is related to the Latin Sicarius, a radical sect
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: that carried daggers and lived for assassination of leaders in
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: political governments. We're never told that Judas carried a dagger,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: but He came more and more disillusioned when Jesus showed
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: himself less and less interested in politics. Maybe that was
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: enough to push him over the edge.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: What I am sure of is in the biblical text,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Luke 22, verse 3, please look again. In the few
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: words that begin the verse, I think we find the answer.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Then Satan entered into Judas.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Rare words.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Understand Satan is not omnipresent. He can only be one
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: place at one time. His many demons, innumerable number, they're
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: invisible unless for some reason they choose to be visible.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Being supernatural creatures, they could be either.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: But they as.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Well can only be one place, each one at one time.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: At this time, Satan is inside the head of Judas.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: That's a chilling thought.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: We often refer to demonic oppression and demon possession, but
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: rarely do we use the word satanic or satanic.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: Possession. And that's as it should be.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: This is a rare occasion. And he entered into him. Eis,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: E-I-S in the Greek means into, within.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: In the head, in the thinking, in the motive, in
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: the will. Judas became possessed. Possessed. By the arch enemy.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Of Christ. So.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: I suggest to you. As a result of that. He
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: was driven. To betray the Savior.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Think of the. Of the pickle.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: That the enemies of Christ were in. Every time Jesus spoke.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: especially during Passover, the crowds were large. There was no
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: time to kidnap him. There would be a riot. And
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: as soon as the teaching was over, somehow Jesus slipped
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: away to an undisclosed location, and they didn't know where
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: he went. They needed help from the inside, ideally one
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: of the 12. I mean, this works out perfectly well.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: When we read after Satan has entered Judas Iscariot, we
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: read right away in verse 4, he went to the
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: leading priests and the captains of the temple guard and
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: began to bargain with them about the plan. Of course,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: he's Satan possessed. That's exactly what the enemy would want.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: And how delighted they were, we read it, they were
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: delighted and they promised to give him money. Let me
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: add something here that I haven't mentioned before. When there
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: is this satanic possession or demonic possession as well, there
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: is the inability to visualize the consequences of one's actions.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Judas never tracked it all the way to the end.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: He never thought of the consequences of his actions. Satan
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: doesn't want us to go there because the consequences are
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: always dreadful, tragic. In fact, Judas would have realized that
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: he's the one that lost in the deal. There's an
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: old English couplet I often quote to myself when I
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: come to scenes like this. Still as of old, man
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: by himself is prized. For 30 pieces, Judas sold himself,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: not Christ. But he didn't see that. He didn't realize
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: he was selling his own soul for 30 measly pieces
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: of silver. At the end, he came to realize it,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and he was filled with remorse. But by then, he's
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: on his own, Satan being the ultimate, ultimate coward.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Had by then left him. He had done his deed.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: Who cares?
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: And in his remorse, he dies a suicide. But before
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: all that, before the consequences, everything seems to be working
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: as planned.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: He sets forth a plan.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: He arranges it with the captain of the guards and
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: the chief priests.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: And then he quickly moves back to the disciples.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: They know nothing of it. You now know more than
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: any of the disciples were aware of at this time.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: And they would never have chosen Judas. I mean, he's
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: their trusted treasurer. So he comes back and what are
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: they doing? They're preparing the meal for that last supper.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: To see that in a little clearer light, turn to
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: John 13, beginning at verse 21. I'd really like you
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to turn if you've got a Bible, because I want
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: to point out some things that you'll have to visualize,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: and it'll be helpful to have the biblical text in
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: front of you. It's the time for Passover and the
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the table is set.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: The disciples have done it since.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: They were little Jewish boys. with their mothers and fathers.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: They learned what went on the table. There were the
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: bitter herbs. There was the unleavened bread. There were the
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: bowls of karosheth, which is like our dip. This spoke
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: of the mortar from which the bricks were made. And
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: that's all picturing what took place back in the days
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: of Egyptian slavery and their forefathers. You see, the Passover
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: is the reminder of what their forefathers had endured in
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: the slavery in Egypt. So it was a reminder every
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: year of that.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: And it's all set. Remember, the table is a tabletop
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: without legs. So it's all the way to the floor.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: And you didn't sit in chairs around the table, you remember,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: from last time we were together. You reclined. Pillows were
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: provided by the one who owned the place. And you
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: reclined in on your left elbow and you ate with
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: your fingers and your hands. You took, drank from the
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: chalice that was on the table and you ate from
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: the food that was there. Strange meal. Judas came back
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: just in time for the meal. Jesus has taken his
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: place at the head of the table as the host.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Now watch closely. John 13, 21 says, Jesus is deeply troubled.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: And he exclaimed, I tell you the truth. one of
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: you will betray me. That was unbelievable. It was a
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: brand new thought to them. They were shocked. In fact,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: one wonders how much more they really heard, and I'll
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: say that because of what takes place later. Something is
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: so obvious to those of us who aren't shocked That
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: took place there among.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: Those who were. That you would have thought they would
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: have realized. But they didn't. I'll get to that.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: One of you will betray me. Let me go back
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: to the table and the reclining around it. When you
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: recline on your elbow. Your torso and your legs and feet.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Go behind the person on your right.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Okay. I thought about demonstrating it over here.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: But I thought no that's not going to. That's not
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: a good idea at all. So you always have to
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: use your brain here and picture it. So they're leaning,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: all leaning on their elbows, and they've all got their
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: feet behind the person on their right around the table.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Close friends were to the host right. Appropriately, that would
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: be John. Now watch. Watch the passage. It'll come to
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: life for you.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: The disciples looked at each other, wondering, whom he could mean,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: the disciple Jesus loved.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: That's John. That's the one who wrote this particular gospel
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: from which we are reading.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: He was sitting next to Jesus. It should read reclining.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: He was reclining next to Jesus, so his head is
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: in the area of Jesus' chest or beard, and he's
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: able simply to lift his head up He could even
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: whisper what he says to Jesus and Jesus would hear
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: him as Jesus is reclining and can look down and
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: hear what John says.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Look closely. So John is sitting or reclining next.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: To Jesus at the table. They're all wondering who did it.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, who's he talking about?
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: So Simon is not near them. He's probably across the
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: table and he's over there going, Maybe not that dramatic,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: but you get the idea. And John goes, okay. So
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: he leans up and says to Jesus, and you.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: See it right here. So that disciple leaned over to Jesus,
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: leaned over exactly, and he asked, Lord, who is it?
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: They had no idea. Least of all Judas, the trusted treasurer, Lord,
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: who is it? Now watch.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Jesus responded, it is the one to whom I give
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the bread I dip in the bowl. There was a
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: custom that an honored guest would be placed at the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: host's left. And as a part of the meal, there
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: would be a little sandwich prepared there. called in your Bible, perhaps,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: if you don't carry the New Living, a morsel, or
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the sop, S-O-P.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: It was a piece of the.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Unleavened bread was broken off, another piece broken off. The
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: bitter herbs are stuffed between like a sandwich, and you
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: dip it into the karosheth, this dip, like you would
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: dip a corn chip into our dip today. You would
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: dip it, And then you would hand that morsel to
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: the honored guest. This is the greatest moment of grace
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: offered to Judas personally. This is the last act of
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: grace that would come his way. And Judas, Judas realizes
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: what he's done. No one else realizes except Jesus, who
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: knows exactly what's been going on, being God. It's all
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: clear to Jesus. It's clear to Judas. And when he
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Simon Iscariot. Notice, when Judas had eaten the bread, Satan
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: entered into him.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: You see, Satan can come and go.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: He can possess and then leave a body and then
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: come back again and leave the body. In this case,
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: he came at the time The betrayal was planned with
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: the captain of the guards and the chief priests and
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: then departed. Judas went about his stuff, met at the table,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: is at the left of Jesus as the honored guest,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: is given the morsel. And if there's ever a weak
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: moment in Judas' experience, it's now. Jesus has given me
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: the morsel. And it says, When Judas had eaten the bread,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Satan entered into him. Of course, right then, at that
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: weak moment, he came in and he's now a pawn.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: Of the adversary.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: And that's why Jesus said to him, by the way,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: notice the ending of the grace, hurry and do what
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: you're going to do. None of the others at the
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: table knew what Jesus meant. Since Judas was their treasurer,
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: for the food or to give some money to the poor.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: You say, how could they think that?
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Remember, they're stunned over the fact that one of them
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: is a betrayer. I'm not sure they even heard Jesus.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: He doesn't say he shouted that. He could have said
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: it softly to Judas instead.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: Go after it. Get on with it. Get out. And
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: we read Judas left at once.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: And it was night. Night was never darker. Midnight in
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: Judas' soul. William Barclay writes, when Jesus handed the morsel
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: to Judas, it was a mark of special affection.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: Apparently, Jesus was.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: So much in the habit of doing this that it
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: seemed nothing unusual to the other disciples.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: There is tragedy here.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Again and again, Jesus appealed to that dark heart. And
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: again and again, Judas remained unmoved. God save us, writes Barclay,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: from being completely unmoved. impervious to the appeal of love.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: I love that line. It applies to some of you,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: quite likely. You have had one opportunity after another after
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: another of receiving the grace of God and the love
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: of the Savior.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: You've heard the gospel. You've even attended this service. In
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: other days.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: And you have heard me give the gospel message. And
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: you continue to reject it. This may be the day
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: of your morsel. This may be the final occasion for
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: you to hear the message. Of hope and forgiveness.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: And love and grace. It was for Judas. Judas. He
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: wasted no time.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: He slipped away from his place at the table and
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: went out into the night.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: And the rest we know led to the betrayal.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: I've thought about this for quite some time. I see
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: two or three areas of application that I think are
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: worth mentioning. Each one has a word of caution. Each
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: of the three lessons includes a cautionary word to all
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: of us.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: Here's the first.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: Too much time spent with evil invites closer ties with
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: the enemy of your souls. Too much time spent with
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: evil invites closer ties with the enemy of your souls.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: As you and I look back on our lives, we
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: got into trouble most likely when we ran with the
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: wrong group. Paul writes an interesting statement in that great chapter.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: On the resurrection.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15, 33. He refers to this very thing.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: Be not deceived. Evil company corrupts good morals. Who are
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: you running with these days? Who are you spending your
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: time with? Do they encourage your walk of faith? Are
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: you a better woman or man because of that companionship?
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: What wonders what Judas did in his spare time? Interesting,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: he found his way very easily to the temple and
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: the captain of the guards. He got right in, didn't he?
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: You wonder if he had met them before. Speculation, I realize.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: Here's the cautionary word. Steer clear of wicked plans and
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: evil people. I sound like your parents right now, don't I?
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: Or maybe grandparents. How often we heard them say, that
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: person isn't good for you. You know, I look back
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: in my teenage years and the times I got into trouble.
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: They weren't trouble with the law, but they were close
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: to it. Every time, it's because I ran with two
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: other guys that were a bad influence. Now, I wasn't
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Little Lord Fauntleroy, I mean, I wasn't an example of
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: perfection either, but they were always ones who had a
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: little more evil idea of things than I did. My
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: mother said to me on more than one occasion, every
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: time you run around with Eugene and Freddie, you get
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: into trouble.
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: She was right. I won't take the time to tell
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: you of some of those.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Or we'll be here till two o'clock. And so I'll
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: stop with that. But evil company corrupts good morals. Too
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: much time spent with evil invites closer ties with the
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: enemy of your souls. Here's the second. They get more serious.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: God continues to express his love and extend his grace
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: to the worst among us. The worst among the disciples
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: was Judas. And he extended his grace to him. Truth
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: be told, I doubt that any one of us would
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: have done that. But Jesus never lost hope. Never lost hope.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: It was never too late for Judas to start doing
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: what was right. And he caught him at that moment
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: before Satan entered into him. So this brings me to
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: the second cautionary word. Refuse to write off anybody as
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: long as they're alive. And I mean anybody. You don't
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: know what the future will hold. You don't know how
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: even the worst among us will have a change of
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: heart as a result of some significant event that occurs
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: that turns their heart, softens them toward Christ.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: How gracious of the Lord to offer him the morsel.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: God continues to express his love and.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: Extend his grace to some of you.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Who've heard this gospel message before, but you've not yet
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: received it. Which brings me to this third. Anyone is
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: free to reject God's offer of forgiveness and hope.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: You're free to do that. No one will force you.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: No one will.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Stop you before you leave the service and push you
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: against a wall and threaten you if you don't believe. No,
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: you're free to walk out an unbeliever just as you
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: walked in.
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: But understand, here's.
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: The cautionary word, there will be consequences you will regret
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: for eternity.
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: If you die in that unbelieving condition. Let me tell
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: you a story.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: Years ago when I was about, well, toward the end
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: of my time at the seminary as a student, maybe
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: I was in my, end of my second year, end
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: of the third, Cynthia was carrying our child and realized
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: that things weren't right in the pregnancy. And before we
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: knew it, her water broke. She was at five months.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: I don't believe I've ever shared this story. And our
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: hearts broke.
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: We hurried to the hospital, which was nearby the old
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: Baylor Hospital and down by the seminary. We sat in
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: the hallway and the water was all over and.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Someone came and gave us a room in a hurry
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: and her heart was breaking and I was in tears.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: We had one child and we had so looked forward
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: to this second one.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: So she went in and was cared for at the hospital,
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: but the heaviness of her heart put her in a
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: depression that really took its toll and she wasn't getting better.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Even in the hours we were there at the hospital
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: following the procedure, I was concerned for her so that
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: we were told there was a physician on duty that
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: was available to help us. He was a doctor of
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: internal medicine but also a counselor that we could have
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: and he would be happy to come and talk with us.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: So we began a relationship with him. She was, of course,
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: released from the hospital, but the depression didn't go away,
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: and so we remained somewhat close to this physician for
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: a period of time. I noticed when we visited with
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: him that he, on occasion, would have those barbs he
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: would shoot in our direction. When he found out I
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: was studying for ministry and She was going to be
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: a minister's wife. That set him off. Clearly an unbeliever.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: His credentials were magnificent. Very, very well trained. I think
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: he was a Harvard Medical School grad. He had done
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: his undergraduate work at an Ivy League school. The hospital
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: held him in high regard and saw a real future
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: for him. I became increasingly more concerned about his soul
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: because he never missed a chance to take a shot
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: at our faith. And I finally wearied of that. So
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: I asked him on one occasion, could I meet you
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: at the hospital and we have a bite of lunch
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: at the cafeteria?
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: He said, well, that'd be great. I'd love to do that, Chuck.
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: So I met him there and I'm thinking, Lord, if
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: this is the moment, Give me the right words to
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: speak to this brilliant physician about his soul.
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: I thought the best way to do that is a.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: Little simple diagram called the bridge. Some of you are
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: familiar with it. There's a cliff on one side and
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: a cliff on the other. This is our lost condition
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: and this is when we come to Christ there is
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: a righteousness imputed to us and a whole new way
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: of life. And the chasm is bridged by the cross.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: And so that's the bridge in this illustration. So I
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: said to him, Doctor, I'd like to show you in
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: simple words what it means to believe as we believe.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: And I took a paper napkin from that table and
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: and I opened it up and I drew with my
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: ballpoint pen the cliff on each side and the cross
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: in the middle and I said just you understand as
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: bright and as capable and competent as you are you
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: are lost and without Christ you you can't know in
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: eternity a relationship with God And in order for you
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: to get from this chasm, from this cliff to this.
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: Side, you've got to go across the bridge. And you
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: cross that by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: You trust him. And when you do, your sins are
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: washed away. Your whole life is changed from the inside out.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: And you become a brand new creation. He didn't say
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: a word.
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: He listened.
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: He had his head on his hand and was watching,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: looked up at me and watched, never interrupted. And I said,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: so Cynthia and I both care very much about your soul.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: And as brilliant as you are, your brains will not
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: get you, make you right before God. In fact, I
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: quoted from John 3, he who has the son, S-O-N,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: he who has the son has the life. He who
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: does not have the Son of God does not have
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: the life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: And I said, I would love for you to know
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: a release from the wrath of God and enter into
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: the life he has for you in Christ.
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: And I paused.
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: He reached down and grabbed the napkin, stood up, wadded
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: it up, Tossed it in the trash. Said, I just
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: want you to know, Chuck, that in a thousand years,
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: I would never believe that. It was the clearest example
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: of rejection that I'd ever known up to that time.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: And he tossed it in the wastebasket and walked out.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: And I thought, in a thousand years, you'll wish you
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: had believed it. Because in a thousand years, you will
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: know the wrath of God like you've never known ever
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: in this life. You need to have the son in
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: order to have the life. If you will, I offered
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: him the morsel.
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: The gospel.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: As lovingly and as carefully as and kindly as I could.
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: It didn't take him three seconds to reject it. As
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: far as we know, he has never been interested. We
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: saw him rarely following all of that. He really brought
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: us little help. She recovered and moved on. We were
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: pregnant again. We had our second child and then went
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: on to have two more. But I thought about that
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: physician a number of times, wondering if he ever has
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: turned to Christ.
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: I pray that he has. Today, my thoughts are more
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: on you.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: If you've never trusted in the Lord Jesus, if you've
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: never moved from this cliff to that one by crossing
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: over the bridge, today's the day to make that decision.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: Bow with me, will you? Just close your eyes where
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: you're sitting. You don't have to join a church. You
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: don't have to clean up your life. You don't have
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: to promise to buy a Bible. You don't have to
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: memorize anything. All you need to do is take the
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: gift that the Lord offers you.
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: He's made it so simple that the most.
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: Ignorant individual on earth or the most brilliant individual can
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: understand the message. If you have the Son of God,
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: you have the life. But if you don't take the
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: Son of God, you do not have the life of God.
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: Take the gift now. Accept it. Believe in Christ. I
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: could quote other verses, but that's enough. He who has
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: the Son has the life. He who does not have
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: the Son of God, like Judas, does not have the life.
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: And the wrath of God abides on you.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: In this sober moment, our Father, I pray for those
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: who've never trusted in your Son. I pray that they
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: may do that now. This day, before sundown, this day,
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: that they would trust in Jesus. Thank you for making
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: the gospel simple, clear enough for even a child to understand.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: May it be received by many today through Christ, I pray.
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: And all his people said, Amen.
• 54:43
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, On the Trail of a Traitor, was
• 54:47
  Speaker 3: copyrighted in 2022 and 2023, and the sound recording was
• 54:52
  Speaker 3: copyrighted in 2023 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights
• 54:57
  Speaker 3: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
• 55:02
  Speaker 3: is strictly prohibited.