The Life And Times Of Judas Iscariot

I invite you to turn this morning to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. We're sort of starting a new series tonight called "Essential Bible Texts." I'm contemplating whether to move that to the morning next week and move Matthew to the night. I'll be thinking about that, praying about that. But this morning I thought Matthew 27 is so important. What is highlighted here that no other gospel gives this kind of attention to? So very important to Matthew's purpose. And I'd like to consider with you the first 10 verses. I'll read through verse 14.

"When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. They bound and they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to pilot the governor. Then when Judas his betrayer saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, i have sinned by betraying innocent blood They said, what is that to us? See to it yourself And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself. But the chief priest taking the pieces of silver said, it is not lawful to put them into the treasury since it's blood money So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, and they took 30 pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, are you the King of the Jews Jesus said, you have said so But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, do you not hear how many things they testify against you But he gave them him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed."

Well, in the reading of God's word there well possibly, maybe uh at least for me, I don't know about for you, but it's possible that the figure of Judas Iscariot is one of the most confusing figures to you in all of the Bible. He is a great mystery. He's a sort of enigma to understand. The scriptures prophesied so many years previous that one of Christ's close acquaintances and friends with whom he ate his bread, Psalm 41, would betray him. And we just don't know what to do with Judas. We don't know what to think about Judas in many ways. Clearly, he was somebody given over to his sin, and that sin led to his own very sorry, tragic death, as we see here, by suicide.

Judas Iscariot, Judas Iscariot, what a figure to have a sermon about and to consider! The name Judas was a common name in the first century, uh, though most today uh see it as kind of a cursed name. So we rarely hear anyone name their child Judas. I think uh many approach Judas as almost feeling sorry for him. We just feel kind of sorry for Judas. On the one hand, Judas fulfills scripture in the divine plan of a plan of God to hand over Christ in betrayal. We know from John he was Satanically influenced, and yet nowhere does the scripture present Judas as doing something that he did not want to do. Until after. And that's confusing for us. So we're left with this enigma regarding Judas Iscariot that more than a few Christians throughout history have lived with fears that they could be a Judas That they could do something like Judas did. I mean, how could you walk with Christ the entire time? See the miracles that you saw, the profound insights and wisdom that Jesus preached, the raising of Lazarus from the dead as we considered last time, and then do this? So you have to you have to you have to think about that. The typical approach is just to kind of avoid Judas the judas dilemma, as I call it and to put it out of our minds as something so terrible, like the bad tasting medicine in the back of the cabinet that we don't want to take. So we just don't.

Well, I always think it's best to tackle these things sort of head on and to tackle them and address them the way that the scriptures address them. Because when we do that, it actually can become one of the most clarifying moments for us in our study to ask what the Lord is teaching us and how such a path can be avoided.

I think one of the difficult, difficult, the greatest difficulties of life is to have a proper conception of our own hearts. I mean, you know this. It's still the battle to this day that most people see humanity and see the human heart is basically a good heart. And the reality is our hearts are a deep well. They're a deep well. And what can go on there and what truly is hidden there and what goes on deep within the human heart can be utterly distressing, even for the believer. How can we think the things that we do? How could we act the way that we act?

Jeremiah said that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The issue then that I want to really kind of front and center and zero in on is the issue of repentance. a doctrine of true repentance Because I think that's what Judas since jesus began his ministry this way judas helps us a lot in that. It's amazing. Uh, the words that we began the service with: "Let the the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts begins in the heart and mind and thoughts let them turn to the lord and he will have mercy on them and he will abundantly pardon." That's that's wonderful. That's amazing news. Uh, you see the imagery of the Lord's hands outstretched: "Come to me. I'll forgive your sins." Well, what do we learn from Judas? That's what I want to spend this these moments on with you this morning: of what repentance is not and also with the goal that you might have a good conscience in this life.

A good conscience is worth a lot in life. Good conscience is worth a lot in this life. And that God would work within us godly sorrow that leads to true repentance, that's genuine repentance as we'll look at. So we're considering this morning briefly what repentance is not, where false repentance leads somebody, and how true repentance is achieved.

At this point in Matthew, the narrative it's interesting. What the author does: as you know, we've been working through the passion narratives of Matthew to the death of Christ. And here before us, we have a sort of stop of the narrative, a shift to a different scene, which is a powerful and effective way of teaching. And when something the author really wants to emphasize, he'll put a spotlight on it in this way, in between a scene like this.

And the scene begins for us in verse 1 of 27: "When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away to be delivered to deliver him to pilot the governor." So chapter 27 now has shifted trials. We have moved from the ecclesiastical trial, and now we go to the civil trial. And he is now being sent bound, handcuffed, to Pilate. And this scene picks up again in verse 11.

In fact, if there was no break in this text, we would have never think a thing of it. But interwoven into this is something that no other gospel writer treats the way that Matthew does. Doesn't give this kind of attention. Only Matthew gives the story of Judas this way. And my own thought is that Matthew knew this figure would be an enigma throughout history for people. Something has to be said about Judas. Something is said in the book of Acts by Peter himself, which is interesting. But something we need to look at as to what motivated Judas and to explain this figure to us. It's so helpful. It's so helpful. And I think that the theme of the book at least for matthew when we look at Judas fits so powerfully in that one of Matthew's great goal is to expose the false religion of Israel, and Judas is sort of the ultimate figure of the false religion in Israel at this point. Judas iscariot that Jesus has been overturning throughout the whole book. So Matthew now shifts scenes and gives us great insight into this man, Judas Iscariot.

Verse 3: "Then when Judas his betrayer saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders."

So what a moment. As soon as Jesus had been handed over and Judas had betrayed him with a kiss, all of a sudden he realizes what he had done. Think about that. Think about that. All of a sudden he realizes what he had done. that this was a horrific thing that he just did in betraying Christ, the Savior. And he sold him for blood money, 30 pieces of silver, and handed him over to be murdered. That's quite a sin. That's quite a sin.

I think you see what Jeremiah said: that "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" We don't even know our own hearts. This is why Calvin said so clearly: you have to first have some kind of understanding of who God is before you're going to have any understanding of who you are.

Sin is so deceitful. It has this blinding effect, hardening effect on the conscience, a subduing effect on the conscience, that it's at times only realized in somebody's life. And we know the story. It's been it's it's it's been seen and witnessed so many times that it only is realized in someone's life after the sin has run its disastrous course. Whatever gratification, whatever happiness the sin promised once it got to the point of ruin the conscience, again for a time, seems to revive, and great guilt comes. Great guilt comes. That is, I think, what the author of Hebrews describes as the deceitfulness of sin. Sin, when it's pursued, promises happiness and delight. And it's fulfilling. And it's powerful.

Sin is so powerful. In Judas's case, it was greed and anger that drove him to this. The sins that he fell into we know he was carrying the money purse. Uh, they had these sort of purses that they carried around, sort of the common bank, if you will, where they would put the monies into to feed Jesus and the disciples. And the whole time Jesus, knowing this knowing this judas was skimming off the top. The whole time he was stealing. That was never brought out. John told us that he said this: "Not because he cared for the poor." That's a crucial statement, by the way, in this context. "But because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag, he used to help to himself what was there."

Did you know that about Judas? Whole time he's stealing. He's the treasurer. He's a thief. But when Judas saw that real issue the kingdom of God that Jesus was bringing in was not paying out right that it was not this triumphal kingdom, of conquering the romans that that that it was not giving judas a great place in the kingdom but that jesus was calling them to go and to suffer and to bear a cross and to die when he hears these kind of things. And then when he sees that woman pour out everything she had, that poor peasant woman, of value on Judas, he snaps. "What is this? This is not what I signed up for."

I mean, he was your health and wealth guy. That's what he thought this was about. He said, "I'm done. Not what I signed up for." And he becomes the agent to rid Jesus off the scene.

I remember hearing a story of a godly man who, for at least outwardly, for many years in the church, was caught in a huge scandal a leader in the church, multiple affairs while he was serving in the church. And it all came out. And then the remorse and the sacrificing and giving away of everything good in his life for that sin. He gave it all away. He ruined everything good. Sin is that powerful. We have to be realistic about that with people, isn't it? Something that once it came out, then comes the remorse. When people seem to wake up: "What have I done?" This is a study in human depravity. No one in this room is exempt from it.

That's why James says: "Sin is always on a path begins with temptation. Then one when he's carried away and enticed by the lust, that then the sin is conceived, and it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." That's its payout. That's its payout. How blind one can be in the course of the action. This is Judas. "What have I done?" he's thinking of the terrible consequences of this.

Matthew's interesting here. Matthew drops the word he's been using the whole time to use the word for repentance. He doesn't use the same word. He uses a similar word, but he offsets the word. And it's important. Because the word that he uses essentially means you'll notice here our translation says he changed his mind." It's the word for remorse. He was sorry about what he did. And I think there's a huge difference there. Many in this life think that what God is simply calling us to in repentance is just to be sorry for what we have done. And this is the path where Judas' betrayal led him, and the path of where Judas' heart is revealed.

Where does false repentance lead someone in this life? False repentance. Well, I think you can follow the whole course of this and see it. I think that's what Matthew's showing us here. Notice what happens. He says in verse four: "Familiar words to us." "I have sinned. I have sinned. I've sinned against innocent blood." It seems like true confession. But the evidence here is that none of this remorse and crucial to our text this morning is that none of the remorse drove him back to the Lord. Instead, notice where he goes: he goes to the false shepherds of Israel who incited this whole thing. And I don't care a lick about him. "What is this to us?" they say. And Judas comes, and he has money in hand, and he wants to return the money. "What have I done?"

Verse five is so important: "That when the leaders said, we want nothing to do with you. Your purpose was served by the way, they didn't care about him he marches right into the temple And he takes the pieces probably into the temple." treasury and you notice what he does with with the money, he throws them right back into the temple. Then you read the sad words here that he departed from there and he went and hanged himself."

Well, we've heard so many stories like this in life. This is not repentance. This is not repentance. The whole picture here is that the path of remorse was and this is, I think, crucial was to offer back to God. He puts it back into the temple treasury to somehow relieve his burden and to make atonement for his sin. Path did not lead him back to God but to his own death. And this, beloved, is false repentance. When people sin and it's found out, they think, "Well, I just need to make amends. And that's the solution." And so what happens is is that people will do whatever they can just to make things right and to make the thing right and think that that's just what God's after.

You see it? I think the same spirit which is just shocking here with no remorse whatsoever in the religious leaders of the day. That they confer together and say, "Ah, you know, listen to what they do here." I don't know if you caught it. It's a little tricky. And this passage is is been debated on many fronts about some of the details. But but I want you to notice here the clear thing that said here is that the leaders confer together and they say, "You know, this is not lawful for us to take Judas's money and put it into the temple treasury. That's blood money. That's unholy money."

You got what they're concerned about? It now. They incited this whole thing. So they make their own atonement. Notice this atonement's happening everywhere here. They confer, and they buy the potter's field. Which was a field. They thought, "We will use for a burial place for strangers." So so understand what that is. Maybe it was a potter's field that had run its course. They buy this potter's field where pottery was made. And they buy this field from where they get the pottery and the substance for it. And they say, "You know what we need to do? We need to care for the poor." So so they take the blood money and they buy a field for strangers who don't have any family or any place to be buried, so that they can bury these poor people. Oh, how how noble it looks! So good!

If you ever go over to uh Griffith park as long as you've been there in LA, you'll see this huge 14 foot bronze statue of Griffith J. Griffith. In his day, and this is the late 19th century, early 1900s, he was valued at over two million dollars. Filthy wealthy. He was known as a scoundrel. Had enemies everywhere. In 1913, he entered a hotel room with a prayer book in one hand and a revolver in the other, and he handed the prayer book to his wife, and then shot her in the head, and she lived. I think, crawling out of a window. Then goes to jail for two years. Hated by everyone.

He offered the city of la when he gets out a hundred thousand dollars to build an observatory on Mount Hollywood. The city council refused it. Newspapers made a big stink of it. A local newspaper wrote, "On behalf of the rising generation of girls and boys, we protest against the acceptance of this bribe. This community is neither so poor nor nor so lost a sense uh so lost to a sense of public decency that it can afford to accept this money."

So what did he do? He puts it in his will. So that when he dies, 3 ,000 acres are put. And today we have Griffith Park. The city accepted it after his death. What happened there? Atonement. There are a lot of people who live by their works in this life and the good they do after an amendment of life, that are attempting to make atonement to God. And they spend their lives this way because they've done a lot of bad things. It's not from faith. It looks good to everyone, but it's not repentance.

What's missing? There's no return to God in any of this. There's no seeking for forgiveness from him. It's the one thing they won't do. They didn't care about what they did to Christ. They didn't care that they delivered over God's Son to death. They were sorry because of the consequences of and their consciences burdened them with it. God put a conscience in all of us, and they did all they could to atone for that sin themselves.

See, I have a theory on this. The narrative's a little complex to follow. When you look at Acts, but with Acts, it's interesting. says, "Now this man acquired a field with a reward of his wickedness." As Judas. And "Falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language, akaldama that is, the Field of Blood." So he he goes out to this field. And I think the order is: he gets found out. He takes the money. He throws it in the temple. The the the the leaders go and buy this field. He goes to the field. He hangs himself, falls off the the noose, and his bowels gush out into the field so that it's called the Field of Blood.

In God's providence, so that it wouldn't be called a field for the poor, you see? God never allowed it. And the whole point here is: it's a tragic end to a faithless life. It's a tragic end to a faithless life. They didn't care about what they did to Jesus.

Now, when Nathan came to David, it's remarkable. Because he had stolen a man's wife, he had committed murder and adultery, and he didn't see it. When Nathan told the parable you remember of the little ewe lamb: "That one man didn't have anything in life, and he just had this one lamb. And this rich man came and stole the only thing that he had was the lamb." And David is furious. And and he says, "That man needs to be put to death." And Nathan says, "You're the man!"

How did he not see it? Remember David's words: "I have sinned against the Lord. Fundamentally different. Against you, and you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight." What burdened him? How how could I have done this thing against you when you've loved me this much?

You see, God then, seeing true repentance in his heart, confession and turning, reassures him. "Blessed is that man," says David, "to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, whom the Lord forgives his sin. That man is blessed."

Judas is a great contrast. He's the end of false repentance away from God. You see, that's his direction. It ends in his death. He commits suicide. Let me be clear: as Protestants, we do not believe suicide is an unpardonable sin. Roman Catholics believe that. They believe if you commit this sin, it's a mortal sin, and you're done. We do not believe that. Yet I will say that any kind of genuine repentance and there can be a multitude of reasons for such a course but any kind of genuine repentance does not take somebody away from God.

And that, beloved, is why Peter is so important in this story. Did you read verse 75 of the last chapter? Peter goes out. Remember? And denies him three times, invokes a curse on himself, that he doesn't even know him. Immediately the rooster crows.

Verse 75: "And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus: before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times And he went out and wept bitterly."

When you compare these two, they seem to be in the same place. But they're not. They're not even close. There's a crucial difference. And what is the difference?

I want to quote the um Westminster Confession at this point because it's so powerful about the doctrine of repentance. And I want you to listen carefully to these words. What is repentance? What is genuine repentance?

"Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace. The doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ." So important! This is just as much of a grace. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as our penitent, so grieves for and hates his sins so as to turn from them all unto God, there it is right purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.

Can you get a better definition than that? That's not Judas.

What do we know of Peter? Well, Peter felt like walking away. But there's one fundamental difference: Jesus didn't let him. He just didn't let him go. And his electing love, God's electing love, don't ever despise the doctrine of election. He went after Peter. And in grace, what did Jesus do after the resurrection? Restored Peter. "Peter, follow me. Do you love me, Peter?" "You know I love you." "Feed my sheep, then." What did he end up doing? Feeding his sheep. Failure his, he was. He turned back to the Lord.

"Let the wicked forsake his way. Let him return to the Lord." This is what Paul described in Corinth about genuine repentance. "Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. Not just about sorrow. For you became sorrowful as God intended. And so we are not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. But worldly sorrow brings death."

Judas. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you? Oh, this is great! What earnestness! What eagerness to clear yourselves! What indignation! What alarm! What longing! What concern! What readiness to see justice done!

This is why Watson, when he described true repentance and said the key ingredients of it are: a sight for sin, a sorrow for sin, a confession of sin, a shame for sin, a hatred of sin, and a turning from sin. And that's a work of grace in your life. It's an evangelical work of grace in your life by the Lord.

If any of us are living in unrepentant sin, why go in the path of Judas? That leads to death. It's where it leads. Jesus has come to me. Our God abundantly pardons.

Marvel at the end of this passage on Judas is that Matthew makes clear all this was done to fulfill the scriptures spoken of by Jeremiah. I believe in connection with zachariah There's a lot of discussion about that. "They took 30 pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel, and they bought the potter's field as the Lord had directed."

The whole thing had been done in the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. And how powerful it was at Pentecost when Peter preached his sermon. And here's what he said: "This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge. And you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."

Then Peter said this: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The times act 17 of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all men everywhere to repent."

Praise God. I know sin is that powerful, and I know we don't even know our own hearts as we should or can. But know this today: his grace is more powerful. And he promises that you who look to Christ and come to Christ, he will genuinely work this godly sorrow in your lives, leading you to genuine repentance.

So when you sin and you will run to him. Remember this story. When the young prodigal came to himself, "What am I doing? I'll return to my father and say, i'm not worthy to be called the least of your servants and the father bolts out of the house, running. While he was still a long way off, the father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son and he threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The son said to him, "Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son."

But the father said to his servants, "Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this my son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found."

Praise God that he will keep you, and that this work, it is his work that he will have done in his children. So come. Let the wicked forsake their ways, the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them. And to our God, and he will abundantly pardon. How wonderful a God we serve.

Let's pray.