The Mind of Judas

The title of my sermon today is The Mind of Judas. I did a sermon many years ago called The Mind of Christ around this time of the year, and then probably 15-20 years ago I gave one on the mind of Stephen as it reflected the mind of Christ. So this year I wanted to do something different. So I watched everything that you've been given for the last month or six weeks. Your sermonettes, your sermons, or heard them where they were about. So I needed to give something that didn't cover the same territory. So I thought back on Jeremiah 17 in verse 8 as it says, all of us know that Scripture, the heart is what? Deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? We all think about that because it's describing the heart being the storeroom of our thoughts from our minds. Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks as Scripture says. So I wanted to go into this mind of Judas. I can't say I've heard a lot of sermons in my lifetime on Judas. Can't say I hear a lot of parents that name their kids Judas.

You don't hear a lot. But I ask you, what went through that carnal mind that would drive Judas to want to see the lamb of God killed? Would that ever enter your mind to do something like that? I would say most of us not. Most of us wouldn't. But it brings back, did he really know the Christ? Spent three years, not three and a half with Christ. Did he really know that this was God? God in the flesh. He should have, as hopefully we all know.

But I'd like to go there, if you will, go with me to the very first mention in the New Testament, and that is of Matthew 10. It's in Matthew 10, verse 1, very first mention of Judas Iscariot. Let's go to verse 1, though, first. And I want you to think about this because to me I find it very, very interesting. The life we all live, the life we have been living, and the life we will continue to live, is it a reflection of who we really are? Verse 1, And when he had called his twelve disciples to him, Jesus Christ, he gave them power, power, over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of disease, sickness, and all kinds of disease.

All twelve. Imagine, given that power, if only for a little while, wouldn't you like to walk into your town? Wouldn't you like to walk into various areas and have the power to heal all those who are sick, all diseases, to cast out demons? There was no doubt he gave these twelve men that power. And one of those twelve men in verse 4, it says, Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. I want to make sure he put that little thing in.

Mark 3 and verse 19 said the same thing, except he made sure he put in there that Judas Iscariot was the betrayer.

Make sure we know it. But I'd like you to go with me to Luke. Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. And let's go to verse 12.

Now, it came to pass in those days that he, Jesus Christ, went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples to him, and from them, it makes us from other places, it makes us sound like they were 70, he chose 12, whom he also called apostles, who renamed apostles later.

Simon, who was also named Peter, Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew. Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon called the zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. Traitor! Just use betrayer, but traitor! I don't know if you've ever been called that. I was a couple of times in my lifetime, because I didn't follow certain things.

Aspects of someone else should have said I should follow. Go with me to John then, as we lay this background for John 6. We lay this background of Judas. Now, to set the stage here, this message that Christ is giving right here happens to take place one year exactly. Before Christ's last Passover. So Christ is addressing one year before, and He covers, you shall eat my flesh and drink my blood, and then so many His followers, they departed. They hit the road, Jack. He didn't want any part of it. One year. Then we go to verse 67, chapter 6 and verse 67. Then Jesus went to the 12th, and He said, do you also want to go away? And Simon Peter answered, said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Quite a statement.

And what does Christ say? Christ answered and said, did I not choose you, the 12th? And one of you is the devil.

This is one year before the actual tutorial.

He spoke of Judas Iscariot. Of course, this is John writing this almost 40 years after these events. He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the 12.

So, do you think Christ knew?

He sure looks that way. It looks like he knew by that time who would betray. Prophecy said someone would. Was it prophesied that he would?

Let's go with me. Chapters over to John 12. John 12, you know this is just before the Passover.

John 12. Let's do verse 1.

Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus is one of those who sat at the table with him. Then Mary took out a pound of very costly oil, a spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, John makes sure we crystal clear who it is, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?

That oil that was used at night was worth one year's wages.

The average wage in the United States today is 50 to 55 thousand dollars. Can you imagine that? Hmm. But here, Judas, is he all concerned about the poor? Let's read what it says.

This he said, not that he cared for the poor. So John, who had spent so much time with him, was laying out the truth about Judas. Not that he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box, and he used to take what was put in it. He was a thief.

Didn't have any money. Why would Christ have put him over the money box?

Was it to see?

So I read the other day an article that was very condemning of this, saying, Jesus Christ set him up!

Set him up to lose. Set him up because he might have been an honest man.

But Christ made him a thief. I found the article insulting, but I found the guy's church insulting, anyway.

There is much thought here. There are two historical accounts. Speculation is all I can say, but I want to give you those two, so you don't have to go look him up. One thought was that Judas Iscariot, being the son of Simon, was not a Galilean, was not from that area, but he's from another area, and he was very poor, because that area was known to be poor. And so the poor guy didn't have any money, or he wasn't used to handling money. The other was that, and I found this may be invalid because research was in depth, that Judas Iscariot was the son of Simon, who was part of the Sanhedrin and was a very wealthy individual, and that his son, Judas Iscariot, had rebelled against following his father into this line of work. And so he went with a radical.

Could have been, but it also made it clear that if that was true, he would have had quite a bit of access to the high priest, the chief priest at the time, for what he did. He would have had a direct line to the leaders, religious leaders of that day. But I don't know. Obviously, the disciples found out. I mean, think about it, the money bucks.

When everything was settled, obviously, there was nothing in it.

Yet they had known that, as the scriptures describe, women, other women gave of their substance. Other people gave, donated. It should have been money in there.

Imagine the disciples finding that out.

And then John writing it, because the others had left it out, had written about this. So, just the scriptures that we've read so far, they do show an attitude of Judas.

A mindset.

As we begin to see this demented, diabolical, calculating mind, did he have a conscience?

Did he have guilt? It shows he did for what he did, but it didn't show he felt guilt for what he did before he did what he did, which definitely makes you think.

So, why steal? We don't know.

Was it to replace the money that he had stolen out of there?

Another conjecture is that that he sold Christ out, betrayed Christ, because he wanted to start a revolution, and he didn't think they would be able to kill God. Conjecture.

But it gives us a chance to think about the mind of Judas, because there's a lot we don't know, and sometimes that's more intriguing than what we do know.

His name is always last in the order. Always last. Could it be that he was the last disciple chosen? Possibility?

Or was it that he was just so disrespected because of his actions that he was always last on the list?

Go with me to Matthew 26.

Matthew 26. Use more scriptures. Thankfully, David helped me back there. Diane, you have more scriptures than I typically give in a sermon, because there's such a wealth of knowledge just in a few scriptures. It's hard to cover those in depth, but I needed to cover ground here. Matthew 26 and verse 15. Let's go to... I'll read 14 first. Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest. So he went there and said, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?

And they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. So, from that time, he sought opportunity to betray.

So that's where the line of demarcation is.

It makes it appear that the thoughts were there, because that's why he went to them.

But the line of demarcation is when he accepted the money. He made the deal, and he fulfilled his part of the deal, didn't he?

He did the job he was paid to do. All the time, hanging with the twelve. All the time, being at the side of Christ, seeing these miracles. And go back to the very first verse. He had to have something go wrong in his mind, a disconnect being he had cast out demons. He saw the power of God. He also saw Christ take some bread and some fish and feed five thousand.

He saw all these miracles, lepers being healed. He might have even healed some lepers.

He said, diseases.

How does the mind go there, then? Go with me to Luke. Back to Luke.

Find my way back here.

And let's go to Luke 22.

Luke 22, verse 5 and 6. This follows a story that we just read. And it said, and they were glad and agreed to give him money. This is someone else's story about it. Then he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. So he knew to slide away. So he knew to slide away.

Make sure he did this in secret, is what Luke said.

Now go back with me to Mark. Or you can just watch it up here. You don't want to turn that way. Mark 14.

Mark 14, verse 10. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priest. So he just didn't go, hey, I got this plan.

He went to the chief priest. Was it Caiaphas? Was it the former one, his father-in-law?

He went to the chief priest to betray him to them. So when they heard it, they were glad.

Wow!

We got us a deal here.

And promised to give him the money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray him. So the mind starts working. The mind of Judas is, how am I going to do this? I've made the deal and get the money. How do I do it? And how do I do it from the previous scripture? How do I do it without anybody really knowing it?

Because he's got these eleven-headed guys just hanging around. I'm going to go do that.

That's why I say a demented, diabolical, diabolical, calculating mind that Judas had. Because this was a big deal. He had three years, at least invested, in this way of life.

And he's ready to throw it all away.

Thirty pieces of silver.

So it says, Mark, Matthew, and John say he betrayed.

Christ, Luke, said he was a traitor. You know what's interesting? That the word traitor is used in Greek. It's only used two times in the entire New Testament.

Two times. This is one of them. You know what the other one is? The other one talks about us.

Talks about our time.

Second Timothy 3 and verse 4. What does it say? I don't know if I gave you that or not. No, I just added it. From within my mind.

Second Timothy 3 and verse 4 talks about, in the last days, men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and then it puts in with all those other ones, traitors.

Traitors. Hmm.

So that lack of scruples, that character flaw that existed 2,000 years ago, almost 2,000 years ago, it's going to exist in the last days, and they're going to be traitors.

Anybody?

Anybody want to say, pick me? No. Only Norm would do that.

Oh, he's pointing to his wife. Now see, that is a traitor.

He's throwing his wife under the bus.

Norm and Mary would be proud that it wasn't her. I did that too, so.

Think about it. The only time.

Do we need to be on the lookout for traitors?

If it's the last days. Go with me over to Matthew again. Matthew 26. I visited there. We're going to go back. I visited there. We're going to go back. Matthew 26 and verse 21.

Now as they were eating, he said, Assurely I say unto you, One of you will betray me.

Can you imagine sitting there, thinking about that? I mean, it isn't like this room where we have 25 people or 30 people, whatever we have. Okay. There's only 13 people in order.

And he says, One of you. We're brotherhood. How could that happen? I'm sure they thought.

But I say to you, One of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful. And each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? Then he answered and said, He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me.

Was he saying who was sitting on his side? We know John was sitting on one side of him at night, and his belief that Judas was on the other side. How the conversation was quiet. And the Son of Man goes that it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better, or it would have been good, for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, who betrayed him, answered and said, Rabbi of Rabboni, Rabboni, is it I? And he said to him, You have said it.

So obviously, he was close enough that the others didn't hear it.

Amazing.

Go with me to John 17. Just this word. Word. The high priestly prayer. That'll be read here. Tomorrow night. This usually goes through Chapter 17, the high priestly prayer every year.

But I just want to read Verse 12.

Because as he's praying to God, he says, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost. Except for the son of perdition. The son of perdition. A destroyer. Destruction.

That the scripture might be fulfilled.

So, let's go to Luke 22 again. Because I want us to understand this mind. I want you to sit and ponder now as they were not really at a table. They were on the ground. Pillows, you know how they did it at the time, and ate. Propped themselves up. You wonder if Judas actually looked at the other disciples to find out if they were looking at him.

Sometimes the police at a scene can come up to the scene of a crime and look around at the crowd. Because most will be looking there, whatever, but some will just be looking at the policeman. Just to see if he might be looking at them. The guilt!

See, you had to wonder. Judas, do they know? Where they find out? Hmm. What went through that mind? Luke 22 and verse 1. Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread do near, which is called Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Then, what does it say? Satan. Then Satan entered Judas, surname Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and the captains how they might betray him. And they were glad, as we've read previously, and agreed to give him money. Then he promised and sought the opportunity to portray him in the absence of the multitude. But here we have someone else in the mind of Judas. Satan. He got in his mind. He influenced his mind.

Ever influenced yours? Guilty. Can he do it again? Does he want to do it again? Isn't that a scary thought? So could we become traitors? We let that mind be in us that was in Satan. The old saying, except for the grace of God, there go I. And it is by grace. It's his grace towards us. Let's go over to John. Back to John. We did talk to John 17, the high priestly prayer. But then we see it all come together for Judas. In chapter 18, verse 1, When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden which he and the disciples entered.

And Judas, who betrayed him, notice he had to put that in there. He was already going to tell the story, but he just had to tell it, also knew the place. For Jesus often met there with his disciples. Had a private place, a place where they, you might even call it a little sanctuary, obviously, that he felt safe, and the disciples could go there and meet.

And Judas decided to blow that all up. Verse 3, Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and it says, weapons. And another translation says, clubs, swords. They were trying to take a criminal.

God done nothing but heal people. What had Judas told them? Because he came with them. He came with them. What a sad state of affairs. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops in verse 3, and then verse 4, Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, Who are you seeking?

They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. He was right there. He was right there. Then, when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. All of them, all the troops. Can you imagine that just falling down? They were soldiers, they were strong. Made me wonder whether Judas did too. And then, you see that. I mean, here is the apex of everything that went through Judas's mind. He was right there. He got the money.

He turned them in. They've got him. They've got him surrounded. They're going to take him in. And then all those men fall to the ground. What went through that mind of Judas at that time? Did he go, uh-oh? Or did he go, maybe this wasn't a good plan. Or did he go, well, I got my money. Hmm. See that mind? Also, it's mentioned in Matthew 26. We won't turn there. Matthew 26 and 46. And I never got all how this all came together. Because the man came up and asked him.

But Matthew gives the account that Judas walked up and gave him a kiss. Christ even said, you betray me with a kiss. So did he lead them up there, give the kiss, and then the guy asked him? Where Jesus of Nazareth was? I don't know. But don't most people know now the phrase, betrayed with a kiss?

All because of this. All because of this one time. Hmm. Let's go to my last verses. You'll go with me to Matthew 27. Matthew 27. Verse 1. When the morning came, all the chief priests and elders and the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they then led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. And verse 3. Then Judas, his betrayer, seen that he had been condemned, was remorseful, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver, and gave it to the chief priests and the elders.

Take it back. Take it back. I love what they said. Just as conniving and diabolical as him. And as they're saying, because he said, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us?

That's cold. What is that to us? You see to it. You see to what? The money. We're not. We have nothing to do with this. Lying dogs. Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver and said, it is not lawful to put these pieces of silver into the treasure because they were the price of blood.

Who paid it? Who paid it? They did. They bought this man's death with that money, but oh no, we can't have it with the rest of the treasury. That might be improper. People might think bad of us if we put that money in, because this was one of his people. Then they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in.

Therefore, the field has been called the field of blood to this day. Some things stayed on. Was he remorseful? He was at that time. Was he sorry what he did? I think so. Did things go as he planned? Absolutely, except for the reality. You know, so many of us will overcome some problem, and then we realize that could have turned out really, really bad. We're so thankful that God was guiding our path because we were headed down a terrible, terrible road.

Judas didn't get that opportunity. I think that's a lesson for us. So I ask you why. Why give this sermon, except for maybe history? Maybe something to think about this time of the year.

But no, brethren, these verses beg the question, could I betray? Could I betray Jesus Christ? Could I be as guilty as Judas? Well, that's insulting, Chuck. How dare you, Pastor, bring that up. Do you realize we're people of God in this room? How dare that you question us that way? The only reason I do is I question myself.

I have cast out demons before. Not a lot. Maybe five, six. I've never healed anyone because my hands can heal, but people, I have anointed people and they have been healed. Anointed other people in the heaven. It's God's choice, not mine. But I realize the power of God. The first time or two it even gave me goosebumps. And so I have to think, could I ever do this? Could anybody else ever do this? Because he talks about it at the end of the last days. Traitor. Could I deny Christ? Could you? Scripture says if you deny Christ, he will deny you to his Father.

I don't think it's in there by chance. I think it's in there as instruction. Tomorrow night you will be in this room and you are telling God, before God, you are telling Christ that you are his and he is yours forever. And you will never betray him.

You will never deny him. You are making that vow. You are making that promise. And he expects us to keep it. Over my 45, 40-something years of Passover services, I have sat and washed people's feet who later denied Christ. Just left. Just left the faith. Yet they were down there, pretending to be Christ, washing someone's feet, washing my feet. And I was trying to be like Christ and wash theirs.

They had been in the faith far longer than I had. And yet, in a matter of a decade, they were gone. Just left. They don't keep anything. They don't even believe in God. How could that happen? The mind of Judas, instead of the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It's about a humble mind, the humility of it all. Judas obviously had problems.

Could we, could we, will we ever reject Christ, who He is and was? Because I've met people that kept the Passover, that later didn't know if Christ was really their Messiah. Yet they said it was. Gonna eat that bread. Gonna drink it. See, that's why Christ gave these incredible symbols, physical things to do. Get down and wash someone's feet. Eat this thin tasting, now thin, no taste, macho, and a little bit of wine. Physical things.

Why? To make us think. That's why He said, prepare before you take it, so you don't take it in an unworthy manner. So that we know why we're here. Because we're saying to God, we're saying to Christ, I'm yours. You bought me. Christ, you bought me. I'm yours for eternity.

So perhaps you can answer the question, could you ever reject? I think many of us could say, and because we've known people in the past, it could happen.

Some of us say, no, there's no way. And some might even say, I don't know. But the answer is to all three of those scenarios is, you need a Savior. You need a Savior. I need a Savior. And there's only one. There's only one. So our job is to make sure we're not a Judas. And it starts by not having the mind of Judas.

Come here tomorrow night.

Look around the room. Christ called each and every person that'll be here. He called you for a purpose. He called you for a destiny.

And by doing what you're going to do here tomorrow night, you have said, yes, God, I'm yours.