And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas
Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said
Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some
of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy
those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give
something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out:
and it was night. (John 13:26-30)
It is my opinion that the saddest passage of the Gospel is this 30th verse
of John 13, “He having received the sop went immediately out: and it
was dark.” The Lord’s Supper had just been instituted and
administered by our Lord to all – including Judas Iscariot. By woe unto those
who receive the Lord’s Supper unworthily, and Judas had clearly done so. His
great sin had begun long before this night. No, there were no points of
vicissitude in the character of Judas – he was bad through and through. Our
Lord knew him to be a devil when He chose him. (John
6:70-71) His commission of the most heinous sin of all time was in
perfect conformity with his depraved nature. Implicit in the Gospel is the fact
that he was a greedy fellow, and cared little for acts of humble contrition.
When Judas finally departed from Christ, he went out and it was dark – not just
the passing darkness of nine nightwatches, but the eternal darkness of Hell.
Judas never beheld another sunrise for he had committed suicide ere the dawn
would break over the eastern skies of Jerusalem. How different was Nicodemus
from Judas. Nicodemus came out of that midnight meeting with Christ into the
brilliant day Light of the Gospel; but Judas, who had known Christ well, left
the Light of the World into that eternally long night. By the way, Satan did
not have to force his way into the heart of Judas. Judas left the door to his
heart invitingly open to Satan! How sad that a single soul must spend an
eternity in smothering darkness, but, tragically, there will be millions and
billions who will not see light again once they close their eyes in this life, except
the glowing embers of the fires of Hell.
It seems likely that Judas saw in Jesus an opportunity to advance a
politically, and personally lucrative, agenda. This was entirely consistent
with his record as a disciple. He was able to betray his Lord for silver, and
then seal the deal with a kiss of treachery!
We open our Holy Week readings with the two culprits responsible for the acts
of treachery and betrayal that led to the crucifixion of Jesus – the Sanhedrin,
and Judas Iscariot – the man of perdition.
The Sanhedrin, headed by the High
Priest, Caiaphas, vigorously prosecuted the trial and conviction of Jesus even
though not a single shred of evidence of guilt was produced. The Roman
Governor, Pontius Pilate declared his innocence repeatedly, yet was a political
pawn easily intimidated by a vociferous minority of priests and lawyers, with
the complicity of those crowds who had shouted “Hosanna” the same week at His
entry into Jerusalem, now transformed into an unruly mob.
When
the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took
counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they
led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. (Matt 27:1-2)
You may remember that Caiaphas
unwittingly spoke a solemn prophecy when pressed on how to handle the popular
appeal of the Lord among the people of Jerusalem: 47 Then
gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we?
for this man doeth many miracles. 48 If we
let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and
take away both our place and nation. 49 And
one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto
them, Ye know nothing at all, 50 Nor
consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not. 51 And
this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied
that Jesus should die for that nation; 52 And
not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the
children of God that were scattered abroad. (John 11:47-52) And
Jesus did, indeed, die to save every citizen of that heavenly nation called the
Kingdom of God!
Now we turn to a more searching
look at Judas as revealed in the Holy Week text from Matthew 27. At the outset,
we will note of the fact that Judas repented of his sin – though not in the way
that could help him. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he
was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver
to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed
the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he
cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged
himself. (Matt 27:3-5)
Simple regret, or sorrow, over our actions is not the kind of repentance that
will open a crack in heaven’s gate wide enough for us to slither through.
Pharaoh, though repenting that he had not allowed the Children of Israel to go
from Egypt before the death of his son, nevertheless abrogated his promise and
pursued after them - and had his bones washed clean in the waters of the Red
Sea. King Saul, too, sought counsel of the Lord’s prophet, but disregarded the
counsel to his own ruin. David, a great sinner, however, repented with deep
contrition, and was forgiven and spared.
There was another traitor on the
night of the trial of Jesus. Do you remember who it was? It was the man, Peter,
who denied Christ three times in the night. Yet Peter went out and wept
bitterly tears of contrition. It was not a calculated and intentioned betrayal,
but one made out of weakness of courage. But the betrayal of Judas was a
considered and intentional betrayal. So what was amiss with his repentance?
What are the facts?
1.
Judas recognized that his betrayal led to the
condemnation of Jesus.
2.
He repented & confessed, but not to
God – to the priests. Remember, a priest cannot grant absolution, only God has
that authority.
3.
He tried to make restitution, but that
was too late. He was trying to repent by his own works. Like Cain, he tried to
bring the wrong sacrifice from the wrong source.
4.
Trying to justify himself through
self-efforts, he was left to self to perish.
5.
He returned the blood money! Though
money can betray a best friend, money cannot buy an ounce of salvation.
6.
Being his own savior and master of his
fate, he died at the hands of that master by hanging himself. (much like the
author of Invictus – Henley) There is no greater loss than the
loss of one’s own soul. Certainly, thirty pieces of silver could never
compensate for the loss of the soul of Judas. He was left with only terror and
hopelessness than words could not express. He HATED himself enough to commit
self-murder. His betrayal of Jesus into the hands of the enemy resulted in the
betrayal of himself into the hands of the devil the very night of his
reprobation.
7.
Please observe, during your
vigil of Holy Week, these two men – Peter and Judas. Neither Peter, nor Judas,
was compelled to respond in the different manner in which they did respond to
their sin. It is very likely that you and I fit into the mold of one, or the
other, of these two men.
Coming to know Christ as your
Lord and Savior (long after He already knew you to be); you have definitely
been a Peter standing in the courtyard of the venal and profane who curse God,
and slander the good Name of our Lord. Being in the minority, as the righteous
of the Lord always are, we may have suffered the same moments of dread, doubt
and fear as Peter. We may have acted as if we were not the Christian that we
have professed to be. Later, in the solitude of our prayers, we felt,
intensely, the sting of shame and contrition that denial of the Lord always
evokes. When we have lacked courage to stand up against the slander lodged
against a dear friend, how we dread to look that friend in the eye at the
occasion of our next meeting! We are weak vessels, and our sins separate us,
too, from our Lord. But the Lord knows our every weakness, and has paid dearly
for every sin that we commit and repent of, or good deeds omitted, by His
precious blood.
There is another whose bloodline
is not of Christ, but of the Adversary. That sort is characterized fully by
Judas. He was a devil from the first. His spirit never soared above the gutters
and sewers of worldly want. The great master, Da Vinci, depicted him well in
his painting, The Last Supper. Each disciple flanking Jesus has
light reflecting from their faces. But Judas’ face is covered by a shadow
portraying the coming darkness into which his soul shall sink. His right hand
is clutching, greedily, the money bag. The salt shaker has been knocked over by
the same hand holding the money bag which was an omen of damnation in the time
of Da Vinci. One last prophetic clue is given in the original painting on the
wall of the Santa Maria delle Gracie in Milan (often omitted in Walmart
copies): Peter is holding a knife behind Judas’ back signifying his coming
death; but the knife is pointing AWAY from Judas! Why? Because, though Judas
would die that very night, he would not die at the hands of any man but his
own. Judas was EVIL. His character of sin had been so habitual and pervasive
that his conscience had been seared as with a hot iron. Though rain can be
expected from afternoon clouds, Judas was a desert cloud that built up in the
afternoon offering false promise, but gave not a drop of rain. The Holy Spirit
never ceases to attempt communion with our consciences, but if we have blocked
the spiritual channels by which He speaks, no communion takes place.
So, in the final analysis, we
have Peter and Judas. Which of these two are you?
