Sermon(Mt 27:3-8): Judas Iscariot

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025221916

 

 

 

Scripture reading:

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. - Mt 27:3-8 -

 

There are a lot of words concerning Judas Iscariot. Some people feel sorry for Judas, thinking he could not but do so thanks to the predestination. Some people feel sad about Judas to see that he repented later but killed himself while Peter, an apostle like Judas, repented of his faults and became a new man and did a great job later. Did they meet the different fates because one was predestined to the eternal life, the other, to the eternal damnation?

 

But Judas' fault and Peter's fault are different in degree. Peter loved Jesus from beginning to end as his disciple. Peter denied Jesus three times at a later crisis, but it was not his real heart. But Judas had never loved Jesus. The Bible says Judas was a thief. Jesus' ministry needed money because many followers were with him. So they received donations. Judas stole the money once in a while. He did it brazenly that other disciples could notice it. one woman poured the expensive fragrance on Jesus. Judas said, "Why should the expensive fragrance be spent in vain?" He said that it would be better to sell it and give it to the poor. And Judas began to be more and more skeptical about Jesus. 'He is indeed capable, but has no determination at all. .... Moreover, he says he will die before long. ...'

 

In fact, many people of Israel (i.e., Judea) at that time understood Jesus as a political messiah, and the influential political and religious groups and governor Pilate had a doubt on Jesus' religious movement. I think that all the disciples of Jesus were under their surveillance, too. Judas, reading Jesus' mind to go on the path of death without resistance, was afraid that he who was one of the key members of Jesus' movement would be harmed. 'If Jesus dies futilely, I will be arrested and my identity will be revealed, then my life will come to an end. What's the best way I can escape this crisis? Yeah, that's it! If I take the initiative and hand Jesus over to them, the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor at least will think that I am not a key member of Jesus' movement at all.'

 

Judas says that he will hand over Jesus for some money, to make his behavior look natural. Perhaps he thought that others would perceive his real heart if he handed Jesus over to them for nothing. This looks more natural: >I have not been Jesus' follower. I made every effort to track down him and at last found him. So you have to pay a little for it.< So Judas took 30 silver coins from the religious leaders of Israel who were seeking Jesus' life, and told them where Jesus was. However, as Jesus was convicted to death, Judas repented his sin and would give back the money to them, but they refused to receive it. Judas threw the money into the temple and went and committed suicide.

 

Like this, Judas didn't consider Jesus as the Lord, but followed him and made a profit thereby, and withdrew completely from Jesus' movement at the last moment. When Jesus was already convicted, he wanted to give back the money, but he found himself used for evil purpose and deserted. He wanted to prove his faithfulness for Jesus by suicide, but who would acknowledge his true mind?

 

Why did Jesus, though knowing Judas would betray him, make Judas his disciple? Because Jesus wanted to teach his future disciples that they should not be foolish like Judas. Judas had been used to theft and betrayal(, I think,) before he met Jesus. He happened to be among those who followed Jesus. He was able to stand out among them by his craft, and succeeded in becoming Jesus' disciple. Jesus did his best to teach his disciples about the kingdom of God. He taught them in detail what life the people of God should live. Judas, who heard Jesus' teachings near him, should have changed his life. His heart rejected his teachings. Jesus is warning us that we will be like Judas if we go to church and learn Jesus' words, but refuse to live as the words teach, and continue to live in a worldly way of thinking.

 

Here's another lesson from Jesus. Jesus warns the latter generations of the church leaders that there will be in church those who are like weed, who will betray the church and throw it into confusion. It is like a situation that the head of an intelligence agency watches an enemy spy and records all his activities, from his departure, to infiltration into the country, and to the espionage in the country, to give it to the latter intelligence agents as an example how the spies come into the country and act. Jesus saw Judas, a tool of Devil, approaching, and let him do as he liked. With this, Jesus teaches that the future church leaders should keep a close guard over the church because there will be thieves who will sneak into the church and betray Jesus and his church in pursuit of their private interests. Jesus was able to recognize Judas at first sight, but church leaders do not have such ability, so they must always be alert and pray, so as to find out tares like Judas and to remove them before they take root deep in the church. Jesus is teaching that, if the money of a church or a denomination frequently disappears strangely, there must be tares like Judas there in action, and that the church should ferret out the tares immediately and weed out the thieves from the church. If a man engages in social movements such as philanthropy and human rights movements even to the destruction of the kernel of the gospel, church leaders should be alert and investigate him and his thoughts thoroughly for he might be a servant of Devil like Judas; lest the church fall down. We must know that even among those who would claim their innocence by their suicide, there can be liars like Judas Iscariot. Jesus teaches us that we must not be deceived because a man can be a tool of Devil however high he may be in the church.

 

Jesus' lesson does not stop here. He teaches us that, even if Devil works so in the church, he will end up as God's tool, and that the final victor is the church. Therefore church leaders must believe in God's absolute sovereignty and know that vaccines are necessary for the church to be healthier and to develop more and that Judas Iscariot is a kind of vaccine. We should thank God for such trouble and test. Believers, considering the case of Judas, should never give the absolute trust to one person in the church, but only to Jesus the Master of the church. The early church did not fall because of apostle Judas the betrayer. The church replaced Judas by a new apostle Matthias and actively healed its wounds and found a new way to survive. Today also, the church becomes more mature and self-sustaining through tares like Judas.

 

Jesus is the King of kings. He rules over all kings, so he is the Emperor of the universe. Who dare be against him and defeat him? Judas and religious leaders of the day, who belonged to Devil, tried to kill Jesus by using their tricks, but they had brain fight among themselves only to fulfill God's will that Jesus should be crucified, however, they themselves committed suicide or lost later their power due to the invasion of the Roman army that caused the destruction of the temple. He who is against Jesus will be surely defeated, whether he is a Christian or not. You must not live such a foolish life. Stand by Jesus. Stand by the truth. Set the standard of all your actions in the direction of evangelism and glory to Jesus. Then you will always be a winner in everything. You will always be a winner because you are a good tool of Jesus. Be a faithful and naive Christian. Do not use tricks but serve Jesus always honestly. If the salt loses its taste, it will be discarded and stepped on. If a Christian loses his identity, he will be deserted by Jesus and even trampled down by people of the world. Judas had lost his identity as an apostle, and Jesus didn't hold him as he departed. Later he was deserted even by the religious leaders, and he killed himself lonelily. But Jesus, after his resurrection, went around looking for the other apostles who hadn't lost their identity as the apostle. "Why and where are you going? Come back!" What was their identity as an apostle? The mind that regards Jesus as the Lord.

 

Who is Judas Iscariot today? Judas is one who is a man of greed and betrayal. A Judas believes in Jesus to satisfy his greed and betrays the good Jesus. Yes, he does! Come to think of it, Jesus is worth just 30 silver coins for greedy and treacherous man like Judas Iscariot. on the contrary, Jesus is the Son of God, Messiah and King of kings for those who are not greedy and always regard faithfulness as precious as their own life. If Jesus is worthless to you, you are a Judas. on the contrary, If Jesus is the most precious one to you, you are his true disciple. No matter how precious jewelry is, it is useless to pigs. However, anyone who has found the most precious gem in the world will buy it even if it costs all his fortune. Judas was a pig that trampled the precious pearl.

 

Thinking of Judas, we can see how the Devil preys on humans. Devil chooses a man of dirty heart for his instrument. Devil prevents humans from discovering the precious one and the precious things. Devil makes them commit sins themselves, then lets them despair themselves to death. Suicide! Nowadays, many people choose to commit suicide because of hardships of life. There are parents who even kill their children and then kill themselves. People seem to kill themselves when they are so ashamed of their life-situations and have no hope for tomorrow. But this occurs because Devil makes them blind. Are you ashamed of yourself? I think you are still not humble. Human life is not to be ashamed of. Even those who are worse off than you are living proudly. Small and medium-sized enterprises are suffering from the manpower shortage these days. They manage the factories by seeking workers from abroad. Some people do not seek jobs humbly to lead a blameless life, but commit prostitution and theft, then have a sense of shame and kill themselves in despair, like Judas. But those who believe in God do not make themselves worthless men. However humble their jobs may be, they thank God for the jobs as God's grace and do their best to do the work. The future is for those who believe in God. If you do not betray the sincere Jesus, the future is for you. Jesus promised his disciples: "Lo, I am with you always (Mt 28:20). I will not leave you desolate: I will come to you (Jn 14:18)." There are many people in the world who had been in a more difficult situation than you, who, however, believed Jesus' promise that he would be with them until the end of the world, and overcame all the sufferings and hardships of the world, and made the hopeful future their own, and achieved a successful life. The reason why your future seems to be in darkness and why your life seems to be hopeless is that you have such faith as Judas had. Devil has made you blind so that you can't see the sincere Jesus. So you can't have the hope, and feel like offering up your life to the god of despair. Do not sacrifice your precious life to the Despair, the god of darkness, but offer up your pure heart to Jesus, your Savior, the merciful God. “Jesus, it's too hard for me to live in this world. No one helps me. I'm in the shadow of despair and death. You said to us, >Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.< So I'm coming to you. Forgive my sins. And make me your own. Receive me, so that I can live a happy life in you.”

 

If your heart becomes pure like that, Jesus will come into your heart immediately to give you a new hope. He will give you strength to live, and a chance to work. And he will open your eyes to see a new way to live. When Hagar fled from her mistress and wept in the wilderness to see the shadow of death, God himself appeared to her, opened her eyes to see a well, and taught her a way to live. God is so powerful and merciful, therefore, he will surely give us a way to live if we acknowledge his true value and ask him for help. Do not imitate Judas who committed suicide. Suicide can never restore your self-esteem. It only adds another disgrace that you have lived a failed life thanks to your little faith. If you are still alive, it is the evidence that you are still living in God's grace; therefore, if you realize it, you will realize that there is a sure way to live for you. Jesus teaches those who despair that they should not imitate Judas.

 

Let's rediscover the value of Jesus. He can't be exchanged for anything in the world. The time when you worship him is most precious, so you should not spend that time doing other works. You should not sell the name of Jesus to seek your own interests. You should not sell the church to get some profit. You should not sell the saints, the members of his body, to get some money. Live only for the glory of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that is, for the glory of the Holy Trinity. This is the lesson that the case of Judas Iscariot gives us.

 

Chong Tack Kim

 

                                      - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -