Lenten Midweek Worship March 8, 2006
Judas Iscariot: Not the Messiah, But God??s Son?
Matthew 26: 6-16, 27: 3-10

Yesterday in chapel I did a lesson on the 12 disciples. We sang the ?¨disciples song?Æ and then I got out the ?¨Russian Nesting Egg?Æ set with the 12 apostles, opening one after the other and giving each egg to a child to carry up to the communion rail, until we had all 12. There was a sea of hands raised when each new ?¨egg?Æ was ready to be carried up. Then we got to the last, the tiniest, the 12th egg, the one for Judas. I expected NO hands to go up?ñ.but there were at least 100. I was quite surprised?ñ.I didn??t expect that for Judas.

Judas. Would you have put YOUR hand up to ?¨be?Æ Judas? The unbelief and the betrayal of Judas has always been a mystery. After all, Jesus called him personally to be one of the 12. He followed Jesus for 3 years, an eyewitness to all the teachings and all the miracles of our Lord. And then he betrayed Jesus. 
Afterwards, he was so filled with remorse and despair that he killed himself.

His betrayal of Jesus was no worse than Peter??s denial. Peter repented and lived. Judas repented and died. Judas was concerned about what he had done, but he didn??t believe Jesus could forgive him.

One problem we have in understanding Judas is that we don??t know much about him. Scripture calls him ?´betrayer.?? (Matt 27:3) John??s Gospel calls him a thief. When pounds of costly ointment is used to anoint Jesus?? feet, Judas objects. ?¨Why wasn??t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor??Æ But John explains that Judas used to carry the ?´treasury?? and help himself to it.

But beyond this, we don??t know much more. He may have been, like the disciple Simon, a Zealot. They were revolutionaries who wanted to get rid of the Romans by force. Maybe from these bits of information we can gain some insights into why Judas betrayed Jesus.

The Zealots, like most Jews, were waiting for the promised Messiah. However, they were waiting for the wrong KIND of Messiah. Zealots believed God was sending a MILITARY MESSIAH to restore Israel to what it had been under David and Solomon, rich, powerful and independent. The Messiah would be a kind of general-king who would bring back the pure temple worship of the old days.

Jesus, at first anyway, SOUNDED like this kind of Messiah. He fulfilled many of the Old Testament prophecies. Miracles pointed to Him as being sent
from God. But no armies were being raised. No weapons were being stockpiled. After three years, it probably dawned on Judas that Jesus wasn??t going to start a revolution against Rome. And with the political powers stacking themselves up against Jesus, Judas threw in the towel. 

We can only guess why he sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver?ñ.the price of a slave. The point is, Jesus wasn??t the kind of Messiah Judas was waiting for.

This mindset isn??t unique to Judas or to people in Jesus?? day. It goes on all the time. When Jesus doesn??t fulfill the expectations of people, he??s rejected. Someone suffers a significant loss, and when Jesus doesn??t make it better, they reject him. When Jesus doesn??t erase the consequences of someone??s sin, he??s tossed away as useless. Whenever Jesus doesn??t fit our expectations or our image, he can be rejected.

Despite all this, something caused Judas to repent?ñ.sort of. There are two Greek words for repent: the word used for Judas?? repentance (metamelatheis, Matt 27:3) is NOT the word for repentance that includes a renewed faith (metanoeow?ñ from Matthew 3:2) Judas felt a tremendous remorse, threw the money had had received back into the temple and hanged himself. 

As we learn in the Catechism, confession has TWO parts: first that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive forgiveness. Judas repentance didn??t lead him to believe that he was forgiven?ñ.but at least it shows us Judas changed his mind. Remember his words, ?¨I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood!?Æ
There??s something to be learned from this. In Jesus?? trial, the high priest accused Jesus of being a blasphemer for claiming to be the Christ, the Son of God. To say you??re God when you??re not God is to commit blasphemy?ña capital offense according to the Law of Moses. Blasphemers weren??t innocent, but Judas declared that Jesus WAS innocent. Jesus was, Judas believed, who he said he was.

For Judas, Jesus WAS the Son of God, but Jesus was not HIS Messiah.

Even at the very end, Judas could have been forgiven, but he kept himself cut off from Jesus, despaired and died. The mystery of how Judas could have known Jesus of Nazareth but not Jesus the Christ remains.

All of us have our weak times. I??ve had mine, you??ve had yours?ñmaybe you??re in a weak time now. All of us sin, and Satan loves to remind me of mine and you of yours. He tells me I am unworthy to be a child of God, unworthy of being forgiven, unworthy of God??s love. And when we listen to Satan and only Satan, things don??t bode well. We can sink down and despair, just like Judas did. We can even try to hide from Jesus.

How foolish. Jesus knew what was in the heart of Judas and He knows what??s in our hearts today. He doesn??t want us to be cut off, isolated and despairing. His love extends to wherever we are, even when we try to hide. He takes our guilt, our shame and forgives us, totally and fully, renewing us to a relationship with Him. Believe in Him?ñ.as your Messiah and as your Savior?ñ.and LIVE!