twelve common men

1. TWELVE COMMON MEN JUDAS ISCARIOTThe Traitor

3. INTRODUCTION Name and Early History Before the Betrayal The Betrayal His Death Theories Joined the Apostles to Betray Jesus Foreordained to Be a Traitor Betrayal the Result of Gradual Development

4. THE TRAITOR His Infamy His Call His Disillusionment His Greed His Hypocrisy His Betrayal His Death The Moral of His Life

5. HIS INFAMY Judas stands as a warning about spiritual carelessness, wasted opportunities, sinful lusts and hardness of heart. Judas never increased in faith like the rest. We learn two things about Judas: It is possible to live closely with Christ and still become hardened by sin. No sinful man (or even spirit) can thwart God�s purposes. Even the betrayal worked in God�s favor.

6. HIS CALL He was willing to follow Jesus. When less devoted disciples deserted Jesus, Judas remained (Jn. 6:66-71). While Jesus had his life, it is apparent that Jesus did not have his heart. He probably followed Jesus hoping for an earthly restoration of Israel. He followed Jesus for many wrong reasons as we shall see. He kept following until the end. Why?

7. HIS CALL We see the tension between divine will and human choice. (Ps. 41:9; Jn. 13:18; Ps. 55:12-14; Zech. 11:12,13; Mt. 27:9,10) When Jesus chose Judas, Jesus knew he would betray Him. But Judas was not coerced into doing what he did. There is no contradiction between these two facts:Judas� betrayal was foreknown by GodJudas acted of his own volition.

8. HIS CALL Judas was the evil-hearted person that God knew would be there to betray Christ. Judas did it for evil and God made it work for good. Judas was given ample opportunity to repudiate his sin, but decided not continue in sin anyway.

9. HIS CALL He heard these lessons (that we know of): the parable of the unjust steward the message of the wedding garment preaching against the love of money preaching against greed preaching against pride they had been warned that one of them was the Devil and the betrayer would meet a certain doom

10. HIS DISILLUSIONMENT Judas must have been expecting more from Jesus. Jesus was not fulfilling Judas� personal expectations and ambitions. As time passed, the rest of the Apostles caught on to what the true Messiah was all about. Judas kept his true feelings in the closet as he looked for a way to get some money out of his three-year investment.

11. HIS GREED Mt. 26:6; Jn. 12:2,3- Mary anoints Jesus with the costly perfume. Jn. 12:4,5- According to Judas this ointment was worth a year�s wages. But Judas� response was a ploy on his part. His real thinking is revealed by John (Jn. 12:6,7). Pure greed!

12. HIS GREED Jesus� rebuke seems rather mild, but it seemed to up Judas� resentment of the Lord. This is the first time Judas has exposed himself for what he really was. The mild rebuke from Christ seemed to have set Judas in motion.

13. HIS HYPOCRISY Jn. 13:1-30 Judas becomes the tool of Satan. (vv. 1-4) Jesus washes the Apostles feet (vv. 5-7) Peter was ashamed (vv. 9,10) Jesus says �one is not clean.� (vv. 11-17) vv. 18-20 (Ps. 41:9) A more explicit prediction of the betrayal (vv. 21-35) (Mt. 26:22) vv. 23-30

14. HIS HYPOCRISY Judas gave up his salvation on this day. Only after Judas leaves does Jesus institute the Lord�s Supper. (1 Cor. 11:27-32) John tells us Jesus was in a troubled mind throughout this episode. Judas was the cause; his ingratitude, his rejection of Jesus� kindness; his hatred of the Lord and the presence of Satan in him all contributed to Jesus� unrest.

15. HIS BETRAYAL Judas went straight to the chief priests from the Upper Room. This was a premeditated act; he had already taken the money for it. Lk. 22:6 tells us he had been seeking an opportunity to betray Jesus in the absence of the multitude. He feared the crowd and what they would do to him and what they might think of him.

16. HIS BETRAYAL Jn. 18:2 indicates that Judas knew that the Lord would go to the Garden to pray. Jn. 18:1-12 The Judas Kiss. (Lk. 22:48) What a misuse of a mark of love, affection, tenderness, respect and intimacy. Jesus graciously addresses him as �friend.� Judas profaned the Passover, the Lord�s Supper, a place of prayer, and the Son of God that night.

17. HIS DEATH When the betrayal was complete, Judas� conscience kicks in. (Mt. 27:3,4). Remorse does not equal repentance. His sins had ended unsatisfactorily. The chief priests could not care less about Judas and his feelings. (Mt. 27:4) Judas was in a self-made hell. Sin brings guilt and misery. His suicide shows that his remorse was not repentance. (Mt. 27:5) He could have thrown himself on God�s mercy.

18. HIS DEATH Mt. 27:6-8: The Field of Blood. Acts 1:18,19: purchased with the wages of his iniquity. The last words in scripture concerning Judas, �his entrails gushed out.� Mk. 14:21: "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

19. THE MORAL OF HIS LIFE First lesson: Judas as a tragic example of lost opportunity. Second lesson: Judas as the embodiment of wasted privilege. Third lesson: The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Fourth lesson: Judas as an example of the ugliness and danger of spiritual betrayal.

20. THE MORAL OF HIS LIFE Fifth lesson: Judas as proof of a patient, forbearing, good and loving Christ. (Ps. 145:9) Sixth lesson: Judas as a demonstration of man�s inability to thwart God�s sovereign will. His betrayal actually signaled Satan�s utter defeat. (Heb. 2:14; 1 Jn. 3:8) Seventh lesson: Judas as an example of the deceitfulness and fruitlessness of hypocrisy.

21. CLOSING THOUGHTS When Judas betrayed Christ; he sold his soul to the devil. It was his own free will which brought him to destruction Matthias (Acts 1:16-26) That�s all we know of Matthias. So another perfectly ordinary, common man is chosen to fill the position of an extraordinary villain.

22. TWELVE COMMON MEN JUDAS ISCARIOTThe Traitor