Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 11 – March 1986
Jesus And Judas
Sermon by Rev. P. H. Pellicaan on Matthew 27:3-10
Reading: Matthew 27:1-10
Singing: BoW. H. 305, Ps.H. 409, 112, 125
Brothers and sisters,
When we read in Scripture the story of the passion of our Lord, we read about quite a few people who had something to do with it. We are told about the disciples, about the chief priests and elders, about the women of Jerusalem, about Pilate and the Roman soldiers and so on. These people are not mentioned in the Gospel because they are so important or because they have so much to say. When our Saviour died no one else was important and no one had anything to say that was worthwhile. Everybody who was near Christ when He went to His cross was poor and miserable.
The only One speaking here was He who was dumb as a sheep, brought to the slaughter as a lamb. Everyone else was uncertain, unbalanced and upset. The disciples had left the Master, scared stiff. The brave Peter became a traitor. The arrogant Pilate and the conceited Herod did not know what to do and expected help from one another. Without getting it! They were aware of the strange fact that they were confronted with this Man, this Jesus and did not know what to do with Him. They were in an embarrassing situation. The proud Pharisees looked for help from the hated Roman emperor. Even Claudia, Pilate’s wife, was aware of the fact that her husband was on the spot. She tried to help him but she did not succeed. Confusion reigned when Jesus went to Calvary to suffer and die for our sins.
In our text we are told about Judas who, in this most decisive hour of world history, felt himself deserted by his fellow-plotters. Everything had broken down in his life and with a desperate jump he tried to save himself, jumping to God’s judgment-seat…!
It is all confusing and we will be able to understand what is happening here only when we see that quiet Man on Whom everything was focussed. This is not a sermon about Judas – that would be foolish. The message deals with Jesus, the eternal Light. This light is reflected in the dark, twisted life of Judas as the light of the sun is reflected in a muddy puddle.
It is indeed a dark page in Scripture when we are told about Judas’ betrayal. Judas, who had been so close to the Saviour, who by the Lord Himself had been introduced to his office, who in His name had prophesied who was present when the Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper, when the Lord had washed the feet of His disciples, Judas’ feet too!
It is a horrible thing and it is most awful to consider this regret without penance, this remorse without tears, this misery which led to suicide. It is hard to look upon this contorted face, these haggard eyes. It this a gospel?
But the Holy Spirit, the author of Scripture, included this story about Judas in the picture of Christ’s suffering. Consequently it must be part of the only comfort to know this, this about Judas.
Paul said that the gospel is not after men, and that is what we realize here, for we don’t want to have anything to do with Judas, we don’t even want to know him.
We usually picture him as a villain, a man with criminality written all over his face, a hang-dog. Then we can despise him and can pray with the Pharisee: Lord I thank you that I am not like this man…! But we don’t get rid of Judas that easily. He is not a man of the underworld, a despicable character. Scripture gives us a different picture.
He was trusted. He was an important man with the other disciples. He was their treasurer. And to the very last the disciples had him in high esteem. But his spiritual life was unsettled. Which unfortunately is not an unusual thing. After the falling into sin there is no pure love left in the human heart. We are self-centred. That is our very nature. The prophet Amos tells about people who sell a righteous man for money, and a needy man for a pair of shoes. That’s what happened in the time of Amos, and it is also what happens today in our society. People are murdered for a few dollars. Friendships are broken because of financial problems. Marriages are wrecked because there is no agreement on money-matters. That is what happened to Judas. It’s not an exceptional case. It has to do with the kind of sin that lives in the heart of all of us.
Judas had been following Jesus willingly, joyfully. But he was not prepared to make sacrifices for Jesus. It is easy to serve God as long as it does not mean that you have to sacrifice things that are very dear to you. Judas was a man who was fond of money. He was even a bit careless with honesty: sometimes he took money that did not belong to him. But then, you have to realise that he had the opportunity, being the treasurer. Therefore he was more tempted than the other disciples. Opportunity makes the thief!
We can be sure that he was thrilled when Jesus spoke about His Kingdom. That was talk after Judas’ heart. He would be a very important man in at kingdom. To be general treasurer of a kingdom…! He must have been thrilled when his Master entered Jerusalem and was hailed as a king: Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! If only Jesus would have spoken one word He would have had power and authority, He would have been the King of the Jews…!
But Jesus never said that word. His Kingdom is not of this world. That must have been a bitter disappointment to Judas. His hopes were deceived, he felt cheated. It is like Paul said: If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable. That is the case with Judas: he was feeling most miserable; his expectations did not come true. He has come to a dead end. You cannot serve God AND mammon – Jesus had said. But when you have to face that conflict: God or money, Jesus or faith, wealth or redemption – well. it is not so easy then. Judas had made up his mind and satan came into his heart. The devil saw his opportunity. He is always very much on the alert. And then we see Judas go to the Jewish Council. He saw no future in following Jesus and hoped that he could still make some money. “What will you give me and I will deliver Him unto you”. After some haggling and bargaining they pay him thirty pieces of silver, about ten dollars’ worth. Jesus was sold for ten dollars…! And again I have to say: this is not so uncommon. Did not we sell Him for less, many times?
What will you pay me if I will forget what it says in the bible, when I pretend not to be a Christian, when I trespass God’s commandment? Aren’t we prepared to do almost anything to get rich?
Every day we are faced with this question. We are always challenged, always tempted. And in many cases we don’t even earn a tenner for our denial of Christ. For a shadow of pleasure, for a particle of honour, for a smile or a kiss we throw our faith for a scramble and we surrender Christ to the scorn and contempt of men.
Judas cherished his thirty pieces of silver. Easily earned! A few words, a few steps and a kiss. Ten dollars. Nice money…!
In the meantime Jesus is tried and humiliated at the palace of Caiaphas.
It is very likely that Judas knew about that. The meeting of the Jewish council in the middle of the night had stirred Jerusalem. Heaven and hell were set in motion. Great happenings were imminent. But Judas counted his pieces of silver.
He did not have a Saviour anymore.
He did not have faith anymore.
He did not have tears.
But he had money! And money means a lot: power, pleasure, it means everything. That is at least what Judas thinks. It is what the world thinks: No God; пo Saviour; no future – MONEY!!
But then Judas saw that Jesus, bound, was brought to Pilate. And he knew what that meant. If the council has passed a sentence that had to be confirmed by Pilate, then that must be a sentence of death. And Judas realised what he had done. As it is written about the prodigal son, that he came to himself, this also happened to Judas. He realized his betrayal. He is shocked and frightened. His conscience, quiet for a long time, begins to bother him. And he could not find rest. His sin, his horrible sin is growing, in his scared eyes, into a mountain that will fall on him and crush him: Thief! Traitor! Murderer!
He saw the chief priests in solemn procession on their way to Pilate and he knew that his deed was irrevocable. He ran into the temple, threw the pieces of silver down and cried with a hoarse voice: I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. He wanted to get rid of that money. It burned in his fingers. I have sinned… it is a word that causes joy in heaven when it is said by a repentant sinner. The angels rejoice whenever they hear it. But in this case there was no joy in heaven. There was only joy in hell. Was Judas’ sin too great to be pardoned? Certainly not! If that would be the case then that would be terrible for all of us. But these words of Judas did not cause joy because he was n calling to God, but he was calling to men. His heart was not broken and contrite. If that had been so, then the Lord would have pardoned him. But his heart was only desperate. He did not ask for forgiveness he was only frightened by the consequences of his sin. He tried to shake off the burden of his debt, but you can never shake that off. Debt only disappears by reconciliation.
As a matter of fact: when Judas called out “I have sinned” he actually despised the Saviour. He did not want to take refuge to Him. He went to the priests instead.
Here is an undoubted witness to Christ’s innocence. If Judas had known one single sin of Jesus, his conscience would be at peace. He would have evidence that Jesus was not what He claimed to be. But now the traitor himself had to bear witness that this blood was innocent blood, and this witness is more valuable than the witness of anyone else.
But at the same time – and that was the shame of it – this innocent blood was declared powerless. It is innocent Judas said and that was all. He did not accept that this blood was sacrificial blood, that in this blood pardon is to be found for every sin. And so Christ’s sacrifice was neglected, rejected. Judas was too much concerned with himself. He could not be bothered with Jesus. It is the bitter result of selfishness. He had always been after his own business, his own wellbeing. He had never allowed Jesus to enter his heart. He had only tried to make use of Jesus to better himself.
And now, in the deepest misery of his life he still refused Jesus to be the Saviour. Therefore he could find no rest anywhere.
The office-bearers in the temple pushed him aside. To them he was only an instrument, a mere tool. They said to him: what is that to us? That is your responsibility. You wanted it yourself, didn’t you? Well, what more do you want?
People can’t help in that situation. Not even priests. Maybe if you bring a sacrifice. Judas is prepared to do that. Thirty pieces of silver he is prepared to sacrifice. He throws them down in the temple… But you can’t make up for your sin by an extra contribution to the church! Judas got rid of his money, but not of his guilt. When he realized that, he saw only one way out: death! An evil voice whispered: do it hurriedly, for dead is dead. He ran out of the city and hanged himself… But even in death there was no rest for the rope broke and his body fell down deeply, on the sharp rocks.
And here Scripture closes the curtain of eternity behind the dying traitor. We don’t hear of the thundering judgment that went over him. In eternity there will be no rest for Judas either. The black betrayal, the price of blood, the agonizing remorse he will never be rid of that. And always the cross of Jesus before his eyes, but without grace.
And so the Jewish council is left with Judas’ inheritance. Judas had joined their side, but now they are embarrassed to be the heirs of Judas. They are in a tight spot: what to do with that money, those thirty pieces of silver? It would not be lawful to put it in the treasury because it was the price of blood, blood of that despised Jesus. They obviously had thought that it was alright to take that money out of the treasury to pay a traitor, but it would be very wrong to put it in again.
There is no wickedness greater than that of people who pretend to be pious and conscientious. They did not see any harm in spending money for a wicked purpose but they object vigorously to take that money back. But they find a way out: they will make up for it by doing a good work with it, a work of charity. They decided to buy the Potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
But the men in the street were so disgusted with this “charity” that they gave this cemetery the name: “the field of blood”. And in that way a memorial was established for Judas. That cemetery would remind people of Judas, the traitor. And the Holy Spirit had this name mentioned in the special revelation to be a remaining memorial. The field of blood… it is a penetrating message: cursed be the man who not only betrays the blood of Jesus but who also refuses to accept that blood as a complete remission of all your sins.
When we remember Judas, we remember a horrible suicide and a cemetery. After the Resurrection Peter said: this man Judas – purchased a field with the reward of iniquity.
And now: what has all this to do with our comfort in life and death? It seems to be a grim story, ending in horror. But the sun is reflected in this muddy puddle. The cemetery of Judas reminds us of another cemetery. From the suffering of our Lord, from Calvary leads a two-forked road. Both roads lead to a cemetery. If we follow either of those roads we end up in the field of blood – Judas’ – OR: at the private cemetery of Joseph of Arimathea the empty tomb. There victory was gained on Easter morning. There we find the glorious fruits of the suffering of Our Mediator. When we come to Calvary we have to make a decision to go one way or the other. It is the blood of Jesus or the ‘field of blood’ of Judas. Centuries ago the prophecy had already told us what would happen. When Judas betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver and when the Jewish Council set that money aside for a cemetery, they fulfilled the prophecy. Jeremiah, who is mentioned here, and Zachariah whose name is not mentioned, spoke about these things. Jeremiah had to go to the valley of the Sons of Hinnom to proclaim God’s Word: because you have filled this place with the blood of innocents, behold, this place shall be called the valley of slaughter. And the prophecy of Zachariah who said that the price paid for the Shepherd of God’s people would be thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said: cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. And so God’s Word came true. It always does. It’s a negative gospel, this text. But still a gospel. God’s Word is a two edged sword. You have to make up your mind about Jesus Christ. There are two roads. You can live your own life, self-centred, earning money, maybe even getting rich. But the road ends in a cemetery, dark and dismal.
Don’t forget: Judas is not the man from the slums, from the underworld of criminality. Judas today sits in church, in the pew. He was an honourable man, an office-bearer who preached the gospel!
It only became clear that he was a traitor when Jesus went where Judas did not want to go, when he had to choose between Jesus and self-interest. Don’t judge Judas. He is judged by God. It is not for us to judge. Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall…! The sin of Judas lives in our hearts. When Paul spoke about himself he said: of all sinners I am the worst. He did not say: with the exception of Judas for he was worse than I am. No Paul said – consider them all: Judas and Caiaphas and Pilate and so on, they are all sinners but I am the worst of all. Judas perished not because he was more wicked than we are. He perished because he took the wrong road. Peter also started on that road, but he returned in tears and remorse. Judas did not return. He went on. Till the bitter end.
Only two roads. One leads to the field of blood. The other to the empty tomb. Choose today where your resting place will be.
Judas – in the church. The outward membership does not mean a thing. The blood is decisive, the innocent blood which WE betrayed. We? Yes, We betrayed. When Jesus said to His disciples: one of you will betray Me, none of His disciples was indignant, but they all asked humbly: Is it I Lord? Yes, I am he. This innocent blood was shed for MY sins. I have sinned! And whoever says that in humility and shame, trusting in the power of Jesus’ blood, he can be sure: there is joy in heaven. The message of Jesus’ suffering is really a horrible message because we are confronted with our guilt, our horrible guilt. It is also a glorious message, because we are confronted with the love of our Saviour and the power of His innocent, redeeming blood.
AMEN