Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday January 17, 2020
We are in one of the greatest periods in all human history.
So, to begin, we are living in one of the greatest periods in all human history, which I personally believe is the last generation before the Rapture and the Second Advent or Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord’s final words to His disciples the night before His death is given to us as He was getting ready to initiate them into the secret of mystery doctrine.
Let me show you why I called this particular passage a doctrinal gem; Joh 13:12 And so when He had washed their feet [rebound] and taken His garments [His resurrection], and reclined again [His session], He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?
The Great “I am” is our teacher and our Lord.
The word for eat is the pres-act-part of verb trogon which means that the traitor keeps on crunching his food, to munch on food, to gnaw, or to bite and devour, both naturally and spiritually.
“has lifted up his heel against me” is an idiom meaning to try and over-throw or discredit one’s authority, to seek one’s destruction, or to reject their authority.
Judas Iscariot was known as the traitor by his last name because there are at least seven other men in the Bible who went by the first name Judas, but they were not known as the betrayer or traitor.
(a) Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus and one of the twelve apostles (Mat 10:4);
(b) Judas the son of James, and one of the twelve; (Luk 6:16).
(c) Judas, a brother of Jesus (Mat 13:55);
(d) Judas, Paul’s host in Damascus (Acts 9:11).
(e) Judas, called Barsabbas, a leading Christian in Jerusalem and a companion of Paul (Acts 15:22).
Judas Iscariot pretended to love the Lord but his desire for approbation and recognition power and authority is about to be brought to the surface.
Now, Luk 6:16 says Judas “became a traitor,” denoting a double-crosser, or betrayer.
As terrible as the word “traitor” is, that title pales into insignificance compared to this one. To be the “son of perdition” denotes that Judas is a man identified with eternal destruction, or whose destiny is the Lake of Fire.
Furthermore, in Act 1:25, it says that Judas went “to his own place,” the thought being the place of his own choosing; to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.
Accordingly, it is not that Judas was foreordained from eternity past to go to hell, without opportunity to be saved.
(1) He experienced the privilege of selection into the unique circle of the “12,” becoming an apostle.
(2) Judas also observed great crowds flocking to our Lord Jesus Christ as He was becoming more and more popular every day.
(3) Judas saw Christ’s own family thinking Him crazy. And therefore, they called this same type of principle something like we would call today an intervention, that’s what our Lord’s family thought about the Lord.
(4) He observed that Jesus had extraordinary charisma and attracted large crowds, which meant potential political power, influence, and wealth and Judas wanted in on the action.
We might have supposed that Matthew would handle the money needed to sustain the Lord’s ministry because he had been a tax collector and well acquainted with money matters.
Judas, however, was the treasurer of the Lord’s group of apostles indicating that he was no imbecile; (Joh 12:5-6; Joh 13:29.
Judas knew the ins-and-outs of collecting, managing, and spending money better than the others did, including Matthew, who was a Tax Collector for the Romans to the Jews for the Jews and for the Romans before he was a follower or disciple of our Lord.
Now, Mary anointed our Lord’s feet with expensive “oil of spikenard,” “wiping His feet with her hair” (JOH 12:3).
Character trait #1: Judas did not care about the poor. He was a hard-hearted man, too concerned with feathering his own nest while others, less fortunate, suffered around him.
Character trait #2: He was a thief, pilfering funds from the Lord’s money box, which exposes that Judas was full of avarice, or greed.
(1) Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus and one of the twelve apostles (Mat 10:4),
(2) Judas the son of James, and one of the twelve apostles (Luk 6:16).
(3) Judas, a brother of Jesus (Mat 13:55).
(4) Judas, Paul’s host in Damascus (Acts 9:11).
(5) Judas, called Barsabbas, a leading Christian in Jerusalem and a companion of Paul (Act 15:22).
Now, our Lord is telling them that there is a traitor in their midst and that he is about to betray Him.
First Principle: Judas was not a traitor according to the Word of God, Judas became a traitor because the verb that is mentioned is known as the Aorist-middle-indicative of the Greek verb ginomai which means to become something that one was not before.
As LUK 6:16 says Judas {the son} of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
We also know that because when our Lord was around adult believers, or Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes, and all of them were astonished by His knowledge and spiritual strength; Luk 2:40-52.
And by the way, this is not to say our Lord was not strong physically, because it took a lot of human strength to endure the beatings, the punches whip, the forced crown upon His head.
Now, all these principles apply to betrayers and traitors who make a living by manipulation, lies, broken vows; broken promises; etc.
However, in spite of all the dishonesty that goes on and on today in all realms of Life, it doesn’t really matter if you love our Lord, because if you love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there is divine blessing waiting just for you.
Perhaps Judas just wanted to shake things up a little and force our Lord to change His views by coming against Him with the vigilante mob.
Perhaps Judas thought that TLJC would just be stopped and jailed for a time, or publicly humiliated somehow – until He (Lord) could get His act together.
Perhaps Judas simply didn’t think it through.
A lot of people never think of things through, until it’s too late!
What we “DO” know is that something snapped inside of Judas.
“We don’t care, that’s your problem!” comes their reply to Judas, the Traitor.
In Act 1:15-20, The physical body of Judas would end up dangling from a hangman’s noose off a tree and then it falls in a potter’s field.
Acts 1, describes some of the details of the messy end to the tragic life of Judas Iscariot.
What went so wrong, Judas?
Why did it have to end like this, Judas?
Remember what TLJC had said months before Judas?
”Judas, you were there when the Lord said MAT 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy‑laden, and I will give you rest.”
Such as to the woman caught in adultery in JOH 8:11 “Neither do I condemn you; go your way.
Don’t you remember, when TLJC said in MAR 2:5…”My son, your sins are forgiven.”
I hope that you are learning something this evening such as the principle that “You can sit in Bible class for years and end up like a Judas, not necessarily an unbeliever in the eternal lake of fire, but a loser believer in time and in the eternal state; 1Co 3:11-15.
Instead of singing with songs of peace and joy. Judas experienced regret and sorrow.
We sang, clapping our hands while Judas was wringing his; and tied a knot, when he hung himself in his suicide.
Here it is:
Think about it for a moment, during the next 24 hours in the passage we are noting, that there will be Two Trees outside of Jerusalem, a Tree of life and a Tree of death.
On the tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the wooden cross or the wooden beam as He hung upon to pay the price of eternal salvation for the sins of the world.
Punishment is passed off.
Forgiveness is found.
Real, new hope, is given.
On the other tree, however, dangles the body of a man who carried his heavy load himself, and found no rest = Judas Iscariot.
And so, he found himself in a spiritual desert or spiritual wilderness with no forgiveness.
After Judas sold Christ out, he tried to repent by throwing the silver 30 pieces on the floor of the Temple, only to hear the words of the religious leaders who said; “We don’t care.
We don’t want your money, it’s filthy and that is your problem says the religious self-righteous prigs known as Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees.
Judas could see no way out of the swamp and pit he dug for himself created by his own shallow, foolish pride.
In his sin, he realized his wrong.
He also admitted it openly.
He tried to put it behind him.
But the ONE item he missed was deadly.
He tried to sort it all out himself.
He figured that if he screwed up, like his religious leaders had told him, he’d have to make it right.
And, if he couldn’t make it right…… there was no right to be had.
So, Judas accepted the condemnation which the religious leaders offered him and rejected the grace which the Lord offered him.
The chains of guilt dragged him to his grave.
That is a tragedy far worse than betraying your master.
For that betrayal was sin.