TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
JUDAS ISCARIOT
Part 3
January 28, 2018
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
We’re now at the point in Judas’ life where he was at the most extreme point of arrogance and had worked it out to betray Jesus Christ. Judas thought the Garden of Gethsemane would be an ideal place to arrest Jesus because it was outside the city’s eastern wall and away from the crowds.
As we learned last week, those wanting to kill Jesus were afraid of rioting. This verse tells us about Our Lord’s seizure: Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He *came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand! While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.” Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 50 And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him. (MAT 26:36-50) Satan, who anticipated the Lord’s movements, put this plan into Judas’ head.
Judas, the traitor, notified the religious leaders that he would identify Jesus with a “kiss:” Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, ‘Whomever I shall kiss, He is the one; seize Him.” (MAT 26:48) Why a kiss, you might ask? Well, it would be nighttime and not immediately apparent to the soldiers who Christ was. Once the religious leaders called together the Roman soldiers (a military unit of 600), they tagged along as well and Judas led them to the place in the Garden where Jesus prayed. This treacherous act by Judas became embedded in the minds of the apostles, so much so that Paul, when explaining the communion service, says: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread…” (1CO 11:23)
Now, after all of this, if you still believe that Judas may have been saved, look at what Jesus said at the Last Supper: Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” Being deeply grieved, they [a]each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man is to go, 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 not been born.” (MAT 26:20-24) Think about this: if Judas was going to go to heaven after his betrayal, wouldn’t that be better than non-existence? Being in a place where there shall no longer be any death, no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain a place of perfect happiness? In JOH 6:64, Jesus says that some of His disciples never believed from the beginning and He mentions Judas as one of them. Judas did miracles, healed the sick and cast out devils in the name of the Lord; and you mean to tell me he was never saved?
In MAT 7:21-23 Jesus speaks of this. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” But what is the will of The Father? JOH 6:40 explains it perfectly: “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
Now, let’s look at MAT 7:22-23: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Our Lord is saying that He had no personal knowledge of these many people who were NEVER born again. Yet they did these mighty works, as did Judas.
The apostle Peter denied the Lord three times according to LUKE 22:31-34: “Simon [Peter], Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.” But, the difference with Peter (Simon) is that he had faith and was graciously restored; but Judas was a betrayer who never had faith to begin with, so he died and went to his own place, which as we learned, means the place of his own choosing: hell. It was his choice to make just as it is every person who ever lives – the choice being to believe in Jesus Christ and spend eternity in heaven with Him or to choose Satan and go to hell.
If you look at the manner in which Judas betrayed Jesus, it is very clear that he acted out of malicious, vengeful feelings. He wasn’t happy enough with merely giving out the information which would enable the Jewish authorities to seize Our Lord. Judas actually led the band that was sent to apprehend Him! He even pointed Him out to the Jewish authorities by an affectionate salutation – a kiss! How detestable and appalling! The kiss was not necessary for the success of the capturing Jesus. The military had torches which provided some light and Judas could have pointed out Jesus to them while he kept in the background.
So, in conclusion, one must come to the realizations that, in light of what the Scriptures say Judas followed Jesus for his own personal gain. He was never a true believer. The Bible gives us no indication that Judas was ever a believer. A true believer cannot be demon-possessed. A true believer in Christ would NEVER do the things that Judas did. Judas was a liar, hypocrite, thief, and unbeliever, who only cared about himself and his need for greed and power. He was a lover of money. He cared nothing for the poor. He allowed Satan to possess him. An evil heart is cultivated over time. His heart was hardened through the love of sin. Judas willingly, of his own free will, betrayed the Creator of the Universe – The Lord Jesus Christ. And he did it with a kiss.
Judas did not love The Lord Jesus Christ in any way, shape or form. Jesus said in JOH 3:20: “For every one that does evil hates the Light, neither comes to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” This is so true about Judas! He willfully chose his own path and rejected the Messiah. He traveled the wide road to perdition – the road to destruction.
MAT 27:1-10 tells us the very sad end of Judas’ life: Now when it was early morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus in order to put him to death. And after tying him up, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. Then when Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” And throwing the silver coins into the temple he departed. And he went away and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver coins and said, “It is not permitted to put them into the temple treasury, because it is blood money.” And after taking counsel, they purchased with them the Potter’s Field, for a burial place for strangers. (For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood until today.) Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, who said, “And they took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one who had been priced, on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, just as the Lord directed me.”