Judas Iscariot - 5/25/08pm

His Background
Some of the apostles are well described in the scriptures. Judas is not. Very little is known of Judas before he began following Christ.
His surname, Iscariot, seems to indicate he was not from Galilee, but was of the tribe of Judah (as was Jesus)
It is often thought that he was first a disciple of John the baptist. Other people conjecture that he met Jesus while he went through Judea, as in John 3:22.
It is worth noting that great care is taken in the Bible to differentiate him from the other Judases and Judes. Even then, people didn’t want to be mistaken for him. Surely no one today would name their son Judas!

He was one of Christ’s first disciples
Mark 3:13-19 -The 12 apostles
Luke 9:1-6 -Mission of the 12, which Judas did
Notice: As far as the scriptures show, Judas fulfilled his mission with the other 11 apostles. Also notice that he was not given opportunity to steal and such. He was not, in the beginning, following Christ for gain, but for some other purpose.

If even Judas was one of Christ’s disciples, shouldn’t we be his disciples?
I Peter 2:21 -Follow Christ
A disciple is a follower and learner. It is not someone who simply claims to follow someone, but who dedicates himself to learning and following the instructions of a teacher.

He remained with Christ for years
We know that Judas followed Christ for about 3 years. He didn’t begin following Christ and then immediately betray him.

John 13:21-27a -Judas was apparently located close to Christ
John 18:2 -Had often been with Christ and the disciples
Matthew 19:27-30 -Judas included: apparently he was faithful at this time
Luke 18:31-34 -Disciples (incl. Judas) don’t understand what Christ is saying about His death

Are we willing to follow Christ for years?
Matthew 10:22 -Stand firm to the end
Romans 15:23 -Paul’s plans and wants in Christ’s service covered years between when he wanted to do something and when it was accomplished

Judas slowly gave in to sin, a little at a time
In Luke 9, which we mentioned earlier, there was not much opportunity for Judas to steal, but once he had opportunity, he sinned.
John 12:4-6 -Judas stealing from Christ and the apostles
Matthew 26:14-16 -Judas sought opportunity to sin
Luke 22:1-6 -Agrees to betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver
Judas went from not sinning to sinning “a little,” to sinning “a lot.”

How often do we do the same thing?
I Corinthians 5:6 -A little leaven…

Also, was Judas tempted past what he could handle? Did Jesus give him the treasury (John 13:27b-30) so that he would be unable to resist sin? Of course not!
I Corinthians 10:13 -Not be tempted beyond what we are able

Judas betrayed Christ
Mark 14:43-45 -Judas betrays Christ
For this action, Judas became one of the most despised men in the history of the world. Yet, do we not do the same thing?
Hebrews 6:4-6 -Crucify Christ again through our sin
When we sin, we betray Christ. When we sin, we do the same as Judas did! Is this what you want to be faced with at judgment day? A betrayal of God’s son?

Judas lacked Godly sorrow
Matthew 27:3-10 -Judas was remorseful, but not properly so. The result…
Matthew 26:24 -was that it would have been better to never been born.

At no time do the scriptures even begin to imply that Judas could not have properly repented of his sin and turned back to God and Christ.
II Corinthians 7:10-13 -Godly sorrow leads to repentance

When we betray Christ, what do we do? Do we make it worse like Judas did? Or are we filled with Godly sorrow, repent, and turn back to God? Will we follow in the footsteps of Judas by following Christ for a little while, and ending it in betrayal? Or will we repent of our sins and truly be Christ’s disciples until the end?