Topics – Controversial Issues, Free Will
When reviewing Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, Greg had two questions in mind
for us to consider: “Was Judas fated to betray Jesus?” And “Why did
Judas betray Jesus?”
Focus Scripture – Luke 22:1-6HIDESHOW
1 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
Extended SummaryHIDESHOW
When reviewing Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, Greg had two questions in mind for us to consider: “Was Judas fated to betray Jesus?” And “Why did Judas betray Jesus?”
Greg’s response to the first question in an emphatic, “No!”. After explaining various texts that support the idea that Judas was predestined to betray Jesus Greg reminded us of the central message of Scripture which is that God loves everyone and wants all to be saved (1 Tim. 2:3-4; Titus 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9; I Tim. 2:6; 1 John 2:2; etc.). This alone is enough to cause us to pause at the idea of Judas being treated differently than every other human being.
The second question has been answered in various ways. Some suggest that it was simply greed that caused Judas to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This seems unlikely though when we consider how devoted Judas had been to Jesus and that 30 pieces is not a huge sum of money.
A more likely reason is that Judas’ political convictions made him vulnerable to being misguided about Jesus’ plans. Judas’ background was deeply patriotic and zealous for the cause of freeing the Jews from Roman oppression. It might have been easy for Judas to assume that Jesus was here to cause the literal release of the Jews from the Romans happen. After all, why wouldn’t God want to free the Jews from their captors?
As it happened, Judas may have been trying to force Jesus to move ahead with his agenda to free the Jews more quickly by causing things to come to conflict more directly with the Roman officials. In a sense, he may have been trying to “help things along”. But apparently, Judas didn’t expect that Jesus’ true mission was to come, suffer, and die for the sake of the whole world. Judas had the Jews in mind, but Jesus had all of humanity in mind. The devil seized this as an opportunity to mislead Judas and essentially make him a pawn in the playing out of the death of Jesus.
Greg’s response to the first question in an emphatic, “No!”. After explaining various texts that support the idea that Judas was predestined to betray Jesus Greg reminded us of the central message of Scripture which is that God loves everyone and wants all to be saved (1 Tim. 2:3-4; Titus 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9; I Tim. 2:6; 1 John 2:2; etc.). This alone is enough to cause us to pause at the idea of Judas being treated differently than every other human being.
The second question has been answered in various ways. Some suggest that it was simply greed that caused Judas to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This seems unlikely though when we consider how devoted Judas had been to Jesus and that 30 pieces is not a huge sum of money.
A more likely reason is that Judas’ political convictions made him vulnerable to being misguided about Jesus’ plans. Judas’ background was deeply patriotic and zealous for the cause of freeing the Jews from Roman oppression. It might have been easy for Judas to assume that Jesus was here to cause the literal release of the Jews from the Romans happen. After all, why wouldn’t God want to free the Jews from their captors?
As it happened, Judas may have been trying to force Jesus to move ahead with his agenda to free the Jews more quickly by causing things to come to conflict more directly with the Roman officials. In a sense, he may have been trying to “help things along”. But apparently, Judas didn’t expect that Jesus’ true mission was to come, suffer, and die for the sake of the whole world. Judas had the Jews in mind, but Jesus had all of humanity in mind. The devil seized this as an opportunity to mislead Judas and essentially make him a pawn in the playing out of the death of Jesus.
Practical Applications (homework)HIDESHOW
We often think of Judas as the ultimate enemy in the story of Jesus. After all, he’s the disciple who sold the savior of the world for 30 pieces of silver. He betrayed the Son of God! But if you unpack the story, it could be that Judas wasn’t as evil as we sometimes think; he just had an agenda that he thought would advance God’s Kingdom. The trouble is, it was his plan and not God’s. For your homework, get together with someone you’re close to (could be friends or a small group) and discuss one or both of these points from the sermon:
- Are there things in your life that you think disqualify you from God’s love? Have you believed that you’re doomed to destruction? Look up the passages from the sermon that talk about the reality that God’s love is available to all of us: 1 Timothy 2:3-4; Titus 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 John 2:2. Talk about why you have a hard time believing these truths. Talk about how these things are true even about Judas, and together ask God to help you to start believing them about yourself.
- Have you co-opted Jesus for your own agenda? What plans have you made that are your plans and not God’s? Talk together about aspects of your lives and decisions you’ve made that may seem very obvious, reasonable and based in common sense. Be honest with each other about your motivations, and whether you’re working from your own agenda or God’s. Pray together about one thing that each of you wants to surrender to God’s leading. Hold each other accountable to laying down your self-interests and instead, practicing lives of service and love.
Reflection QuestionsHIDESHOW
- What stood out to you most from this message and the supporting text?
- Consider Greg’s arguments about whether or not Judas was predestined to betray Jesus. What do you think? Discuss this a bit in the group.
- Greg described two different answers to the question: Why did Judas betray Jesus? What were they? Which do you find more compelling?
- Assuming the second view from question #3 has some merit, what does this mean for us? How could we get carried away with our own agendas and put them on God? What are some examples of this happening today? What’s the danger in this?
- Greg made it clear that the agenda of Jesus was to suffer and die for human beings. This stands in stark contrast to the sort of leveraging of religion we sometimes see in the political debates. Consider together how following Jesus’ example would change the way we engage in our “agendas” be they political or otherwise.