Judas: A Model to Avoid in Ministry

It is a blessing beyond words to minister to you during these Spiritual Emphasis Days. I still remember the Spiritual Emphasis Days when I was a student myself; those were forming days. To those of you who have walked onto this campus for the first time this year, take these sessions seriously; and to those about to graduate, make sure you miss nothing that comes from the pulpit. In the first session we looked at Timothy, and how he shrank back from the cost of following Jesus, while Paul challenged him to be a soldier who suffers hardship for Christ, who remains faithful, who pleases God and stays focused. Yesterday we considered the ordinary life of a minister: in a culture obsessed with the extraordinary and the superlative, the ordinary minister looks like a servant, a steward, a manager over the household of Jesus. This morning I want to set before you a character who disturbs me deeply. Every time I prepare this message it is an enormous struggle, not because the character is thrilling, but because I cannot stop asking: how is it even possible for someone like this to turn out the way he did? In these days it is important to look hard at this aspect of our own lives and to run from it.

I am going to speak about Judas Iscariot. Scholars who study Scripture carefully struggle with this man. One has called him a representative defector, another a figure of the night, another the black sheep of the family. It is not easy to reach conclusions about him, because the character himself is ambiguous. Was he honest and earnest like the other disciples, or was he at fault? Some argue he only meant to hasten the messianic kingdom and did no real wrong; that his was the desperate act of a disappointed patriot. Others suggest he was playing a deep game, expecting Jesus to slip away as He had before, so that he could keep the thirty pieces of silver. Some even ask whether Judas believed more in Jesus than Jesus believed in Himself, certain his Master would escape. Others propose he chose to bear the blame of handing Christ over in order to serve some higher good, or that Jesus Himself urged him to do it. These are not devotional musings; they are the arguments of scholars, and especially from 2006 onward there have been many attempts to portray Judas in a positive light. None of it comes from Scripture. It is drawn from writings outside the Word.

So what can we safely conclude about this man? If we gathered together everything Scripture tells us of Judas Iscariot, it would hardly fill a single page. But some things are certain. First, he was one of the Twelve. His name stands in the lists of the apostles in Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:19 and Luke 6:16. Do not take that lightly, for you know what happened the night before Jesus chose the Twelve: according to Luke 6:12, He prayed the whole night through before He chose them. Judas was a prayerfully chosen disciple. And what was the purpose of the choosing? Witnessing, preaching and casting out demons all came later; the primary purpose, according to Mark 3:14, was simply to be with Jesus. No doubt some people envied Judas, thinking, we are not among the Twelve, yet he is.

Interestingly, his call is nowhere described. Some think the man in Matthew 8 and Luke 9 who said, "Master, wherever you go, I will follow you," and to whom Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head," may have been Judas; but that is only speculation. In a deeper study one thing stands out: of the Twelve, Judas was very likely the only one who was not a Galilean. You remember how the divide between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north mattered: in John's Gospel the people ask Nicodemus, "Are you also from Galilee?", and when Peter spoke his very accent gave him away as a Galilean. Judas alone appears to have been a Judean. Many think the name Iscariot derives from Kerioth, a small Judean town mentioned in Joshua 15:25.

Something more: at the Last Supper Judas was one of those closest to Jesus. Jesus sat at the center; on one side reclined the beloved disciple, most probably John; and on the other side, in a place of honor, we do not find Peter or James, but Judas Iscariot. He had managed to secure a preeminent place next to the Lord. And he was the one who kept the bag. According to John 12:6 and 13:29, Judas carried the money. I imagine that when the Twelve first came together there was a discussion about who should handle the funds. Someone may have said, give it to Matthew, the former tax collector, an accountant by trade; but others said, no, we cannot trust these tax collectors, give it to Judas. And so he held the bag.

Was he the black sheep or was he innocent? The text itself suggests something. In Gethsemane, when the disciples slept, Jesus excused them: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." From the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." But of Judas He said, "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." The beloved disciple, the apostle of love, writes plainly in John 12:6 that Judas was a thief. And in Acts 1:25, when the church chose a man to replace him, we read that Judas "turned aside to go to his own place." He left the company of the redeemed to go to his own place, remote from God. My friends, if this happened to one of the Twelve, none of us should imagine it cannot happen to us. If you are sure you will never fall, that may be the very sign that you already have. Learning from this character, in these days of formation, is vital.

I want to limit my observations to how John's Gospel presents Judas. The first place he appears is in chapter 6. You know the setting: Jesus has fed the five thousand, the excitement is enormous, and the crowds even want to make Him king, but He withdraws to the other side, for His kingdom is not of this world. John 6:24 is important: when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into boats and went to Capernaum looking for Him. They hired boats to search for Jesus. If this happened today we would call it revival, a full crowd seeking Jesus. But Jesus tells them to eat His flesh and drink His blood, and it is in this very context, where people follow Him with wrong motives, that the narrator first introduces Judas. There are many who follow Jesus with wrong motives. Ministry has become, for some, an easy way to earn a living. People say only three kinds of people can fly to any height: politicians, businessmen, and ministers. Many who would have remained ordinary in a secular firm have made fortunes in the name of Jesus.

"Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?" Jesus asks. "Yet one of you is a devil." Judas was indeed chosen. In Matthew 10:1 he received authority to heal and to deliver. He too rejoiced when demons were subject to the disciples, as in Luke 10:20. He witnessed the miracles and carried the basket. And still Jesus says, "One of you is a devil." Here is the lesson: what God does in us is more important than what God does through us. Write it down somewhere. Any day, character is more important than charisma; being is more important than doing. What are you praying for in these days? "Lord, give me power over demons; power to heal the sick." You do need such power, and I agree. But Judas teaches us that at the end of the day the question is not how many people you healed or how many demons you cast out. When we stand before Jesus the question will be: have you become like Him in your attitude? Are your motives right? Never live on a lie. Judas lived one for years.

One thing we must know: Jesus knew Judas. What happened later was no accident to Him. You know the song, "He knows my name, He knows my every thought." In one way it is comforting; in another it is frightening. He knows your name, He knows your thoughts, He knows what is forming inside you. As I study Judas, much of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount comes to mind. In Matthew 7:22-23 He said, "Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers." When Jesus first taught those words, Judas was among the listeners, perhaps nodding his head, and you know how his life ended. So this is the principle that emerges from chapter 6: he participated, but he was not part. It is possible to participate, to graduate, to lead singing well, to preach a good sermon, and at the end of the day to find yourself no part of God's family.

The next time Judas comes forward in John is chapter 12, at the anointing in Bethany. The verses just before tell us the leaders are plotting to kill Jesus; He is the most wanted man. Yet a dinner is given in His honor; Lazarus and Mary are there, and a costly act of worship unfolds. John 12:6 records that Judas objected, "not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief." In Matthew 26:8 it is not one man but the disciples who are indignant; most likely the idea that it was a waste began with Judas, and being influential he carried the others along. And notice the word John uses of him: thief. No one can read it without remembering John 10:1, where Jesus warned, "Very truly I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and a robber." Chapter 10 warns that thieves and false shepherds are coming, shepherds who will not feed the sheep but be fed by them; and in chapter 12 the warning has become reality, a thief within the flock. Remember, too, Matthew 7:15: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." The sheep's clothing is the right doctrine, the right vocabulary, the appearance of a minister. In a Bible college like this we learn how to lead worship and singing, and these are good things; but for some they become mere tricks of the trade, a business. Some go up to the platform, try one thing to get a response, and when it fails reach for another; watch ten of their sermons and you will hear the same crowd-pleasing phrases every time.

In Matthew 10:16, when Jesus sent the disciples out, He said, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves." And I am coming to realize this: the wolves outside are never the real threat to the church of God. The threat is the wolf in sheep's clothing on the inside. Do not lose sleep over what will become of India or its political developments; where God has a purpose, He will see that the mission goes on, and when we are brought before wolves He will give us the words to speak. Wolves outside are no threat; the danger is the wolf within, wearing sheep's clothing. So the principle that emerges from chapter 12 is this: he sympathized, but he was not sincere. Heart is more important than lips. Remember what Jesus said of the Pharisees, that they worshiped in vain because they honored God only with their lips. The trouble with the churches of the twenty-first century is repentance that is only skin deep. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. So what should we pray in these days? "Lord, give me a sincere, unadulterated heart. I do not want to be a wolf in sheep's clothing; when it comes to holiness and to motives, I want to be a sheep."

Chapter 13 is where Judas appears the third time, and it is a crucial chapter. Up to chapter 12 we see the public ministry of Jesus; from chapter 13 we see His private time with His disciples. He takes a towel and a basin and moves among them, washing their feet. It is painful to read John 13:1: "It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." Look at that phrase, "his own", for it includes Judas. This is love's last appeal. Jesus washed Judas's feet as He washed the rest, and dipped into the dish with him. In John 13:10 He said, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." Jesus was not mistaken as He knelt before Judas; already in chapter 6 He had said, "One of you is a devil." This was love's last appeal, hoping the act would open Judas's eyes; instead it only hardened his heart. Judas must have thought, "I took Him for a prophet, yet He does not know what is in my heart." The serpent that human vision could not detect, Jesus saw creeping closer, and still He would not shield Himself from it.

There is much discussion about why John dwells on Judas. Some say John, the apostle of love, sets Judas alongside himself to display the love of Jesus by contrast. Others say that by the end of the first century, around AD 80 to 90, there were many counterfeit disciples, many Judas-like ministers, and John writes to correct that tendency in the church. We need not choose between the two; it is both to show the love of Jesus and to correct the hypocrisy creeping into the church. God is very patient with us. He does not expose us at once; He gives us adequate time to repent, and a Spiritual Emphasis like this is exactly such a time, love's last appeal. Some of you may think, brother, you are preaching to pastors, to people already committed to serve the Lord. I understand that well. But it is possible for all of us to carry Judas in our hearts, to harbor ulterior motives, to have a heart that is not right, even after fifty years of ministry, even after three and a half years with Jesus Himself, as Judas had.

So the first lesson of chapter 13 is love's last appeal: Jesus makes no distinction between the beloved disciple and Judas; He shows the same tenderness to both. The second is this: Judas sat right next to Jesus, and yet Jesus says not everyone is clean. Listen carefully, my friends: holiness is not contagious, but sin is. Walk with a sinner, talk with a sinner, and if you are not careful he will overcome you. Just because we are in NTC, a great place that has produced many ministers of God, there is no guarantee that we will become ministers after God's own heart. Some great ministers have themselves left the way.

About eight months ago I received the shock of my life. SABC, my own Bible college, is also known for producing pastors in this country and abroad. The class I belonged to was vibrant, full of talent; at our graduation our class tagline was "History Makers", for we had many musicians and preachers among us. In Kerala I parked my vehicle and went into a shop, and when I came out I saw something I wish I had never seen. A man who had sat with us, who had gone to the altar many times with us, who had excelled in his studies at SABC, was standing on the roadside, fully drunk, a cigarette in his hand. When his eyes fell on me he dropped the cigarette at once. I went to him; the smell of alcohol was overpowering. He embraced me and said, "Joe, I am so sorry." I could not say a word. He told me that after graduation he had gone to a few places seeking opportunities for ministry and found none; he had suffered betrayal, people had abandoned him, and now he counted himself a loser in life, and this was how he had fallen into the habit. I tell you this not to frighten you but to prepare you. It can happen to any of us. Holiness is not contagious; merely sitting in the library for a while to write an assignment does not work the miracle of the heart.

Look at John 13:17: "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." Knowing is one thing; doing is another entirely. Judas knew these things. He knew that Jesus is love, that he was called to stand firm, but he had to do it. This echoes Matthew 7:24, where Jesus says everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. It is important to check whether our heads are swelling with knowledge while our hands are no longer clean. Notice also John 13:13, where Jesus says, "You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am." It is striking that in the narratives Judas never once calls Jesus "Lord"; the few times he speaks he calls Him only "Rabbi", Teacher. From the Rabbi he learned everything, and yet knowing is not the same as doing.

There is more to observe in chapter 13. Look at verse 30: "As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night." Why add that extra line, "And it was night"? Anyone who studies John's Gospel knows at once that night and day are used metaphorically there; it is part of John's dualism. In John 9:4, "As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." In John 11:10 those who walk at night stumble, because they have no light. In John 12:35 Jesus says, "Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you." And who can forget Nicodemus, who in John 3:2 came to Jesus by night, and who is reintroduced in chapter 19 as the man who had first come at night? Yes, it may be that rabbis often conversed at night, but John means more: night is the place of destruction, of fear, where one does not sense the presence of God. So when the narrator says Judas went out, and it was night, he is telling us that Judas left the light of the world and moved into the darkness, going, as Acts says, to the place where he belonged.

Note another thing here. In John 13:27, as soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered him; and in 13:2 we read that Satan had already prompted him, putting the betrayal into his heart. There is an influence of Satan behind all this. Luke and John both name it; Matthew says only that Judas acted out of greed, and Mark gives no reason at all. But observe something important: the Synoptic Gospels are full of exorcisms; Mark's Gospel opens, in its very first chapter, with the casting out of demons. In John's Gospel there is not a single exorcism. Instead you see the influence of Satan settling upon a disciple, and no one there to cast it out. Think about that, my friends. It is a dangerous thing when a person who knows the truth yields himself to the control of Satan.

What surprises me most in chapter 13 is this. According to verse 29, because Judas kept the money, some of them thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. When Jesus said, "One of you will betray me," no one looked at Judas. In Matthew 26:25 they all ask, "Is it I?", Peter, James, even Judas himself. I almost wish it had gone the other way, that when Jesus said, "One of you will betray me," every eye had turned to Judas. But this is the height of hypocrisy: Judas had deceived everyone around him. Only afterward does John, as narrator, add the aside that Judas said what he said because he did not care for the poor but was a thief; while the events were unfolding, even John did not perceive it. Let me tell you this, and write it down if you can: hypocrisy is dangerous to the hypocrite, not to the plan of God. The infant church simply chose Matthias to fill Judas's place. Who is the loser? Judas is the loser. The simplest definition of hypocrisy is an actor: when we are not truly spiritual, we close our eyes and raise our hands and impress others that we are. It is like those who are eager to help any stranger on the street but never their own family at home; or the guest who insists, "No, no, let me wash the plate," to appear humble, while his wife sits beside him thinking, you have never once offered that at home. Hypocrisy is dangerous to the hypocrite. So the principle from chapter 13 is this: he was washed, but he was not clean.

The last time we see Judas is in chapter 18. John 18:3 says he came to the garden guiding a detachment of soldiers. Ask him: Judas, why do you need a detachment of soldiers to arrest one man, when there are only a few in Gethsemane? He knew the devotion of Jesus's disciples; he had seen Peter's love and John's love. But he himself did not love, and he came determined that Jesus should not escape. From the other Gospels we know he kissed Jesus. It is worth studying the kinds of kiss common in the first century: slaves kissed the feet, inferiors kissed the hands, equals kissed the cheek. Judas gave a kiss on the cheek, and the original language suggests it was not a passing kiss but a strong embrace, like the embrace with which the prodigal's father received his returning son. The very symbol of affection, honor and love was turned into the instrument of betrayal. And notice the end of John 18:3: they came carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. I think John wants a smile on our faces as we read it: to find the Light of the world they now need a torch. You went into the night, and now you search for the light with lamps. Scripture records only two people who kissed Jesus: Mary, at His feet in chapter 12, who counted herself His slave; and Judas, on the face. He kissed, but he killed.

Judas teaches us a great lesson. We can be lost after sitting in church for many years. We may fail to finish well after running the race of ministry for many years. We can ruin everything after three or four years in seminary. In these Spiritual Emphasis Days, may God minister to you personally. Pray from the depths of your heart: Lord, I want to be part of your family; I want to be sincere, not merely sympathetic; I want to be clean; I want to be your witness. Heart is more important than lips, and what is in the heart must overflow to the hands. Never leave the light for the dark; never play the double role of hypocrisy, deceiving others. Lord, help me to be sincere and honest; take away every hypocritical lie from my life. I want to finish my race and be found faithful in your sight. Give us discernment for all the schemes of the enemy, the temptation of money, the temptation to deceive, the temptation to climb the ladder in ministry. Pour out your Spirit upon us, a Spirit that humbles, that cleanses, that empowers. You are not called to be defeated in sin; you are called to be a victorious minister of God. May God raise up from this place an army of people who love Him sincerely, with no deception, no hypocrisy, no masks, but genuineness of heart. We cannot finish the task you have called us to in our own strength; we need your Holy Spirit to work in us and through us. To that end we commit ourselves into your hands, in Jesus's name. Amen.