Judas Iscariot: The Villain Disciple
Memory Verse:
“Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10
Sermon Sentence: Jesus experienced the kind of pain that comes from betrayal by those closest to us, and yet still died for our sin.
“Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10
Sermon Sentence: Jesus experienced the kind of pain that comes from betrayal by those closest to us, and yet still died for our sin.
Day 1
Read John 13:1-20
When I read John’s gospel, I tend to catch more of the emotions than the other gospels. I bet John was an animated and emotional guy. He does not seem to be a guy that was quiet and stayed in the background, but rather a guy that was front and center, always involved with what was going on. When I read his accounts of Judas Ischariot, he doesn’t seem to hide his emotions. It seems to come from a place of hurt and betrayal. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but how could you not be hurt by the betrayal of a guy that you spent three years working close beside and then watching him betray Jesus to the death?
With that in mind, I feel that John surely struggled to write this chapter. Can you picture him struggling with bitterness while he tells this story? It hurts to remember it and it is confusing. Jesus knew all people. He didn’t need anyone to reveal who they really were. So John retells this story while also reminding you that Judas was the one that betrayed Jesus and the betrayal happened right around this event. Or maybe he is reminding himself. Maybe he has to remind himself of that idea a lot as he tries to love people like Jesus.
What do you think Jesus meant for you to learn by learning that he washed Judas feet on this day, and was fully aware of what he would do?
How do you think the other disciples looked back on this event?
After reading Romans 5:8, how does this fit into the idea we have looked at in this story?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
When I read John’s gospel, I tend to catch more of the emotions than the other gospels. I bet John was an animated and emotional guy. He does not seem to be a guy that was quiet and stayed in the background, but rather a guy that was front and center, always involved with what was going on. When I read his accounts of Judas Ischariot, he doesn’t seem to hide his emotions. It seems to come from a place of hurt and betrayal. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but how could you not be hurt by the betrayal of a guy that you spent three years working close beside and then watching him betray Jesus to the death?
With that in mind, I feel that John surely struggled to write this chapter. Can you picture him struggling with bitterness while he tells this story? It hurts to remember it and it is confusing. Jesus knew all people. He didn’t need anyone to reveal who they really were. So John retells this story while also reminding you that Judas was the one that betrayed Jesus and the betrayal happened right around this event. Or maybe he is reminding himself. Maybe he has to remind himself of that idea a lot as he tries to love people like Jesus.
What do you think Jesus meant for you to learn by learning that he washed Judas feet on this day, and was fully aware of what he would do?
How do you think the other disciples looked back on this event?
After reading Romans 5:8, how does this fit into the idea we have looked at in this story?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
I find it much more easy to read the Judas story with the understanding that Judas was the villain, unlike the other disciples. It gives him a category that I can put him in to keep his reputation from soiling mine. I am not like him. He was bad…I am good. But the Bible seems to blur those lines in reminding me that my sins were just as ugly and that Jesus died for all sin.
The story found here can be compared to the Garden of Eden story without much effort. You surely see it? Jesus and his disciples are walking together in a garden, much like God was walking in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. That has always been the plan: God and mankind walking together. The Deceiver has always wanted to ruin that plan as well. In the Garden of Eden, it was the spiritual being that showed up as a snake. In this story it is a man named Judas. Talking snakes are easy to dismiss, but the villain in this story is the one of us. I am not a talking snake, but I am a human. It was also one of the disciples. He knew about God’s presence in the garden, because he had been there before. But now he was here with a new role. He was an enemy of life. He had come to uproot the Tree of Life (John had just told us Jesus' perspective of Himself and life in the previous chapter) with the other soldiers and religious leaders. They had all gotten really close to getting it right, but they were deceived in the end.
But the real shining idea in this story is that of Jesus. He speaks words that subdue even those that have come to end his life. He is taken and His life destroyed, but He will rise again from the dead. The enemy, working through the humans, have come to take the Tree of Life out of the Garden, but Jesus will be raised up on a tree, which in turn will bring life to everyone who believes in Him. John is such an incredible storyteller!
Why do you think Judas did this?
What is the main thing you learn from this passage that is helpful for your walk with God?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
The story found here can be compared to the Garden of Eden story without much effort. You surely see it? Jesus and his disciples are walking together in a garden, much like God was walking in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. That has always been the plan: God and mankind walking together. The Deceiver has always wanted to ruin that plan as well. In the Garden of Eden, it was the spiritual being that showed up as a snake. In this story it is a man named Judas. Talking snakes are easy to dismiss, but the villain in this story is the one of us. I am not a talking snake, but I am a human. It was also one of the disciples. He knew about God’s presence in the garden, because he had been there before. But now he was here with a new role. He was an enemy of life. He had come to uproot the Tree of Life (John had just told us Jesus' perspective of Himself and life in the previous chapter) with the other soldiers and religious leaders. They had all gotten really close to getting it right, but they were deceived in the end.
But the real shining idea in this story is that of Jesus. He speaks words that subdue even those that have come to end his life. He is taken and His life destroyed, but He will rise again from the dead. The enemy, working through the humans, have come to take the Tree of Life out of the Garden, but Jesus will be raised up on a tree, which in turn will bring life to everyone who believes in Him. John is such an incredible storyteller!
Why do you think Judas did this?
What is the main thing you learn from this passage that is helpful for your walk with God?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 3
Read Psalm 55
Betrayal is tough regardless of where it comes from. But it is most certainly tougher the closer to us it comes from. Relationships have to be experienced from a place of vulnerability. You can not feel the parts that are worth feeling without allowing some walls to come down and for a person to get closer to the emotions that hurt the most. To be known by someone is to give them the fuel that is needed to be able to hurt you the most. This is the very reason it hurts so much when someone betrays us. Is it worth it all? To ask that question on the other side of hurt is a lot different than asking it before the pain. Certainly it is not after the relationship has become a weapon against us. But before that, those that have not felt that pain over and over again would argue that it seems worth it. When the friend becomes the enemy that is out to get us, they seem to have an endless supply of ability to make us suffer. That is what David is feeling in this Psalm. If you have ever felt that sort of pain, when you read these words, it stings all over again. For David, the best medicine for that sort of pain is God Himself. He knows us. Like really, really knows us. To be known like that requires the most vulnerability of all time. But it is different with God. He knows us, and wants good for us. That is why it feels so helpful to go to Him with our pains and sorrows and why it seems that it is so helpful for Him to hear it. He knows us… but He wants good for us. And He has endless supplies of comfort and help to offer us.
When was a time that you were betrayed and how does that still affect you now?
How was your prayer like David’s in that time?
What does it look like for you to cast your burden on God and He will sustain you?
How does this become your prayer today?
Betrayal is tough regardless of where it comes from. But it is most certainly tougher the closer to us it comes from. Relationships have to be experienced from a place of vulnerability. You can not feel the parts that are worth feeling without allowing some walls to come down and for a person to get closer to the emotions that hurt the most. To be known by someone is to give them the fuel that is needed to be able to hurt you the most. This is the very reason it hurts so much when someone betrays us. Is it worth it all? To ask that question on the other side of hurt is a lot different than asking it before the pain. Certainly it is not after the relationship has become a weapon against us. But before that, those that have not felt that pain over and over again would argue that it seems worth it. When the friend becomes the enemy that is out to get us, they seem to have an endless supply of ability to make us suffer. That is what David is feeling in this Psalm. If you have ever felt that sort of pain, when you read these words, it stings all over again. For David, the best medicine for that sort of pain is God Himself. He knows us. Like really, really knows us. To be known like that requires the most vulnerability of all time. But it is different with God. He knows us, and wants good for us. That is why it feels so helpful to go to Him with our pains and sorrows and why it seems that it is so helpful for Him to hear it. He knows us… but He wants good for us. And He has endless supplies of comfort and help to offer us.
When was a time that you were betrayed and how does that still affect you now?
How was your prayer like David’s in that time?
What does it look like for you to cast your burden on God and He will sustain you?
How does this become your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Psalm 41
Have you ever helped someone, only to have them turn against you and seemingly forget what you did for them? That is David’s feelings in this Psalm. To serve people is to become vulnerable. Well, there is a way of serving people that chooses whom you will serve and who deserves your service, but that is not a very pleasant way to be. In order to really and genuinely love people that need loved, you have to take some punches from those near the broken. There is always abuse of some sort in service. Jesus lived a life that showed that. Even among the twelve that He chose and cultivated, one devil was found. Judas was in charge of the money bag…and that cost Jesus money. Most likely money that had been given to the ministry. I wonder if they all knew, or if they just all suspected it and no one wanted to say anything? How could they? What if they got it wrong? And remember, this was Jesus’ choice. And Jesus was a victim.
In service, the promise of God is that even in the punches and the parts that you can’t control, God is in control. Being called to serve is not being called to just be abused and taken advantage of. There could be that, but God was never short of money, even when he was robbed. God was never short of reputation, even when the scoundrels were right beside Him the whole time. Let your integrity shine through as the most important thing. God will handle the rest.
When have you had to let your reputation speak for itself when you seemed to be in a bad spot?
How does knowing God delights in you help you today?
How does this study today become part of your prayer?
Have you ever helped someone, only to have them turn against you and seemingly forget what you did for them? That is David’s feelings in this Psalm. To serve people is to become vulnerable. Well, there is a way of serving people that chooses whom you will serve and who deserves your service, but that is not a very pleasant way to be. In order to really and genuinely love people that need loved, you have to take some punches from those near the broken. There is always abuse of some sort in service. Jesus lived a life that showed that. Even among the twelve that He chose and cultivated, one devil was found. Judas was in charge of the money bag…and that cost Jesus money. Most likely money that had been given to the ministry. I wonder if they all knew, or if they just all suspected it and no one wanted to say anything? How could they? What if they got it wrong? And remember, this was Jesus’ choice. And Jesus was a victim.
In service, the promise of God is that even in the punches and the parts that you can’t control, God is in control. Being called to serve is not being called to just be abused and taken advantage of. There could be that, but God was never short of money, even when he was robbed. God was never short of reputation, even when the scoundrels were right beside Him the whole time. Let your integrity shine through as the most important thing. God will handle the rest.
When have you had to let your reputation speak for itself when you seemed to be in a bad spot?
How does knowing God delights in you help you today?
How does this study today become part of your prayer?
Day 5
Read Psalm 35
It is amazing how loud one comment can be. Let the crowds be thanking us and the multitudes be telling us how much we mean to them, but let that one person whisper that discouraging message in the ear of someone close by, and it drowns out the many, many other voices. That is all we hear. It is just one short piece of soft, quiet criticism, but it is heard loud and clear. Soon, the one voice becomes the “they” that no one can identify. That is when the most dangerous part starts. It is the part of the truth being drowned out over the lie. Have you ever believed a lie? The facts do not matter when the note of one small lie starts to ring out. EVen though the notes are not lining up and the chord doesn’t sound together, we start to convince ourselves we just heard a melody. When the melody gets in our head, that is when we start to sing it over and over again, forgetting it wasn’t even the truth.
For David, it was when that song became stuck in his head that he needed to go to God for the truth. He was reminded that their words were not truth, but rather God’s words were truth. Their words would need to be stopped and shut up. God’s words would need to ring louder and more obvious. Then David’s words would be truth and righteousness that goes out to the people.
How does it help you to know that Jesus knows what it is like to be lied to and about?
In our story with Judas in the garden in John 18, Jesus reiterated the name of God by declaring that he was the “I am”, and the liars fell back. What does this part of the story and this Psalm teach you about today?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
It is amazing how loud one comment can be. Let the crowds be thanking us and the multitudes be telling us how much we mean to them, but let that one person whisper that discouraging message in the ear of someone close by, and it drowns out the many, many other voices. That is all we hear. It is just one short piece of soft, quiet criticism, but it is heard loud and clear. Soon, the one voice becomes the “they” that no one can identify. That is when the most dangerous part starts. It is the part of the truth being drowned out over the lie. Have you ever believed a lie? The facts do not matter when the note of one small lie starts to ring out. EVen though the notes are not lining up and the chord doesn’t sound together, we start to convince ourselves we just heard a melody. When the melody gets in our head, that is when we start to sing it over and over again, forgetting it wasn’t even the truth.
For David, it was when that song became stuck in his head that he needed to go to God for the truth. He was reminded that their words were not truth, but rather God’s words were truth. Their words would need to be stopped and shut up. God’s words would need to ring louder and more obvious. Then David’s words would be truth and righteousness that goes out to the people.
How does it help you to know that Jesus knows what it is like to be lied to and about?
In our story with Judas in the garden in John 18, Jesus reiterated the name of God by declaring that he was the “I am”, and the liars fell back. What does this part of the story and this Psalm teach you about today?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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