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Sermon
of 10-12-02
The Unsolved Mystery of Judas is that he said No to
Jesus
by Dr. David A. Farmer, pastor
Scripture Mark 14:10-11;
"And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
V:11
And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him."
Mark 14:1-11 tells the story about a battle that was waged over Christ in His final days on this earth. Today there are many mysteries about different human tragedies that have never been solved! Mysteries they taunt us with every unanswered question. There is the mystery of what indeed happened that caused the death of princess Diana. Think of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Who did it? In Memphis, TN we have the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The sinking of the titanic what truly happened that night some 87 years ago? These are all unsolved mysteries. Mysteries with answers that seem to lie sealed inside vaults or sunk into the depths of the ocean abyss never to be raised to light to be fully understood.
And this brings me to the mystery of Judas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Just who was Judas Iscariot? The very name stirs deep emotions within us. For example, how many of you know of a child named Judas? Did it ever cross your mind to name one of your children Judas? No. But did you know that the name Judas comes from Judah, which means "God be praised."
Yet, this man has the darkest character in all of scripture. Judas was a very common Jewish name during Bible times. Judas was a man that had some executive ability. But he also had some weakness in his character. And Christ knew this. Jesus placed Judas in a position where he would have an opportunity to see his weakness and correct it.
John 13:29 say Judas was the treasurer of Jesus and His disciples. The story of Judas presents the sad ending of a life that might have been honored by God. Had Judas died before he betrayed Jesus he would have been regarded as a man worthy of a place among the 12. One who we would look up today as a pillar in the Bible.
The other disciples treated Judas kindly and seemed to admire and respect his ability. John 6:70-71 says a year before His betrayal Jesus foretold that one of the 12 would betray him.
"Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
V:71
He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."
We really know very little about Judas. But what really puzzles me is what drove him to commit history's most despicable act? This morning I want to look at what happened at the feast at Simon's house. I believe this is where Judas made his full and finally decision to betray Jesus. Please turn back with me to our scripture Mark 14:1-11.
"After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by craft, and put Him to death.
V:2
But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the
people. V:3
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
V:4
And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
V:5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. V:6
And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. V:7
For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. V:8
She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
V:9
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. V:10
And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. V:11
And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him."
You see, up until now Jesus had never given Judas a direct rebuke. Although Christ knew Judas' heart, He always tried to reach him through love. From Simon's house Judas goes straight to the palace of the High Priest and sells Jesus out. You need to know that Simon was a faithful follower of Jesus. He was one of the very few Pharisees who had openly showed his love for Jesus. He professed Jesus as a great teacher and hoped that He was the coming Messiah. But at this point Simon had not fully accepted Jesus as the Savior of the world. Simon had been healed of leprosy by Jesus and this was what drawn him to Jesus. So to show his love and gratitude, Simon decides to throw a feast for Jesus and His disciples. (See DA 557 - 558)
John 12:2 say that sitting at the table with Simon was Lazarus, the one Jesus had risen from the dead. I suspect that many came to hear what sort of reports Lazarus would describe seeing after death. And they were probably surprised when he said nothing. For he had nothing to report. Because the Word God's in Eccl. 9:5 declares,
"The dead know not anything." But I'm sure that Lazarus did have a wonderful testimony about Jesus' power to raise the dead back to life. (See DA 558) Meanwhile Martha, one of Lazarus' sisters was busy serving everyone. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect and that everyone was served. But Mary, Lazarus' other sister, was earnestly listening to every word that Jesus spoke. She knew of Jesus' forgiveness and of His love and power. Seven times she had heard Jesus rebuke demons from her that controlled her heart and mind. Jesus had lifted her up out of a life of sin and gave her complete forgiveness.
Her heart like her brother was filled with gratitude and love. She had heard Jesus speak of His death so she wanted to show him honor. She had purchased a very costly bottle of perfume just for this occasion. She wanted to avoid anyone noticing what she was doing but the perfume filled the room with its sweet fragrance. After anointing Jesus' head and feet Mary knelt down crying upon Jesus' feet and then she took her long flowing hair and wiped them dry. Some of those present strongly objected to the anointing. Especially Judas. You see he thought that this ointment was too much of a lavish gift.
Verse 5 of Mark 14 says: "For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her."
A Denari was one silver coin. And 300 of those would be nearly a year's wages. Back then is was very common for an ordinary laborer to receive one silver coin for a day's job. That meant that that bottle of perfume would have cost whole year worth of work.
When Kathy and I were in Russia, on several occasions we would sit down to eat a meal that we knew cost our host probably close to a whole months wage. It's an awesome, mind-boggling feeling knowing that someone thinks so much of you that they would spend a month's wage to serve you one meal. And that is what we see here! Only it's not a month's wage it's a year's wage. We thought that was a waste of hard earned money on us. And this was part of Judas' problem. He too had the feeling that money was being wasted. So Jesus wanted to teach Judas a lesson.
Jesus saw in Judas some good qualities. Qualities that if nurtured would have help the church advance (4T.486, 041). But Judas would not listen to the Lord. No he quickly started criticizing Mary for wasting this expensive perfume.
I can just imagine him saying something like this: "Mary what are you doing? Woman, don't you know that you are wasting money that could be used to help the poor?"
Now notice what Jesus says in Mark 14:6-8; "And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. V:7
For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. V:8
She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying."
It's as if Jesus was saying: "Leave her alone you self-righteous hypocrites. You say you love the poor but you attack this poor woman? You say you want to have compassion on the poor, but you humiliate her in my presence?"
If we are to be truthful with ourselves we shouldn't judge those that were there. Nor can we really think badly of Judas. You see, if we had been there we would probably have agreed with Judas. If we had been present that evening we too would probably think Mary just wasted good money. If Mary was alive today and would have come to us asking permission for a business meeting to be called saying she wanted to anoint Jesus with a bottle of perfume that cost a whole years wage what would your vote have been?
I can just hear Mary now. "I would like to give this gift to Jesus and anoint him. May I have a motion? Is there a second? All those in favor say' aye.' All those opposed,' nay'. "
Friends what would your vote been? The truth is we probably would have voted against her using such an expensive gift. And I would have been right there voting "no" with you. What's really ironic, Jesus contradicts our assumptions. He shows us that our idea of virtue is incomplete. What Jesus shows us here in this passage is that we should not always look at others through our naked eyes and assume we know what is best.
By now you're probably wondering what all this has to do with Judas. I want you to see the comparison of Mary's act with that of Judas' act. Turn with me to the same story found in John 12.
In verse 5 Judas wants to know why the bottle of perfume wasn't sold and the money given to the poor. But in verse 6 John cannot resist his own commentary:
"Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? V:6
This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein."
Now remember Judas is the treasurer of the disciples. And often he would pay himself for something he would do out of the funds that had been raised. Judas thought highly of himself and his ability as a financial wizard. And by his professed sympathy for the poor he had the other disciples look down upon Mary and her act of devotion.
And aren't we sometimes like that too? You know we want and often expect others to see things the way we see things. That only our way is the right way. We come up with our own ideas of how things should be instead of asking God what He wants.
There will always be mysteries of why people do the things they do. All of us at times have been confused on why people act or say some of the things they do. The human heart will always be confusing. And because of not understanding other people is what drove me into writing two books on trying to understand why people do what they do.
Why did Judas condemn Mary for her selfless act? We know that Judas had a preconceived idea of what the Messiah would be like. He with the rest of the religious world fully expected the Messiah to establish an earthly kingdom, and overthrow Rome. To set up a righteous council and government. Judas had hoped he would be rewarded for all he did. That Jesus would remember all his acts of "good deeds." Judas had an agenda for God, and he wanted it fulfilled at all costs. And there is another lesson for us to learn here.
Unless we allow God to sift all of our false expectations of ourselves and others we will be just like Judas and reject what Jesus has in mind for His church. You see Mary's act was just the opposite of that of Judas. In contrast to Judas' false expectations of Jesus stands the witness of this woman's anointing. She saw what Judas was blinded to. She listened to the Holy Spirit while Judas refused Him. Mary accepted that His death was to put an end to the need of sacrificing animals for the atonement for sin. She accepted that someday Jesus would return for His children and takes them home with Him forever. Judas planned to betray Jesus and hoped that it would speed things up a little so that he could sit by Him on the throne. Mary surrendered what she had to Jesus' purposes. While Judas asked for more.
There are at least 3 intriguing parallels between Mary and Judas.
1. Compare Judas' greed vs. Mary's generosity.
Mary gives Jesus a gift that cost 300 pieces of silver. Remember what did Judas agree to betray Jesus for? 30 pieces of silver. The traditional price of a slave according to Exodus 21:32. She gives Jesus 300; Judas betrays him for one tenth.
2. Look at Judas' concealment of deception vs. Mary's open act of devotion.
Mary wanted to show her love and devotion to Jesus while He was alive. Judas complains about money being used foolishly concealing the real motive; he wanted the money for himself.
3. Draw a comparison between Judas' prides vs. Mary's humiliation.
This reminds me of the foot washing during Communion. Do we allow our pride to get in the way when it comes to washing someone else's feet? Mary humbles herself in front of all. Not only that but she wipes his feet dry with her hair. You have to admit that would be tremendously humbling.
Judas was always calculating and watching how he could make himself look better. Mary cared for Christ because all He had done for her. She gave Him her best. And Jesus said, "Her deed will be remembered." Mary's life should remind us that only giving Jesus our best is what really counts.
If not careful we too can lose all perspective and balance of what His mission is all about. Judas had false expectations of what Jesus wanted. Judas was embarrassed by Mary's way of devotion. Judas sought to gain personal wealth, political power, and prestige. If we are not careful we might pursue the same course that Judas took. We might condemn others of the way they show their love and devotion to Jesus.
When I studied and prepared for this sermon I started looking into who Judas was. Why he betrayed Jesus. Why he condemned Mary for her act of love. The more I studied the more I saw a little of Judas' character in me. And I saw how probably all of us would have seen waste in the way Mary showed her love to Jesus that day.
After preparing this sermon I look entirely different at the mysteries of Judas. The mystery is no longer why he betrayed Jesus. The mystery to me now is could I have done the same? Jesus invited Judas to be one of His followers. To be one of the 12. He prayed with him. He taught him what God was like. Jesus washed his feet. He even gave him the opportunity to change his mind at the last supper when he handed him the piece of bread.
Jesus did everything to convince Judas to open his heart. And a mystery to me is that he said "no."
What about you today? Will you too say "no" to Jesus? Will you say "no" when he hands you the piece of bread that holds life eternal?
What is your answer?
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