Well, we are going to finish up Acts chapter 1 eventually, but today is not that day. Last time I spoke, we did all things Mary. I covered just about every time Mary shows up in the Bible to show you that she really doesn't have any work that she's doing in the redemption of man. Today, we're taking a deep dive into Judas Iscariot. I'm always surprised, and I've said this before in these studies, to find out about Bible subjects when I dive deeply into the study, things I didn't know. I mean, we all know about Judas Iscariot. He's a central figure in the death of Jesus Christ. I was going to say life and death. He actually doesn't show up that much in the Gospels until he betrays Jesus. But there's so much about Judas that I really didn't know. Let's go ahead and start off by reading our passage for today, Acts 1 15 through 20, though I am going to start back in verse 12 just to bring us up to speed. The apostles had just been eyewitnesses to the ascension of Jesus into heaven. It then says, then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these were with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. And I pointed out that this is the last time we ever hear of Mary in the Bible. That brief mention here on the passage today is the last time we ever hear anything of Judas in the Bible. He completely disappears from the rest of church history and the rest of church writings as though he never existed. Continuing on in verses 15 through 20, it says, In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers, the company of persons in all, about 120, and said, brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness, And falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language, Akldama, which is field of blood. For it is written in the Book of Psalms, may his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it, and let another take his office. In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers. Those days were the days immediately before Pentecost and the coming of the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Peter talks about the prophecies of David concerning Judas. So my first question that I looked at when I saw this was, who exactly was Judas? There are eight men in the Bible with that name. Because Judas is the same name as Jude and Judah. They're all the same name. They come from the tribe of Judah. And it means, let God be praised. Because you know that every Hebrew name had a significant statement behind it. The names meant something. So Jude and Judas meant, let God be praised. Two men of that name were in Jesus' lineage. Jesus also had a half-brother named Jude, who wrote a book in the Bible called the Book of Jude, oddly enough. The man who betrayed is called Judas Iscariot, and he's named as the son of Simon Iscariot. So you would think that Iscariot is his last name, but it wasn't his last name. Rather, it is an identifier. You know, when Jesus was carrying his cross to Golgotha and stumbled from the weight, the Romans impressed a man called Simon of Cyrene to carry it. Cyrene was the city he was from. After Jesus' death, Joseph of Arimathea went to the authorities to get the body, to ask for the body of Jesus so he could bury it. Joseph of Arimathea, that was his city, because Simon, Joseph, and Jude, or Judas, were extremely popular names back then and sometimes required an identifier. So Judas Iscariot. Iscariot is the Greek translation of the Aramaic ish, which means man, and Kerioth, a city in southern Judah. So it's ish Kerioth in Aramaic, but it is Iscariot in Greek. Interestingly. Kerioth is also the word for city. So if you were talking about the city of Jerusalem, in their language, you would say Kerioth, Jerusalem. But we're fairly certain that we're not just talking about the city, but the city of Kerioth. 10 years ago, I preached a sermon. And somebody just listened to it this morning. I was quite surprised, because 10 years old. And it was called Two Lines, Cain and Seth. looking at the fruits that these two lines brought to the world. Cain was the first murderer. He killed Abel. God cast him out to wander the world. But Cain was the founder of the first cities. God was not pleased with the first cities. The line of Seth was a godly line, but Seth was a farmer. He brought true worship to God through his line. So God is not particularly fond of Cain to begin with. Beyond Cities, Cain brought the evil Lamech, his grandson, into the world. Lamech, it is recorded, shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. No, that was Johnny Cash. Lamech was worse. Lamech says, Ada and Zilla, hear my voice, and those are his wives. You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I have killed a man for wounding me. A young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold. Lamech was an evil man, and he brought evil into the world. As I say, God is not a fan of cities. Genesis 11 is another example of this. Now, the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, behold, they are one people, and they have all one language. And this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come down. Let us go down there and confuse their language so that what they so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore, its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there, the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth. And I'm not positive he said, behold, this is only the beginning of what they will do. I think he really meant this is the beginning of the evil that they will do among the world. No, God is not a fan of cities. And I find it interesting to note that Judas Iscariot could also be rendered as Judas from the city. Being from the city is not the only thing that made Judas stand out among the disciples. As I've noted before on this series of acts, Galileans were considered country bumpkins, people who could not even speak their own language very well. They were farmers. Jesus called fishermen away from their nets to follow him. Jesus himself was a carpenter. They were not sophisticated people. But Judas was a city boy. And that's not the only thing. He was not of Galilee. Everybody else was a Galilean that was following Jesus. Judas was from Judah. He was put in charge of the ministry's treasury, possibly because he was familiar with commerce, being from the city. Back to Acts 1.16, Peter says, Again, in those days, Peter stood up among the brothers. The company of persons was in all about 120 and said, brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested him. We know Jesus talked about the prophecies concerning him and that they had to all be fulfilled. What were some of these prophecies? Isaiah 53, who has believed what they heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men. a man of sorrows, an acquainted with grief, and is one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our inequities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silenced, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgressions of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, Although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him, put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with thee many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. And I looked at how I could shorten that passage. And I couldn't shorten that passage for what I'm talking about today. So you got Isaiah 53. This suffering servant passage is probably the most famous passage about a prophecy about Jesus. Psalm 41.9 is quoted by Jesus at the Last Supper. A portion of it goes, and I'll get into more of it later, my enemies save me in malice. When will he die and his name perish? And when one comes to me, he utters empty words while his heart gathers iniquity. When he goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me. They imagine the worst for me. They say, a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me." In John 13 at the Last Supper, Jesus has just washed the feet of the disciples and explains his actions. He said that when you are washed, only your feet are dirty and that's all you need to be washed, to be made clean. And he said that one of you is not clean. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me. I'm telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives, the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Peter himself quoted Psalm 1 and 9 further down at Acts 1.20. Be not silent, O God, of my praise, for wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer, so they reward my evil for good and hatred for my love. Appoint a wicked man against him. Let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him come forth guilty. Let his prayer be counted as sin. May his days be few, and may another take his office. Peter quotes this last verse as, may as can't become desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it, let another take his office. It's probably from the Septuagint, but I did not. Check that. Verse 17 says, for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. When Jesus called the disciples, he called them away from the jobs that they labored at. The famous line, I will make you fishers of men. They left their nets in their boats, and they left their fields, they left their flocks, and such They were, as Peter says of Judas, allotted a share in the ministry. Money came in, money was allotted, they took their living from the ministry. Their living was provided by the ministry of Jesus, and so why Judas? Didn't Jesus know who he really was? Of course he did. In John 6, 70, Jesus said, I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil. Now he said that to the disciples. And I wonder, at this point, does Judas know that he's the devil? Does Judas know that he's the one being singled out here? Or did he just think he was this guy, trying to get along, make some money, do some good through Jesus? Jesus knew exactly who Judas was. And so why did he choose him? Well, an obvious answer is to fulfill prophecy. But if that is the answer, a new question is, is Judas a hero in the story? A lot of people have thought that over the years. I wondered about it myself when I was young. If Christ had to be betrayed and crucified, Did Judas step up and take one for the team, so to speak? In 1983, an ancient papyrus was translated. A dealer had it. It was falling apart. He was waiting for the price to go up, but he had to get rid of it before it disintegrated. And in 1983, it was translated to be the Gospel of Judas. This was dated back to the time of the Gnostics and is known as the Gnostic Gospel of Judas today. The Gnostics claimed that they had secret knowledge. That's what Gnostic means, is knowledge. They claimed they had secret knowledge of spiritual matters, special spiritual insights. And they also said this about Judas. This so-called gospel says that Jesus took Judas away from the other 11 one day and explained what was really going on, told them the true gospel of God, When Judas was filled in, he enthusiastically joined in on his part in the redemption of the world. It's an inspiring story. It's part triumph, part tragedy, and it's entirely untrue. The Gnosics claim that they had secret knowledge, but God has not shared secret knowledge with any man. I am certain 100% that there's secret knowledge that we've not been filled in on. But when God speaks, it was put into his word, and it's out there for anybody to read. There is no secret knowledge. Okay, so why did Judas betray Jesus? After all, Judas was a part of the ministry. He witnessed Jesus' miracles, and they were mighty miracles, folks. The Pharisees couldn't deny it. He was doing so many miracles, they figured they had to get rid of him. He heard Jesus' daily teaching. He reclined at table with Jesus. He did everything with Jesus. He saw everything Jesus did. So why didn't Judas believe? And the answer is incredibly simple. Judas didn't believe because he wasn't a believer. He was not called to be a believer. He wasn't truly repented when he followed Jesus. He had never called on the Lord to be saved. The ministry was just his job, sadly like too many mainline church ministers today. And I'm singling them out as such. When I was young, I grew up in the church, such as it was. It was a Methodist church, which meant the Bible wasn't really taught. But I had feelings of a religious bent. I wanted to be in church. I wanted to sing praises to God. And my Methodist minister at the time noticed it. And he said, Mike, I can get you into Claremont Theological Seminary. I believe that that was the, he said, because, you know, being a minister is a really good job. He says, you know, the money's there, especially in the Methodist church, because it's a hierarchical church. He said, the money's there. comes in every week, and you only have to work one day a week. OK? He left the ministry shortly thereafter and became a used car salesman. True story. But yeah, Bill, do you only work one day a week? I just wanted to know that. He and Judas, this is mean of me, saw ministry as only a job. See, the fact is Jesus didn't need Judas to betray him. In fact, the odd thing to me is that of the 12 disciples, only Judas didn't betray him. All the others went to their death willingly serving Jesus. Only Judas fell away. There couldn't have been 5% of Israel who believed in Jesus, and yet, 11 out of 12 remained true. That is the odd thing. Let's put it this way. Most of Jerusalem would have volunteered to betray Jesus. Almost all the high priests would have crucified Jesus himself if it was allowed, but Jews were not allowed to put people to death. They had to have the Romans do it. No, there was no shortage of enemies for Jesus and there's no shortage of enemies for Christians today. In his book, Peace Child, Missionary Don Richardson recounts being a missionary to a tribe in Papua New Guinea. Now, I've told you all that I don't want to go to Africa. I don't want to go to India. But Papua New Guinea is up there on that list, too. It is such today still impenetrable rainforest that they're still finding unknown tribes to this day. Anyway. He went and he trained and he learned their language. Then went in among them to share the gospel. And he told them of the birth story of Jesus, shepherds coming by night, angels in the sky. He told them about the life and ministry, the Palm Sunday journey into a jubilant Jerusalem. Then he got to the treachery of Judas, betraying God to the death. And he was dumbfounded when they responded to Judas as the hero of the story, just like the Gnostics did. He later found out, and this is a tribe completely untouched by the word of God or any god, he later found out that the highest virtue in their culture was deceit. And the man who betrayed God was the greatest man on earth because he was the most treacherous. So no, God didn't need Judas to cooperate with his ultimate plan. He just needed Judas to be uncooperative. That brings us to Peter goes on addressing the 120. Now, this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out." Nice description. I like that. We know that Judas was always out for personal gain. He held the ministry's purse, but he was known to be a thief. In John 12, We have this passage. Jesus is in Bethany at the home of Mary and Martha, also brother Lazarus, who he had just raised from the dead. And it says, six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money bags, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, leave her alone. Gosh, that would chill me. Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. He did not care about the poor at sin, but only about money. And Jesus rebukes him. with leave her alone. And with that, Judas made plans to get money another way by betraying Jesus. We know Judas betrays him for 30 pieces of silver. I think I read that it's like $270. So treachery came cheap back then. And that he indeed did receive it. Matthew 27.3 explains the purchase of Potter's field, which is also known as the field of blood. Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. They said, what is that to us? See to it yourself. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priest, taking the pieces of silver, said, it is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money. So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore, that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, And then they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me." Hundreds of years before Jesus' death, that was prophesying. And this is the way that Judas bought the potter's field by throwing the silver pieces back at the priests. So what was the potter's field? We've heard of the potter's field, right? Well, the potter's field was a portion of land that was not suitable for farming. It had high clay content. So it was mined for the potter's wheel to make vessels out of, being good for nothing else. Now, Peter says that Judas fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and his bowels burst out. The Matthew passage says Judas threw the money into the temple and went out and hanged himself. So which version is correct, Matthew or Acts? And the correct answer, of course, is yes. John MacArthur points out that, and I'm going to disagree with John MacArthur here just for fun, but the only trees that grew in the area of the potter's field were on a hillside overhanging a canyon and a body hanging on that tree would bloat over the three-day Passover Sabbath with the possibility of falling and falling down in the canyon into rocks and bursting open. That's fine. Just to muddy the water further, The translation of the word hang here could be used for impaled, and it can also be used for being stabbed with a long object, and I did look it up. We don't really know what happened to cause him to burst open. You do know that when it says that cursed is one who hangs on a tree, they weren't just hanging on the tree, they were being impaled on the trees. Hanging on a tree came to mean crucifixion when the Romans showed up. But hanging on a tree before then, we see in the time of David people being hanged on a tree. And it was not a pretty thing. So when we say he went out and hanged himself, we don't really actually know. I don't think they really hanged themselves by the neck from a rope. So I'm just throwing that out by way of saying we don't really have a contradiction here. It doesn't really spell it out. But hanged meant different things. Anyway, Peter stated this, that he fell headlong and burst open, probably no more than three weeks after the death of Judas. It was current events. It was known and talked about, and it is not something that came down as a legend. However the events unfolded, the potter's field was afterwards known as the field of blood. So we come to Acts 1, 19 and 20. And it says, and it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language, Echeldamma, which is field of blood, for it is written in the book of Psalms, may his camp become desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it, and let another take his office. So a final question in the story of Judas, did Judas repent? And it's something that is still discussed today. Was he saved in the end? Christians have wondered about this for 2,000 years. We just saw that Judas, when he returned 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests, was remorseful. And he said to them, I have sinned against innocent blood. And indeed, he had. But being sorry isn't enough. At that point in time, Jesus was still alive. He had been condemned to crucifixion, but he hadn't been crucified. Judas could have found Jesus as he carried his cross to Golgotha and asked for forgiveness. He could have thrown himself at the foot of the cross and confessed his sin to Jesus like the thief on the cross did. But he didn't do that. Judas didn't repent because he couldn't repent. He was not a believer. Despite all the time he had spent with Jesus, despite the miracles, the crowds, the teaching, the love that Jesus had shared with him, Judas was not a believer. He had been called as a disciple. but not as one of God's elect. Now, how can I know for certain that Judas was not saved? I can know by Jesus' own words, which is about as authoritative a source as one can get. Earlier, I quoted him as saying he appointed the 12, but one was a devil. A devil will not be found in paradise. In John 17, in what is called the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prays for the disciples, knowing he is about to be crucified. And starting in John 17, verse 12, he says, and this is a prayer to God. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Jesus calls Judas the son of destruction. Others say the son of perdition. That does not sound like the description of someone, as the Gnostics described him, of one who had the, quote, true gospel. No, he was the son of destruction. Again in Matthew 26, Jesus talks of Judas' fate. When it was evening, he reclined at the table with the 12. And this is the last supper. And as they were eating, he said, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, is it I, Lord? He answered, he who has dipped his hand into the dish with me will betray me. The sin of man. goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas, who would betray him, answered, is it I, rabbi? He said to him, you have said so. It would have been better for that man had he never been born. In the account of this in John 13, says one of the disciples whom Jesus loved was reclining at a table close to him. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, it is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly. If Satan enters you, possesses you, you can know for certain that you are not saved. You can be tempted by Satan, but not possessed. 1st John 5.18 says, We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. But the evil one did touch Judas, because Judas was not born of God. One last thing on Judas. Peter in Acts 1.20 quotes Psalm 109 when he says, may his camp become desolate. Let another take his office. Here is what David said prophetically about Judas. I quoted part of this earlier. Be not silent, O God, of my praise, for wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer, so they reward me evil for good and hatred for my love. Appoint a wicked man against them. Let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he has tried, let him come forth guilty. Let his prayer be counted as sin. May his days be few. May another take his office. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children wander about in bags, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit. May the creditor seize all that he has. May strangers plunder the fruits of his toil. Let there be none to extend kindness to him nor to pity his fatherless children. May his posterity be cut off. May his name be blotted out in the second generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may be cut off from the memory of the earth. For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to put them to death. He loved to curse, let curses come upon him. He did not delight in blessing, may it be far from him. He clothed himself with cursing as his coat, may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones. I don't think I want David mad at me. In the passage we'll cover next week, A new apostle will be chosen to replace Judas, who Peter says went to his own place in the English Standard Version. Other versions say that Judas went to a place of his choosing, or the place he belongs. Each of us has a place we belong. If you're a Christian adopted into the family of God, you belong in the presence of God. You know that you are a stranger in this world and that your home is with your Savior. Each of us on this earth need to be about storing up one's treasures in heaven and not seek our treasure here on earth as Judas did. Otherwise, like Judas, we'll just throw our payment away. and go to the place we belong. Let it never be. Amen.