Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · August 13, 2006

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

Youth Sunday

11:00 a.m. Worship

Scripture

Matthew 26:47-50

Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the twelve disciples, came up.  A large mob armed with swords and clubs was with him.  The chief priests and the elders of the people had sent them.  Judas had told them ahead of time, “Arrest the man I greet with a kiss.”  Judas walked right up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!”  Then Judas kissed him.

Jesus replied, “My friend, why are you here?”

The men grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

Message

Lynn Eaton

Hi, guys!  How’s everybody doing today?  Yea!  Good, good, good!

I don’t exactly know Judas Iscariot personally.  He did live 2,000 years ago, but I find his story intriguing.  Here’s why.  You see… Jesus is the focal point of our religion, and for good reason.  He is a fascinating person with brains, charisma, and a few miracles up his sleeve.  But I, while being politely interested in the main character, have always been drawn to the minor characters.  I consider Judas a minor character of this saga.  He’s not mentioned in the Bible except to talk about his contrariness to Jesus.  He’s a minor character with such a major role.  His story is interesting, partly because the Gospels say so little about him, which leads me into exploring the little bit of his history that we do know.

Judas Iscariot, the actual name, tells us that he probably came from a town in Judea called Kerioth.  He’s an apostle, all right, but he is from Judea while all the others are from Galilee.  So that sets him apart right from the start. 

Let’s see how this all relates back to us today.  Do you remember when you were in school?  For some of us, this requires no remembering.  Do you remember when there would be a new kid, and he would have nowhere to sit at lunch?  So he would just stand up by the end of the lunch line, looking awkward, until somebody took pity on him and offered him a seat.  Or maybe he would find an empty table.  Maybe you were that new kid. 

I imagine this was a little like how Judas felt.  The other apostles would be sharing inside jokes and talking about Galilee, while Judas would sit and eat silently, unless, of course, someone took pity on him.  It doesn’t seem as though that any of the other apostles particularly liked the guy.

Take the Gospels, for example.  In them, Judas is rarely mentioned without the “betrayer” or some variation tagged on to the end of his name.  Much like a bad nickname that simply sticks. 

According to John, when a woman anointed Jesus with some very expensive perfume (I’m talking like a year’s wages here), at Bethany, Judas was the only one who spoke up about it.  He asked why the money wasn’t spent on the poor?  John suggests that Judas didn’t want the poor to get the dough.  He wanted to keep it for himself.  Ouch!

Speaking of extra money, the priests that used Judas to destroy Jesus, paid him very little for his actions.  According to Matthew, after Jesus was condemned, Judas went back to the priests who paid him, full of grief and remorse for what he had done.  Judas repented.  He just wanted to take it back, and so thinking that, he gave back the money.  The priests could have cared less about that money.  It wasn’t that big of sum in the first place, so they really didn’t care about what he did afterward, either.  He had already served his purpose.  So Judas then went and hanged himself.

How intriguing.  He repented only to the priests, not to his fellow disciples.  Why would he want to do that?  Why would he seek forgiveness from the men who used him as a child uses a new toy – playing with it for a while, but inevitably losing interest in it?  How would the story have turned out differently if he had asked forgiveness from God?  I wonder.  Because it says in the Bible that the betrayer is cursed.  Well… Not exactly.  Jesus just says it would be better for whoever betrayed him if he had never been born.  Here, let me read you the passage:

You guys have to pay attention to this, because there is going to be a test later, and I’m going to tie it back in. 

It’s found in Matthew 26:24:  “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.  But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man!  It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Those are some harsh words.  Imagine the sinking feeling in his stomach that Judas felt when he heard that and knew that Jesus was talking about him.  That would stink.  To have your friend and role model say something like that about you!  Oh!

And now for the grand finale.  Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, which turned out great for us.  I mean, without Judas, there is a possibility that we wouldn’t be here practicing Christianity today. 

So, the actual betrayal has quite a few plausible motivations.  It could have been the money.  Luke and John seem to think that Satan possessed Judas.  He could have wanted revenge for being an outcast.  Was it God’s plan?

But that brings up another question.  Did God plan on Judas’ betrayal?  He obviously planned on his son dying for our sins.  But without Judas, would it still have happened the way it was predicted in Psalm 41:9?  It reads: “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”  

So in Matthew 26:24, Jesus said, “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.”  That is what he is talking about, right there.

OK.  If it didn’t happen the way it was predicted, would God have just had to keep sending his children down, and having them take disciples, and potential betrayers, until they finally found one betrayer that would succumb to temptation?  Did Judas have any say at all?  Was he given that choice between Door Number One and Door Number Two?

If our actions are vital to some incomprehensible plan from the Man Upstairs, do we not get a say in these actions?  Is the impulse to do them simply too strong to resist?  Or is “free will” more than just a couple of words you can find after “Frederick” and “free wheel” in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary?

I believe Judas had to choose between betraying Jesus and remaining loyal, and we have that same choice today.  Not in the literal life and death sentence, but in the places we are granted. 

OK.  Changing topics real fast…

Have any of you see the movie Bruce Almighty?  Yea!  I love that movie.  OK. So, I’m a Jim Carey and a Morgan Freeman fan.  And with both of them starring in this movie, it is a double whammy.  Love it!  It’s a great movie.

In the movie, Morgan Freeman, who plays God, let’s an Average Joe, played by Jim Carey, take over being God for a while.  There is a moral and a bunch of funny lines.  But that is not really what I’m concerned with.  When God grants Jim Carey his sublime powers, Morgan Freeman tells Mr. Carey that there are only two rules.  1) You can’t tell anyone you are God.  (Imagine the complications if you told people you were God?)  2) You can’t mess with people’s free will. 

That is exactly what I believe Judas is given.  It is exactly what I believe each of us is given today.  You all know what I’m talking about.  These choices that constitute free will don’t even have to be big choices.  It can be something as simple as not making an offensive comment to someone who has been annoying you; or choosing not to lie; or not saying bad words about that person who cuts you off in traffic; or forgiving your mother, father, sister, brother for that embarrassing moment a few years ago; or staying faithful to your spouse.

We have all chosen not to obey the W.W.J.D. voice in our heads before.  You guys know:  “What Would Jesus Do?”  Remember that sinking feeling I was talking about earlier – Jesus’ harsh words about the one who would betray him?  Well, when Judas didn’t follow the W.W.J.D. voice, did he get that feeling?  It isn’t a nice feeling.  It feels sort of like you are being put into shackles.

What about when you did do what the W.W.J.D. voice asked?  Didn’t that feel good?  It is somehow freeing, like, “I just did something good.  I should do this more often.  Wouldn’t it be great to experience that all the time?”

Free will means the choice to take the high road.  It is the road that takes us toJesus, instead of to betraying him.  Even if it is something that seems small.  Eventually, the little stuff can add up.

This choice is given to us, because if we choose it, instead of being forced to take it, our reward in our hearts, later on, will be so much better.  At least, that’s how I think of it.

God has given us a road map to a happier life.  All we have to do is follow the signs – that little compass called our conscience.  It is what guides us.  It may not look like Jiminy Cricket, but it’s still there.

Just the fact that God trusts us enough to give us this choice is a point in our favor.  Free will is a gift.

And we all say together… “Amen.”  

Benediction

Loving God, we turn to you for support; we turn to you for guidance.  You are our rock.  You are our foundation.  You are always with us.  Amen.