Tabor Baptist Church

Bible Text: John 6:63-71 | Preacher: Henry De Oliveira | Series: Visiting Preachers | Introduction

Approaching Easter – my favourite celebration

We can openly proclaim that Christ has risen!

Tonight: to consider one of the characters of the Easter narrative

Judas Iscariot

His name has become the definition of betrayal
He betrayed Jesus with a greeting and a kiss
This name permanently tarnished

Why did Jesus choose Judas?

To be a disciple
A close friend [one of the 12]
A mistake?

Overview:

Religious hypocrisy – the need of salvation
Human responsibility – the sovereignty of God
Personal responsibility – the tragedy of sin

Why did Jesus choose Judas?

Religious hypocrisy – the need of salvation

To warn us against religious hypocrisy
Consider Judas before that Paschal week – examples

The people he knew
A man of integrity
Learned from the best Teacher – Jesus
An evangelist
He healed and cast out demons
Nobody suspected Judas – John 13:21-22, 28-29

On the surface:

The best of Christian
A devout follower
An evangelist

The Lord knows the heart

Being religious is not evidence of salvation
A warning against being a religious hypocrite
He was not saved
He did not believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour – v64
He may have believed in his mind, but not his heart

This is a challenge to self-examination – are we religious hypocrites?

Does our heart belong to the Lord?
Are you saved?
What is the treasure of your heart?
Satan has many who come to church
2 Tim 3:5

We are to put religion away – we need Jesus alone

Are we listening to the gospel of Jesus?
It is not about our environment/church

Judas was at the feet of Jesus
Adam and Eve were before God in the Garden of Eden

We see the religious hypocrisy and the need of salvation

Human responsibility – the sovereignty of God

We have a choice to make and we must choose Jesus
The sovereignty of God

cf John 13:18-19, John 6:65
No one can come to Jesus unless granted by the Father

We still have a responsibility

These events and Judas’ action confirm that Jesus is the Christ

The Scriptures are fulfilled
Ps 41:9

Our responsibility

Did Judas have a choice?

He was not forced to betray Jesus
He would have been saved had he repented

Judas was misguided in his thinking

He gave into sin
He gave into satan’s enticement

Judas chose his own way

Satan took hold of him
This led him to betray the Lord Jesus

Our choice:

To call out to Jesus
To seek forgiveness
We need Jesus to transform our hearts but obedience to His call is our responsibility
What takes priority over Christ?
God knows our choices – but let them be to obey Him
We are no robots controlled by Him, we have responsibility to obey and serve Him

Personal responsibility – the tragedy of sin

Sin is ugly and fatal
It is our personal responsibility to turn to Jesus – Matt 27

Judas was filled with guilt and remorse
Satan had hold of him
He threw the money into the temple
He hanged himself

Guilt and remorse is not the same as repentance

If only Judas had repented – but he had given himself to sin
Sin blinded him to see Christ

Acts 1:18 – the ugliness caused by sin

This is why the word of God is clear regarding sin
Sin may initially look beautiful
Sin destroys
Sin condemns to hell – Acts 1:25

When we die – we go to where we belong

Where do you belong?
There are only two camps

Closing Remarks

The difference between Judas and Peter

Peter repented
Peter believed Why did Jesus choose Judas? v68-69

Do not rest in religion but trust in Jesus Christ
We have a personal choice
Sin is tragic so put your faith in Jesus
Declare the words of Peter – “you are the Christ”