Passion Week of Christ (Part 8)
Our Choices Have Eternal Consequences! - John 13:21-30

"After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I
tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." {22} His disciples
stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. {23} One
of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. {24}
Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he
means." {25} Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
{26} Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of
bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of
bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. {27} As soon as Judas
took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do
quickly," Jesus told him, {28} but no one at the meal understood why
Jesus said this to him. {29} Since Judas had charge of the money, some
thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to
give something to the poor. {30} As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he
went out. And it was night."

I have to confess to you today that this lesson has caused me to lose a
great deal of sleep and is likely the most difficult message I will ever
present.

It’s a difficult message, because it’s one that reminds me that my
choices have conse-quences, both in this life and through eternity.

This lesson brings us face-to-face with the realization that everything
(literally every-thing!) can be done for a single human soul and it will
still have the negative result.

Jesus brings us face-to-face with Judas Iscariot today through this scene
lived out in the Upper Room on this Thursday, just hours before our
Lord’s death.

He reminds us that sometimes all we say and do just isn’t enough to save
a person’s soul! And what makes this doubly difficult to accept is the
fact that Jesus was the Master Teacher, who had the ability to read the
person’s heart and to know what he/she needed to hear....He said it with
absolute perfection and yet we find Him in this room with one who will
betray Him and another who will deny Him!

We’ve had glimpses of this kind of message before from scripture:
· We learned in our study of The Church from the book of Nehemiah that
the things we say and do will have to be done over again....no matter how
strenuously we have said the right things and no matter how completely
we’ve pulled the proper plans together....mankind will need certain
teachings and encouragements over and over and over again (chpt. 13).

· We learned in our study of the parables (Matt. 13) that conscientious,
well-meaning brothers and sisters in Christ can come to a knowledge of
truth but "when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he
quickly falls away....the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of
wealth choke it, making it unfruitful." You know this already, but we
have some families who were faithful in many degrees in months past who
fall into these categories today.

· Christ summed up many people’s attitude this way: "Though seeing, they
do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this
people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their
eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I
would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your
ears because they hear."

· We have been blessed with much information and many opportunities, and
God will hold us accountable for our response to them. Our choices have
eternal conse-quences.

· We learned just a few weeks ago again from John 6 that some people just
aren’t going to make the necessary changes in their life...they’re not
going to show the necessary commitment needed to be faithful disciples of
Jesus.

· The father depicted in the story of the Prodigal Son understood that
his younger son was making an adult decision that would have eternal
consequences...there was no guarantee that this son would ever "come to
his senses" yet the Father knew he had to make the decision on his own
and suffer the consequences of that decision, even if it meant eternal
damnation. He never forced or begged and exerted power over his son to
bring him back!

· And now we come to Judas Iscariot!

Is the situation before us as simple as the statement: "You can lead a
horse to water but you can’t make him drink?"

It seems to be me that we must ask and answer some basic questions:
1. Did Jesus give Him every opportunity?
2. Did Judas really understand what he was doing?

Jesus made it absolutely clear that He knew one of His disciples was
going to betray Him into the hands of His enemies. To Peter He replied:
"...you are clean..." but to Judas (and us today) He said ...."but not
all of you."

Even at this time Jesus gave Judas the opportunity to repent if he only
would. (We need to be careful in this portion of Scripture not to make
inappropriate expansions of our own that would not reflect the reality of
what Jesus had in mind.)

· The treachery of Judas was hidden from his fellow disciples, but not
from Christ.
· Jesus had chosen His twelve disciples to train them.
· Judas was called, as were the other eleven, to be one of the inner
circle, and received the same training and experienced the same loving
concern that Jesus had for the other disciples
· yet there came that time when Jesus knew one of His very own would
betray Him.
· we make a big mistake if we ‘buy into the idea’ that Judas wasn’t
really a disci-ples...that Judas didn’t really know or understand what
was about to occur

Jesus told this to the disciples so they might not think He was a mere
victim of secret treachery. And He told Judas so he could have another
opportunity to change his mind. Our choices have eternal consequences!

The Scripture Jesus quoted was Psalms 41:9: "Even my close friend, whom
I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."

When David wrote the psalm, he was probably referring to his counselor
Ahithophel, (uh hihth' oh fehl) who turned traitor and joined Absalom’s
rebellion (see 2 Sam. 15-17).

It is significant that both Judas and Ahithophel committed suicide by
hanging them-selves (2 Sam. 17:23; Matt. 27:3-10; Acts 1:18).

However, Judas did not commit suicide in order to fulfill biblical
prophecy, for that would make God the author of his sin. Judas
was responsible for his own decisions, and those decisions fulfilled
God’s Word.

Jesus, in advance, reveals the act of Judas to the disciples.
· He was not a helpless victim of the traitor and of the Jews.
· Judas is not deceiving His Lord, but is at His mercy
· He speaks with sadness as if to touch and melt his heart.
· Jesus would, if possible, bring him to repentance.
· Jesus told the disciples this in advance that they might believe.
· Jesus was concerned that Judas’ treachery would not weaken His
disciples’ faith. This is why He related it to the Word of God: when the
disciples saw all of this ful-filled, it would make their faith stronger
(see John 8:28).
· Judas had been disloyal, but He expected them to be loyal to Him and
His cause. After all, He was God the Son sent by God the Father. They
were Christ’s chosen representatives; to receive them would be the same
as receiving the Father and the Son.
· From the very beginning, Jesus knew what Judas would do (John 6:64),
but He did not compel him to do it.
· Judas was exposed to the same spiritual privileges as the other
disciples, yet they did him no good.
· The same sun that melts the ice only hardens the clay.

In spite of all that our Lord said about money, and all of His warning
about covetousness, Judas continued to be a thief and steal from the
treasury. In spite of all our Lord’s warning about unbelief, Judas
persisted in his rejection. Jesus even washed Judas’ feet! Yet his hard
heart did not yield.

There will be times...there have been times...when we have served and we
have begged and we have prayed and we have wondered again and again what
else we can do or what else we could have done.....

....and there will still be brothers and sisters who will make poor
choices that will have eternal consequences....our choices have eternal
consequences!

Peter signaled to John, who was the closest to Jesus at the table, and
asked him to find out who the traitor was. The Lord’s reply to John was
certainly not heard by all the men; in fact, they were carrying on
discussions among themselves about who the traitor might be (Luke 22:23).


When Jesus gave the bread to Judas, it was interpreted as an act of love
and honor. In fact, Judas was seated at the place of honor, so our Lord’s
actions were seen in that light: He was bestowing a special honor on
Judas.

Keep in mind that Judas knew what he was doing and that he did it
deliberately. He had already met with the Jewish religious leaders and
agreed to lead them to Jesus in such a way that there would not be any
public disturbance (Luke 21:37-22:6).

He heard Jesus say, "Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is
betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born!" (Matt.
26:24) Yet, he persisted in his unbelief and treachery.

John’s little phrase "and it was night" carries a tremendous impact when
you remember that light and darkness are important spiritual images in
his Gospel. Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12), but Judas
rejected Jesus and went out into darkness; and for Judas, it is still
night!

The instant Judas was gone, the atmosphere was cleared, and Jesus began
to instruct His disciples and prepare them for His crucifixion and His
ultimate return to heaven.

There are some mysteries surrounding Judas, but one thing is clear: Judas
made a deliberate choice when he betrayed Christ.
In John 6:66-71: "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no
longer followed him. {67} "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus
asked the Twelve. {68} Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we
go? You have the words of eternal life. {69} We believe and know that you
are the Holy One of God." {70} Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen
you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" {71} (He meant Judas, the
son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray
him.)"

Christ warned Judas and called him "a devil." Peter thought Judas was
saved, for he said, "We believe!" But Jesus knew that the heart of
Judas....

Note Jesus’ tenderness and appeal: His love still reached out to Judas.
·     Jesus did not name Judas as the traitor, not vocally. He did
not want the disciples to know who the betrayer was. Judas still had a
chance.
·     Jesus drew Judas close by His side. Apparently, He asked Judas
to sit by His side. He was close enough that Jesus could reach him and
hand the sop to him. Jesus wanted him close so that Judas would be in a
position to consider the seriousness of what he was doing.
·     Jesus gave very special attention to Judas. He gave the sop to
Judas. The sop (a morsel of bread or meat) was a sign of special
attention and affection. This act of affection actually turned suspicion
away from Judas, for Jesus seemed to be saying "Judas means something
special to me." This act also gave Judas a chance to repent.

The disciples’ responsibility was to love one another just as Christ had
loved them. They would certainly need this love in the hours to follow,
when their Master would be taken from them and their brave spokesman,
Peter, would fail Him and them.

In fact, all of them would fail, and the only thing that would bring them
together would be their love for Christ and for each other.

Christ wanted His disciples to be assured of the dignity of their call as
servants of God. Judas had betrayed the call, and his betrayal had left a
bad taste and reflected a poor image of the ministry. It could affect
some people, causing them to question the power of Christ and causing
others to actually withdraw and turn away from the ministry. The betrayal
could also cause true disciples to become discouraged, feeling that God’s
call and ministry did not have the dignity Christ claimed.

The whole scene is one of tragedy, a tragedy that is heartbreaking and
heartrending. One who professed Christ was not going to remain
faithful...hee was in fact a betrayer, an enemy, a person who chose and
stood for the things of the world (money, recognition, power).

God knows every person’s heart.
Even a person’s inner thoughts are known to God, as well as what a person
does. No one can hide what He does from God, not even a thought.
God knows if a man is betraying His Son. He even knows if a man is
thinking about sinning and turning his back on Jesus. The more a man
thinks about sinning, the more likely he is to turn back. His betrayal
can be predicted.

Being able to hide and keep sin a secret...
· isn’t a cute trick.
· isn’t a reason for feeling superior or more capable than others.
· hiding and keeping sin a secret is building one’s life upon a false
foundation that will crumble and result in a collapsed life.
· the very fact that true disciples are unaware of a person’s sin is a
warning to the sinner. He is building a life of deception and lies that
will crumble every worthwhile relationship he has.

The other side—that leads to redemption
From the human perspective, the death of Christ was a deed involving
unspeakable suffering and humiliation; but from the divine perspective it
was the revelation of the glory of God.

We have another opportunity today to make a decision that will definitely
affect our eternity....our decisions have eternal consequences...

....my prayer today is that I live until my last breath in such a way that
God, Christ, the church and my earthly family are pleased and proud...and
that my soul is in the good and gracious hands of my awesome Father!

My prayer for brothers and sisters who are now unfaithful and in danger
of eternal damnation? I’ll continue to offer or provide whatever
opportunity can be made available so their choices can be the proper
ones.

Jesus cared until the very end...He never quit on behalf of Judas....He
doesn’t expect us to, either. But He also reminds us that sometimes what
we say and do will not change the person.....

Last modified: April 18, 2006