The Potter’s Field

Transcript

GR 737
2/9/1986
The Potter’s Field
Matthew 27:1-10
Gil Rugh

Matthew 27 begins in the midst of the account of the trials of Christ which led to His crucifixion. There were two trials that took place. The religious trial occurred first in front of the Jewish leaders. Then the civil trial was held before the Romans, particularly Pontius Pilate and Herod. Herod was King of the Jews by appointment of the Romans, so he was functioning as a civil authority in the trial that was held before him.
The religious trial was brought to a conclusion with the decision of the Sanhedrin to sentence Jesus to death. The Sanhedrin rendered their verdict: Jesus was worthy of death. Then He was turned over to the Romans because the Sanhedrin did not have the power of capital punishment. The religious authorities asked the civil authorities to confirm the verdict and carry out the punishment. But there was a slight change in emphasis during the various aspects of the civil trial.
The Jews determined that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, although they had a hard time solidifying the case because they could not find any witnesses. They determined He deserved to die because He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God; however, just because He claimed to be an important Jewish figure was no reason for the Romans to crucify Him. So when the religious authorities brought Jesus to the Romans they said He was worthy of death because He claimed to be a king in opposition to Caesar. It was a strange turn that these Jews who were looking for their Messiah to be a political deliverer told the Romans that they should crucify their Messiah because He was a danger to the authority of Caesar. Ultimately they declared they were unwilling to have a deliverer because they said they had no king but Caesar. They were so absorbed in their sinful conduct that they even began to contradict what their Scriptures said their Messiah ought to do.
After Matthew recorded the conclusion of the religious trial and the beginning of the civil trial, he wrote about Judas’ response to this and the tragic end of the man Judas. Judas was a very significant and important person in the closing days of the earthly ministry of Christ. Judas was perhaps the most shocking and tragic figure in all of human history. It is important to understand what God has to say about this man who was one of the chosen disciples of the Son of God.
Judas walked and ministered with the Son of God and yet determined to take a stand against the Son of God, and the result was his own destruction.
The procedure of the religious trial involved the arrest of Christ who was then taken to Annas, the former high priest and the father-in-law of the present high priest, Caiaphas. Annas sent Him to Caiaphas; it was the high priest who held the power in the Sanhedrin. Then Caiaphas, along with the Sanhedrin, was given the opportunity to confront Christ. Then evidently there was a break, and when it came toward morning, the Sanhedrin reassembled and determined their course of action. Matthew 27:1-2 says, “Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.” The Sanhedrin determined that Jesus was guilty and that He was worthy of death, so they had to go to the Roman authority for execution.
Pilate was present in Jerusalem because of the feast of the Passover. He was not headquartered in Jerusalem; his headquarters were in Caesarea, to the north and west of Jerusalem on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. During major events he would come to Jerusalem with an extra contingent of soldiers because he did not want this to be an occasion for rebellion. At the feast of Passover, there would be a great influx of thousands of people to Jerusalem, so Pilate had come to stay in the city during the days of the feast and this became an easy occasion for the Jews to lead Jesus to Pilate to seek his authority for crucifixion.
At this point Matthew 27 follows a similar pattern to Matthew 26 where Matthew was recording the religious trial of Christ and broke in to unfold how Peter denied the Lord three times in fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy and the resulting grief and heartache that brought to Peter. In Matthew 27 Jesus was turned over to Pilate and then Matthew broke in to unfold what was taking place in Judas’ life and the end of this man who betrayed the Son of God. The last mention of Judas before the trials was when he was in the garden betraying Christ. Matthew 26:49-50 says, “Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, ‘Hail, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him. And Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you have come for.’”
Matthew 27 demonstrates the destructive pattern of sin. The Bible is clear on the fact that sin always moves to destruction. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin always leads to ruin, and that is the pattern that Judas followed. Judas was a man of great opportunity and great privilege, selected by Christ to be part of the inner circle of twelve men who would represent Him on earth during His earthly ministry. Judas was an unbeliever in heart and a thief who stole from the money given to support the ministry of Christ and His disciples. Judas became progressively more hardened and bitter toward Jesus Christ until he was ready to sell Him for the money he could make on the deal. Judas did not come to the point of destruction in an instant, but his pattern of sin brought him to that point.
Judas took the initiative to betray Christ, “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went
to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?’”
(Matt. 26:14-15). The chief priests did not seek Judas out, but Judas sought them out and took the initiative for the betrayal. The deterioration in Judas brought him to such a hardened state in his rebellion that all he was concerned about was whether he could make any money out of the relationship that he had with Christ.
At the Last Supper, it becomes clear how hardened Judas really was. Matthew 26:20-25 reads,
“Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. As they were eating, He said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.’ Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ And He answered, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ And Judas, who was betraying Him, said ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself.’” Jesus said one of the twelve at that table would betray Him. Then He gave a word of warning that it would be better for the one who would betray Him if he had never been born. He told Judas that he was the one. Jesus said woe to the one who betrayed him, but Judas was too hardened to hear it. He was not listening. The tragedy of Judas is the tragedy of neglect and a hardened heart. Even when he was personally confronted by Christ as the betrayer, there was no softening of Judas’ heart; he just went out to betray Him.
The realization of how events turned out overwhelmed Judas with remorse. When he realized that the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death, he wished he could undo what he had done. Matthew 27:3 says, “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.” What did Judas think was going to happen? It seems like Judas was surprised that they condemned Christ to death. This has caused some to say that perhaps Judas had a good motive, that he was attempting to force Christ’s hand so to speak. In other words, he put Christ in a position where Christ would have to take His position as Messiah and break the bonds of Rome and set up the Kingdom. Well, quite frankly I find nowhere in Scripture anything that attributes any kind of a good motive to Judas. He was called the son of perdition. He was a devil as Jesus described him. To say that Judas had some kind of good motive in betraying Christ is to totally twist the Scripture. I think what really happened is that Judas was seized with remorse, an overwhelming sense of guilt, when he realized how awful his sin really was.
This is often the case with sin. I don’t think the surprise was that Christ was condemned. I think the surprise was how overwhelmed he was with the guilt of his sin, and that is the way sin sneaks up on all of us. We think we know what we’re doing. We know the result will be negative, but we are still intent on the sinful course of action. We think we understand the consequences that it might bring hardship and heartache into our lives, but we really never know how wretched sin is and how awful the consequences of sin will be in our lives and the lives of those around us until we do it. The tragedy of this is that there is no going back. You can’t undo what you’ve done.
This was how Judas was acting. He had decided to betray Jesus. It had been common knowledge in Israel that anyone who acknowledged Christ as Messiah would be excommunicated from the Synagogue. He had to know that. He knew that the Sanhedrin was looking for a good occasion to arrest Christ. He initiated the contact. After it was done, Judas would have liked to turn back the clock to last week and undo what happened, but that couldn’t happen. He couldn’t know how overwhelmed he would be with his own wretchedness and the horror of his sin, until he did it. And then he couldn’t control it, and it consumed him and led him to self-destruction.
According to Matthew 27:3, Judas “felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver.” The word “remorse” carries a similar idea to repentance although it’s a different word. It sometimes means basically the same thing as repentance. The translation, “felt remorse,” is good. He had grief. He had sorrow over what he had done, but this does not indicate a true change of mind toward Christ. It indicates a sorrow over his sinful action and conduct. He was overwhelmed with the horror of his sin, but he had not changed his mind about Jesus Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the contrast between remorse and godly repentance. It is important to understand the sorrow felt by Judas and the impact of it upon his life. Sometimes we are brought into a situation of mistaking sorrow and remorse for true godly repentance in our lives, both for those that we deal with and ourselves. Paul had written a letter to the Corinthians rebuking them for sin. Anytime you rebuke somebody for sin, even a believer, you do not know what reaction to expect. You don’t know if the person will slam the door in your face and tell you to get out of his life or if he will thank you for your interest in him because he wants God to work in his life. Paul did not know what to expect from the Corinthians, but he heard back that they responded properly to his letter. They changed their conduct to bring it in line with what God would have for them. He was overwhelmed with joy and told them in 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while--I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” The word “regret” is the same word that is translated “remorse” in Matthew 27.
That illustrates the distinction between remorse and godly sorrow. People get involved in sin, and then they see the impact of that sin on their life, on their family, on their friends and they are overwhelmed with remorse and grief, but they do not cast themselves upon the mercy of God and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is simply worldly sorrow and grief. This contrasts with the sorrow that is from God which results in a change in the one who is sorrowful. He bows before God and trusts Him as the One who can forgive him, cleanse him, and enable him to be what he ought to be; and unless that is the follow through of the sorrow, it has no value and is simply worldly sorrow.
There are only two alternatives. Once a person recognizes how terrible his sin is, how wretched his own personal sinfulness is, he can either recognize that he must turn to God and trust Him as the only one who can bring him forgiveness and cleansing and hope or he will be consumed by grief and eaten by the realization of how awful his sin has been and that will destroy him. In fact as it happens, worldly sorrow was destructive in Judas’ life. With the realization of what he had done, Judas decided he couldn’t live with himself. It drove him to suicide.
Peter went through the same kind of situation, but from a different perspective. He denied the Lord. He cursed that he never knew Him, but he was overwhelmed with sorrow that drove him to Jesus Christ. And the result was that Peter was forgiven and cleansed and became a useful instrument to God. Judas did not turn to Christ. He had opportunity all along the way, but he would not turn to Christ. The result was that he self-destructed under the pain of his own sin.
Esau is another example of this in Hebrews 12. In Hebrews 12:15 a warning is given, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” This is a key warning; see to it that no one stops short of God’s grace. I think Judas stopped short of the grace of God and he became bitter when he saw what he viewed as a waste of money. This was a loss of gain for himself, so he betrayed Christ and the bitterness destroyed him. Hebrews 12:16-17 continues by referring to the example of Esau, “that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” The example of stopping short of the grace of God is Esau, an immoral godless man. He sold his own birthright for a single meal. The birthright was the place of privilege and honor and blessing before God. Esau saw no value in being in the place of blessing and honor before God, just like Judas. Judas saw no value in a personal relationship with Christ; he was always on the physical level, “What could I gain out of this relationship? ” Esau viewed his position as of no value, “I’d rather have a bowl of soup. ” That’s all it was worth to him. Esau was overwhelmed with sorrow and wept when he realized he didn’t have the blessing. He just had remorse over what he had done and the impact of that sin, but he didn’t turn to God and seek His forgiveness, His cleansing, and he could not undo what he had done.
Worldly sorrow causes men to want to undo what they have done. When their sin comes to light and its impact hits them and hits their friends and families, then they would give anything to turn the clock back, but you can never do that. You ought to keep that in mind as you contemplate sin. As you face it, as you think it over, as you anticipate it, keep in mind that once you commit it, you can never go back to the other side. That does not mean there is not forgiveness. Praise God, He is a forgiving God; none of us would be here if he were not, but there are consequences for sin. I can never undo the sin that I have committed; I can never change the impact of that sin on my life and the lives of those around me. That also does not mean that I would never be useable to God. Peter is a beautiful example of God using one who sinned greatly, but nonetheless, there are the scars. The only hope is to cast yourself upon God. If that sin does not drive you to Jesus Christ, if that sorrow that overwhelms you does not cause you to realize how much you need Him and His forgiveness, then it is no good for anything, except to destroy you.
Judas tried to undo his sin, “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood’” (Matt. 27:3, 4). Judas testified that Jesus was innocent. He did not testify to his faith and recognition that Christ was the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God, but Judas knew He had done nothing worthy of death. Judas knew that it was all being done because of envy on the part of the chief priests and elders and greed on his part. Judas makes no statement of recognition and acceptance of who Christ really was, simply a declaration of His innocence, like Pilate would give, like Herod would have to give, like the Sanhedrin had to acknowledge.
The response of the chief priests and elders reveals something of their character: “But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to that yourself!’” (Matt. 27:4). They were basically saying that it was Judas’ problem, not theirs. And you know, there was an element of truth to that. Judas sinned; he had done the wrong thing; it was his problem; he had to work it out. Every single person is accountable to God for his or her own sin. That’s true of Judas, but do you know what the Sanhedrin misses here? That was also true for the Sanhedrin. They would not be accountable for Judas’ sin, but they would be accountable for their sin. Judas told them he had betrayed innocent blood, and in doing so he had sinned. How great is their sin in condemning an innocent one to death? So they failed to take into account their responsibility.
What was Judas to do? He needed to cast himself on the mercy of God and say, “God, I have wretchedly sinned. I am guilty before you and I cast myself on your mercy for forgiveness and cleansing. ” Could he be forgiven? I believe the blood of Christ can cleanse us from all sin, but he was not looking for that solution. He simply wanted to undo the impact of his sin. He was not looking for a Savior. Matthew 27:5 says, “And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.” He threw the money into the sanctuary so that he did not even have what he thought he would gain. Isn’t it amazing what sin does? It lures you on by what it has to offer, but before all is said and done, it takes it all back and destroys you in the process. Judas thought he had gotten 30 pieces of silver out of his relationship with Jesus. He threw away the 30 pieces of silver and he couldn’t live with himself.
What a picture of where sin brings you. It entices you along, offering you everything, and then it takes it all back and destroys you. You would think that we would get familiar with that pattern, that we would learn the lessons and decide that we would abhor and hate sin with every fiber of our beings. But we are so gullible. Next time sin comes along it entices us and we think we can get through it this time. This time will be a little different. But nobody ever gets through it. Nobody ever gets away with it and the end is always the same. The delight that it was going to give is always taken away. The enjoyment that seems so real is always snatched away. And all we’re left with is the ruin, the heartache, and the destruction that sin brings into a life.
Again I say there is hope even in that wretched situation. That is why Jesus Christ came. If He had not come to forgive sinners, cleanse sinners, make sinners whole, make them new in Christ, then we would have nothing to preach. Praise God for forgiveness; but we also ought to keep before us, consistently, the wretched pattern of sin, so that we are not constantly deceived by it.
Matthew says that Judas went out and hung himself. That helps us understand what happened to Judas. Judas did not go off and buy a piece of property with his 30 pieces of silver, invest it, and lead a quiet life in retirement. He hung himself. You just don’t sin and walk away from it. Sin ensnares you and continues to wrap you up and entangle you.
There is one other account of the death of Judas in the Bible and who do you think, by the grace of God, under the inspiration of the Spirit, that God would choose to write that account. You’re right, the apostle Peter, the one whose life presents such a great contrast; the one who had just denied the Lord three times and went out and wept bitterly. In Acts 1 we find this same Peter standing and giving a lecture on the fulfillment of the Scripture in the destruction of Judas. What a change! What was the difference? Peter cast himself without reservation on the mercy of God and trusted Jesus Christ as the only one who could cleanse him and make something of him.
Peter was addressing the disciples in Acts1:16, 17 about replacing Judas, “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” Note that Peter first said that the Scripture had to be fulfilled. We will also note what the Scripture is and that tells us why it had to be fulfilled. Peter indicated that the Holy Spirit told beforehand, foretold by the mouth of David, what was to happen. That is how we got our Bibles. The Holy Spirit used the mouth of human beings to speak forth the word of God and have it recorded for our benefit. What God said through David had to be fulfilled because it wasn’t the word of David, it was the word of God. God tells us that His word will not return void, but it will always prosper; it will always be effective.
God through David said about Judas that he became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. Peter had labored with Judas for three years and said, “he was counted among us.” Judas Iscariot had his portion in this ministry. The ministry that Christ had and gave to His disciples wasn’t divided into 11 parts; it was divided into 12 parts. It boggles my mind that when the disciples went out to proclaim that the Son of God was on earth as the Messiah, Judas went to proclaim that even though he didn’t believe it. I wonder, when the disciples went out and healed the sick, do you think Judas also healed the sick? He had a portion of that ministry, Peter said. Peter did not indicate that Judas had a lesser portion than any of the other disciples or that he was less effective.
Isn’t it amazing that he could be involved in that ministry and be an unbeliever? He was said to have a portion in that ministry, to be sharing in the ministry of the disciples and representing Jesus Christ, and yet he was not a believer. Don’t miss the message of Judas; it is the message of the danger for those who are constantly exposed to the truth of God and yet do not believe it. The message of Judas is not for those who never have time for the word of God or who never pay any attention to the word of God. It is for those who hear it again and again and again and again and neglect it and never believe it.
Peter continued in Acts 1:18, “Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.” Peter was a little more descriptive in telling about Judas’ death. You might think that he would be because you think of Peter as being a little bit brasher, a little bit more in the rough. When Peter described the way Judas went to his death he describes it the way Peter would: Judas fell over the edge; hit the ground, his belly burst open and all his guts spilled out on the ground. Doesn’t that sound like the way the rough fisherman, Peter, would describe it? Matthew just said, “he went and hung himself. ”
What about the conflict between Matthew saying he hung himself and Peter saying he fell down. There would be a variety of ways of explaining it, and I don’t know exactly how it gets explained. It may well be that Judas, having never hung himself before, was inept at it. When he tied the rope to the branch over the side of that cliff and jumped off, the rope didn’t hold and down he went. Or more probably, since these were feast days, he went out in that valley, perhaps the valley by Jerusalem, and hung himself on a branch over that ledge in that hot sun and his body putrefied, so that when the rope did break or the branch broke, that body in such a rotted condition just fell and burst all over the ground.
This is rather an ugly end, isn’t it? Judas had been called with the other disciples to be a part of this ministry, representing the Son of God on earth and announcing a coming kingdom. What a grand and glorious beginning! One of only 12, of all people on the face of the earth, selected to represent the Son of God. And this man comes to this end, lying in his own blood, a victim of his own suicide. He has gone out into eternity in hell, for the Scripture says he’s the son of perdition, the one destined to destruction.
If this does not make you fear sin, you are not listening. You may be in the position of Judas, not paying attention to what you hear. Sin takes us to destruction; that is the end of those who don’t heed the word of God and submit to the salvation that only God provides.
Acts 1:20 quotes the Scripture that was fulfilled from Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8, “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no one dwell in it’; and, ‘let another man take his office.’” There was no future for the man who betrayed the Son of God. And someone else will replace him.
In Matthew do the leaders in Israel reconsider their verdict in light of Judas’ statement of Jesus’ innocence? They could have backed up and said, “Wait a minute! We had a hard time finding any witnesses. We couldn’t even get two witnesses to agree on the guilt of this man. He did mighty miracles which no one can deny in Jerusalem. We have observed that. Lazarus who was raised from the dead lives here in the vicinity of this city. And the man who betrayed Jesus, who lived with Him, but betrayed Him, declared that He was innocent. Maybe we ought to reconsider. ” But that doesn’t even pass through their mind. They were trying to decide what to do with the 30 pieces of silver that Judas has returned. Judas threw the 30 pieces back in the temple, but it was blood money. Judas told them he had betrayed innocent blood. It was money given, in effect, to buy a man for execution. They couldn’t use that money in the temple. It would defile the temple treasury. Can you believe this? The religious leaders just agreed to execute, by crucifixion, one that everybody acknowledged was innocent, the Son of God, but they were concerned lest they use blood money in their treasury and defile the treasury.
But that is the pattern seen over and over and over in these religious leaders. There was no true relationship with God in these individuals so the externals were what mattered. How many churches have split over whether they are going to install blue carpet or green carpet? What difference does it make? But if your religion exists in the externals, then that building is all- important. If there’s no personal relationship with God, if there is no true meaning in a person’s walk with God, then externals are important.
Matthew 27:6-8 says, “The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.’ And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.” This is another example of the sovereign God controlling the sinful thoughts and plans and decisions of fallen humanity. They counseled together among themselves and decided to do something philanthropic. They took the 30 pieces of silver that they could have kept for themselves and they bought a potter’s field for a common burial ground, so that anyone who was not allowed to be buried in the official cemetery would still have a place. They did a good deed, but it had nothing to do with a right relationship with God.
It was amazing that the field was called the Field of Blood even when Matthew was writing 30 years after the event. It was called the Field of Blood because it was bought with blood money.
In Acts l you might get the idea that Peter was saying it’s the Field of Blood because Judas died there and his blood spilled all over. Most commentators identify this potter’s field as a field where potters had mined clay. A potter may have owned it as well. That would be in the Valley of Hinnom, outside of Jerusalem, and it would be in close proximity for Judas to go hang himself. That would fit the irony of Scripture, that Judas would go out and hang himself and fall then to such a gory end in the very field they would purchase with his money, the Field of Blood.
They counseled together and came up with that plan, right there on the spot. God had prophesied centuries before that that was exactly what they would do with that exact amount of money in that exact way in Zechariah 11:12, 13. Isn’t it amazing that they counseled together, sinful men putting their sinful heads together, coming up with a sinful plan of what to do with sinful money, and centuries before God had said exactly what they would do?
Matthew 27:9, 10 says, “Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; and they gave them for the Potter’s Field as the Lord directed me.’” Thirty pieces of silver was the princely sum at which they valued the Son of God and they went and bought a potter’s field. It’s amazing how God fulfills Scripture. God’s plan was carried out and fulfilled to the minutest detail. Was Jesus the Son of God? Was He the Messiah of Israel? Obviously, even in the events of His betrayal and death, the little details were being fulfilled. How much was paid? What was done with what was paid? What did they do with that money? What happened to the one who betrayed Him? Even all of those pieces come together to accomplish God’s plan.
Some have a problem because it refers to Jeremiah as the one who spoke, although the quote is basically from Zechariah. Two possibilities: first, even though the basic quote is from Zechariah, Jeremiah 18 and 19 may have been in the back of Matthew’s mind because in Jeremiah 18 and 19 it talks about the Potter’s Field and Jeremiah going to the Potter’s Field and the subsequent destruction that would take place in judgment for rejection of him. Second, more simply and more probably, the prophetic section of the Old Testament began with the book of Jeremiah in Jesus’ day and it was common practice to refer to an entire section by the first book of that section. That section begins with Isaiah in our Bibles as we have them, but it began with Jeremiah as the Jews had it arranged in Jesus’ day. And anytime you were going to quote from the prophets you would just say, “Jeremiah said, ” and that would indicate that the quote came from the prophets. They did the same thing with the group of books that they classified as The Writings, which began with the Psalms. They would say, “It’s written in the Psalms”, and that might come from anywhere in that group of books that begins with the Psalms. That pattern would be normal, so this is not a problem.
The life of Judas remains a strong warning for us today, and it is good for us to be reminded of Judas again and again. Scripture gives much space to Judas, more than most of the other disciples. We should learn from him, learn what we do not want to be. He was one of the insiders, one of the intimate circle. You could not have been any more involved in the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth than Judas was in those days. And yet, through it all, he did not have a personal relationship with the Son of God.
This causes me to stop and examine myself. The Bible says to examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. Judas was not a believer and no one else knew it except the Son of God Himself. Jesus said, “I have chosen the twelve of you and one of you is a devil.” But Peter didn’t recognize him. Matthew didn’t recognize him. John didn’t recognize him. None of the other disciples recognized him until after it was over. This is a reminder that you really do not know me or my heart. You can see evidences of whether my faith is real, but I need to examine my heart and say, “God, have I really come to understand and believe that I am a sinner and that Christ died for me?”
It is also a concern that although we are exposed to the word of God regularly, it does not mean we are all believers. The softest days would be the opening days because every time you are exposed to the word of God and do nothing, the result is your heart is hardened and callused a little bit. I do not believe that Judas had to come to a decision that he was never going to trust this man. Judas was exposed regularly and over time his heart hardened. It’s like building up a callus on your hands. You do the same thing over a period of time and pretty soon there’s no sensitivity at that spot, and you recognize that after it’s hard.
The writer to the Hebrews had this basic concern for those to whom he was writing, that they may be hearing the message again and again and doing nothing with it. It’s the danger of neglect and Hebrews 2:1 has this warning, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” In Biblical times they would have been familiar with the picture of a safe harbor and a boat drifting past it. If the people on the boat aren’t paying any attention and the boat drifts past the harbor, then it will be out in open waters again, susceptible to destruction in the storm. It wasn’t that they were making a decision not to go in to the harbor but they just drifted by it by their inattention. Hebrews 2:2, 3 says, “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” The danger is neglect, not outright rejection, just drifting past Him.
In Hebrews 3:12, another warning is given, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” The danger is my heart. You don’t know my heart. If I come and go through the motions, conforming externally to what is expected of a believer, maybe even actively involved, carrying on a major part of the ministry, but you don’t see my heart. Others don’t see my heart. The only one who sees my heart is me and God. Each one of us has to look out for ourselves in this area, to examine our hearts to determine whether we have come to recognize our individual sinfulness and trust Jesus Christ. It is not enough to have been exposed to this ever since you were young. Judas had been exposed to the Son of God, Himself, day in and day out, for three years. Exposure has nothing to do with heaven and hell. You must believe the message you’re exposed to; you must trust the Savior yourself if you are going to have His salvation.
Hebrews 4:1, 2 says, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” Just because you have had the word of God preached to you does not make it profitable for you. What makes it profitable is your response to it. Judas had the word of God preached to Him by the Son of God. It was not profitable to him because it was not united by faith in Judas. Have you believed the message? Don’t neglect to believe in the Savior that you are being exposed to, that you are reading about, that you can tell others about.
Note also the warning in Hebrews 3:15, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Again in Hebrews 4:7, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Judas didn’t pay any attention. He heard the voice of the Lord, but he hardened his heart. In 2 Corinthians 6:2, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation.’” “Now,” and the emphasis in that verse is on the “now.” The exhortation is to believe now, today, when you hear.
In the opening days of his involvement with the ministry of Christ and being exposed to the word of God, Judas would never have thought that he would end up in a pile of his own blood and insides on the ground, a victim of his own self-destruction. But that’s where sin leads. That’s where the neglect of Jesus Christ leads. Does that mean you will go out and hang yourself or destroy yourself if you don’t believe Jesus Christ? No, but you will suffer the same ultimate end that Judas did if you do not believe in Jesus Christ. He’s the son of perdition. He’s the one destined for destruction and that’s what awaits every single man, woman and child who does not believe in Jesus Christ. Destruction.
What a tragedy that one would be exposed to Jesus Christ through His Word again and again and again and again and neglect it. Don’t just drift on by the safety of salvation in Jesus Christ. If you think that you have heard the message many times, remember that is the danger. You need to stop and ask yourself if there has ever been a time when you have recognized that the message is meant for you personally. You as an individual must see yourself as a sinner for whom Christ died and you personally have to decide that you are placing your faith in the Son of God as your Savior. You have no other hope then Him and Him alone.