Judas: Close Enough for Discomfort
SUMMARY
In this opening sermon of the "Behind the Ministry" series, Karl Ihfe examines the life of Judas Iscariot as a sobering warning that it's possible to be physically close to Jesus — attending church, knowing Scripture, even serving in ministry — while remaining spiritually unchanged. Judas walked with Jesus for three years, yet never truly surrendered his heart, ultimately letting greed and disillusionment lead him to betrayal and tragedy. Karl challenges every believer to move beyond mere proximity to Jesus and ask the harder question: not just "do I believe?" but "have I truly surrendered?"
TRANSCRIPTION:
Well, if you have your Bible with you, I invite you to turn over to John, chapter six, the passage Kim read for us just a moment ago. We're launching a new series this summer called behind the Ministry. Now, some of you older folks like my age, 51 or better, will recognize this. A logo from an old VH1 show called behind the Music, where they would dive into a band and kind of learn this background story of what was going on in the life of the band when they became famous. Well, we wanted to spend some time going behind the ministry and look specifically at the twelve apostles to go past the stories and past the miracles and past all the headlines that we get in Scripture and look into the lives of each of these men and just ask ourselves, God, what might you want to teach us about them?
As we think together, we recognize that every life has a story, and every story has a moment. A moment when Jesus walks by, an opportunity to engage the living Christ. And how are we going to respond? What will we do? Will we choose to trust him or not?
You know, the amazing thing about the 12 men that Jesus called to be his first disciples, those 12 apostles, is he called some everyday, average, ordinary men, right? He called some fishermen, and he called a tax collector. He even called a zealot. And these men were men who struggled with their temper, and they had doubts and fears and. And often argued.
They had pride. Who was the greatest? They would argue. We see. They were just strange, kind of everyday, ordinary guys.
And yet Jesus somehow worked through them to change the world. Well, almost all of them. There was actually one. One that struggled to stay in the story. And that's who I want us to look at today.
You know, if I asked you, which apostle would you most like to be compared to? Which one would you choose? I've never met anybody who said, definitely Judas. Definitely. Right?
He and I. Right, right on. Right on the same page. I've never met a child named Judas. Hey, come meet my son.
Judas, right? It carries with it this power and this name. I was listening to a book online, and they mentioned the character in the story who was the Judas of the group, Right? That name kind of carries with it this weight, this association with betrayal, even though in Jesus Day, that was actually a name of great honor. We discover, we learn in scripture, that one of Jesus own brothers was named Judas, right?
It was not that way. So what happened? How did this name become synonymous with betrayal? You see, the tragedy of Judas life is not that he betrayed Jesus, because again, if we're reading through Scripture, all 12 betrayed Jesus. Jesus.
They all did, right? The tragedy is this, that he was as close to Jesus as any human being could possibly be. And yet he remained unchanged for three years. He followed Jesus. He ate with Jesus.
He slept under the stars with Jesus. He heard every sermon. He saw every miracle. He was sent out to preach. He was given authority to heal.
And his heart never truly belonged to Christ. You see, church Judas is a warning to every generation that you can be around Jesus and never surrender to him.
You can know the language, you can have the lingo down, you can carry your Bible with you, and you can attend church every Sunday, and you can sing all the songs and know all the verses and still have parts of your heart that are untouched by Jesus. You see, Judas was close to Jesus, but he remained unchanged. You know, John tells us something pretty remarkable about him in the passage that Kim read for us just a moment ago. Right on the heels of a really challenging teaching, a really difficult sermon that Jesus had just preached, his disciples, many of them, start walking away, we're told. From this time on, many of the disciples turned back and they no longer followed Jesus.
You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the 12. And Peter gives this great answer, right, Lord, to who would we go? Where else would we go, Lord? You're the only one that has the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.
Then Jesus replied, have I not chosen you, the 12, yet one of you is a devil?
John immediately tells us he was speaking about Judas. Now think about that for a minute. The other disciples didn't know it. John gives us a little peek behind the scenes here. Nobody suspected him.
Not Peter, not James and John, the sons of thunder. Not Andrew. Nobody saw. In fact, they believed so much in Judas, they made him the treasurer. Think about, in your own world, in your own life, who do you have to choose?
Who would you choose to take care of your financial situation? Is it somebody that you don't know about? They're a little sus. No, it's somebody you trust right deeply to say, here, take care of the money. We trust you.
Go and do it. He looked like a disciple. He acted like a disciple. He talked like a disciple. He traveled like a disciple, he preached like a disciple.
But he never surrendered his heart. That's what you could call a superficial disciple, right? Outward proximity matched up with inward resistance at this warning that you can be physically close to Jesus and yet remain spiritually distant. Now I will say this sermon, preparing this Sermon this week was a sobering reality for me because maybe there's nobody this applies to more than me. So if your toes are getting stepped on, just let me know.
Mine are bruised and be. You think a toenail ripped off is bad, Glenn, Right? The Lord's been a sledgehammer on my feet this week. You see, the challenge for us is you can be successful totally unchanged. Now, just think about this for a moment.
You can be religious and be unchanged. You can serve and be unchanged. You see, Judas never allowed Jesus beneath the surface of his life. Now, to be sure, as we'll discover over the next many weeks together, that he was not alone in this. Other disciples had flaws, right?
Peter denied Jesus. James and John called down fire from heaven on a group of people who would not show hospitality to them. Jesus, you want me just to burn them up? You want to just kill them all? James and John, two of the disciples, every one of them, everyone, Judas and all the others deserted him in the moment that mattered the most, in the time that was most important.
They all left him. But eventually they all surrendered to Jesus. Judas never did. Which illustrates the second reality that we learn from him, that an unchanged heart, it eventually reveals itself, doesn't it? You know, John chapter 12, he gives us one of the few windows into Judas as a person that we get from Scripture.
It's six days before the Passover, and Jesus has traveled to Bethany to the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. And they're hosting a dinner party. And in his honor. And at one point, we're told in the. As the festivities begin, John says, then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair.
And the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume. One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It's worth a year's worth. Wages, right?
This extravagant gesture that Mary performs. A year's wages, right? The room is just filled with the scent and the fragrance of this act. And Judas asked the questions. And he says the quiet part out loud, right?
Others were probably thinking the same thing. Why was this done? This. What a waste, this money. It's a year's wages.
Think about what you could buy yourself with a year of your wages. And it was spilt in just a moment. Why wasn't this money given to the poor? Right? That sounds spiritual.
It sounds compassionate. Oh, Judas. See, that's why you're in charge of the money, bro. Cause you have such a heart for other people, right? Love that, dude.
But everything that glitters isn't always gold, is it? John gives us this footnote in verse 6. He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Now, to be fair, when Matthew tells the story, he doesn't single out Judas, right?
He shines the light on all of them. He says, when the disciples saw Mary's act, they were indignant, right? They were all upset about this. So this wasn't just a Judas problem. However, John says he stole money, that he was the guy who would help himself.
And he saw a potential payday go up in fragrance and perfume. You see, Mary sees Jesus and she pours it all out. She takes the most expensive, precious gift she has, and she just literally lavishes all over Jesus. Judas sees Jesus and he calculates profit.
They've seen Lazarus raised from the dead. In fact, if you just hold your finger there in chapter 12 and bunce back one chapter, Lazarus is raised from the dead. And Judas was there. He saw it. What an amazing thing.
It's this living testimony, right, of Jesus sermon in Luke chapter six, when he says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. You see, Worship reveals what's in our heart. Mary loved Jesus. Judas loved what Jesus could do for Judas. New Testament scholar D.A.
carson argues that greed alone may not fully explain Judas, but greed clearly exposed a heart that hadn't been given over to him. He suggests, well, maybe Judas had just become disillusioned with the ministry of Jesus, with who he was becoming. His refusal to be this political messiah who would take on and challenge the Roman Empire.
I think that's that. One of the saddest details of Judas life is he wanted Jesus on his terms. Now, again, let that sink for a moment. Judas wanted Jesus on his terms. He wanted a messiah who would overthrow Rome.
He wanted a messiah who would fulfill his ambitions. He wanted a messiah who would fit his expectations and make Israel great again, right? Jesus kept talking about service and sacrifice and ultimately death. And that didn't measure up to the expectations that Judas had for him.
You see, Judas had to face the question that one day every disciple has to face, you and I included, and that's will we take Jesus as he is, or will we only follow if he meets our expectations? Now, I know we don't talk about that out loud, right? We May not even admit it or say it to another person, but certainly deep down inside, we all face this question. Will we accept Jesus on his own terms for who he is, or will it be up to my agenda? I mean, what kind of disciple are we becoming?
You see, the last reality of Judas life that we'll consider this morning is this sin always takes you further than you intended and planned to go. For Judas, it took him into a back room, into a secret meeting, and into betraying the most precious relationship that he could ever have. In fact, in Matthew's gospel, it didn't take him long to get there. Matthew's telling of Mary's story, spilling the nard, happens in chapter 26, first part of chapter 26 by 16 verses in one of the 12 called Judas went to the chief priest and he asked, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you? And so they counted out 30 pieces of silver.
And from then on, Judas watched for an opportunity to hand them over for 30 pieces of silver. It was about the price of a servant that day. A pocket full of change.
What's a life worth in our day? How much?
See, and then comes one of the darkest scenes in all of scripture. Right in the garden in Gethsemane. Jesus has gone to pray. And he's brought three of his disciples especially close to him. And stay here and watch and wait while I go and pray.
And what do they do? They stand on the sidelines. Go, Jesus pray? No, they sleep. They go to sleep.
And Jesus pouring his heart out to the Father until he finally sees Judas, the arresting people coming.
And with a sign of affection, right, A sign of friendship, a kiss. Judas betrays Jesus. And Matthew tells us Jesus replied, do what you came for, friend.
Friend.
Even then, even the moment of his betrayal, Jesus offers grace. I wonder if there was this moment in Judas where as he locks eyes with Jesus and Jesus says, do what you've come, friend, that he just maybe for a second.
You see, Judas could have turned around. He could have made a change. But sin had hardened his heart and it took him further than he could ever have imagined he would go church. Sin always promises more than it can deliver. Greed always promises satisfaction.
And it never comes because there's always somebody with more Lust always promises fulfillment, but it doesn't happen. There's just more bitterness. Promises justice, but it never comes, not fully. There's always more pride. It promises freedom, but it never comes.
You see, sin always leaves us emptier than where we started. You see, Judas thought money might Satisfy him, his disappointment and his disillusionment for who Jesus was turning out to be. Thought, well, maybe at least I could get a little bit of money if I. I can at least profit on this one time before he's gone. Maybe that will help things a little bit. Maybe that might set me up for the future.
Maybe betrayal, maybe that'll help solve my problems. It'll get me going in the right direction, only it wrecks everything. Judas thought money would satisfy, but it just hollowed him out. He thought betrayal might solve his problems, but it ended up destroying him. And sadly, Judas wouldn't recover from the moment.
We're told not long after, in chapter 27, when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and he returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and to the elders. I've sinned, he said, for I betrayed innocent blood.
We hear the coldness and the calculated response of the religious leaders who say, what's that to us? That's your responsibility. That sounds like a you problem, Judas. Take a hike. So Judas threw the money into the temple and he left.
And he went away and he hanged himself.
How do you wind up here? How do you wind up here? Feeling remorse and guilt, but not understanding the grace. See, Jesus, Judas believed his sin was greater than God's mercy. Even though he'd spent three years being close to Jesus, his heart wasn't changed.
He never brought his sin into the presence of Jesus. You see, the tragedy for Judas was not that he betrayed. It's that he was so close. But he didn't discover God's mercy. He wouldn't surrender his heart.
Otherwise he would have encountered this incredible truth that Jesus showed time and time again all throughout his ministry. There's no sin greater than the mercy of God. There's no sin, there's no failure, there's no betrayal, no. No addiction, no shame, no past that's greater than God's mercy. That message was ringing out of Jesus message.
So much so that the religious leaders of his day kept pushing back and pushing against him, going, that's not true. That's not true. There's a line and they crossed it. And they can't come in. And Jesus says, no, no, no, they're with me.
They're with me.
See, the only unforgivable place that we can find ourselves with God is when we refuse to come to Christ. And so in this series, as we dive into the stories of the 12, I wanted to begin here before we get to Peter and James. And John and all the others to remind us of this truth. That you can be around Jesus and never surrender to him and church. I don't want that for us.
See, Judas followed Jesus, but he never surrendered to him. He walked with Jesus, but he never trusted him. He served with Jesus and he never yielded his heart to him. And so the question today is not, do I believe in Jesus? Judas believed in Jesus.
James own brother would one day write to the church and say, you believe in Jesus. That's great. So do the demons. There's nothing unique about believing in Jesus. The real question is, has he transformed my heart?
Have I surrendered to him? Have I given him everything, including that secret ambition or that bitterness or that anger or that greed or that unforgiveness or that control?
Whereas the last couple of weeks we've been meditating on that pride. Have I settled for being close to Jesus but not allowing Jesus to be in me? Control.
Will we remain superficial disciples or will we finally surrender our hearts? That's the question we're going to be chasing together and behind the ministry. I hope you'll make plans to join us. We'll learn. We'll learn all kinds of things.
I hope and I pray. Because the difference between Judas and the other disciples was not Judas was a failure. No, now the difference between Judas and the other disciples is surrender. And maybe that's the difference for us.
Because you see, Church, every life has a story. And every story has a moment. A moment when we get to decide, will we not just believe in Jesus, but will we follow him?
God, that's the question we're gonna chase together this summer. And we're trusting, we're believing, we're hoping that God, you will show up in a big way. That you will remind us in stories just like Judas that there's no sin or shame or betrayal or place we could find ourselves. That's out of your reach. Because your grace is greater, your mercy is greater, your forgiveness greater.
Oh, God, would you help us to encounter that in a deep way this summer? Would you help us not to settle for just being close to Jesus, Just showing up in his house every seven days of singing the songs and knowing the right answers? God, that you would not, would not let us settle. Instead, God, would you help us surrender? Surrender our hearts, our lives to you?
That relationship that has just got us on edge? God, would you help us to surrender it to you? That work, that project, whatever it may be? God, would you help us to surrender that diagnosis or health situation that we find ourselves staring down God, would you help us to surrender, Lord, whatever it may be, we want to be disciples that are fully devoted to you. Not just in word, but in deed.
Yeah. We want to follow you, Jesus, in the good and the bad. And may we see this summer as this disciples, this group that you first called. They were a mess. Oh, Lord, they were a mess.
And yet you change the world through them. Yeah. That could be our same prayer today. God, we're a mess. We are a mess.
And yet. And yet, for 136 years, you've been faithfully loving us and leading us and challenging us and pushing us into deeper water, calling you out, calling us out. Rather than. We want to be people who respond with the courage of our forefathers and foremothers and be people who just love our community so well, who share Jesus with each and every one. Sometimes in our words and sometimes in our actions, God, we want to be transformed from the inside out.
So, God, would you do that amazing work in us again today? Help us take our next step, we pray. Change us from the inside out. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.