Jesus Loves Traitors - Part A

Two men walked with Jesus Christ. One saw death, the other saw life. And Jesus even spoke of this reality, did he not?

He said, people are going to come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast demons out in your name and do wonderful works in your name? And I will say to them, depart from me. I never knew you. You, workers of iniquity. Experiencing betrayal is painful, and it always leaves an emotional scar. But you can heal from it and move forward into the future God has for you. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip dives into two monumental betrayals in Scripture to help you see what it takes to experience God's healing. But first, we want to share about where you can hear even more uplifting teachings from Skip. Watch Connect with Skip Heitzig on the Hillsong channel on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. Mountain, or catch it on TBN on Sundays at 5.30 a.m. Eastern. Tune in to hear more solid Bible teaching from Skip.

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800-922-1888. Thank you. Now, we're in Matthew chapter 26 as we dive into the teaching with Skip Heitzig. Years ago, a speaker and author by the name of Dale Carnegie, who has written and said many great things, said this. Two men looked out of prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw stars. It's a great little saying because, think about it, you've got two men in exactly the same place sharing exactly the same experience at the same time, but two of them have a different outcome because they have a different outlook. One is looking down at the mud, one is looking up at the stars. Two men looked out of prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw stars.

It gives you the two other men. Both of them are well-known. Both of them were followers of Jesus Christ. Both of these men were apostles of our Lord.

Both of them were hand-picked by Jesus to be on his team. And both of these men shared a close proximity with Jesus for between three to three and a half years. Which means both of them saw with their own eyes all the stuff Jesus did in great power. They saw the power Jesus had over disease, the power he had over demons, the power he had over death, the power he had over nature. They both saw that. Furthermore, both of these men heard some of the most profound truth ever spoken.

The chairman on the mount. Both of them heard Jesus' Olivet discourse and the upper room discourse. Both of them heard the answers Jesus gave to difficult questions that people posed to him. And beyond that, both of these men experienced what it was like to have power themselves.

Jesus gave to them power to cast out demons and to heal diseases. Both of these men became preachers. Both of them went out after Jesus sent them out to proclaim that Christ was the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of God. And both of these men were traitors. Both of them betrayed Jesus Christ openly, strongly. And when they betrayed Jesus, they both knew that what they were doing was wrong. They both had strong, remorseful, emotional feelings. In fact, one was so remorseful that he took his own life. The other was so remorseful that he repented of his sins. In fact, that both of these men were traitors.

Both of them, for a time, were in league with Satan against the cause of Christ. In spite of that fact, one of these men's names is still so noble and so honorable that some of you are named after him. Or some of you have named your son after him.

For the last 2,000 years. Not that his name is anything special. Peter just means a rock, a stone. It's like rocky. No great spiritual meaning there.

I'm going to call him Rocky. But the other traitor, his name is so dishonorable that you have never met a man named Judas. I've never dedicated a baby named Judas. You've never met a dog named Judas. Even though his name is a spiritual name, Judas means praise. It's an honorable name. But it was given to a very dishonorable man. Furthermore, these two apostles, in every single list in the New Testament where the apostles are named, Peter is always named first, Judas is always named last. One of these traitors, every true believer will meet one day in heaven. The other traitor, every unbeliever will meet in hell.

So allow me to revise what Dale Carnegie said. He said, two men looked out of prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw stars.

I'll revise it to this. Two men walked with Jesus Christ. One saw death, the other saw death.

The other saw life. And Jesus even spoke of this reality, did he not? He said, people are going to come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast demons out in your name and do wonderful works in your name? And I will say to them, depart from me.

I never knew you. You workers of iniquity. The question is why. What makes the difference between the traitor Judas and the traitor Peter? What was the big difference between them? And furthermore, what did Jesus do with these guys? How did he handle them? So we want to look at these two in Matthew chapter 26. First of all, we'll begin with Judas, the traitor who didn't live up to his name. Let's begin with me in verse six. When Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, the leper, a woman came to him having an alabaster flask of very costly, fragrant oil. And she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when his disciples saw it, they were indignant saying, why this waste?

He trolled for much and given to the poor. But when Jesus was aware of it, he said to them, why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for me. For you have the poor with you always, but me, you do not have always.

For in pouring this fragrant oil on my body, she did it for my burial. And complained. John's gospel tells us who started it. John tells us it was Judas among the disciples who said, why this waste? It was Judas.

And then John actually adds a comment. He said it wasn't because Judas cared for the poor, because he was a thief, John said. And he was the treasure.

He kept the money box and he used to take out what was in it. That's why. But listen to his words. Why this waste? It sounds so noble, doesn't it? It sounds so spiritual. You know, I'm just trying to save you guys' money around here.

I don't like what you're spending it on. That's Judas. Francis Bacon said, a bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint. Sort of like Jesse James. You know him because he was a notorious murderer and a thief. But did you know that Jesse James loved church? He loved going to church. His own words, he said he loved church. One day he robbed a bank and killed a man. The next day he was baptized in the Kearney County Baptist Church. And Jesse James joined the choir.

I don't know if he was any good. But he was in the choir. And he used to say, you know, I love Sundays. But I can't always make it to church. Of course, he was robbing banks.

You know, you got to do what you got to do. Pure hypocrisy. Same with Judas. And his hypocrisy was made worse by his treachery. If you go down a few verses to verse 14, it says then, one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver.

So from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. Did you know that 30 pieces of silver, according to Exodus 21, is the price of a slave? Price of a slave who has been gored by an ox. 30 pieces of silver. What was Jesus' worth to Judas? A slave's wage.

That's very insightful to me. Shows me that Judas really wasn't wanting to serve Jesus. He was wanting Jesus to serve him. To fulfill his needs, his wants, his expectations.

The price of a slave. Now, some people have conjectured that Judas was really trying to force Jesus into acting. That's why he betrayed him.

The theory goes like this. Judas expected Jesus to be the political messiah to overturn the Roman government. And so he got Jesus arrested so Jesus would have to act.

I don't quite buy that theory. What I tend to see the reason he betrayed Jesus is because Judas hated this. The cross.

He despised the cross. And that night after he complained about the woman wasting God's money, once Jesus said she did it for my burial, he had been predicting his death all along. Jesus announced that.

It's like, ah, it is true then. All that he has been saying all along, he isn't going to overturn Rome. He isn't going to set up his kingdom immediately.

He's going to die. And he went out and he betrayed Jesus. Judas despised the cross. Now let's go down to the Passover meal, the last supper. Beginning in verse 19. Look at the proximity of Judas to Jesus. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, he sat down with the 12 and as they were eating, he said, this just sort of comes out from nowhere out of the blue in the middle of the supper. Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. I don't know what the meal was like up till that point.

But Passover meal was generally a very fond, familial, endearing, relaxing, wonderful, intense kind of a meal. All of that ended now. Jesus announced one of you is going to betray me. This sends shockwaves through all of the disciples.

They become very introspective. It says they were exceedingly sorrowful and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? He answered and said, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The son of man indeed goes 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 would have not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? And he said to him, you said it. You know, if I were to stand up here and make an announcement that one of you will betray Jesus, I think I could make that announcement. I think I'd be safe with a crowd this size making a prediction that that will happen. I've lived long enough to watch people who say they follow Christ. For me to say, one of you before you die, you're going to turn away from Jesus.

I think I'd be safe to say that and probably you go, I can see that. But in that room with these 12 men, these handpicked disciple apostles of Jesus, they were all shocked, which goes to show you no one in that group suspected Judas. Is it I? Is it I? Is it I? Finally Judas said, it is I.

You said it. Now at this point, Judas gets up and leaves the room and goes out to do the deed to betray Jesus. Question, where in that meal at that table was Judas sitting?

Well, we don't exactly know, but I'm going to make a suggestion to you. I know that we love Leonardo da Vinci's picture of the Last Supper. And he's been a wonderful inventor and artist, but he has done us a great disservice by that picture because now in your mind, you all picture that's how the Last Supper was, that they were actually sitting in chairs and they were all on one side of the table facing the camera or the painter.

Right? Like a pose. But that's not how meals were conducted 2,000 years ago. They didn't sit in chairs like you are sitting in chairs now. They were on the ground. They were reclining. And the table was a low table, a U shaped table known as a triclinium. And at that table, people would lean on their left elbow and have their right arm free.

There'd be a pillow under their elbow. So they were all leaning, reclining. We know where John the apostle was. He was right next to Jesus. In fact, he was at Jesus' right side because it says in John that John was leaning on Jesus' breast, on his bosom. Which means he was leaning left and Jesus was to his left.

John was to Jesus' right to get that head toward the chest of Jesus. Question is where was Judas? And in John chapter 13, Jesus says, the one that I give the bread once I have dipped it is the one who will betray me. And it says he dipped it and he gave it to Judas. Judas had to be close enough in this huge U shaped triclinium. And I suggest it was right to Jesus' left side. He dipped it, couldn't give it to John, gave it to Judas. Judas would have taken it and passed it to the rest.

Now here's what's interesting about that. The right hand and the left hand at a meal like that were only given by the invitation of the host. Which meant that before the meal, Jesus probably walked up to John. He said, John, I want you sitting right here. And he walked up to Judas and he said, Judas, friend, I want you seated right next to me on my left. Knowing that he was being betrayed by this man.

It's as if he takes this traitor and reaches out to him one final time in love. Sit here, place of honor among this table. I don't know if I'd have done that. I know Donald Trump wouldn't have done that. Donald Trump would have said, Judas Iscariot, you're fired. Jesus said, Judas Iscariot, sit here.

Sit here. So that was the traitor who didn't live up to his name. Now go down with me to verse 30 and let's look at the traitor whose name is still loved and that is Peter.

Peter was a pretty confident fellow. We see in verse 30, when they sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives and Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said to him, even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.

Now we know Peter's pretty confident, right? We remember the night or the day when they were far up north and Jesus asked the question, who do men say that I am? Followed up by the question, who do you say that I am?

Peter was the only one of the 12 that got the answer right. He said, you are the Christ. You are the son of the living God. And we remember what Jesus said back to Peter. He didn't say, yeah, that's right. He said, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you.

My father in heaven revealed this to you. How would that make you feel? If I were Peter, I would have gone, yeah. Do you hear that, other 11 disciples? He didn't say you were blessed. He said, I am blessed.

He took a confident man and made him more confident. A little too confident because as the conversation goes on, our Lord tells his disciples, I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm going to be arrested.

They're going to kill me. And Peter says, far be it from you, Lord, this will never happen to you. Remember that? I'm sure Peter expected Jesus to say a second time, ah, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, you did it again. But he didn't say that, did he? He said, get behind me, Satan. Now here is Peter saying, if everybody stumbles or is made to stumble or offend, I will never be made to stumble.

In the Greek, it's more emphatic than it reads in the English. It's I myself will not, not now, not ever betray you. Jesus said to him, assuredly I say to you, this night, this night before the rooster crows, that is before morning, you're going to deny me three times. Peter said to him, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And so said all of the disciples.

Well, let's keep reading. Let's go down to verse 69. Let's see the great catastrophe for Peter that night. By this time, Jesus has been arrested. He's at trial.

He goes through six trials in 24 hours. Verse 69, now Peter sat outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came to him saying, you also were with Jesus of Galilee. There's a fire outside. There's enough light cast by the illumination of the fire to see the features of Peter's face and she recognizes him. But he denied it before them saying, I do not know what you are saying.

That's strike one. When he had gone out to the gateway, so Peter gets up at this point, gets away from the light, but somebody recognizes him still by the gateway. Another girl saw him and said to those who were there, this fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But again, he denied with an oath. It's a solemn oath. He's bringing God into it. It's like saying, I swear to God with an oath. I do not know this man.

That's strike two. And a little later, those who stood by came up to him and said, surely you are one of them for your speech betrays you. That's a nicer way of saying we can tell by your unsophisticated provincial hick accent that you are Galilee and you are not from Jerusalem.

I can tell by how you're talking that you're Galilean. And then he began to curse and swear. This is Peter. This is Saint Peter. Began to curse and swear saying, I do not know the man. Immediately a rooster crowed and Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

So he went out and he wept bitterly. That's Skip Heitzig with a message from the series Jesus Loves People. Now we want to share about a special resource that helps you better understand the unconditional nature of God's love. People everywhere have a deep God given need to be loved. But sadly, sometimes the people who need love the most are the most rejected.

Here's Skip Heitzig. We all crave love. We will do sometimes almost anything to get it to know that we are loved by somebody else unconditionally. No one did that better than Jesus. He loved the worst of sinners. He loved the best of saints.

Jesus showed the love of God in human flesh. We want to give you a glimpse of God's relentless love for all people, including you, by sending you the Jesus Loves People four booklet collection by Skip Heitzig. All four Jesus Loves People titles, including Jesus Loves the Broken, are our thanks for your gift of twenty five dollars or more today to help connect more people to God's love through his word.

Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. Now, real quick, we want to invite you to follow Skip on social media to get important updates and biblical encouragement. Just follow Skip on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest from Skip and from this ministry. That's at Skip Heitzig at Skip H E I T Z I G. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heitzig examines what made two famous traitors different from each other and the hope you can find from the one who turned back to Jesus. One despise it. One received it. One's remorse led him to take his life. The other's remorse led him to receive life from the life giving savior. Jesus reached out to Judas by saying, sit here next to me. He reached out to Peter with that look of love that brought a conversion to his heart. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, a connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.