Jesus Loves Traitors - Part B

Judas despised the cross. He wasn't expecting the cross. He hated the cross.

He despised that. And when he knew that Jesus was really going to die, when it dawned on him, it says Satan entered him. The Bible says that. And he betrayed Jesus.

Peter didn't expect the cross either. But Peter came to realize that the best thing for him is to let the cross stand between his sin and his Savior. Billy Graham once said, God proved his love on the cross.

When Christ hung and bled and died, it was God saying to the world, I love you. Connect with Skip Heitzig today as he examines what made two famous traitors different from each other and the hope you can find from the one who turned back to Jesus. Then stay tuned after the message as Skip and his wife, Lenya, share how you can find hope and freedom in Jesus when you experience betrayal. When it comes to betrayal and people who do you in or say bad things about you, don't let them live rent free in your head. Don't give them that space. Forgive them, pray for them, and then move on. And every time you think of them, you go, man, they keep coming to my mind. Then pray for them every time they come to your mind.

Thanks, Skip. Be sure to stay with us after today's message to hear the full discussion. Right now, we want to tell you about a resource that will help you reach others with the deep love of Jesus. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus loves the devout and the doubters, priests and prostitutes, the diseased and the depressed. Jesus just loves people, all people, no matter what's their past or their present. Sadly, sometimes it's the people who need love the most, who feel the most rejected, even by the church.

But if Jesus loves all people, shouldn't we? We want to help you grasp God's relentless love for people by sending you the complete four-booklet Jesus Loves People collection by Skip Heitzig. These booklets look to scripture to demonstrate Jesus's love for people from every walk of life. Get all four Jesus Loves People titles, including Jesus Loves the Broken and Jesus Loves Addicts, when you give a gift of $25 or more today to help expand this Bible teaching outreach.

To give, call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskipp.com slash offer. Now, as we join Skip Heitzig for today's teaching, we're in Matthew chapter 26. Okay, so Matthew tells us that the disciples piped up 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? 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 twelve, 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 thirty pieces of silver.

So from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. Did you know that thirty pieces of silver, according to Exodus 21, is the price of a slave? Price of a slave who has been gored by an ox. Thirty pieces of silver. What was Jesus' worth to Judas? A slave's wage. That's very insightful to me. It 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. When 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. He's 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, which 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. 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. I think in a crowd this size 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 hand-picked 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. 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 would 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. The 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. 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. And 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 Galilean, 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. He 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. Now what happened to these two traitors, Judas and Peter? Chapter 27 verse five tells us Judas was so beaten up, so remorseful, so emotional that he hanged himself. What happened to Peter? Well it says that he was weeping bitterly but he shows up later as a leader in the church. We know that Jesus restored Peter. He said, Peter do you love me, feed my sheep and restored him back to being a follower as well as to being a leader.

But both of them, both of them were traitors. Peter didn't do it for money like Judas did but Peter threw Jesus under the bus three times. And in fact he was saying, this is not the Christ, the son of the living God. Let me tell you what I think is Peter's conversion. This is what changed it all.

Without turning to it, let me just give you the reference, you can look it up later. Luke chapter 22 tells the same story. Luke chapter 22 verse 61 tells us after Peter denies Jesus three times, it says then the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

And then Peter remembered the word of the Lord that said to him before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times. When their eyes met in that look of Jesus which I cannot believe was a sneer like you dirty rat, you rascal, you ratted me out. I think it was such a look of tender love, it brought such crushing conviction to Peter that in his remorse he repented.

Just that look is all it took. Now Judas and Jesus also looked at each other that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Judas led them there and walked up to Jesus and gave them a greeting their eyes met. And then Judas betrayed him with a treacherous hypocritical kiss. But though they made contact, there was no remorse, there was no repentance in Judas' heart like there was in Peter's heart.

And let me submit to you what I think is the difference, it's this, it's the cross. Judas despised the cross, he wasn't expecting the cross, he hated the cross, he despised that. And when he knew that Jesus was really going to die, when it dawned on him, it says Satan entered him.

The Bible says that. And he betrayed Jesus. Peter didn't expect the cross either. But Peter came to realize that the best thing for him is to let the cross stand between his sin and his Savior.

And he did. Peter writes later on, 1 Peter chapter 2, he himself bore our sins on the tree, for by his stripes we are healed. That's what Peter wrote. One despised 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. Judas was a traitor. Peter was a traitor.

I'm a traitor. I see, as I read the narrative of both Judas and Peter, I see a lot of myself in both those guys. The big difference is I want that cross between my sin and my Savior. I want that to be the bridge.

It's the only bridge. In the Revolutionary War, there was a pretty famous preacher. Now you're going way back. His name was Peter Miller. Peter Miller had an enemy who hated him because of his Christian life and his Christian stance.

This enemy eventually got arrested for treason, tried, and he was going to be hanged. Peter Miller walked 60 miles, walked 60 miles, and said to George Washington, please release this man. And Washington said, I'm sorry, looking at his record, I can't release your friend based on what he has done. Peter Miller, the preacher said, oh, no, no, no, he's not my friend at all.

He's my greatest living enemy. Washington said, you mean you walked 60 miles to see your enemy released? And he said, all right, then. I'll release him. With papers in hand, release papers in hand, Peter Miller went to the place where his enemy was being executed. On the scaffolding, he was about to be hung. His enemy saw him there and he said, ah, Peter Miller, my old enemy, come to take revenge and watch me hang.

Imagine his surprise as he stepped forward and handed the executioner the paper that set him free. Your sin, my sin, taken by our Savior, taking the punishment on the cross so that we could be free. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from his series, Jesus Loves People. Now, here's Skip and Lenya as they share how you can find hope and freedom in Jesus when you experience betrayal. Being betrayed is one of the hardest things to experience, but it is possible to recover from it. Skip, there might be a listener who has experienced betrayal, whether right now or in their past. Can you share some encouraging words for someone who might be having difficulty moving past the betrayal? Yeah, let me first say and principally say, you are not alone.

You are in good company. Did you know your Savior was betrayed by Judas? Your Savior was denied by his best friend, Peter.

Your Savior was forsaken by most of the other apostles who fled at the cross. David himself, in Psalm 55, said he was betrayed by a close friend who used to take counsel together with him and go to the house of God together. So, when it comes to betrayal and people who do you in or say bad things about you, don't let them live rent-free in your head.

Don't give them that space. Forgive them, pray for them, and then move on. And every time you think of them, you go, man, they keep coming to my mind, then pray for them every time they come to your mind. And also, people grow.

Understand this, as you grow, you're going to make new friends and you're going to lose some old friends. So, be thankful for the ones that God brings in your path that you are gaining rather than the ones you are losing. It's so nice in the Lord's Prayer. It says, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. So, don't forget, I'm sure you've hurt people and disappointed people, and you want forgiveness.

So, always be ready to build that bridge of reconciliation and forgive. Thanks, Skip and Lenya. We hope you enjoyed getting to know Skip and Lenya through this conversation. Now, we invite you to help keep these teachings coming your way as you connect more listeners like you to God's Word. Just visit connectwithskip.com slash donate to give now. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Or you can call 800-922-1888.

800-922-1888. Thank you. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heitzig gives you some pointers on how you can share God's love with those who don't believe in Him. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His Word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.