Lie #1: Judas Did Jesus A Favor – Part 1 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. So, an ancient Gospel of Judas surfaces. In it, Judas is a hero, and Jesus is a fanciful being, taking on many forms as the need arises. Written by Gnostics, the Gospel of Judas is only the latest attempt to debunk the Christian faith.

For the truth about this lie, stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, briefly tell us who the Gnostics were. Well, the Gnostic Gospels were written by people, and I can put it this way, it was a synthesis between Christianity and various mythologies. Years ago, I read the Gnostic Gospels because of the book that we're talking about today, namely, Don't Be Deceived, Six Lies About Jesus. But interestingly, when you read the Gnostic Gospels, there's no such thing as any historical reference.

No cities, no rivers, no instances that can be verified historically, and yet, these ideas are being taught in our universities today. So I want everyone out there to know that perhaps you've not heard of these ideas, but if your children have gone to college, university, this is what is being taught about Jesus, and that's why it's so important for us to understand who the real Jesus is. Now at the end of this broadcast, I'm going to be giving you some info on how this book can be yours. It's entitled, Don't Be Deceived, Six Lies About Jesus.

But for now, let us listen. His name is Judas, and the word Judas means praise. Last name, Iscariot, possibly from the town of Cirioth, which is in southern Judah. Let's keep in mind that Judas was at one time a teenager, filled with all kinds of dreams and aspirations and ready to take on the world. One time he was also a baby, and we can imagine that parents in those days who used to name their children in accordance with what they hoped their child would become, as they would call them in from play, they hoped that someday their little baby boy would become a man whom people would praise.

They were wrong. And could I say candidly, young woman, young man, you have no idea what baby you're holding in your arms today. Could be a Billy Graham, could be a Florence Nightingale, could be an Adolf Hitler, could be a Judas. Surely those parents had no idea that their child that they had such high hopes for would become a man whose name is derision and symbolic of being a traitor. We don't know where he and Jesus met, but maybe it was because Jesus was in the southern part of the area that they connected. And after one night of prayer, Jesus is interceding regarding the 12 disciples and whom he should select, and Judas is selected as one of the inner circle, the inner sanctum of friendship with Jesus. Now throughout history, Judas has been synonymous with being a traitor, as I mentioned, and yet there are those who have tried to rehabilitate him and to try to get us to think differently of him. Number of years ago, a man by the name of William Claussen wrote a book in which he says that the idea of betraying, handing over, is a neutral term, and Judas handed Jesus over to the authorities for inspection and evaluation, and there was nothing really fundamentally wrong with that. Problem is it's very difficult to come out of the New Testament and have a neutral opinion of Judas. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, he is specifically spoken of as being a traitor, for example.

He is spoken of as the son of destruction, the son of perdition. He's also spoken of as one who had Satan inhabit him, as we shall see in a few moments, and so it's very difficult to put a positive spin on Judas in the New Testament. But there's been another attempt to do that, and that is in the so-called Judas document or the Judas Gospel, the Gospel of Judas. Let me read to you from James Robinson just to introduce the topic.

He is the editor of the Nag Hammadi Library and is America's leading expert on ancient texts. In his book, The Secrets of Judas, he writes this, the Gospel of Judas, a long lost second century fictional account that elevated Judas to hero status in the story, has been rediscovered, but it has been kept under wraps until now to maximize its financial gain for its Swiss owners. The grand expose is being performed by the National Geographic Society timed for the greatest impact right at Easter.

Those on the inside have been bought off, no doubt with considerably more than 30 pieces of silver, and they've been sworn to silence on a stack of Bibles or maybe a stack of papyrus leaves. He goes on to say that what has gone on in this money-making venture is not a pleasant story about how all of this has been sprung upon us, the reading and the viewing public. You have a right to know what is going on, and the rest of the book is the story of what really went on. When the Judas document was released, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, felt like doing both simultaneously.

I need to tell you that the only reason for the hype, the only reason for the hype, has to be because of the basest of motives. Yet there are those who say that it's the most important archaeological find since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Others say it will change our minds about Judas from bad guy to good guy. Others say it also changes our view about Jesus.

He's presented not as divine, but actually he just exists in a different realm. He's the laughing Jesus who believes in more than one God. Well, I assume that most of you have not read the Judas document.

I've read it all as in the book that was published and hyped with the essays that go along with it. So let me just give you a little flavor, and then we're going to make some comments and show how silly it is to think that this document could change our view of Judas. It begins by saying the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated the Passover. By the way, that's what the Gnostics always used to do. They always remember the word Gnosticism means knowledge.

We have some hidden insight. Jesus revealed something to Judas, this great secret. Jesus spoke to his disciples about mysteries beyond the world and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child. Jesus morphed because remember they didn't believe that Jesus had become flesh.

Many of them believe that he only appeared to be flesh. One day he was with his disciples in pious observance. When he approached his disciples, gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, he laughed. The disciples asked why he is laughing and Jesus replies he's not laughing at them because they're doing the will of their God, which is different from his God. When they became angry, Jesus asked anyone among them to bring out the perfect human to stand before him and only Judas was able to stand before him.

I'm skipping a lot now because I'm only going to read two or three more lines. Jesus says to Judas, you will become the thirteenth and you will be cursed by other generations and you will come to rule over them. In the last days, they will curse your ascent to the holy generation. So Judas, they're going to speak evil of you, but guess what?

In the end, you're going to be a hero. What do we find in this Gnostic document? The same documents that we've become so acquainted with because of the da Vinci Code. A couple of things. First, there are many different gods. The reason why Jesus is laughing, he's saying you're praying to your God, but you know, I've got a different one over here. The Gnostics believed in between two and thirty gods.

You could kind of take your pick. Second, you see a blend of Greek mythology in the writing. Remember the Gnostics tried to blend Greek thinking with Christianity. That's why Jesus talks about stars. In another text in the document, Jesus laughs and explains, I'm not laughing at you, but at the error of the stars because these six stars wander about with these five combatants and they all will be destroyed along with their creatures.

So you have this reference to astronomy and astrology. This laughing Jesus of the document is divine, but only in the sense that all of us are divine. He was from a realm from above. He was not flesh and blood, but only appeared to be human. There's another text in which Jesus is laughing too.

I'll refer to it in this series of messages. As you know, this is a series entitled Lies Being Told About the Son of God. And the first lie, which we're dealing with today is the lie that Judas was a hero, that he did Jesus a favor. Now, later on, we're going to be dealing with the Islamic view of Jesus and they believe that Jesus didn't die, but somebody else was crucified in his place. I will read at that time a Gnostic document that says Jesus was sitting on the branch of a tree and laughing during the crucifixion because he fooled them. They thought that they were crucifying him and they were actually crucifying someone else. So why is it that Judas is the hero in the story? Well, Judas is asked to to basically betray Jesus so Jesus could get out of his human body. I need to summarize.

Jesus could get out of his human body and most assuredly there would be no resurrection because why would he want to come back from the dead when the body was considered to be evil? It was the kind of thing that you wanted to get out of. Well, that's a brief summary of the Judas document. Could I just be frank today?

Everybody okay with just being upfront? There is so much hype. For example, you hear on the news, it's an authentic document. You know what they mean by authentic? It is an old document, goes back maybe to third or fourth centuries. In that sense, it's authentic, but it is, all scholars agree, written 100 years after Judas and Jesus were on this earth, written by a bunch of Gnostics who were forever perverting the scriptures. Let me tell you about the Gnostics. The people who wrote this letter were Cainites. They were followers of Cain. They followed anyone who rebelled against the God of the Old Testament. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were their heroes. Is it any wonder that these people would take someone who is against Jesus in the New Testament and make him into a hero? A hundred years after the time of Jesus and this is going to change our perception of Jesus as you read in the news?

Oh, brother. I mean, what are we going to do with this nonsense that is being, that's why I began with the opening quote. It's a matter of money. It's a matter of hype. It's a matter of publicity.

It has nothing to do with serious scholarship. And yet there it is. Well, I want you to contrast this with the Judas of the New Testament. And in order to do that, I want you to take your Bibles and turn to the 13th chapter of John's Gospel. John chapter 13.

Everyone turn to it, please. John 13. Jesus is washing the disciples feet and he also washes the feet of Judas. But already when Jesus was doing that, it says in verse two of chapter 13, during supper when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray him. The devil had already put that idea into Judas's mind. Hang on to that.

That's going to be important in about three or four minutes as we work through this text. So Jesus is there. The disciples have had their feet washed and Jesus says, all of you are clean, but not everyone. Judas never was a believer. He never came to trust Christ. He's not one who lost his salvation. He was a hypocrite who played the part and what a part he played as we shall see. Now let's take a look into his heart.

What was going on? First of all, Judas had a covetous heart. He had a covetous heart. John chapter 12 verse five. If you turn back just one page or two in your Bible, chapter 12 verse five, Judas is complaining about Mary who is pouring this expensive ointment on Jesus. And he says in verse five, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Oh, why that covetousness is going to get him into trouble is love of money. We want to ask the question, how did you do it Judas for three years without anyone knowing until after you died? How did you do it? How did you pull it off? Did you go to store the store and you were sent there and you said, I spent $50 on sandwiches and actually you spent 40 and you pocketed the 10 or did you just simply take stuff out and put it into your pocket directly? We'd like to know that, but we don't. But he pilfered what was put there in.

Very interesting parenthesis that I'm throwing in today. He says in another text in Matthew and Mark, he says, why this waste? He said to Mary, did you know that the word waste is the word perdition in the 17th chapter of John where Jesus is praying and says, all that you have given me, I have kept except the son of perdition, except the son of waste. He complained about Mary wasting the ointment and he himself was the son of waste, wasted life. Remember that he was such a skilled hypocrite that nobody knew the difference. Peter says he had part with our ministry and none of the other disciples suspected him of being a traitor.

Can you imagine how he pulled that off? Did they preach? He preached. Did they heal the sick? He healed the sick. Did they cast out demons? He cast out demons. You say, well, how did he do that?

The demons would cooperate in a situation like that, anything to become a part of the deception. And so there he was. Remember, Judas wasn't the kind of person who comes into the service late, sits at the back, and then leaves before the benediction is over. He's not that kind of a guy.

He's the kind of a guy who comes early because he's a deacon, he's an elder, he's an usher, he's a pastor, and he's doing the work of ministry. And he's a hypocrite to the core. Covetous heart.

Secondly, how can we describe them? A very deceitful mind, a deceitful mind. Now we're back in John chapter 13. I want us to look at this passage, and then in a moment we shall turn to another passage. But here, John chapter 13, verse 21. After these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.

I can give you chills. To their everlasting credit, Peter didn't nudge John or speak to John and fill up and say, you know what I've always thought of Judas? Yeah, Judas. In the Matthew account, it says that all of them went around the table and said, is it I? You know what Judas said? He didn't say, is it I? He said, surely not I, Rabbi.

As smooth as oil, right in the presence of Jesus. Surely not I, Rabbi. Well, we continue, one of the disciples whom Jesus loved, that would be John, was reclining at the table close to Jesus. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple leaning back against Jesus, he's close to Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it?

He whispers. And Jesus answered, it is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I dipped it. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon. You see, Judas here is to the left of Jesus.

You dip the morsel in the sauce, the mutton, and you gave it to the honored guest who was to your left. Judas is given the place of honor to the left of Jesus. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Remember this, you can be entered by Satan without a formal invitation. There are people who have been entered by Satan who don't even believe in the devil. You'll notice in this text, I pointed it out earlier chapter 13 verse two during supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas to do this. So the idea was implanted by the devil, but the devil didn't actually enter until he received the morsel. And as soon as he received the morsel, Jesus said, verse 27, what you are going to do, do quickly. See, Satan isn't an honorable guest. He doesn't say, oh, I won't come in until you invite me.

No, no, no, no. All that you need to do is to be in his territory, to do his work, to do his bidding, and he'll take more and more and more and more of you without any permission. And of course, you know, when you stop to think of it, that's the way in which Satan also operated in the early church with Ananias and Sapphira. They were having a discussion one morning and they decided to falsify the amount of money that they gave to the church. What they basically said is, we have given everything to the church that we earned in the selling of this property. And as a result of that lie, God struck them dead.

But here's what's interesting. When Peter came to them, he said, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? So I want to emphasize once again what was mentioned in the message that Satan comes without an invitation. It's very important for us to recognize this and also to remember the real Jesus of the New Testament. That's why I've written the book entitled Don't Be Deceived, Six Lies About Jesus. And one of those lies has been discussed as you've been listening to this broadcast regarding Judas. Now, for a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you.

And even if you think you don't need it, you know someone who does. A college student perhaps, a child who is beginning to wander away from the faith. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Remember the title of the book, Don't Be Deceived, Six Lies About Jesus. At a time when Jesus is often misunderstood, it's important that we return to the biblical Christ.

Go to rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life. One Running to Win listener wants some details about the unseen supernatural realm. Carmen asks, I know that Lucifer took one third of the angels down with him. Please explain, is there a difference between a fallen angel and a demon?

Carmen, the answer to your question is no, there is not a difference. By the way, the fact that we believe that Satan took a third of the angels with him is based on the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation, where it says that the dragon, his tail drew one third of the stars. And because stars are sometimes referred to as angels, and in that particular context, it appears as if that's a historical reference to the past, when Satan rebelled and took a third of the angels with him. But the Bible speaks about the devil and his angels, because the word angel means messenger. But in answer to your question, these are demons. And they decided to side with Lucifer in his rebellion.

And of course, they're going to pay the consequences of their disobedience throughout all of eternity. Thanks for your question, Carmen. God bless, and keep standing for the truth. And thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Some say Christians cannot be demon-possessed. Others say they can still be demonically influenced. In any case, a non-believer is fair game for Satan to use, as he did Judas. Next time on Running to Win, more on slandering Jesus and what really happened during the Last Supper so long ago. Thanks for listening. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.