New Life Bible Fellowship Church
Good Friday 2024

      • Isaiah 53ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:18ESV

  • Lamb Of God
  • Calvary Covers It All

      • Matthew 27:32–50ESV

  • The 12 Disciples

    Could you name the 12 disciples of Jesus?
    Peter
    James
    John
    Andrew
    Bartholomew
    James (the younger)
    Jude
    Matthew
    Philip
    Simon the Zealot
    Thomas
    Judas
    My guess is that you were able to name some but not all. Some of you, thinking carefully could name all from memory. But regardless one of the names that is usually remembered from the list is Judas. Tonight, we will try to put ourselves in the shoes of Judas. I realize that’s not a particularly appealing idea, but what I suggest is that there is value in understanding Judas a little more thoroughly than the fact that he is the one who betrayed Jesus. To be sure, that’s important, but I want us to attempt to understand why. Now, up front I want to make clear that the Bible never explicitly tells us why Judas did what he did, so our ability to understand the why of his betrayal will be somewhat limited. But the reason I will suggest we see in Scripture is very much in play today. In fact, every one of us here this evening have been guilty of this very thing. It is serious. In fact, there is nothing more serious than this.
    Though it may not be obvious at first, the reason to which I refer is contained in the text we will read together. It depicts the end of Judas’ life. It’s a sobering text. A sad text. It’s a disturbing text, but the reason Judas betrayed Jesus is contained in this text.
    This is what will happen now. We will read this text. Then I will work us through a brief overview of the life of Judas. I will do this from the first person perspective, in other words as if I am Judas. I say this now, so you don’t get confused. I did this in the past from the perspective of Peter, and I heard that someone got confused and thought my name was Peter instead of Andy. It is not my aim to impress you with my acting skills. I do not they are impressive. It is my hope that this will not distract us from God’s word or what He may be doing in and among us tonight. It is my hope however, that by putting ourselves in he shoes of Judas, as unappealing as that may be, will prove to be helpful in understanding Good Friday better and most importantly, knowing and loving Jesus more.
    Let’s read that text I mentioned before:
    Matthew 27:3–10 ESV
    Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

    Let me introduce myself

    mentioned 20 times in the gospels and twice in the book of Acts
    met Jesus and some of His followers while they were returning from Bethany.
    Knew of Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist, but everyone was talking about Jesus.
    As much as anyone, I wanted to see what the big deal was for myself.
    He invited me to follow Him, and I was made treasurer for the group
    I had a way with money… I liked money
    ​

    Illusions to my true colors

    Along the way, Jesus frequently issued us disciples warnings. Sometimes, none of us understood what He was talking about or why He felt the need to warn us in the first place.
    I remember one of the warnings had to do with treasures and that somehow we shouldn’t be concerned with treasures on earth but treasures in heaven. I never really understood that. Who knows what heaven treasures are like. I know for sure, those kinds of treasures don’t pay the bills here now. We all knew what it was to struggle. Jesus knew what it was to struggle. I never understood why he didn’t pay more attention to our earthly struggles. I remember what he said once:
    ​
    Matthew 6:19–20 ESV
    “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
    ​
    And then there was that time that Jesus suggested that what we say in private would somehow become known publically. That whatever hypocrisy may exist in us, would be exposed. As far as I was concerned, we were all hypocrites. The Pharisees and all of us. Jesus was always having run-ins with the Pharisee and the Scribes. I remember one time:
    ​
    Luke 12:1–3 ESV
    In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
    ​
    All of this. Heavenly treasures and not earthly treasures. Worrying about what we say in private that somehow it would become known publically. It seemed He wanted us to be poor and care way too much about being hypocrites. I wanted to be in the. I had access to some decent money and a lot of exciting things were happening. And like many, I held out that maybe Jesus was going to make my life better.... but as time went on, that didn’t seem likely. I just didn’t believe Him.
    ​

    The Mary Incident

    We were at Martha, Mary & Lazarus’ house.
    Reclining at the table
    Martha was busy serving the meal
    Mary… crying and making a scene
    took a lb our expensive ointment and put all over Jesus’ feet
    you have my response in
    ​
    John 12:5–6 ESV
    “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred 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 moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
    I was poor. I deserved that money. Jesus wasn’t turning out to be the guy I hoped He would be. He didn’t match the vision of the Messiah I had. I didn’t believe Him.
    What a waste. What good did that do?
    But right after that and after some of us protested what Mary was doing, Jesus said something that none of us understood.
    ​
    John 12:7 ESV
    Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
    ​
    What was He talking about?
    ​

    I made a deal

    After the Mary incident, I was convinced that this situation was no longer advantageous for me. Jesus was supposed to be the Messiah, but the Chief priests seemed to be more powerful than Him. And I know they hated Jesus, so maybe I could work with them.
    Luke 22:3–6 ESV
    Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
    ​
    When that was all happening, its as if there was a voice in my head saying, is Jesus really the Messiah? Are you really going to put your faith in Him? Are you really going to entrust your life to Him? Is He for real?
    The amount of money they gave me to give up Jesus was 30 pieces of silver (not that much)
    It turns out, the fact that I did this didn’t catch Jesus off guard
    John 13:21 ESV
    After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
    Was I really going to be the one to do this? Part of me knew this was wrong, but as wrong as it felt, it came naturally.
    Pharaoh
    So after the deal was done, I went to meet Jesus. The betrayal began with a kiss
    Matthew 26:49–50 ESV
    And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
    ​

    The problem exposed

    I became undone. I was devastated, and I didn’t know what to do. I decided to go back to the Chief Priests with whom I made the deal. We come back to that horrible moment.
    Matthew 27:3–10 ESV
    Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”
    ​
    The Chief Priests didn’t care about me
    Even the Chief Priests had a sort of conscience about all this
    The end
    The problem
    ​

    Unbelief

    ​

      • Isaiah 53ESV

      • Psalm 22:6ESV

      • John 1:11ESV

      • Galatians 4:4ESV

      • Romans 5:1ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 5:21ESV

      • 1 Peter 2:23ESV

      • John 10:27–28ESV

      • Matthew 27:57–60ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 15:3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 15:4ESV

      • Revelation 7:9ESV

      • Romans 3:23–26ESV

      • Hebrews 12:2ESV

      • Colossians 2:13–15ESV

      • Colossians 2:13–15ESV

  • The Old Rugged Cross
New Life Bible Fellowship Church
dick.bickings@gmail.com
(302) 945-8145
https://newlifebfcde.org
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