Acts 1:15-20: Judas' Betrayal

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Intro

1)     Our lesson today is going to be uncomfortable.

2)     Let me show you something about Acts before we get started: Acts doesn’t skip over or ignore the ugly parts of our lives as Christians.

A)   In our text today, we’re going to talk about what Judas did.

B)    Acts 3 – A lame man asks for money. Peter said, “no.”

C)    Ch. 5 – Ananias and Sapphira lied for personal gain and the Holy Spirit struck them dead.

D)   Ch. 9 – The Apostle Paul’s story began by him hunting and arresting and killing Christians.

E)    Ch. 10-11 – Cornelius and his household became Christians, but then the Jerusalem believers didn’t accept them.

F)    Apollos preached about Jesus, but he only knows about John the Baptist’s baptism.

3)     If it were up to me to tell the story of Christianity, I might just go ahead and leave all that out, BUT GOD DID NOT SKIP IT, and neither should we.

4)     Life is not always awesome, so we need to talk about the unpleasant stuff sometimes, and today is one of those days.

Text first: We will highlight several reasons why this was so awful.

1)     vv. 15-16 – “brothers” x2 = family

A)   Mk. 3:31-35 – Jesus didn’t form a group of followers. He formed a family of brothers and sisters.

B)    Judas was a part of that family, and he didn’t just betray Jesus (that was worse!), but also his whole family.

2)     vv. 16b-17 – “…Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

A)   He was one of us! He was a fellow worker!

B)    Wilkins – “Peter views Judas’s act of betrayal as a fulfillment of Scripture (v. 16). That, however, does not take away from the pain of what happened…”[1]

C)    There is something extra special about being cut by one of your own people. I expect some people to cut me. Since we’re being unpleasant, I’ll say it – I expect some people in this room to cut me. But when it’s one of our own people there’s no fixing that kind of pain.

3)     v. 18 – He killed himself.

A)   Matt. 27:3-8

B)    You can be really mad at someone for doing something like this; but if they are your family and one of your people and one of your fellow workers, then we can work through anything!

C)    But now you also must deal with the fact that he killed himself.

D)   What happens to the family of someone who kills themselves:

1)     Guilt and self-blame – “What if” is one of the biggest nightmares a family has to deal with. What if I had done something different, could I have prevented this?

2)     These disciples were surely hurt and disappointed by what Judas did, but he was also a beloved brother and friend, and now they have to deal with this too.

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3)     Another thing a family has to deal with is silence and stigma.

(a)   We all know what it means when an obituary reads, “So and so departed from this life” and there’s no cause or reason listed. They normally either OD’d or they killed themselves.

(b)   Now, not only does the family have to deal with the pain of that, but they have to deal with the judgement that goes along with it.

4)     v. 19a – “And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

A)   Add humiliation and shame to the other feelings (anger and betrayal).

B)    Put yourself in the shoes of these first disciples:

1)     Their Messiah was arrested and murdered,

2)     You know he was raised, but nobody else does, and they think you’re nuts for saying so,

3)     How was he killed? One of your brothers and best friends betrayed him,

4)     And then he killed himself!

5)     Can you imagine the shame that this church was trying to work through!

5)     v. 19b – The field.

A)   As much as you’d love to just forget this whole mess, there’s a landmark right over there and a reminder that you have to walk past every time you leave your house.

6)     v. 20 – Recalibrating your mind to the situation.

A)   First quote = Ps. 69:25

1)     vv. 1-5

2)     vv. 22-25

3)     THAT is about Judas!

4)     You go to church with someone you love, and for whatever reason they leave, and you miss them terribly, and then 5 minutes later they’re making all kinds of trouble for you and trying to burn your church family down. That will mess with a person’s head.

B)    Second quote – Ps. 109:9

1)     vv. 1-13

2)     THAT is about Judas!

Lesson: God’s people are going to let you down. Sometimes big time.

1)     Unpleasant: I don’t take pleasure in saying this, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know that it’s true – SOMEONE IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW is going to let our whole church family down big time. It’s going to happen.

A)   Maybe they won’t pull a full-scale Judas.

B)    But they’re going to cut you and it’s going to mess with your whole world.

2)     Examples from history

A)   Somebody will fall away. Maybe someone you never imagined.

1)     Philemon 23-24 – “Ephaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.”

2)     cf. 2 Tim. 4:10 – “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…”

B)    Somebody is going to say nasty things about you behind your back, and it’s going to really hurt when you find out about it.

C)    You’re going to go through something, and you’ll feel like someone should have been there for you, and maybe they really should have, but they left you alone to do it yourself.

D)   Someone you’ve gone to church with for a long time sends an email one day that says, “I’ve enjoyed my time with you, but I’m leaving.” Imagine this in a marriage scenario. “Hey wife and kids. I’ve really enjoyed my time with you, and I have grown while I was with you, but I’m leaving for another family somewhere else.”

E)    Our leaders are going to make mistakes.

1)     Our shepherds are going to mess up.

(a)   Acts 20:29-30 – “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

2)     Our deacons are going to mess up.

3)     I am going to mess up.

4)     Listen – Sometimes we mess up big!

F)    Somebody is going to be unfaithful to their spouse.

1)     You know what’s really messed up – when the unfaithfulness happens between people in the same church family.

3)     POINT: Sometimes God’s people will let you down hard, like Judas.

Take aways

A)   1 Cor. 15:58 – “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

1)     People will let you down, but Jesus never will. Don’t walk away from Jesus because of something that Jesus’ people do.

2)     Jesus won’t quit on you, and you need to be committed to not quit on Jesus.

B)    Find support in each other (Acts 1:15).

C)   Forgive and restore the fallen one.

1)     Peter denied Jesus but cried bitterly about it and was forgiven and restored.

2)     Judas’ remorse drove him to hopelessness, and he killed himself lost in his sin.

3)     There is nothing that you have done that can’t be forgiven.

4)     For us – If Jesus forgave us of our sins, we can forgive others of theirs.

D)   Press on (Acts 1:20b-22).

1)     They found a replacement, and they kept the work going (1 ½ months after Jesus left).

2)     When someone lets you down, it’s ok to pout and mourn for while…but then you’ve got to get back to work. It’s not ok to pout and mourn for the rest of your life and let the work suffer.

3)     We have a job to do, so let’s get busy. The mission is bigger than any one of us.

[1] Michael J. Wilkins. Gospels and Acts - NIVAC (Kindle Locations 76384-76386). Kindle Edition.