Judas: The Tale of a Traitor (outline)

by Jonathan Spurlock
(Holts Summit, MO)

Introduction: hardly anyone can be a worse influence than a traitor, one who pretends to be loyal to one group or person but has an agenda to cause problems or destroy that same person or group. Over the years, traitors have arisen (Quisling, in Norway, during World War II, to name one) but ultimately failed.

The Bible has stories of traitors, too, with perhaps the worst of the worst being Judas Iscariot. He started with the Disciples as a follower, was part of the group, but wound up betraying the Lord Jesus Christ for a relatively small sum of money. Could this happen to you, or to me?

I. He was part of the ministry of the Twelve Disciples
Mat 10:4-5 NASB 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;

II. He wanted the money, not the ministry
John 12:4-6 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 5 "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it

III. He made the contract to betray Jesus
Mat 26:14-16 14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. 16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

IV. He tried to remove doubt from himself
Mat 26:25 NASB 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself."

V. The last words and deeds of Judas Iscariot
Mat 27:3-5 3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!" 5And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself.

Conclusion: Judas could have done so much good, but he gave it up when he became a traitor. But if I don’t stand up for Jesus when I have the chance, I’m as much a traitor as Judas was.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB. http://www.lockman.org