Every Last Word

Mark: Has anyone ever betrayed you? Has anyone treated you differently than you thought they should? Jesus understands what you've been through because he too was betrayed by one of the people closest to him. Today on Every Last Word, we'll discuss the betrayal of Jesus by his friend Judas.

Welcome to Every Last Word, a radio and internet program with Dr. Philip Ryken, teaching the whole Bible to change your whole life. Today's message on Judas' betrayal of Jesus is the latest sermon in our study in the Gospel of Luke. We'll try and understand all the irony that took place in the Garden of Gethsemane before Jesus' arrest.

Phil, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, who was among his close friends. How should we respond when we're betrayed by someone close to us?

Dr. Philip Ryken: You know, that's a very relevant question, Mark, because sooner or later most of us are betrayed by someone. And you know what we should do with that is what we should do with any problem in life, and that's take it to Jesus.

And that's especially true in this case because Jesus knows what it is like to be betrayed. Judas betrayed him unto death. Most of us probably won't face that situation. But there may be somebody listening today who's suffered a deep betrayal, Mark, and the call of Christ is not to respond with revenge, but to turn to Christ and to the sympathy that he has for us as one who knows what it is to be betrayed.

Mark: Well, I guess that kind of begs the question: why does God allow his people to be mistreated and abused in the first place?

Dr. Philip Ryken: You know, it's a great mystery, Mark, isn't it? But it's also an opportunity for us to be drawn closer to Christ. We don't always know the reasons why a particular suffering comes, but we do know that in any situation in life, even the worst situation in life, there is a way for God to be glorified, and he's calling us to trust him through that. I pray, Mark, that the Lord will use this message to speak to anyone who's going through that right now.

Mark: All right, we thank you, Phil. Let's turn in our Bibles now to Luke chapter 22, verses 47 through 53, and listen to Dr. Ryken.

Dr. Philip Ryken: Well, I suppose that the English poet, Robert Herrick, must have been something of a romantic because when he asked the question, "What is a kiss?", he gave this answer: "The sure, sweet cement, glue, and lime of love." And surely, a gentle kiss is the sweetest, surest expression of affection.

Consider the soft kiss that a father gives his baby girl at bedtime, or the last kiss a mother gives to her son before leaving home, or the kiss a couple shares in the golden years of their romance. The same God who gave us hearts for love also gave us lips for kissing. In fact, the Greek New Testament verb that means to love is also the word that you use to say to kiss. To kiss, you see, is to love.

Except that is when to kiss is to betray. And so it was that on the night that Jesus sweated his bloody prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, while he was still speaking, there came a crowd and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. Judas drew near to Jesus to kiss him. This is the account that we are given in Luke chapter 22. Let me encourage you to turn there in your Bibles as we resume our studies in that great Gospel.

Judas came to kiss Jesus as it were to love him. Now, of course, such a kiss was a common greeting in that community even among men. But it was more than a handshake. It was a gesture of intimate friendship. And yet Judas gave this greeting for the most evil of all purposes. It was, as you know, a prearranged signal to identify Jesus as the man to be taken into custody. "The one I will kiss is the man," Judas says in the Gospel of Matthew. "Seize him."

And when Judas did kiss the man, as Mark tells us that he did, he was betraying him unto death. And so it was that Jesus said, I think with a kind of sad reproach in verse 48 of Luke 22, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

To see how bitter this betrayal was, you would have to know how much Jesus had done for Judas. I think Luke is calling this to mind when he identifies Jesus as one of the twelve, that is one of the twelve original apostles. He was part of the inner circle of Jesus' closest friends.

And so remember all of the things that Jesus had done for Judas. He had called him to be one of his disciples. He had set him apart as one of the twelve apostles. In fact, he had done that after spending a whole night with his Father in prayer. There was a man made a disciple by the definite will of God and the deliberate choice of Jesus Christ.

And how much Jesus had taught Judas. He must have been there for almost everything that Jesus taught throughout this Gospel. He must have been there when Jesus said that God's blessings were for the poor, not for people who wanted to get rich. He was there when Jesus told his disciples to love their enemies, to bear good fruit from a good heart.

Judas was there when Jesus explained his parables to his disciples, which remember he didn't do for everyone, but only for those who were part of that inner circle. And Judas heard the warnings that Jesus gave about greed and the advice he gave about counting the cost of discipleship.

And then in addition to all of that, to that major investment that Jesus made in this man's spiritual education, Jesus also showed him the power of his miracles, including some miracles I think that were of benefit to Judas, who presumably was out in that boat when Jesus rescued his disciples from the stormy sea, and who surely was there when Jesus fed the 5,000.

There was a basket of leftovers for each and every one of the apostles. Judas was there for all of that. He had received the grace of Jesus Christ rescuing him from danger, providing for his daily needs. And then beyond that, very remarkably, Jesus gave Judas the opportunity to serve in ministry, to be the treasurer of the common purse, to go out with the other disciples preaching the Gospel, healing people, performing miracles of casting out demons, things which show, incidentally, that serving in ministry is no guarantee of a person's salvation. No, it is a matter of true faith in Jesus Christ.

And you see, during all of this time, Jesus was showing Judas again and again that he was the Christ, that he really was the Son of the living God. He was speaking to Judas about his sufferings and his death and his resurrection. Jesus even warned Judas, I think, not to go astray.

Jesus often gave his disciples reminders like that. He told his disciples not to betray anyone into sin. Judas had every possible warning not to become the betrayer. Do you see how much Jesus had done for Judas?

He had even washed his dirty feet, for that is how this evening began, with Jesus cleansing the feet of his disciples. There was one disciple that refused to do it, of course, but that was Peter, it wasn't Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his very betrayer. And then he sat down with him at the table and shared his bread with the man.

And he had even given him a kind of final warning, I think, when he said, "Behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table." And I think even the last words that Jesus ever spoke to his betrayer really were spoken in love. Look again at what Jesus says to him in verse 48. He calls him by his personal name. He says, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

Not expressing here his own surprise, I think, but really more trying to startle Judas into the recognition of what he was really doing. "Judas, do you see who I am? I am the Son of Man. And do you see what you are doing? You are becoming a traitor to the cause of God's Christ."

Do you see how much Jesus loved this man and showed him his love in all of these actions? And can you imagine then how bitter it must have been for him to be betrayed by this man? I suppose Jesus did more for Judas than anyone of us has ever done for anyone.

If to kiss is to love, there's a sense in which Jesus had been kissing Judas all the way through the Gospel. And yet here was the man who betrayed him, not one of his usual enemies, but someone he welcomed as a close friend. The Son of Man was betrayed by someone he loved.

Indeed, the very manner of this betrayal presumed upon Jesus' affections. Judas only knew where to find Jesus because he himself had been welcomed into that secret garden and had often gone to this secluded spot. It was his very friendship that gave him the kind of access to greet Jesus with this kiss.

And so it was that the scriptures were fulfilled, the words of the psalmist: "Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me." Or again: "It is not an enemy who taunts me. It is you, my companion, my familiar friend." This is the prophecy that was fulfilled in the betrayal of Jesus.

Let me ask you, have you ever been betrayed yourself? Do you know something of what it is like to build a close friendship and then to have that friend turn against you? Have you ever been disappointed by the evil deed of someone you loved?

Jesus knows the pain of that kind of betrayal. Here is a man who suffered the bitterest betrayal of all, I think. He was the Son of Man. That's the Old Testament title Jesus uses here to identify himself as the Messiah, as the Christ of God, the Savior who was promised to come.

The unique, divine glory of his holy person makes this betrayal an infinitely wicked offense, especially when it comes from someone he had showed so much love. "There is nothing I can say in the denunciation of Judas," wrote one commentator, "that would begin to approach the realm of words sufficient to denounce this dark and dastardly act."

And you see, Jesus suffered that dastardly act for you on his way to the cross. I think, in a way, his sufferings could not have been complete unless he had suffered this kind of betrayal. I mean, how could he sympathize with us in all of our suffering unless he had experienced the Judas kiss of a personal betrayal?

Understand when you feel betrayed, indeed when you are betrayed, as people sometimes are, that you have a Savior who understands your suffering. You can tell your heart to Jesus. He understands the situation better than anyone else would or could.

Now, what is the way for us to respond when we suffer this kind of difficulty, even when we are betrayed? I think usually what we want is some sort of revenge. I mean, isn't that what you want? Don't you begin thinking at least of some way to get some kind of revenge? There's something deeply satisfying about seeing people get what we think they deserve.

In fact, this is a common motif in the great literature of the world. Think how many stories are based on the motif of betrayal and then revenge. It happens in many of the tragedies of Shakespeare. It certainly happens in *The Count of Monte Cristo*, the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas, in which the young Edmond Dantès is betrayed by three of his jealous friends and sent to prison.

But after making his escape and finding his fortune, Dantès systematically takes revenge on each of his hated enemies. He drives them into financial ruin. He sends them into public disgrace. They end up committing suicide or being driven insane. Oh, there is something juicy about a story like that for the sinful nature. It satisfies our thirst for revenge.

And that is exactly what the disciples wanted when they saw Jesus betrayed. They had been praying with him in the garden. Or, I must admit, actually, they had been sleeping in the garden while Jesus had been praying. But then they must have been very startled by this unruly mob coming to make this arrest.

We read in verse 49 that "when those who are around him saw what would follow, they said, 'Lord, shall we strike with the sword?'" And one of them did strike the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, "No more of this." And he touched his ear and healed him.

Now, we know from a discussion that Jesus had with his disciples earlier in the evening that they were carrying two swords. And now, many of the disciples wanted to know what they were supposed to do with those swords, if this was the time that they were supposed to use them.

Only one of them didn't wait for Jesus to answer. Would it surprise you very much to know that it was Peter who struck this blow? Yes, according to John, he was that hasty apostle who lopped off somebody's ear, striking a blow that one commentator describes as "poor in aim but stout in intention." You see, when Jesus was betrayed, the disciples wanted to fight back.

Now, there is a time and a place for the proper use of the sword. The scripture speaks to this in other places. In the case of an unprovoked attack by an unlawful aggressor, we have a legitimate right to self-defense. The sword also has a divinely approved authority in the hands of the state, including its lawful use by a legitimate army in the prosecution of a just war.

And yet this was neither the time nor the place for the disciples to engage in any swordsmanship. It was unlawful. These men coming to make the arrest were misguided, but they did have legal authority under God. An armed resistance would make the disciples guilty of resisting arrest.

Then, of course, any kind of fighting back was totally unnecessary. I mean, Jesus Christ is the last person who needs anyone to defend him. He has thousands of angels that he can call to his defense. This resistance of arrest was also unwise. The disciples here were outnumbered. Any resistance would have been futile anyway.

But it also would have given these religious leaders the kind of opportunity they were looking for. Remember, they were trying to find some basis for a charge against Jesus. You know the rest of the story. You know that they're going to spend the whole rest of the night trying to come up with something. Well, if the disciples were going to fight back, it would have given them their excuse. They would be able to claim that Jesus was leading some kind of violent uprising, that his followers were armed and dangerous, that his arrest was in the interest of public safety.

These are all important considerations for not striking a blow in the defense of Jesus. But of course, the biggest problem with this response was that it would undo God's plan for salvation. For it was the will of God for Jesus to be arrested on his way to the cross. And although this was evil in itself, it was the pathway that Jesus needed to walk for our redemption.

And Jesus himself, rather than being called to resist this arrest, was called to submit to the force of these ungodly men even unto death. And if Jesus was called to do it, so also the disciples were called to allow these things to happen.

I think all of this helps to explain why Jesus said "No more of this" and then proceeded to reattach that servant's ear. Oh, in a way, I suppose, one of the smallest and simplest miracles that Jesus ever performed. With a kind of clinical precision, Dr. Luke tells us that it was the servant's right ear that was cut off and that Jesus healed the man simply by touching him.

But I think this miracle may be more important than some people realize. Important because it now protects Jesus from any accusation that he's running some kind of terrorist organization. No, here is a man who intends to do no harm. It's also important, I think, because it shows how utterly opposed Jesus is to any kind of wrongful violence.

It also ends any attempt to hinder his progress towards the cross. It's important for all of those reasons, but I think at a practical level it also shows us how we should respond when we are mistreated or even perhaps betrayed. We should not seek retaliation like the disciples did, but instead should follow the example of Jesus in blessing our enemies.

I wonder, do you have any enemies in the world? Do you have someone who seems to be against you in the workplace? Is there anyone in your community who seems, even deliberately, to be trying to make your life miserable? Has a close friend betrayed your trust? Has a family member done you any wrong?

Oh, how easy it is for us to send our swords whistling through the air, not even waiting for Jesus to tell us not to strike. Isn't that our first impulse when we are angry about something to find some way of getting even? But Jesus says "No more of this." No more vengeful thoughts, no more angry words, no more manipulation or retaliation, no more trying to get even.

But instead, follow the example of Jesus. Bless your enemies. Do not curse them. Pray for them. Look for ways to serve them and commit the justice of your cause to the Lord, waiting for him to vindicate you when the time is right. Submit and surrender to God's will even in suffering. And then people will be able to see what Jesus is like from the way that you are treating your enemies.

Now, if you've ever been called to do that, you know how impossible it is in your own sinful nature. How impossible it is apart from the grace of God to respond in that way. But recognize that you have a Savior who is able to help you, a Savior who himself was bitterly betrayed.

A Savior who, may I remind you, paid the price for all of your own betrayals, and a Savior who now lives to save you through all of your suffering. And notice I do say through your suffering. It's not just from our sufferings that God will save us, although in the end he will do that, but it is also through our suffering. It is in the sufferings themselves that we experience the grace of God.

Now, I think you will find that scripture teaches and experience also proves that it is not always God's will to bring you immediate deliverance. Oh, by the power of his grace, God promises one day to deliver you from all of your suffering, but in the meantime, you are often oppressed by the power of darkness. And nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the sufferings Jesus endured on the night of his betrayal. Notice the words he speaks at the end of verse 53: "This is your hour," he says to his tormentors, "and the power of darkness."

Now, I think when Jesus said "the power of darkness," he was referring in some way or other to Satan and to the dark forces of evil. You'll notice he's also careful to put those powers in their place. In fact, he notices here how ironic it is that these dark forces are coming to arrest him at all. We have here what a literary critic would call "irony of situation," which is the way you would describe what happens when the situation is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate.

And Jesus is pointing out this irony in his words, beginning at verse 52. He says to the chief priests and the officers of the temple and the elders who have come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me."

And we can almost imagine, I think, Jesus giving a kind of wry smile as he points to this irony. Here is the gentlest man who ever lived, a man holy and harmless. And yet this huge arresting party has come to take him away and they're armed with staves and swords and spears as if he were some kind of dangerous criminal. How ironic.

And then these men, as Jesus points out, could have arrested him publicly any day at the temple. He was there day after day after day teaching. And yet they come in a very cowardly fashion, very secretly, in the dead of night. That's ironic as well. Here is a situation the opposite of what is expected or appropriate. A perfectly innocent man is being treated like a guilty criminal.

And of course, there's another irony here that we can see, even though Jesus doesn't comment on it, and that's that Jesus could have destroyed all of these men in a single instant. Their weapons would have given them no protection at all. They were useless. Jesus was so much mightier than they were. Nothing could save them from the power of his revenge if he should choose to take it. How ironic it all is.

Nevertheless, it is the will of God for Jesus to be betrayed and to be arrested and finally to be crucified. Because you see, this was the hour of the power of darkness. It's a comment, incidentally, only recorded in the Gospel of Luke. His account of the whole narrative of the arrest is shorter than what we find in the other Gospels. And I think Luke wanted to be sure we knew that Jesus said this, that this was the hour of the power of darkness.

And when he says "this is the hour," he's not referring to sixty minutes that you would be able to clock on your stopwatch, but rather to that short, definite period of time when evil men would have their way. This was the hour when Judas would give his treacherous kiss, when the leaders of Israel would make their unlawful arrest. This was the hour when angry men would call for blood, when cruel soldiers would carry out their horrible torture. This was the hour when the Son of Man would suffer and suffer unto death.

Or you might say, this was the hour when Satan would triumph. Because he is the dark lord of spiritual evil and so the hour of darkness must be his hour. Bible often uses this kind of imagery to refer to Satan. It calls his realm "the domain of darkness," that's in Colossians chapter one. It says that our own struggle against evil is a struggle against "cosmic powers that rule this present darkness," that's Ephesians chapter six.

It's imagery, I think, that helps to explain why Judas and his angry mob came at midnight. Oh, they partly did it for tactical reasons. I mean, if you're going to do this kind of thing, it helps to have the cover of darkness. But it's also a sign that they themselves are working in the power of darkness.

In fact, Luke has told us already, going back to the beginning of chapter 22, that the devil himself had entered into the betrayer. Judas was in Satan's grip. What he did was under the power of darkness as all of the forces of Satan's dark realm were arrayed against the Son of God. And as for a time, they triumphed.

Now, I could encourage you by saying that at least Satan's triumph only lasted for an hour, whereas the victory of the Son of God will last for all eternity. And of course, that is true. When Jesus said "this is your hour," he is placing a kind of time limit on the power of darkness.

And so, although there's a time when Satan seems to triumph, the time of Gethsemane and Calvary and the darkness of the tomb, that victory is very short-lived because it turns to defeat on Easter Sunday, when on the third day Jesus rose from the dead, breaking the power of darkness and bringing the light of salvation to everyone who believes. I could say all of that. I could encourage you with that, that the power of darkness has its time, but then the resurrection power of God comes. So we do not live in Satan's dark hour.

But you know, I want to encourage you in a different way. I want to encourage you by saying that even the dark hour that seemed to be under Satan's power was really God's hour. The fact that Jesus told the forces of darkness which hour was theirs shows that he was the Lord of that hour.

And indeed, the Lord of every hour. Even the dark hour of betrayal was under the greater power of God and of his Christ. Because you see, all of the things that seemed like victories for Satan, I mean, even beginning with Judas and his infamous kiss, all of that actually fulfilled the prophecies of God.

Jesus only allowed Satan to have this hour of power because he knew that it would help to accomplish our salvation. By suffering this betrayal and then everything else that happened to him on his way to death, Jesus was paying the price for our sin. He was bearing the guilt of our own iniquity. He was purchasing our own salvation.

And therefore, this hour of Satan's power was at the same time the hour of our redemption. What comfort and encouragement this gives to us in every one of our own dark hours. Oh, it is encouraging to know that our present trials will not last forever. Whatever difficulty or pain or struggle you're having in life will not endure forever. Soon we will enter the eternal light of our salvation. That is comfort enough.

But Jesus also gives us an additional comfort: that even this present darkness, whatever that may be for us in our own individual difficulties, even this present darkness is under the power of God. For if God was at work even during the dark hour of our Lord's betrayal, then whether we can see it or not, we may believe with hope that God is at work right now in our own dark trials.

God is even at work when we feel betrayed. You know, there's a powerful example of this in the life and death of William Tyndale, the famous Bible translator. If you know anything about William Tyndale, you know his burning passion was to put the Greek and Hebrew scriptures into the English language. For this alleged crime, as the church considered it in those days, he was forced to flee from his native England and go into hiding in Europe, where he continued his studies.

Now, I think many people will know that Tyndale was eventually burned at the stake. But what is somewhat less well-known is that his capture came as the result of a painful personal betrayal. It was a man Tyndale had trusted and confided in, a man he had welcomed to his own dinner table, a man he had invited into his secret study. It was, I say, the villainous and perfidious Henry Phillips who led him down a narrow passageway and into the arms of his enemies. And Phillips was a kind of Judas, paid handsomely for this treachery, and also using a prearranged signal to show which man he would betray.

Well, after Tyndale was arrested, he was taken to Vilvorde Castle to await his execution. All of his possessions were confiscated, including those precious books he was using to write out the word of God in English. And how was it that Tyndale responded to this betrayal? Was he seeking some kind of revenge? Or did he experience in some way the grace of Jesus Christ in his dark trial?

Well, I think we get a clear answer in Tyndale's last known letter, written to humbly appeal to the local authorities for the return of his own warm clothing. "I beg your lordship," he wrote near the beginning of his letter, "by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here through the winter, you will request the commissary to have the kindness to send me, from the goods of mine which he has, a warmer cap, for I suffer greatly from cold in the head. I am afflicted with a constant cough. And a warmer coat also, for this which I have is very thin. My overcoat is worn out, my shirts are also worn out. But he has a woolen shirt if he will be good enough to send it. And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening. It is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark. But most of all I beg and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the commissary that he will kindly permit me to have the Hebrew Bible, grammar, and dictionary that I may pass the time in that study."

Now, you can understand from even those requests how much Tyndale was suffering in the months before he died. Suffering physically, suffering the loss of his calling and all of his passion for the scriptures, suffering alone and in the darkness. And yet his letter closes with a strong affirmation of faith: "But I will be patient," he wrote, "abiding the will of God, to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ."

That's what Tyndale experienced in that darkest hour. He experienced the glory and the grace of his Lord Jesus Christ. He had suffered a betrayal that would lead to death. And yet even at such a time, he experienced in all humility and patience and longsuffering the peace and the comfort of Christ.

And do you know that as a result of his patient suffering and his faithful witness, that the jailkeeper and the jailkeeper's daughter and other members of their household came to faith in Jesus Christ? You see, even the hour that seems to be under the power of darkness is really God's hour. God is working in it. He is accomplishing his purposes. His grace is being worked out, his glory is being demonstrated. And by faith, we will be able to see it in our own dark trials.

Yes, God will comfort you with the presence of his spirit. He will give you the patience and the peace to endure without thoughts of recrimination or rancor the trial that you have experienced even in a time of betrayal. And he will help you to testify to the grace of your Savior, who himself was betrayed with a kiss.

Our Father in heaven, we pray for this kind of grace. We ask, Lord, that even when we cannot see what you are working out in our own trials, that you will give us the faith to believe in your goodness. Father, we pray particularly for anyone here who has experienced a deep betrayal and who is still struggling with all of the suffering that brings. Lord, will you by your spirit, by the ministry of Jesus Christ, speak your comfort and your courage into each heart. For Jesus' sake and in his name. Amen.

Mark: You are listening to Every Last Word with Bible teacher Dr. Philip Ryken, a listener-supported ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. The Alliance exists to promote a biblical understanding and worldview. Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of reformed theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide Christian teaching that will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place.

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