Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full

I've traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this

I did it my way

Pause

With not much editing, those words could have been the words of Judas Iscariot.

Judas, the betrayer of Jesus the Son of God, who faced the final curtain after realising the extent of his actions.

Judas, who lived the fullest life ever, because for the last 3 years he was in the physical presence of God himself, laughing with him, eating with him, watching him feed 5000 people, watching him raise his friend Lazarus from the dead.

You can’t get a fuller life than that...

Travelling each and every highway with the Son of God, seeing the miracles and talking with God himself as they travel along the roads.

Travelling through the highway to Galilee, passing through Samaria and seeing repentance and forgiveness - seeing the kingdom of God break forth in front of his eyes as he travelled each and every highway...

And yet, when all was said and done, he did it HIS WAY.

When confronted with the sin in his life - when confronted with the horrendous thing that he did and the consequences of his actions, Judas did it his way.

He judged himself and condemned himself to hell by doing it his way.

Pause

What I discovered during the week was that many commentators thought that Judas didn’t want Jesus to be crucified.

Apparently, the consensus is that Judas didn’t want to see Jesus suffer and die at all - that wasn’t his intention, according to many people.

Instead, what they think is that Judas had had enough of Jesus’ lack of progress.

He may have recognised that he WAS the Messiah and he had an idea in his head of what the Messiah would do.

He was the one to come and set the captives free.

He was the one to come and break the chains of oppression from the Romans and establish God’s kingdom of Israel as THE kingdom.

But if you’re impatient and don’t see anything happening, some people are inclined to take matters into their own hands.

Some people want to do it THEIR way.

And that’s what the commentators thought Judas was doing.

They think that by betraying Jesus to the chief priests and leaders of the church, that Jesus would be placed in a position where he could unleash all of his Messianic power on them and start the wheels in motion of what HE THOUGHT the Messiah was supposed to do.

And so when Jesus is bound and handed over to Pilate to be condemned, Judas realises that his plan had backfired.

He realises that he’s just sentenced Jesus, the Messiah, to death…and he is filled with remorse and regret over his actions...

His plan had backfired...

Pause

But actually, and ironically, his plan hadn’t backfired at all… Because Jesus was about to unleash all his Messianic power and set the captives free.

He was about to demonstrate immense awesome power, breaking the chains of oppression, but it was to happen through his death - not through a feat of strength.

In fact, Jesus was going to conquer sin and death through a feat of weakness and humility rather than in a feat of strength.

But Judas didn’t see it like that.

He had walked each and every highway with Jesus.

He had spent time with the Son of God, seeing him do all these inexplicable things, and yet he still didn’t get it.

He still didn’t KNOW Jesus.

Im sure he THOUGHT he knew Jesus…he certainly knew of him.

He knew ABOUT him…but he didn’t KNOW him.

He didn’t love him like Peter loved Jesus.

Pause

In fact, let’s look at Peter for a minute...

Because Peter also betrayed Jesus - he denied any knowledge of him not once, not twice, but three times…So Judas and Peter are in the same boat here.

And they were in the same boat when Jesus calmed the storm.

They were in the same boat when Jesus walked on the water.

And yet Peter KNOWS Jesus and loves him.

It seems that Judas just knows ABOUT Jesus.

But after Jesus defeats death, he asks Peter on the shore...

Peter, do you love me?

Not once, not twice, but three times.

One time for each time Peter denied Jesus.

And Peter says, ‘you know I love you.’

Peter Knows Jesus and he loves Jesus…Judas just knows ABOUT Jesus.

[Peter knows Jesus, Judas knows about Jesus]

…and there’s a difference.

Pause

And Peter is filled with remorse, just like Judas was.

And Peter repents, just like Judas kind of does - there’s a bit of debate over that, but he’s filled with regret, he goes back to the religious leaders confessing his sin.

The greedy man gives back the money he was given - that looks a lot like repentance to me.

But where Peter and Judas differ, is that Peter waited for his Lord and he reconciled with Jesus on the shore.

Judas did it his way…and he took his OWN life rather than letting Jesus GIVE him life.

Pause

Peter and Judas had both seen Jesus forgive many people on their way.

Judas travelled each and every highway with Jesus, seeing him heal and forgive.

Peter did too.

With Jesus there was always grace and forgiveness and redemption.

Peter knew this because he KNEW Jesus.

Judas only knew ABOUT Jesus.

If Judas really KNEW Jesus he would have waited for his Lord to forgive him…except that Jesus wasn’t his Lord.

If you KNOW the Son of God and betray him, you would seek his forgiveness, despite the horrendous nature of your sin and betrayal - you would still seek him and come to him in repentance and accept his grace and his love…that’s what Peter did - that event on the shore was Jesus and Peter being reconciled together again.

But if you only know ABOUT the Son of God and you betray him, then what else can you do but take matters into your own hands and condemn yourself?

Judas hanged himself - he did it HIS way.

He judged himself.

He condemned HIMSELF because he didn’t go to Jesus and accept his forgiveness and his grace.

And when the end was near and he faced the final curtain, Judas did it HIS way.

And his way wasn’t the right way.

Pause

Judas sinned.

He committed a horrendous sin, but it was part of God’s plan for Jesus to save the world - it was God’s plan for Jesus to unleash his Messianic power and set the captives free - people like you and me, who were held captive by the power of sin and death.

Jesus set us free from that captivity when he died on the cross.

It was God’s plan to establish his kingdom here on earth - not Israel, but the kingdom of God - an unshakable kingdom where its citizens have a unique relationship with their king himself…and it came through Jesus’ death on the cross.

Judas’ plan had worked.

It had backfired with respect to the way HE might have wanted it to go, but it had worked.

But while God used Judas, Judas still sinned.

And the thing with sin is this...

With sin, we can’t turn back the clock and undo what we did.

Once it’s done it’s done.

Once a sin has been committed there is a price to pay and there’s guilt and shame that goes along with that.

And also, with sin, a lot of times people often end up hating the very thing that was gained by the sin.

Judas was greedy for money.

And after he sinned to get it, he threw it away.

But HAD he KNOWN Jesus, had he not done it HIS way - he would have come to Jesus and Jesus would have forgiven him and shown him grace and love, as he did with Peter.

Despite how serious this sin was, there is no sin so bad that Jesus can’t forgive.

The only sin that can’t be forgiven is the sin of ignoring the gospel message and doing it YOUR way.

Because when we do it OUR way when it comes to being righteous, OUR way is the wrong way.