Sermon Tone Analysis

*MATTHEW 26:47-50*

 

 

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*JESUS & JUDAS ISCARIOT *

*1.        **The Disciple *

*a.        **Judas Iscariot *

Judas was one of the twelve disciples: “/then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot/…” [26:14].

§         εἷς τῶν δώδεκα - “/twelve/” [26:14], “/when he had called unto him his twelve disciples/…” [10:1];

§         Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης - “/Judas Iscariot/” [26:14], ‘praise God’; ‘name was probably derived from Kerioth, a town in the country of Judah’;

*b.        **The Calling *

Judas was called by Jesus: “/when he had called unto him his twelve disciples…//Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him/” [10:4].

§         προσκαλεσάμενος - “/called/” [10:4], aorist middle participle, from /prós/, ‘to’, and /kaléō/, ‘to call’; ‘to call to oneself, bid to come’;

§         Jesus’ foreknowledge: “/Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is s devil/?” [Joh.6:70];

“/I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen/…” [Joh.13:18].

*2.        **The Personal Life *

*a.        **Ambition *

Judas was drawn to Jesus as the Jewish Messiah:

*i.        **The Expectation *

The disciples expected Jesus to contest the authority of Rome: “/Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom unto Israel/” [Acts 1:6].

§         They were willing to die with him: “/though I should die with you/…” [26:35].

*ii.

**The Ambition *

Competition for position: “/grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand…in thy kingdom/” [20:20-24].

§         They were jealous: “/when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against/…” [20:24].

§         They quarrelled: “/there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest/” [Luk.22:24-26].

*b.

**Position of Treasurer~/Administrator *

Judas’s position: “/he had the bag, and bare what was put therein/” [Joh.12:6].

§         ἔχων – “/had/” [12:6], present active participle, ‘to have, own, possess’;

§         γλωσσόκομον - “/bag/” [12:6], ‘money bag, purse’; ‘common purse, fund’;

§         ἐβάσταζεν - “/bare/” [12:6], imperfect active, ‘to carry from place to place’;

§         He was recognised by the disciples in this office: “/some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy such things/…” [Joh.13:29].

The /present active participle/ of ‘to have’ and the /imperfect active/ of ‘to carry’ points to the fact that Judas was appointed to this position because of his particular gifts.

*c.        **Dishonesty *

Judas’s love of personal gain led him to become a thief: “/but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein/” [Joh.12:6].

§         κλέπτης - “/thief/” [12:6], ‘one who steals by fraud and in secret’;

§         ἦν - “/was/” [12:6], imperfect active, ‘to be, exist’;

*Application*

During Jesus’ public ministry he managed the treasury of the company (Jn 13:29), from which he was known to pilfer money (Jn 12:4

 

*3.

**The Social Context *

*a.        **Simon’s House  *

Jesus and the disciples came to the “/house of Simon the leper/” [26:6].

*i.        **The Occasion *

The occasion: “/there they made a supper/…” [Joh.12:2].

§         δεῖπνον - “/supper/” [12:2], ‘last main meal of the day’; ‘banquet’;

§         ἀνακειμένου - “/sat/” [26:7], ‘to recline for a meal’;

§         Mary: “/having an alabaster flask of perfume/…” [26:7].

*ii.

**The Guests *

The guests included: “/Martha served at the supper/…” [Joh.12:2].

§         Lazarus: “/Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead…/” [12:2].

§         Mary the sister of Martha: “/Mary and her sister M/artha…” [Joh.11:1-2].

§         The disciples: “/when the disciples saw it/…” [26:8].

*b.        **The Passover *

The Passover: “/where wilt thou that we prepare to eat the passover/” [26:17].

§         τὸ πάσχα - “/passover/” [26:17], ‘passover meal, lamb’; ‘to keep or celebrate the passover’;

§         Jesus and the disciples: “/when the evening was come, he sat down with the twelve/” [26:20].

*i.        **The Table Order *

Traditionally, the host, or the most important person, reclined in the centre of the chief couch, a couch for three, placed at the junction of the two arms of the u-shaped table.

§         The usual arrangement at such a meal was to have a series of couches, each accommodating three people, arranged in a U around the table.

§         The guests reclined on either side of the host, leaning on their left elbow and eating with their right hand.

§         The place of honour was to the left and, therefore, in a sense, behind the host.

§         The second place was to the right, and the guest in that position would have his back to the host, “/leaning on the bosom/” [13:23].

This was the position of special friendship: “/the disciple whom Jesus loved/” [13:23].

*Application*

At this last occasion of table fellowship before his crucifixion, Jesus continued to practice the forgiveness which had characterized his earlier table praxis.

Mark stresses that Jesus and his betrayer dipped their bread in the common bowl together; Judas Iscariot, not Jesus, withdrew his hand from the table.

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*THE PROCESS LEADING TO THE BETRAYAL *

*1.        **The Failed Expectations *

*a.        **The Entrance Into Jerusalem *

The turning point was the Triumphal Entry, which would have provided the perfect opportunity to seize power and be proclaimed king.

But what did our would-be Messiah do instead?

He cried over Jerusalem[1]!

*i.        **The Disappointments *

Step by step, the disappointments had come:

§         John was beheaded, and not avenged; on the contrary, Jesus withdrew Himself [Luk.9:7-10].

§         This constant withdrawing, whether from enemies or from success—almost amounting to flight—even when they would have made Him a King;

§         this refusal to show Himself openly, either at Jerusalem, as His own brethren had taunted Him, or, indeed, anywhere else; this uniform preaching of discouragement to them, when they came to Him elated and hopeful at some success; this gathering enmity of Israel’s leaders, and His marked avoidance of, or, as some might have put it, His failure in taking up the repeated public challenge of the Pharisees to show a sign from heaven;

§         Last, and chief of all, this constant and growing reference to shame, disaster, and death—what did it all mean, if not disappointment of all those hopes and expectations which had made Judas at the first a disciple of Jesus?

*ii.

**The Entrance into Jerusalem *

Jesus had failed Judas; He was not going to bring down the Roman Empire;

§         The plan of the multitudes: “/come and take him by force to make him a king/…” [Joh.6:15].

§         The occasion: “/when he was come into the city/…” [21:10].

§         The coming of the King: “/Behold, your King is coming unto you/…” [21:5-9].

*b.

**The House of Simon *

The house of Simon: “/woman with an alabaster flask of perfume/…” [26:6].

§         General objection: “/to what purpose was this waste made/?” [26:8].

§         Judas’ objection: “/Judas…Why was this ointment not sold/…” [Jn.12:5].

§         Judas’s motivation: “/this he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief/…” [12:6].

*i.        **The Rebuke *

Judas is rebuked by Jesus: “/Let her alone/…” [Jn.12:7].

§         Afej – “/let/” [12:7], from apo, from, and iemi, to put in motion, send; ‘to release from a legal bond’; ‘to divorce’.

§         Rebuke and response to rebuke: “/it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby/” [Heb.12:11].

*ii.

**The Activity of Satan 1 *

This was the first trigger: “/And (then) Judas Iscariot…went unto the chief priests/…” [14:10].

§         First mention of Satan’s activity, following the feast in Bethany: “/then Satan entered into Judas, surnamed Iscariot/…” [Lk.22:3-6].

§         Eivsh~/lqen - “/entered into/” [Lk.22:3-6], ‘to enter into in the sense of taking possession of’: “/I charge thee, come out of the man, and enter no more into him/” [Mk.9:25].

*iii.

**The Preparation *