Lessons to Learn

So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night (John 13:26-30).

Before leaving the story of Judas Iscariot, there are some lessons to be learned from this wretched man - lessons that are intended to lead us to examine ourselves to see if we are a true disciple of Jesus or not. My thanks to Dr. John MacArthur for these insights.

Lesson 1 - Judas’ story is the highest example of lost opportunity and wasted privilege. He heard Jesus teach every day. He had the opportunity to personally interact with Him. He witnessed firsthand the miracles Jesus performed that proved undeniably that He was God in human flesh. Yet Judas refused Jesus’ invitation to repent of sin, believe and trust in Him, and to truly be a bona fide disciple of the Son of God (Matthew 11:28-30).

Lesson 2 - Judas proves what the love of money can do to the soul and life of a person. (1 Timothy 6:10). Money meant more to Judas than Jesus did.

Lesson 3 - Judas is the poster child of the vileness of spiritual betrayal. In every age there have been Judases who professed to follow Christ but ultimately rejected Him. Judas’ life is a wakeup call of the need for personal, spiritual self-examination (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Lesson 4 - Judas was living proof of our Lord’s patience, mercy, and loving-kindness. Even when he arrive with the mob to arrest Him in Gethsemane, Jesus still called Judas ‘friend’ (Matthew 26:50).

Lesson 5 - Judas’ example shows that Satan is always at work among God’s people. Jesus illustrated that truth in The Parable of the Wheat and Tares (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43).

Lesson 6 - Judas proves the deadliness of hypocrisy. Though Judas was a disciple of Jesus, he was first and foremost a fruitless branch to be cast into the fire of hell (John 15:6).

Lesson 7 - Judas demonstrated that there is nothing sinful men can do to overturn the sovereign will of God. Out of the seeming tragedy of the cross came the triumph of Christ; Satan’s apparent victory was in reality his ultimate defeat (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Genesis 3:15). God used Judas’ treachery for His own glory (Genesis 50:20). Amen.

Pastor