May 31 - Matthew's Messiah: Judas

Devotional

Day 1: Betrayal at the Table of Closeness

They reclined elbow-to-elbow, sharing bread while hiding knives. Jesus’ warning hung thick as disciples whispered “Is it I?”—not suspecting the thief who’d shared their ministry journeys. Betrayal thrives in the space between shared meals and secret motives, where trust masks festering disloyalty. The greater the intimacy, the deeper the wound when hands that broke bread now plot destruction. Even Jesus’ inner circle wasn’t immune to corruption’s creep. [39:47]

“And when they were eating, he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.’ And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, ‘Is it I, Lord?’ He answered, ‘He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.’” (Matthew 26:21-23, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you compartmentalized secret motives while maintaining spiritual routines? What hidden fracture in your relationships with God or others needs the light of confession?

Day 2: Wolves in Haloed Disguise

Evil prefers religious costumes. False apostles mimic servant postures while exploiting communities, their venom sweetened by pious language. Like Judas counting coins during deliverance missions, they weaponize trust to dismantle what they helped build. The greater the spiritual authority, the deadlier the corruption—yet discernment grows not through suspicion, but through testing fruit. [43:26]

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15, ESV)

Reflection: When have you excused toxic behavior because it came from “mature” believers? What current situation requires you to separate spiritual appearance from Christlike substance?

Day 3: Chosen, Known, Yet Responsible

The silver clinked with prophetic echoes as Judas sealed his deal. Divine foreknowledge didn’t absolve his choice—it magnified the tragedy. God’s sovereignty and human agency collide where eternal plans and mortal decisions intersect. Judas’ story warns: proximity to holy things without heart transformation only deepens condemnation. [49:54]

“The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” (Matthew 26:24, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you blame circumstances for choices actually within your control? How does God’s foreknowledge challenge—not excuse—your daily decisions?

Day 4: The Question That Exposes Hidden Hearts

“Is it I?” trembled on lips of saints and traitors alike. Judas weaponized the question as camouflage while others trembled in self-doubt. The mirror of Christ’s presence reveals what loyalty narratives we’ve constructed. Only in raw honesty before the One who knows hand-dippers and heart-sellers do we escape self-deception’s undertow. [48:40]

“Judas, who would betray him, answered, ‘Is it I, Rabbi?’ He said to him, ‘You have said so.’” (Matthew 26:25, ESV)

Reflection: What areas of your spiritual life feel performative rather than authentic? Where might Jesus’ quiet “you have said so” expose hidden duplicity?

Day 5: Grace Beyond the Unthinkable Betrayal

The rope snapped under despair’s weight—but the cross still held. Judas’ tragedy wasn’t the betrayal’s gravity, but his refusal to run toward the pierced hands that forgave executioners. Where Peter’s denial met restoration, Judas’ remorse met self-destruction. The difference between redemption and ruin lies not in sin’s size, but in the direction we flee when exposed. [59:56]

“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23:34, ESV)

Reflection: What shame makes you want to hide rather than approach Christ? How might His words to His murderers reshape your view of His capacity to forgive you?

Sermon Summary

Matthew 26 sets the scene with Passover on the horizon and Jesus saying plainly that the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. The chief priests and elders, led by Caiaphas, decide Jesus must go, yet fear the crowds. The city sits on a powder keg, and Caiaphas’ Roman appointment hangs on his ability to keep a lid on revolt. But Matthew shifts the villainy from palace plotting to a closer sorrow: Judas, one of the Twelve, volunteers to hand Jesus over for thirty pieces of silver.

The text keeps saying it: Judas was one of the Twelve. That is the sting. Jesus chooses him, lives with him, entrusts him with shared ministry, then reclines at table with him in the closest kind of fellowship. While everyone leans elbow-to-chest at the Passover meal, Jesus drops the line that breaks the room: “One of you will betray me.” No one points at Judas. Each disciple asks, “Is it I, Lord?” The betrayal isn’t obvious, which is exactly the warning Scripture keeps giving: even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, and his servants will look like servants of righteousness.

Jesus refuses to ease the tension. “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me.” He lets them sit with that. The right identification is not them vs. the Pharisees but the hard question, Is it me? The human heart can justify nearly anything; Judas almost certainly didn’t cast himself as the bad guy in his own story. Yet Jesus names both divine foreknowledge and human responsibility in one breath: “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.” God knows the end from the beginning, and still every choice is morally weighty.

Even at the table Jesus gives Judas a quiet off-ramp. Judas asks, “Is it I, Rabbi?” and hears, “You have said so.” Judas keeps the mask on and keeps going. Later, when he sees Jesus condemned, he feels horror, throws back the silver, and hangs himself. That is sorrow without repentance. If he had run to the crucified Jesus and told the truth, he would have met the One who forgave the guards, welcomed the thief, and would later restore Peter. The gospel lands here: the cross exposes the truth that “I put him there,” and then shocks with, “Father, forgive them.” The point is not that some are heroes and some are villains; all have sinned, and grace meets the worst of it. The difference is direction. Judas runs away. Peter runs toward Jesus.

Key Takeaways

1. Evil often looks like righteousness [42:59] False teachers wear church clothes and talk church talk, so outward niceness can’t be the test. Scripture points to deeper markers: humility over boasting, weakness owned rather than power flexed, fruit over flash. Discernment starts with listening for the shape of the cross in a life, not just the shine of gifts. The warning is mercy because betrayal usually comes from close range. [42:59]
2. Ask the Judas question: Is it me? [46:51] The disciples don’t play the blame game; they examine themselves. Real spiritual maturity dares to suspect self-interest, self-deception, and self-justification first. That posture keeps the heart soft and the conscience awake to grace. Self-suspicion is not self-loathing; it is sober truth-telling that makes repentance possible. [46:51]
3. God knows; choices still matter [49:32] Jesus ties prophecy and woe in one sentence, refusing easy either-ors. Divine foreknowledge does not cancel moral agency, and moral agency does not limit divine sovereignty. That pairing steadies the soul: history is not random, yet human decisions are weighty. Sobriety about sin and comfort in providence can live in the same heart. [49:32]
4. Sorrow is not repentance [55:55] Judas feels terrible and even confesses, but he does not come to Jesus. Remorse looks inward and locks the door; repentance looks at Christ and walks toward him. The difference is life and death. Grace does not meet the performance of penance; it meets the sinner who tells the truth to the Savior. [55:55]
5. There is no limit to forgiveness [01:01:20] The cross welcomes those who know they put him there. Jesus forgives perpetrators, failures, and latecomers who collapse into his mercy. The hardest step is believing he means it for the very thing that most shames the soul. Where sin feels final, his word “Father, forgive” makes a future. [61:20]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:56] - Who’s the villain?
[30:44] - Passover predicted, plot to kill
[33:28] - Judas named as betrayer
[36:55] - One of the Twelve
[38:32] - Passover table intimacy
[39:47] - “Is it I, Lord?”
[42:59] - Wolves in church warning
[46:51] - Turn the search inward
[49:32] - Foreknowledge and responsibility
[53:30] - Judas hides, chooses silver
[55:55] - Sorrow without repentance
[58:59] - What if Judas ran to Jesus?
[61:20] - No limit to Christ’s forgiveness
[63:13] - Peter and Judas: different directions

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 26:14-25 (ESV)
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Observation Questions

What detail does Matthew emphasize repeatedly about Judas, and why might this detail matter?
How did the disciples react when Jesus said, “One of you will betray me”? What does their response reveal about their self-awareness? [39:47]
What two truths does Jesus hold together in verse 24 (“The Son of Man goes as it is written… but woe to that man…”), and how do they create tension?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus didn’t explicitly name Judas as the betrayer during the meal, even though He knew? What does this suggest about His approach to sin and repentance? [47:41]
Judas asked, “Is it I, Rabbi?” while the others asked, “Is it I, Lord?” How might the difference in how they addressed Jesus reflect their hearts?
The sermon contrasts Judas’s “sorrow without repentance” with Peter’s eventual restoration. Why is running toward Jesus, not just feeling guilt, essential for forgiveness? [58:59]

Application Questions

The disciples asked, “Is it I, Lord?”—a posture of self-suspicion. What practical step could you take this week to regularly examine your motives or actions for hidden self-interest? [46:51]
Judas justified his betrayal in his own mind. Are there areas in your life where you’ve convinced yourself that a sinful choice is “not that bad” or even “necessary”? How can you confront that?
The sermon warns that “sorrow is not repentance.” When have you felt guilt over a sin but avoided bringing it to Jesus? What would it look like to run to Him instead of away this time? [55:55]
Jesus’ forgiveness extends even to those who “put Him there.” Is there a specific shame or failure you’ve struggled to believe He could forgive? How might embracing His “Father, forgive them” change that? [01:01:20]
The difference between Judas and Peter was direction—running away vs. running toward grace. What habits or relationships help you move toward Jesus when you fail?

Sermon Clips

42s

“And Jesus gives the answer to both of those questions, and it's yes. And this kind of, you know, runs against the grain of the way that we like to think of free will. People would say, man, is god then some evil puppet master, you know, pulling the strings? When I say things, is it god just doing this with my mouth? Is he making me think things that I'm thinking? Even here with events that were foretold by prophecy, Judas still made a meaningful choice. He doesn't get a pass. Jesus says, this was written about, but woe to him. He will suffer the consequences.”

38s

“The earth shattering, life changing thing is not discovering that I put him there. That's something I always suspected to be true. It's that in that place, I get to hear the words, father, forgive them. And he means it. You need to hear that. He means it because so often when people are new to the faith or they're exploring church for the first time, the hard part for them is not that God will judge them. Over and over and over again, I have conversations the same way. I don't know if God can forgive me.”

34s

“And we thought in doing away with that and don't ever let anyone tell you that you're less than perfect, that kind of thing. We thought that it would make us free. But what we've lost is any concept of redemption. Because who gets redeemed? It's not the heroes. And if we're all the heroes of our own story, then we don't need redemption. Then what are you gonna do when you realize that you're a Judas?”

47s

“Judas came to see the wrongness of his actions, but being sorry for sin is not the same as repenting. Judas went and hung himself. In that moment, I want you to understand this, Judas could have departed to a different fate. Bear with me. What would have happened if instead of departing to hang himself, Judas had left that to go to Jesus as he is being crucified? Even knowing that this is happening to you pretty directly because of what I did, it'd be incredibly difficult.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Eaton First Church of God This sermon · AI assistant

How can divine foreknowledge and human responsibility coexist?

Could I secretly become like Judas without noticing?

What differentiates genuine repentance from remorseful despair?

May 31 - Matthew's Messiah: Judas

Devotional

Day 1: Betrayal at the Table of Closeness

Day 2: Wolves in Haloed Disguise

Day 3: Chosen, Known, Yet Responsible

Day 4: The Question That Exposes Hidden Hearts

Day 5: Grace Beyond the Unthinkable Betrayal

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

May 31 - Matthew's Messiah: Judas

Share