SUNDAY SERVICE [8/9/26] - A Devil in Disguise

Luke 22 opens with Passover drawing near, and the shadow of betrayal already falling across the table. The chief priests and scribes are not suddenly deciding to kill Jesus. Their hatred has been simmering for at least a year because Jesus undermined their power, exposed their hypocrisy, and claimed the holy name of the great I AM for himself. Their problem is not lack of evidence. Lazarus came out of the grave, more than thirty miracles contradicted nature, and still their hearts would rather “bury the evidence” than ask whether Jesus was telling the truth.

Judas Iscariot stands as the ugliest traitor in all of human history, worse than any Benedict Arnold, because Judas had front row seats to the sinless Messiah for three years. Judas walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, ministered with Jesus, and watched perfection up close without ever belonging to him. John’s Gospel hints that Mary’s costly anointing in Bethany may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Judas saw worship and called it waste, because his heart had already been captured by filthy lucre, ambition, and the earthly kingdom he wanted Jesus to build.

Luke’s devastating line, “Satan entered Judas,” exposes Judas as no true believer but a son of perdition, a devil in disguise. Judas was not an outsider throwing stones from a distance. Judas was an insider, trusted enough to carry the money bag, hidden behind a facade so convincing that none of the other disciples suspected him. His life gives the sober warning that being around Jesus Christ does not necessarily mean belonging to Jesus Christ.

Yet the betrayal does not catch Jesus by surprise. The cross is not a backup plan. God is accomplishing redemption through the most heinous sinful act ever committed, and if God can turn that treachery into the greatest act of salvation, then broken circumstances are not beyond his hand.

Judas later feels ruined, regretful, and remorseful, but Matthew shows that his sorrow is not biblical repentance. Judas changes his mind about what he did to Jesus, but not about who Jesus is. True repentance is not merely sorrow over consequences. True repentance turns from sin and runs to Christ for mercy.

Peter’s denial shows another kind of betrayal, but Peter’s story ends differently because Peter weeps, repents, and returns. The Bible is not only a record of human treachery. The Bible is a record of amazing grace for turncoats, traitors, and sinners whose treason can be laid down at the foot of the cross.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Proximity is not possession. Judas had the kind of access many would imagine impossible to waste. He heard Jesus teach, watched Jesus heal, and still never surrendered his soul to the one beside him. Church attendance, Bible knowledge, and ministry usefulness can all sit dangerously close to an unchanged heart. [53:17]
• 2. Regret is not repentance. Judas felt the crush of shame, brought back the blood money, and admitted he had betrayed innocent blood. Still, sorrow over damage done is not the same as bowing before Christ as Lord. Biblical repentance changes direction, not merely emotion. [60:01]
• 3. Treachery hides inside respectable hearts. Judas was trusted enough to carry the money bag, and the disciples never saw through the disguise. The scariest betrayal is not always loud, ugly, or obvious at first. Sin can wear the clothes of religion while quietly loving money, power, control, or self more than Christ. [51:35]
• 4. Grace receives returning traitors. Peter also betrayed Jesus, but Peter did not run the road of despair. Peter wept bitterly, came back, and found forgiveness from the Savior he denied. The difference the gospel makes is not that sin becomes small, but that Christ’s mercy is deeper still. [75:25]
• 5. The cross silences every excuse. No sinner has wandered beyond the reach of the crucified and risen Christ. The claim that sin is too ugly, too repeated, or too far gone dies at Calvary. Jesus stands ready with open arms, not a clipboard, for the humble and repentant heart.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:31] - Prayer and Sacred Scripture
• [30:51] - Luke 22 and a Devil in Disguise
• [31:26] - Treachery in History and Scripture
• [35:21] - Judas Iscariot, the Notorious Traitor
• [42:15] - Reading Luke 22:1-13
• [43:23] - Mary’s Anointing and Judas’s Greed
• [46:05] - Religious Leaders Reject the Evidence
• [50:31] - Satan Enters Judas
• [52:52] - Around Christ Without Belonging
• [59:33] - Regret Without Repentance
• [68:08] - The Passover Room Prepared
• [73:05] - Treachery Runs Through the Human Heart
• [75:25] - Peter’s Repentance and Greater Grace
• [80:41] - Bad News Before Good News

Bible Reading

Luke 22:1-13
“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’ They said to him, ‘Where will you have us prepare it?’ He said to them, ‘Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, “The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.’ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.” [42:15]

Matthew 27:3-5
“Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ They said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.” [59:33]

John 12:4-6
“But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” [43:23]

John 13:2
“During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,” [50:31]

Observation questions

1. In Luke 22:1-6, what motives and pressures are named for the chief priests, scribes, and Judas, and how do those details move the betrayal forward? [46:05]
2. What details in John 12:4-6 reveal what Judas was like before the betrayal became public?
3. In Luke 22:7-13, what specific instructions does Jesus give Peter and John, and what does the passage say they found when they obeyed?
4. What actions in Matthew 27:3-5 show that Judas felt the weight of what he had done, and what did he do with the silver? [01:00:01]

Interpretation questions

1. Judas was “of the number of the twelve,” yet he did not belong to Christ in a saving way. What does that say about the difference between being near Jesus and truly trusting Jesus? [53:17]
2. Luke says Satan entered Judas, and John says the devil had already put betrayal into his heart. How should that shape the way a group understands the seriousness of hidden sin and spiritual drift? [56:57]
3. Matthew says Judas “changed his mind,” yet his end was despair, not restoration. What is the difference between feeling bad about sin and turning to Christ in real repentance? [01:02:08]
4. Jesus was not surprised by betrayal, and the cross was not a backup plan. How does that help explain God’s sovereignty even in the middle of ugly human sin? [55:21]

Application questions

1. Proximity is not possession. What kinds of things can make a person feel spiritually safe—church attendance, Bible knowledge, ministry activity, long familiarity with Christian things—while the heart is still resisting Christ? Where might that danger be showing up personally? [53:17]
2. Judas loved money, position, and his own expectations enough to trade away faithfulness. What is most likely to compete with love for Christ in real life right now—money, control, approval, comfort, a relationship, a habit, an ambition? [54:27]
3. Regret is not repentance. When sin is exposed, is the deeper grief usually over offending God, or over the consequences, embarrassment, and fallout? How can that difference be recognized in an honest way? [01:04:01]
4. It is possible to be sorry for sin and still not want to part with it. Is there any “pet sin” or repeating pattern that is easier to excuse than to truly fight? What would it look like to bring that into the light and ask God for a changed heart? [01:07:20]
5. Treachery runs through respectable hearts too, not just scandalous ones. In what subtle ways can a believer choose personal will over God’s will during an ordinary week? [01:14:14]
6. Peter’s failure was real, but he returned and found mercy. When someone has failed badly, what helps them run back to Christ instead of choosing shame, hiding, or despair? [01:15:25]
7. The cross silences the excuse that a sinner has gone too far. Is there any area of shame, repeated failure, or spiritual defeat that still feels beyond mercy? What would it look like to believe that Christ stands with open arms there too? [01:18:52]