I’m learning about the rise of the Soviet Union and socialism from a history program called, What We Saw.
The host keeps saying, “Does this sound familiar?” and I have to say it’s scary.
It’s scary because of how much of the same tactics are used today by socialism in our culture.
He read excerpts from from an U.S. State Dept. operative who foresaw the dangers of the Soviet Union before anyone else.
He especially warned how socialism wouldn’t in how they would not stop until they ruled the world.
One statement stood out to me the most and it’s scary how much it describes the way that socialists today are trying to undermine our national unity.
The statement lays out one of the goals of the Soviet Union as -
“To undermine general political and strategic potential of major western powers. Efforts will be made in such countries to disrupt national self-confidence, to hamstring measures of national defense, to increase social and industrial unrest, to stimulate all forms of disunity. All persons with grievances, whether economic or racial, will be urged to [seek compensation] not in mediation and compromise, but in defiant violent struggle for destruction of other elements of society. Here poor will be set against rich, black against white, young against old, newcomers against established residents, etc.”
The documentary’s question, “Sound familiar” causes me to stop and think,
“Yes, we’re seeing these same elements in our cultural slide today.”
Hearing statements like this about the destructive reign of the Soviet Union helps us to know what to recognize and reject in our current culture.
Socialism also pits one group of people against another to bring cultural change.
And refusal to bow to its way of viewing and speaking about an issue is responded with total intolerance.
It’s helpful to see how these destructive movements happened in history so that we can recognize and reject them today.
In a very similar way, I hope that the time we spend in Matthew 27:1-10 will help us to know -
Matthew 27 opens with some very dark and dreadful moments.
1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
Jewish law required that trials take place in the day time.
So, in order to meet this legal requirement, the necessary number of the Jewish ruling counsel decided that Jesus should be put to death in this morning session.
2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.
This is such a sad picture - The leaders of the Jews preparing their Messiah for sacrifice.
Jesus had predicted in Matt 17:22, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men”
What was grieving for His disciples at that time was His used of the term “delivered” - betrayed.
Now, we see this betrayal taking place.
Caiaphas had predicted in * John 11:50 “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
God’s sacred, perfect plan would be carried out by evil, far-from-perfect people.
This brings us to one of the truly most hopeless moments in the gospels.
3 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, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying
innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”
Again, we see the vilest of characters and the blindest of self-righteousness doesn’t take God by surprise.
God foretold through the prophets the specific amount of silver.
He foretold that it would be a price placed on a person’s head.
Jesus foretold that Judas would betray him.
God described the field that would be bought as being a potter’s field.
So, we want to see in our passage what we should recognize and reject in our own lives.
We’re going to be looking at the ultimate demise of Jesus’ betrayer, Judas.
We’re going to learn from the astounding self-righteousness of those who employed him to betray Jesus.
The darkness that could lead a person to such depths of deception/ to the point of suicide is unfathomable.
But many find themselves there.
I think it’s safe to say that all of us at one point or another have been or could be at this dark place.
If you find yourself sipping on Satan’s self-destructive ideas, I hope that you would reach out to someone and let them know.
None of us are in the same place of being destined for destruction as Judas was.
But all of us are in danger of being led to the same place if we allow the devil to direct our lives.
From verses 3-5, I hope to convince you to -
1. RECOGNIZE AND REJECT THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF SERVING SATAN.
Matthew inserts into his narrative the final days of Judas’ sad life.
It’s clear that this conversation doesn’t take place while the Jewish leaders are on their way to Pilate.
It must’ve been at some point after Jesus’ death sentence.
It’s assumed that these events are placed here in contrast with the experience of Peter, who denied Christ.
You’ll recall that Pastor Josh preached on Peter’s denial of Christ from the verses just before these.
3 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, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
When we’re told that Judas changed his mind, don’t confuse this with repentance.
First, it’s not the word for “repentance” in the original writing.
Warren Wiersbe writes that Judas’ experience is “NOT a sorrow for sin that leads to a change of mind and action, but a regret at being caught, a remorse that leads to despair.”
Judas is forever marked as the betrayer.
?- Why isn’t Peter forever marked as “the denier”?
I think this is answered partly because Judas changed his mind while Peter had a change of heart.
If you recall, the Jewish Leaders had paid Judas the payment for an injured slave - 30 pieces of silver.
Here, he brings the silver back because he doesn’t want it anymore.
Tim Keller once said, “What you idolize, you eventually will despise.”
Judas idolized money, and now he couldn’t stand it.
Maybe the silver only reminds him of his guilt
?- What’s he guilty of?
He’s guilty of worse than being a bad friend.
He basically swore out a warrant on Jesus as a false witness and became an informant.
According to the Law, because Jesus was accused and the penalty would be death, anyone who testified against him falsely was worthy of the death penalty.
So, according to Jewish Law, what Judas did was considered worthy of death because he had betrayed innocent blood.
Judas’ statement amounts to confessing a crime that carries the death penalty.
He’s coming to those that were thought to have the answers to this sort of dilemma.
He’s likely coming for advice on what to do or to turn himself in or maybe for absolution for his sin.
They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”
The response of these Jewish Religious Leaders is astoundingly callous, uncaring, disinterested in the moral dilemma that they engineered.
Judas was being told that his guilt before God was his problem not theirs.
What!?
He’s standing in the temple - this is the place where God met with man and atonement was worked out.
These men were thought to represent man to God - to plead their case for forgiveness.
This is the house of the same God that King David, who was guilty of murder, pled -
* Psalm 51:1–2 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
If there was anywhere that Judas thought he might find the answer to his guilt, it would be here with these men
But he found that he was a pawn they used.
And were ready to be rid of him.
They became the voice of Satan in his ear saying,
“You’ve done something worthy of death? See to it yourself.”
5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
Quote - ESV - “Satan brings total destruction and disgrace to the person who comes under his control.”
Jesus had warned His followers about the devil in -
* John 8:44b He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
Satan tells nothing but lies.
And to sit and listen to his voice of temptation or pride or self-pity is to listen to his lies.
And his lies have one final goal in mind - the destruction of the man or woman that listens to them
So, was Judas having a change of heart that led him to be grieved by his sin to the point of suicide?
No, I think he was under Satan’s control.
And Satan was done with him.
Satan’s final instruction was what he’d like to lead every one of us to - to destroy God’s creation.
I had a friend at Moody named DB.
He was in training to be a youth pastor.
And he had a beautiful fiancé’ named, Allison.
The two went on to marry, enter ministry, and have two sons.
Somehow, they were living beyond their means financially.
Allison would ask DB if they were doing OK even though they were spending so much.
He assured her that they were fine, but they weren’t.
DB could’ve come clean, and together they could’ve moved forward.
Somehow, DB justified in his mind taking his family deeper and deeper into debt and lying about it.
One of the elders at his church stopped him one day and mentioned that he saw his name in the paper.
It was a public notice of bankruptcy.
He asked him if he needed help, but DB responded that it must be someone else with the same name.
He could’ve just said one word, “yes.”
And he would’ve been surrounded by love and help to move into the light of truth.
In May of 2014, the day came when he couldn’t hide the truth any longer.
He was going to have to tell his wife of 17 years they’d have to move out of their home.
His spending and lies finally culminated in the bank foreclosing on their house.
He could’ve broke the news to Allison and finally stepped into the light.
Instead, he took his own life.
I cannot imagine the lies that were clouding his mind.
I cannot imagine how dark he had let his Satan make his view of his life and his family.
All the problems that he didn’t want to face, Allison and his boys had to face alone.
They had to face them worse than alone.
All the financial problems became the least of their problems.
Now, it would’ve been going on 11 years since they’d lost their home.
They would’ve moved forward with help and celebrate their 28th anniversary.
Instead, they’ve moved on without him except for the pain that he left in his leaving.
If a pastor who’s job it is to be in God’s Word and care for his soul can let himself be so deceived,
no one should think that they can dance with the devil without having to pay the piper.
It’s only by God’s grace that any of us escape what is Satan’s ultimate design for us
And temptation is the devil’s trusted avenue that brings death, as we’re told in -
* James 1:14–15 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
And this death can be of any number of kinds of death -
death of freedom, death of relationships, death of purpose, and yes physical death.
One of the greatest tools to fight the lies of Satan is the truth of God’s Word.
God’s Word is described in many different terms in Psalm 119.
Just a simple search for “life” in Psalm 119 points to how God’s Word can defeat Satan’s deadly lies.
* Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
* Psalm 119:40 Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!
* Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
* Psalm 119:93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
* Psalm 119:156 Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules.
* Psalm 119:159 Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love.
I’ve shared before that I have men in my life that I can text when I’m knowingly tempted with sin.
My fellow Shepherds are some of those men.
Recently, when I did, I just shared that God had laid texting them on my mind as my “way of escape.”
And I took the way of escape.
?- Why would I need to take it? - because I know how dangerous temptation is.
The fact is that, even as a pastor, I cannot think that I’m strong enough, ignore the opportunity God gives me to escape temptation.
What starts as an opportunity for failure, darkness, and destruction can become victory and growth.
?- Where are you in dealing with temptation?
Are you just looking for the next opportunity to sin?
Or are you concerned about how easy it is for you to give in to temptation?
Or are you seeking to apply God’s truth and reaching out for accountability?
If you’re not sure what to think about your pastor reaching out for accountability,
you don’t understand the self-delusion that can come with vocational ministry.
It’s the very fact that I am a pastor that makes it all the more important that I walk in the light.
This brings us to the important challenge to take away from verses 6-8 to
2. RECOGNIZE AND REJECT THE SELF-DELUSION OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.
6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.”
Judas throwing the money into the temple and leaving forced the religious leaders into a dilemma.
Scripture is clear in Deuteronomy 23:18 that God did not want ill-gotten gains as offerings.
The thought is (because their considering putting it into the temple treasury) that’s where it came from.
And, now it can’t go back because it had been used to bribe someone to testify falsely
bringing about a man’s death - “blood money.”
7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
The field is called the potter’s field because it’s where those who made pottery would dig out their clay.
I’d assume that it wasn’t good for farming since it’s ground was mainly clay.
It wasn’t chosen by these religious leaders at random.
Acts 1:18 tells us that it’s the field that Judas’ decomposing body eventually fell on and desecrated.
The same passage calls the field “the reward of his wickedness.”
The purchase of this field is another step to justify their self-righteousness.
It was considered an act of charity for them to provide a graveyard for unclaimed strangers.
It would be the final resting place for those who were unclaimed or whose family was poor.
Matthew is showing the complete moral degeneration of the chief priests.
Think about it.
Their self-righteous reasoning was “This is tainted money, and it can’t be used for righteous work.”
?- Well, what tainted it? - It was used as a bribe to help convict an innocent man.
?- Who tainted it? - The Religious Leaders
In callous, self-righteousness they had bribed one of Jesus’ followers to help them sentence Him to death.
In callous, self-righteousness they had refused Judas any comfort sending him off to end his despair.
In callous, self-righteousness they had reasoned that the money was tainted due to sin.
But they were willingly blinded to their part in all these dreadful events.
These men were showing just how dead they were on the inside.
I think that when they managed to find a self-righteous use of the money, they were basically thinking,
“Well, all’s well that ends well.”
That’s because their basic definition “ending well” was being able to look in the mirror and saying,
“I met my standard of righteousness today.”
Every political season, we see adds on TV in which politicians are praised as “a man of the people.”
They’re seen touring a factory and called an honest woman who will fight for the little person.
They’re shown standing in a soybean field with a truckers hat on talking with men next to their combine.
Under the image it might say that he’s “a man that remembers where he came from.”
If the politicians spouse was complaining to them about how harsh and short-tempered they were being,
Would it do any good for them to say, “No I’m not. Haven’t you watched my TV adds?”
Their spouse would look at them and ask, “Are you serious?”
We have a saying when someone like this is self-delusional.
We say their “Believing their own hype.”
The self-delusion that comes from self-righteousness is a real problem.
We say their “Believing their own hype.”
The self-delusion that comes from self-righteousness is a real problem.
I’ve seen more than once when immorality is overlooked in a church - even in the pastor.
And it turns out that multiple men on the elder team were having affairs.
It usually gets that way because everyone thinks they’re fine because of all the good they’re doing.
And everyone stops living by God’s standard and become satisfied with their own standard.
On a simpler level, self-righteousness steals from us the opportunity to enjoy God’s grace.
Paul Tripp has said, “You'll never celebrate grace as much as you should when you think you're more righteous than you actually are.”
?- So for you, Where are you in dealing with religious pride?
Are you happy to say that you do enough to make up for your sinfulness?
Do you struggle with thinking that church involvement makes me better than others?
Or are you fully aware that it’s only God’s grace through Christ that I’m reconciled with God?
So, we’ve seen two examples of people who we must fight being like.
Both of these human examples we’re shown are what it looks like to walk in the flesh.
Judas walked in his fleshly desire for money and the comfort pleasure it could bring. The religious leaders walked in their fleshly legalism - convincing themselves that they didn’t need a Savior How do we fight against this? - walking by God’s Spirit.
This comes through knowing Christ as our Savior.
Walking humbly with Him as our Lord.
Confessing our sin when we wander from Him.
And being filled with His Spirit on the regular.
