4
Acts 1:15-20 THE TRAGIC DEATH OF JUDAS
ISCARIOT
Introduction:
In
our previous text the disciples of Jesus returned to
the ascension of Jesus and began their
vigilance in an upper room of one of the
Christian homes waiting to be endued with
power from on high.
I.
An exposition of our text
In
our text today the Apostle Peter calls to the attention of the church
that the office of apostle which had been
vacated by the death of Judas
Iscariot needed to be filled. V. 15-16, ?And in those days Peter stood up
in
the midst of the disciples, and said, (the
number of names together were about
an hundred and twenty,) Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs
have been
fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the
mouth of David spake before concerning
Judas, which was guide to them that took
Jesus.? In Matthew 27:5 we are told
that Judas hung himself. That is all any of the gospel writers said
about it
except what the Apostle Peter says here in
our text and Luke records what Peter
said.
It
was a tragic event. V. 17, ?For he was
numbered with us, and had
obtained part of this ministry.? It would have been tragic no matter who the
man was.
But the Apostle Peter says, ?He
was one of us. He held an office
among us.
He was one of the twelve apostles.
But, of course, he was guilty of
a grievous sin. He betrayed Jesus into the hands of the
Jewish leaders. He
was, in a large measure, responsible for
the crucifixion and death of Jesus. It
seems far worse for one of His own to be
guilty of such a deed. Then Judas,
himself, died leaving a vacancy in the
church office which he held.
Now
Simon Peter does not tell us that Judas committed suicide. It was
Matthew who told us in Matthew 27:5 that
Judas hanged himself. That is all that
Matthew said about it. He committed suicide. He hung himself.
Neither
do any of the other gospel writers tell us more about the tragic
death of Judas except what the Apostle
Peter said here in our text and which
Luke recorded here in our text. In verse 18 Simon Peter said, ?Now this man
purchased a field with the reward of
iniquity...? That is, the money that
Judas
had received from the Jewish leaders for
betraying Jesus was used by those
leaders after the death of Judas to
purchase a field which would be used as a
burying place for the poor.
Then
Simon Peter goes into some of the details that are gruesome and gory.
(V. 18), ?...and falling headlong, he
burst asunder in the midst, and all his
bowels gushed out.?
Apparently the rope that Judas used to
hang himself was an old rope. Either
that or the limb to which he tied the rope
was a rotten limb because he fell
headfirst to the ground. Then when he hit the ground, his abdomen
burst and his
bowels spilled out on the ground. It must have been an awful sight. It was
gruesome.
It was ghastly. It was
repulsive. It was a sight that could
turn
your stomach.
V.
19-20, ?And it was known unto all the dwellers at
as that field is called in their proper
tongue,
field of blood.
For it is written in the book of Psalms,
Let his habitation be desolate, and let
no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick
let another take.? The dreadful deed
that Judas did in betraying Jesus became
known to all of
tragic circumstances of his death likewise
became known to all. It was just the
kind of story that news media would love
to get hold of today. They make their
living by telling terrible tragic
tales.
Simon
Peter reminded the church that the Old Testament scriptures, as
recorded in the Psalms, instructed that
the office which Judas occupied should
be filled.
He took this to be instructions to the church body to vote and fill
this vacancy with some qualified man.
II.
Six things that make the death
of Judas so very tragic
In
this message I will not deal with the filling with that vacancy.
Rather I want to point out some things to
you about the tragic death of Judas
Iscariot.
In
this message I want to point out to you six things that make the death
of Judas a very tragic death. Number one:
The death of Judas was tragic
because it was brought on by a sinful
shameful deed of his own. This was not a
tragedy that somebody else brought upon
Him. It was something that he brought
on himself. Nobody was to blame but himself.
Furthermore,
Judas was no hero. He did not die in the
line of duty as a
soldier on the battlefield. He was guilty of heinous sin. He was a traitor.
He was worse than a traitor to his
country. He was a traitor to His very
best
Friend.
He was a traitor to the Lord God of heaven. He was a traitor to the
very Son of God. He was a traitor to his fellow apostles and
to all of his
fellow church members. It was a cruel, horrible viscous evil deed
which he did.
He was well deserving to die in a horrible
manner. It was a tragic death, but
he deserved it. He brought it on himself.
Number
two: The death of Judas was tragic
because it was self inflicted.
Not only did he do a deed that made him
deserving of a tragic death, but he
actually tied the rope around his own neck
and then either jumped or kicked a
chair or something out from under his
feet. He took his own life. This is
always a tragic situation. It has been my unhappy task to preach the
funerals
of some who committed suicide. It was never a pretty scene. It was always a
gruesome picture. It was always a heart rending heart breaking
situation. It
was heart rending for the family and
friends. It was heart rending for me,
the
preacher.
It was always a tragic affair.
The
fact that Judas deserved to die and that he deserved to die a horrible
death and that he took his own life did
not take one iota away from the tradegy
of it all.
It was a horrible event.
Number
three: The death of Judas was tragic
because it was an ugly
gruesome affair. I will not again relate to you the details
of the event. It
is not the kind of details that
one likes to dwell on. Rather, it
was the
kind of event that you like to
forget. No matter what you may think
of Judas
for betraying Jesus, you surely cannot
take pleasure in him the kind of tragic
death that he experienced. It was horrible. It was terrible. It was an awful,
frightful, appalling, ghastly, dreadful, grim, gruesome, tragic
affair.
Number
four: The death of Judas was tragic
because his deed and his death
brought disgrace to his name. Our text said that it was known to all of
It was talked about and known about by
everybody.
Prior
to the betrayal of Jesus Judas had a good name and a good
reputation. He was well thought of by his fellow apostles
and fellow church
members.
When Jesus announced at the Passover supper that one of the twelve was
going to betray Him, nobody mentioned that
they thought Judas might be the
culprit.
They had not the slightest suspicion that he was the one.
Also
prior to the crucifixion Jesus, Himself was popular with most of the
general public and all twelve of His
apostles, even Judas, was well thought of
by the public. Everything in Scripture indicates that he had
a good reputation.
But
after the betrayal and the crucifixion of Jesus the name of Judas was
mud.
It has been mud ever since. If
anybody calls somebody else a Judas he is
very much insulted. The name of Judas has been disgraced and
will never
recover from that disgrace. You hear about a lot of babies being named
after
Bible characters, but you never hear of
anyone naming their son ?Judas.?
Number
five: The only good thing that came from
the death of Judas
Iscariot was that the money he received
for his deed was used for a good cause.
It was used to purchase a field which
would serve as a burying place for the
poor.
Number
six: But the most tragic thing about the
death of Judas was that
he died unsaved. He went out of this world unprepared to meet
God. I read in
Revelation 21:8 these words: ?But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and the sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone: which is the second
death.?
I
think there is abundant Bible proof that Judas was unsaved, but I am not
going to take the time to review that
evidence with you. I think you are aware
that he was unsaved. What I want to focus your attention on is
that this is
such a terrible tragedy. He had opportunity to be saved. If anybody ever and
an opportunity to be saved, Judas
did. But he passed up his opportunity
and his
opportunity is gone forever. He will never have another opportunity to be
saved.
What a tragedy. I would not wish
such a thing upon any human being. I
would not which that even upon Adolph
Hitler or Fidel Castro. I would not wish
that upon anyone, not even Judas
Iscariot!
It
is such a painful thing to burn even a small place on your body. It
must indeed be a terrible experience to be
cast bodily into a lake of fire and
brimstone.
It would be a most horrible thing to be sentenced forever to dwell
in such a horrible horrible place. And yet that is the fate of Judas
Iscariot.
Again I read from the Book of Revelation, Rev. 20:15, ?And whosoever was
not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.?
III.
The tragedy of anyone who dies unsaved
As
tragic as it is to know that Judas Iscariot will be there in that lake
of
fire suffering forever and forever, that is not the thing that weighs
heavily on my heart today. The thing that disturbs me is that some of
the
people in this very congregation today may
wind up in that lake of fire. I most
certainly do not want anyone here today to
go there. I can assure that it is
not the desire of God in heaven for
anybody here today to wind up in the lake of
fire.
But just as surely as I stand before you if anyone in this congregation
neglects to trust in Jesus and get saved
that is where he will wind up.
Let
me say to you that if you are not absolutely certain that you have
trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you
should come today and get right with
God. It would be a great tragedy for you to keep
putting it off and wait until
it is too late.
Conclusion:
The
God of heaven is watching on. Jesus
Christ the Son of God is watching
on.
The angels of God are watching on.
I call upon each of you who are unsaved
to come and trust Jesus now.
I also call upon each Christian not to waste
your life by failing to
serve Jesus faithfully now that you are
saved. It is not as tragic for a saved
person to be unfaithful to Jesus as it was
for Judas to betray Jesus to the Jews
nor as tragic as an unsaved person
neglecting to trust Jesus and be saved, but
it is a tragedy for a Christian to be
unfaithful and waste his life by
neglecting to live for Jesus. I call for you who are saved come and give
yourself into the service of Christ?