Make God’s Dreams For Us Our Dreams As Well—Part 3
Tragic Decisions
There must have been a bit of a carnival atmosphere to traveling with Jesus. Certainly He drew great crowds. I wonder what the odds were that the Son of God would choose as one of His apostles a man who found money a bigger attraction than ministry. This member of the Twelve was supposedly laying up for himself treasures in heaven by being a part of Jesus’ traveling entourage. But insiders testified that this disciple also worked at doing all right by himself here on earth as well!
Am I being too hard on Judas? I don’t believe so.
Listen to these observations from his fellow apostle John. Remember the story in John 12 of Mary taking a pint of expensive perfume and pouring it on Jesus’ feet? It was Judas who objected, asking, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” (v. 5)
Here’s John’s contention (v. 6): “[Judas] did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.”That’s a strong accusation, isn’t it? Observe what John writes next: “As keeper of the money bag, [Judas] used to help himself to what was put into it.” Wow!
I have to assume John is being truthful here. He reports that when Judas wanted to, he stole from the group’s kitty. What this information reveals is that at the very least, for Judas the love of money was a strong enough urge that he was willing to steal.
We also know that for money—thirty pieces of silver—Judas was willing to turn informant.
Maybe that urge to be rich was there from the beginning. My suspicion is that initially Judas was captured by the person of Christ and His message about His kingdom, or kingship. Then when the miracles started happening and the crowds began to swell, Judas knew he was in on the ground floor of something unique. When a movement expands and experiences momentum like this, there’s always the possibility of financial growth that can be exploited, which apparently is what Judas did.
But as months passed, and years, and the time eventually came for that final entry of the team into Jerusalem, Judas was quite aware that Jesus wasn’t performing the way he felt He should. Christ wasn’t taking advantage of “the messianic moment.”
Realizing the kingdom wasn’t going to be established the way he thought (i.e., a kingdom where he would have a prominent place), maybe this apostle felt he could best profit by disclosing the whereabouts of Christ to His enemies. Avarice would be a key motivation for Judas. That was, of course, a tragic decision.
When did the relationship between Judas and Jesus first begin to unravel? Was it back when Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters”? The two masters Christ named specifically were God and Money. We can’t be sure when Judas first became disillusioned.
But in broad strokes, Judas’ problem was that somewhere along the line his self-centered dreams took priority over Jesus’ kingdom dream. How often that has happened with people who have followed Christ. Like Judas, they start thinking about money more than ministry.
Judas is an exception in the sense that he had the opportunity to spend so much time with Jesus. Certainly he should have figured out that in a relationship with Christ, when one gives priority to self-centered dreams it’s not a win-win situation.
But Judas appears to be more the rule than the exception when we ask whether his attitude is a common one. The Jerusalem crowd had done the same thing earlier that week. They welcomed Christ into their city yelling, “Hosanna,” a Hebrew expression meaning “save us now.” Restated, “Deliver us from our oppressors and we’ll buy into Your kingship, Jesus. We want You to be the promised Messiah. ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the. Lord!’”
Again here were self-centered dreams taking priority over what God had in mind for His Son to do. Therefore, this wouldn’t have been a double win situation.
It’s a win-win relationship when we learn to make God’s dreams for us our dreams as well. Obviously it’s a win for God because we are then His faithful servants. But it’s also a win for us because we have a marvelous Lord who cares deeply about the well-being of His loyal subjects.
But we never want to forget that He is Lord and we are His servants. That’s what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2.“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Paul did this, but Judas did not.
One man started well and ended poorly. The other got off to a terrible start but eventually came on very strong. In God’s kindness He didn’t say to Paul that it was too late for him to buy into His kingship dream. The faithful servant is the one who takes great delight in the dreams of his master. And he or she is rewarded accordingly.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
