The World Will Leave You Hanging
Scripture Reference: Matthew 27:1-8
Preached at Mount Zion Baptist Church on July 12, 2020
Delivered by Rev. John Daniel Johnson
If I had to make an estimated guess, I would guess that 100% of you have a television in your house. Our family tries to watch a TV movie at least once a week together, however, there is always a terrible down-side to watching these television movies. About every 5-7 minutes, there will be a commercial to interrupt the movie; right when it is getting good.
In the mid-1980’s through the 90’s, there was a commercial aired by the Department of Transportation. It was more like a public safety announcement, but this commercial will forever be seared into my memory. This commercial had two main characters, Vince and Larry. We see these two guys involved in numerous vehicle crashes, and then the narrator of the commercial would always end by saying, “You can learn a lot from a dummy. Buckle your safety belt.”
This morning, our Scripture passage found in Matthew 27; so let us open our Bible there today. Just like those old Crash Test Dummy commercial always taught us a valuable lesson about safety, this morning we’re are going to look at a man in Scripture an learn a spiritual lesson that will keep us safely in the will of God.
Scripture:
“When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it! Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.”
~ Matthew 27:1-8
This morning I want to share with you the Word that the LORD laid on my heart from this text this morning, and the title came from the reading of verse 5. So we’ll read it again this morning. Scripture declares…
“Then [Judas] threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed,
and went and hanged himself.”
~ Matthew 27:5
With that thought in mind, I want to look to your neighbor and tell them, “The World Will Leave You Hanging…The World Will Leave You Hanging.”
I know you believe like I do in reference to God’s Word. I believe it is infallible. I believe every word of it from the front cover to the back cover. I believe it was written by the very inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Man penned it, but the Spirit guided their hand over it. Nothing is placed in this Living Book by accident, coincidence or mistake. The Bible teaches us in 2 Timothy…
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Since we know every Word of God is beneficial for us, the LORD began showing me how the life and death of Judas can also help us in this Christian walk. I began asking myself, what can this man possibly teach us today? What can this man…
A. Whom in Luke 6:16 is called a "traitor;"
B. Whom in Matthew 17:22 is called a "betrayer;"
C. Whom John 12:6 states was a "thief;"
D. or, Whom in John 17:12 is called the “son of perdition;”
…what lesson can the life and death of Judas possibly teach us today?
The Bible doesn’t tell us a whole lot about Judas Iscariot. All we know is that his father was named Simon (John 6:71). The last part of his name, Iscariot, is possibly a reference to the town of Karioth in Judea. Some things that we do know is this, however.
A. Luke 6 tells us that at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He had a huge following of people. Out of this mass following, Jesus chose 12 men and named them as His apostles.
B. We know that for three years, Judas sat under the ministry of Jesus. He saw the miracles, the signs, the dead raised, and heard the message of the cross preached to him.
C. He was given the same access to the spiritual gifts as the rest of the disciples, and was even chosen by Jesus to be the treasurer of the group.
D. He was a man who drew as close to the Savior as humanly possible and offered every privilege that Christ could afford, yet remained in unbelief and remained unrepentant even until death by suicide.
Just for a few moments I can get us to think back of what we know took place during the last week before the crucifixion.
A. The Saturday before the crucifixion, Jesus and the disciples were in Bethany staying in the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. It was then that Mary anointed Jesus with very costly perfume and began to wipe His feet with her hair. Also, it was Judas who spoke up and criticized her for “wasting” perfume.
B. That Sunday a large crowd came to the house in Bethany to see Jesus, and to see Lazarus who was raised from the grave.
C. On that Monday, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, as the people wave branches and shout “Hosanna.”
D. Tuesday, Jesus returned to Jerusalem and went into the Temple and ran out the money-changers and those who were stealing from the people of God.
E. Wednesday, He again went to the the Temple and began to teach there. He is with the disciples in the Mount of Olives and tells them about His 2nd Coming and the End of the Age in Matthew 24-25.
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2“You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
~ Matthew 26:1-2
Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
~ Matthew 26:14-16
F. Thursday, Jesus has a final meal with His disciples. Later that night, He is betrayed by Judas, and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
G. That Friday, Judas realized what he had done, but I want you to notice what he did.
"Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
~ Matthew 27:3-4
I want to you see this scene. Jesus is before Pilate, but notice He was not alone. Scripture tells us in Luke 23 and John 19 that a large crowd is there also. And the crowd, along with the chief priests, was demanding the death of Jesus. It is here, that Judas appears to the priests and recants. By Jewish law, since Judas gave a false testimony against Jesus, Judas was supposed to be executed and Jesus released. However, the priests refuse to take back the money.
Judas then does something that is often overlooked. Judas then takes the money to the Temple and throws it in the Temple.
"Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed…”
~Matthew 27:5
The word here, temple – would you notice it – it’s very important. It’s the key to understanding this whole thing. There are two words in the Greek language used in the gospels for temple. One is "hieron" and the other is "naos". The first one means the temple total, the whole area, the courtyards, the walls, the whole thing – very broad. The other is the word naos. It refers to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary in the middle.
When he went back, he didn’t just throw the silver into the "hieron". He didn’t just throw it into the whole place, into the courtyard where anybody could pick it up. He threw it in the "naos", he went right inside to the courtyard, right inside to the court of the women where the offerings were given, he went beyond that to the door of the holy place and the Holy of Holies, and he took that money and he threw it inside the holy place, the "naos". Every time that word is used in the gospels it has reference to the sanctuary itself, the inner place, the holy place. He threw it in there.
He walked passed the courts, passed the blood, passed the sacrificial altar, passed the bronze laver, right to the Temple and threw the money in. Forgiveness was found in Jesus, but he completely passed it by.
What I see here is a picture of a man seeking forgiveness, by simply throwing money at God. Forgiveness is only found through Jesus. Judas went to the priests, he went to the church, but ultimately, he went to Hell because he never found the forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Transitional Sentence:
Judas traded Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He traded Jesus for the things of this world. My friends I want to again declare unto you, “The World Will Leave You Hanging.” Verse 5 again states,
“Then [Judas] threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
~ Matthew 27:5
What can we learn from the mistakes of this man called Judas?
1. Don’t Trade Jesus for the Things of This World
2. Don’t Trade the Upper Room (fellowship) for the Potter’s Field (place of death)
3. Don’t Trade Repentance for Remorse
4. Don’t Trade the Blessings for the Curses
If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.
~ Deuteronomy 21:22-23
5. Don’t Trade Heaven for Hell – Acts 1:25
