[SPEAKER_00]: Christian parenting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello and welcome to the Two Seeker's podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: A Truth Seeker is someone who wants to know the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: They search for what's true and they won't rest until they find it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am a True Seeker and if you are to then you've come to the right place where we will search for truth each week in the stories of the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not much is known about what Jesus did on this day so many years ago, possibly he rested and prayed, knowing what was about to come.
[SPEAKER_00]: We do know that one of his very own disciples, Judas is in preparation to betray him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you say betray?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you know what it means to be tray someone?
[SPEAKER_00]: When you be tray someone, you expose them to danger.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the opposite of protecting someone or being loyal to someone.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you be tray someone, you take information that was trusted to you and you hand it over to their enemy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be like if you shared a secret with your best friend and trusted your friend to keep your secret.
[SPEAKER_00]: But instead, your friend shared your secret with others who meant to hurt you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine how that would feel to be betrayed by a close friend?
[SPEAKER_00]: Judas Iskariot was one of Jesus' close friends.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was one of the 12 disciples who had spent three years traveling with learning from and doing ministry with Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus had trusted Judas with His friendship.
[SPEAKER_00]: something inside of Judas began to change.
[SPEAKER_00]: Somewhere along the way Judas began to listen to the lies of the enemy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if Satan began to whisper lies in the ears of Judas that said, this Jesus you follow is no king?
[SPEAKER_00]: He is not the Messiah, He is weak and powerless, He cannot save you, He cannot save anyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: This Jesus is not God's Son, He is just a man.
[SPEAKER_00]: You see, Judas had also been stealing from Jesus and the other disciples.
[SPEAKER_00]: His heart had become full of greed.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if he listened to the lies of Satan that said, aren't you tired of being poor, of traveling from place to place with no home of your own?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you make yourself rich and powerful and hand this Jesus over to the authorities who will pay you a good price for him?
[SPEAKER_00]: There were certain Jewish leaders, priests, scribes and elders, who were members of the Jewish Council.
[SPEAKER_00]: These men were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the Israelites, but they had become jealous of Jesus and how the people flocked to Jesus and gathered around him and listened to his teachings.
[SPEAKER_00]: they did not like the attention that Jesus was receiving.
[SPEAKER_00]: They began to look for excuses to arrest Jesus and kill him, but they were afraid to arrest him because he was so popular among the people, but one day they found their opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Judas knew they were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus, and Judas knew they would pay him a lot of money to hand Jesus over to them, and so Judas arranged to meet the leaders in secret, and they devised a plan for how he might betray Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Judas asked them, what will you give me if I deliver Jesus into your hands?
[SPEAKER_00]: We will give you 30 pieces of silver, they said, and so Judas agreed to this, and the high priest named Caiaphas counters the 30 coins into Judas' hands, one by one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Judas then went back to Jesus and pretended like nothing had ever happened and he never left Jesus' side watching and waiting for His opportunity to hand Him over to the Jewish leaders.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, tooth seekers, you may be very disgusted by Judas Iscariate's behavior.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a very awful and horrible thing to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: But can I tell you something?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was not surprised by it.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, Jesus knew it would happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: The very day that Jesus chose Judas to be his disciple, he knew in the end Judas would be triumphant.
[SPEAKER_00]: So why would Jesus choose him?
[SPEAKER_00]: You ask?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, why did Jesus choose any of the disciples?
[SPEAKER_00]: They were all sinners.
[SPEAKER_00]: They all had sinned in some way or the other.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we look too closely at Judas, let us remember that you and I have sinned too.
[SPEAKER_00]: on the very day when Judas betrayed Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: When it finally happened where Judas handed Jesus over to His enemies, do you know what Jesus said to Him?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus looked right at Judas and said, friend, do what you came for.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you hear that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus called Judas, friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even after everything Judas had done to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even after Judas had betrayed him in the worst possible way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus called him, friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus knew why he had come to earth.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had come to earth to die for men like Judas.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had come to earth to die for his disciples, who were sinners.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had come to earth to die for sinners like you and me.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to accept the reality that we have been born into sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all have a sinful nature.
[SPEAKER_00]: Out of our sinful nature, we are selfish, greedy, jealous, hateful, revengeful, prideful, rude, and the list goes on.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus comes to you and to me in our state of sin, and He calls us friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the love of a Savior.
[SPEAKER_00]: He does not ignore our sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: He does not tell us to go ahead and keep sinning, but he has come to remove our sin and help us to go and sin no more.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus came to save sinners like Judas from their sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only way he could do that was by giving his life in our place.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is the answer to the problem of sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you sin, you have a place to run to, straight to Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can give Him your sin and He will forgive you and give you the power to change.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's only by the power of Jesus living inside of us that we can be free from sin and go and sin no more.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what Jesus came to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that good news?
[SPEAKER_00]: The enemy would try to tell you that you are too bad for Jesus to forgive you, or the enemy would try to tell you that you will always be a sinner.
[SPEAKER_00]: or the enemy would try to tell you that you have to try really hard to be good and then Jesus will love you.
[SPEAKER_00]: But those are lies.
[SPEAKER_00]: While you were a sinner, Jesus loved you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He came to you as a sinner and said, let me take your sin from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will take it upon the cross and in exchange.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me make you clean and wash you white as snow.
[SPEAKER_00]: When God looks at you, He no longer sees your sin, when you have accepted Jesus and the work that He did on the cross for you, then He sees the holiness of Jesus on you.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can stand confident before God your Father, because Jesus has washed you clean and called you His friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sadly, Judas never accepted the forgiveness of Jesus before he died.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sadly, Judas died with guilt and shame.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was embarrassed of what he had done.
[SPEAKER_00]: If only he had gone to Jesus and repented of his sins, if only he had gone to Jesus and said, I'm so sorry, will you forgive me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus would have forgiven him in an instant.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's not waste our opportunity today to come before Jesus and receive His gift, a forgiveness, and in return, accept His holiness.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to read about the betrayal of Judas in your Bible, you can find it in Matthew chapter 26, Mark chapter 14, Luke chapter 22,
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me pray with you before we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear Jesus, thank you for calling us friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even when we were still sinners, you called us friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: You loved us while we were yet in sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: You reached out and brought us up out of our sin and darkness and clothe us with your robes of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have given us your holiness and taken our sinfulness upon you, that's why you came.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us walk confidently in your presence as we stand on what you have done for us, not on anything we have done.
[SPEAKER_00]: In Jesus' name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening today to seekers.
[UNKNOWN]: You