We do not usually pause to think what we might learn from Judas Iscariot. He is rightly regarded by Christians as the cruel traitor who sold his Master, Jesus Christ, for thirty pieces of silver. He is rightly judged to have been a hypocrite and a deceiver. But even so, we would be wise to pause and reflect on the rather surprising fact that Judas’ life and conduct have valuable lessons to teach us today, 2,000 years after he committed suicide.
One lesson we may learn from Judas Iscariot is that only God can read the human heart. The eleven disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ were among the most godly, spiritual, and heavenly men who ever lived. And yet they, none of them, recognised Judas to be the cruel, godless traitor that he was. The Lord Jesus Christ knew very well that Judas was an enemy and not a friend of the gospel. Our Lord stated the fact very clearly in these words: “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). Our Lord knew from the beginning of their apostolic ministry that Judas was a traitor. The eleven true apostles were very spiritual. But they could not read the human heart of Judas, who was one of them. Our Lord knew because, as the incarnate Son of God, he saw everything and knew that Judas was a servant of Satan and the man of whom the psalmist had uttered these words of prophecy: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9).
Christ knew before He came to earth that Judas was a traitor and a hypocrite. A thousand years before Judas Iscariot was born, the Lord Jesus Christ had prophesied of him in Psalm 69 and also in Psalm 109. This is clearly expressed in the words of the apostle Peter, after Judas had committed suicide: “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein” (Acts 1:20 quoting Ps. 69:25). Psalm 109 has many references to Judas: “Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office” (verses 6–8).
Painful as this subject is, we must face the solemn fact that the life and ministry of Judas Iscariot have lessons for us today.
One important lesson we must learn is that even the most spiritual men in a church are not able to read the state of the soul of others. Judas’s problem was far more serious than the problems which the other disciples had. The eleven good apostles had their faults. They were capable of being proud and self-seeking. Our Lord had to tell them: “whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matt. 20:27).
They were in need of being corrected in their attitude towards little children. Christ needed to say to them: “whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck” (Matt. 18:6). On another occasion, Jesus said: “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14).
The apostles, like Christians today, had their faults and needed to be corrected by their heavenly Master. But the lessons we need to learn from Judas Iscariot are of a much more serious nature than those we should learn from the weaknesses of the eleven godly and good disciples of our Lord.
The most important lesson to learn from the life and conduct of Judas Iscariot is that unconverted men ought never to be placed in the ministry. Judas’s weakness was different from that of the eleven good apostles. His problem was that he was not converted—he was unregenerate. He had never been born again. Here is the vitally important lesson for us all in church life. We should never allow unconverted men into the ministry.
The unconverted minister is, like Judas Iscariot, a catastrophic mistake. His soul is not right with God. His mind is not enlightened to see the uniqueness and inspiration of holy scripture. His desire cannot be to glorify and enjoy God because his inner desire is only really to please himself.
The great lesson is: never allow the unconverted man into the ministry. This problem is illustrated all through church history—the rise of elders into bishops, and bishops into archbishops, and archbishops into cardinals, etc. The unconverted man’s heart is set on being the head of all Christ’s churches. But there is only one true head—Christ himself. The Word of God places Christ as the church’s only head: “the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:15). “He is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:17–18).
All through history, the church has been dreadfully damaged by unconverted ministers. There is a very serious warning at the end of the book of Revelation: “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life” (Rev. 22:18–19). We must never add to the Bible or take away from it. But this is what some men have done. The Roman Catholic leaders have added to the Bible and the higher critics have subtracted from the Bible. It was the same in the Old Testament times. The Pharisees added and the Sadducees subtracted from the Word of God. This is a terrible sin. We must not allow the unregenerate to have the power to change God’s Word.
Unregenerate ministers will not humble themselves to submit in every way to the infallible Bible. The lesson is clear. When a young man applies to the church to be a preacher, we must not only look at his intellectual gifts or his fluency of speech. We must watch to see if his heart is genuinely wanting, above all else, to please and obey God.
Pride and ambition are in the driving seat of every unconverted preacher’s life. He wants to knock others down so that he may shine. This lesson we learn from Judas Iscariot. The church must aim to discern if young men are truly and genuinely converted.
