Such Disappointing Characters

Introduction

You know, life is full of disappointments. We’re reminded of that during this period of time, aren’t we? We’re disappointed. We’re disappointed that we’re missing out on some important events. Weddings have taken place. And we’ve missed those. Funerals have occurred. And we weren’t there to help in that grieving process. We’ve missed time with friends and family and social events. We’ve missed sporting events. As a child of God, most of all, we’ve missed the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day the way it used to be. We’re still worshiping. We’re still communing with one another and with our Lord, but we recognize it’s not the same. And we’re disappointed.

Particularly in disappointment in people. And to help you relate to the events that we’re going to talk about, I want you to think about a disappointing meal.

And that was disappointing. Or maybe it was disappointing because of circumstances. You had a big meal planned at your home, and somebody wasn’t able to come at the last minute, and their absence kind of made that whole event just disappointing. Maybe, and I’m sure you can relate to this, it was a disappointing meal because of the behavior of somebody there. We’ve all got that one uncle, don’t we? Who said something or did something that just spoiled the whole meal? And it was an abject disappointment. We remember the event that the gospel records of what we famously know as the Last Supper.

As New Testament Christians, we may know it as the time in which Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. But this morning I want us to consider that this was such a disappointing event. Not disappointing because this was going to be the last time Jesus was going to be with all of his disciples in such an intimate setting. That was certainly true. And not disappointing because it’s just hours away from the death of Jesus, the suffering, the misery that he would undergo. But it’s disappointing because of the behavior of the twelve apostles. And I want us to learn some lessons from these disappointing characters. And for us to maybe learn from their negative example and to not be that disappointing character in the life of Christ in our experience.

1. The Greed of Judas

Well, you turn with me first of all in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 14. We’re going to be looking at Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s account of this last supper, as we chronicle three areas of disappointment in these characters. In Mark’s account, in Mark chapter 14, we want to highlight which is going to be the most glaring disappointment and the most glaring disappointing character, and that’s the character of Judas. For it’s in this meal, this last supper meal, that Judas will be identified as his betrayer. Read with me, if you will, in Mark chapter 14, begin our reading in verse 12. Mark 14, verse 12 reads this way. Now, on the first day of the unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, Where do you want us to go and to prepare that you may eat the Passover?

And he sent out two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, Where is the guest room which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared, there, make ready for us. So his disciples went out and came into the city and found it just as he had said to them. And they prepared the Passover. In the evening he came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, Assuredly I say to you, one of you who eats with me will betray me. And they began to be sorrowful and to say to him one by one, Is it I?

And another said, Is it I? And he answered and said to them, It is one of the twelve who dips with me in the dish. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it was written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had never been born. You see what makes this meal, this observance, such a disappointment. Because one of those twelve who sat with Jesus was going to give the ultimate betrayal.

And as tragic as that is, is that the creatures that God had created would rebel against him and to kill the very Son of God, it is made doubly tragic when one of his closest disciples will play an integral part in that death. Now, if we’ve watched closely through the life of Christ, we’re probably not surprised, not too terribly surprised, by the greed of Judas. And that’s one of the lessons I want us to learn in this disappointing character, is the greed of Judas. Look with me back in John chapter 12. Again, we’re probably surprised, but not overly surprised by the actions of Judas that he would be motivated to do such a heinous deed out of greed. But we’re not overly surprised when we look at the events that led up to this.

Look back in John chapter 12 and in verse 6. At this time, Jesus is in the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Lazarus, whom he’s raised from the dead. And Martha is preparing the meal, and Mary, beginning in chapter 12 of John verse 3, Mary took a pound of very costly oil of Spagnard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of his disciples, Judas is Cariot, Simon’s son, who would betray him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? Now, this he said, John adds by inspiration, this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief.

And he had the money box, and he used to take what was put in it. I think John is leading us to that event of the betrayal, isn’t he? When he says the one who would betray him was so concerned about this money, not because, as he stated, that it could be given to the poor, but because he had control of the treasury and he could take money out of the treasury. The greed of Judas astounds us. In fact, if you trace the record in the gospel accounts, Judas will come to those conspirators, those leaders of the Jews who are conspiring to kill Jesus, and he asked this question how much money would you give me to betray him. It was all about money for Judas.

Now let’s pause here in our disappointment in this disciple of Jesus and do some self reflection. What about me? Am I a little bit like Judas? Does greed and covetousness make me a disappointing character in the kingdom? Look at a familiar passage of scripture that talks about this subject. Look over in the book of 1 Timothy. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, there are numerous places we could go. You know that in the New Testament that warn against greed and warn against covetousness. And we need to understand this that if these epistles that were written to New Testament Christians spend so much time warning against greed and covetousness, then I need to realize that that is a problem. And that’s a problem in the life and in the heart of Christians, like you and I.

Look at the warning in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Let’s begin in our reading there at verse 9, where he says, But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. And then famously he says in verse 9, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. We excuse ourselves from these warnings in two regards. Number one is we say, Well, I’m not rich. That’s talking about the rich.

Paul, in his instructions to not just a Christian, to a preacher of the gospel, says, don’t fall into this easy trap. He’s not talking to a rich man when he talks to Timothy. He’s talking to someone who might be tempted, though, as he said there in verse 9. Desire to be rich. And so let Judah stand not as just a target for our vitriol and our hatred as a greedy betrayer of our Lord. Let Judah stand as an example, a negative warning for us that even someone this close to Jesus can be wrapped up in greed and betrayal. You know, being close to Jesus isn’t a guarantee that we won’t betray Jesus. In fact, if you think about it, you have to be close to someone to truly betray them.

2. The Disciples’ Ignorance and Selfishness

And so don’t let the fact that you’re a New Testament Christian, and maybe even your own eyes, a strong, committed New Testament Christian, lull you into complacency and to think that I’ll never betray my Lord. What a disappointing last supper this was. Because of Judas. Now, Judas may be the biggest disappointment in this meal, but he wasn’t the only one. Look with me in the book of Luke, chapter 22. All of the disciples who were present there for this meal exhibited a disappointment. The disciples were a disappointment to our Lord because of their ignorance and their selfishness. Look with me in Luke chapter 22, beginning in verse 24. Luke’s account of this last supper and the disappointments involved reads this way Luke 22, verse 24. Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest.

And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be the servant. Let him be as the younger, and he who governs, is he who serves. For he who is greater, he who sits at the table or he who serves. Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the one who serves. But you are those who have continued with me in my trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my Father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on the thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now again, imagine the scene. Here is our Lord, literally hours away from the cross. His last meal with these twelve men who have followed him and witnessed everything, and everything, not only in his life, but everything throughout the centuries in prophecy is now coming to a culmination with the cross and the empty tomb. And at this momentous meal, there sits Judas, who had just gone and said, How much money will you give me to betray him? And here sat the other disciples, completely unaware of the burden that is upon the shoulders and the mind of our Lord. And they’re squabbling over who’s the greatest. What a disappointment. They’ve been with him for three years. And I guess we could say they’ve learned a lot in those three years.

But they still have a lot to learn, don’t they? They’ve seen Jesus, the very Son of God, God in the flesh. They’ve seen him humble himself over and over again. They’ve seen him serve over and over again. They’ve seen him submit his own interest to the interest of others and to the mission of his father. And they’ve yet to learn the lesson of what this kingdom was really going to be all about. They still had in their mind that greedy selfishness that so many times characterizes the kingdoms of the world.

And what a disappointment that must have been to our Lord. That at this late stage to realize that they haven’t learned the lesson that Jesus tried to teach them in his own life. He who serves is the greatest among you. You know, you’d be hard pressed to turn to a page in any of the epistles of the New Testament. Just randomly open up any of the epistles. And on that opening in your Bible, you’d be hard pressed to find a page there that doesn’t contain some saying that relates to the idea of being selfless in the kingdom of God.

3. Peter’s Arrogance and Ultimate Denial

That we’re to be submissive and subservient and serving. Let’s learn at this late stage what those disciples were unable to see. This is a different kingdom. This is a kingdom of service, not of selfishness. What a disappointing supper this was. But it’s not over. Look with me in the book of Matthew, chapter 26. Matthew records what we’re going to notice as the third disappointment in this last supper. And this time the disappointment comes from Peter. We’ve seen the disappointment of Judas, the greedy betrayer. We’ve seen the disappointment of all the disciples who were ignorant of the meaning of the kingdom of God and were selfish and wanted to promote themselves in this earthly kingdom that they thought Jesus was setting up. But now we see the disappointment of Peter in his arrogance and ultimate denial.

At this same supper, Matthew records in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 31, Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me of this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I’ve been raised, I’ll go before you to Galilee. And so Jesus makes the pronouncement after identifying Judas, who in a very special and horrible way will betray him. Jesus broadens his gaze and says, But all of you, all of you will forsake me. Peter, verse 33, as he was wont to do, spoke up and in his foot shaped mouth said this. Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.

Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And Peter said to him, Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And so said all of the disciples. Peter takes the warning of Jesus and brushes it off in such a cavalier way. Not me, Jesus. What you just said is going to happen won’t happen with me. Now, maybe, maybe Peter was being a little dismissive of the others when he says, if everybody else does it, it won’t be me. Judas ever stands as a warning that even the closest of us to our Lord can betray him. The disciples stand as a warning that we’re to understand the selfless serving nature of the kingdom of God.

Let Peter ever stand as a warning to you against overconfidence and missing the application. Let’s imagine a scenario in one of our services and the preacher is preaching and gets an appointed, a really pointed application, and he may pause before he makes this application, and he may say, I want everybody to listen. I want everybody to listen to this.

A brother or sister on the other side of the auditorium and says, I hope they’re listening. And the preacher gets even more pointed. He says, I’m talking to each and every one of you. I want every one of you to make an application to which we say, Did you hear that, brother? He’s talking to you. And in so doing, we become a modern day Peter. That even when Jesus says, not all of you, but he says, you, Peter. This very night, you, Peter, will do this three times. Peter still missed the application. The words of Paul should ring in our ear in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, where he says, Let him who thinks he stands. Take heed lest he fall. That can be me.

Conclusion

But I want us to end on a positive note because the story does end on a positive note, with the exception of one, that being Judas, the rest of these disappointing characters went on to do remarkable things in the kingdom of God. Christ gave them all a second chance. And do any of us deny that if Judas had made a different choice, that he would have given Judas a second chance to serve in his kingdom. God can use disappointing characters in his kingdom. That means there’s hope for me. If as a Christian I’ll bow my head and say, Lord, I am so sorry that I’ve been greedy and betrayed you. Please forgive me of not seeing and understanding the nature of your kingdom and being so selfish and self-centered, and please, God forgive me in my arrogance of failing to understand that it could happen to me.

If I’ll show the humility and the repentance of these eleven men, God can use this disappointing character in his kingdom today. What a wonderful thought, and what wonderful hope for even those of us who are disappointing characters. Well, we’re separated by time and by distance. But if there’s anyone out there who’s watching this message this morning, who needs to render obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don’t let the disappointments in your life hold you back from rendering obedience. Come to Him humbly, submitting your will to Him. If you want to study the Scriptures further, reach out to us. If you need to render obedience to the gospel, reach out to us. We would love to study with you, pray with you. We would love to assist you in being baptized for the remission of your sins.

If we can help you, please reach out to us. And don’t let the disappointments in your life cause you to ultimately fail and lose. In other words, don’t be a Judas. Be a Peter.