Judas Iscariot - You cannot serve two Masters

I think that we all have at some point in our lives struggled with serving two Masters. And if we were honest, we may even say that we have at times attempted to serve several Masters. I don't think that we do this intentionally, and at times we may not even know what exactly we are doing. It is so easy to take things we love, and put them in our lives in a place of honor without knowing it. It doesn't always happen overnight, sometimes it starts little by little before we realize what has happened, we have placed something of little importance in a place of honor in our lives. Whether that is playing video games, buying things, or etc.; we should never let those things have power ahead of God in our lives. As we look at Judas, let's ask ourselves, "What Master are we serving?".

Christ's Call

• Matthew 10:1-4
  • We do not know when or how Judas was actually called to be a disciple, we don't even know what his actual occupation was before becoming a disciple.
  • We do know that he was chosen, and he was even given power to perform miracles in Christ's name.
    • Why would Christ have chosen Judas as a disciple?
    • Ezekiel 18:21-24
      • This could have been God's way to give Judas a chance to turn from this wickedness?
    • Romans 5:8
      • Could God have been showing us his Grace through Judas being called as one of his disciples?
• Acts 1:15-17
  • Peter later stated that Judas was "counted" as one of them and shared in the ministry.
  • We know that the other disciples acknowledged that he was one of them.
  • Judas was with Christ, saw the miracles and performed this himself.

Money's Call

• John 12:1-6
  • We know that he was in charge of the disciple's money.
  • We know that he was greedy by his statement.
  • John also described him as a thief.
• What things in our lives could we start following or serving if not kept in check?

The Choice

• Matthew 26:14-16 ** Mark 14:10-11 ** Luke 22:3-6
  • We see Judas inquiring about his two Masters.
  • He is weighing which Master means more to him with the simple question.
  • Like Samson, he had to walk to them, and had all of that time to turn around.
• John 13:21-30 ** Matthew 26:20-25 ** Mark 14:17-22 ** Luke 22:21-23
  • We see that the Devil enters Judas, but we do not know why it was at that moment.
    • Could it have been the crucial moment? The fork in the road that Judas realized that it was "now or never".
    • Could it have been the fact that he now knew that Christ knew his heart?
• Matthew 26:47-50 ** Mark 14:43-45 ** Luke 22:47-48 ** John 18:4-7
  • We see Judas choose to serve money as he betrays Christ.

The Result

• Matthew 27:3-10
  • It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
  • Judas now fully sees what his actions and choices actually caused.
  • He chose the end is life, and we don’t' really know why.
    • It could have been that he didn't see how he could ever be forgiven for what he had done.
      • He was still not able to see the gift of grace from Christ.

I don't think that it was by chance that Judas's other Master was Money. As they say that the root to all evil is money, and I believe there is truth in that statement. Money can provide entertainment, food, and our hearts desires. However, can it really give us our "True" hearts desires. While money itself is not bad, that often comes with it or after it can be if we are not careful. There are many scriptures that talks about money and wealthy people. God even blesses us with money and "all good things". But we can never allow ourselves to become caught up with these things whether it is money, video games, buying the new shiny, etc.

How can we ensure that we do not fall into trying to serve two Masters?