Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - What Really Happened to Judas? 4 Warning Signs You’re Becoming Like Him

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

He sat in the place of honor. He preached the gospel. He cast out demons. And Judas Iscariot still walked straight into the darkest corner of hell — without ever seeing it coming.In this episode, we dig into John 13 and Matthew 26–27 to answer a question every believer should wrestle with: what actually went wrong with Judas? It wasn't a single dramatic moment of rebellion — it was a slow, quiet hardening that looked a lot like normal Christian life right up until it didn't.We walk through four warning signs from Judas's life that show up in ours too:Loving money — how a small compromise (pilfering the money box) became a 30-piece-of-silver betrayalA seared conscience — why sin that once kept you up at night can eventually let you sleep like a babyRejecting the Savior's love — Jesus washed his feet and fed him bread, and Judas still walked out into the nightRemorse without repentance — the crucial, often-missed difference between feeling guilty and actually turning to Christ (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)We also contrast Judas's despair with Peter's repentance — two disciples, two failures, two radically different endings — and talk honestly about what it looks like to examine your own heart instead of pointing at someone else's.📖 Scripture referenced: John 13:21-30, Matthew 26:14-16 & 47-50, Matthew 27:1-5, 2 Corinthians 7:9-11, 1 Timothy 6:10🔑 Topics covered: Judas Iscariot, betrayal of Jesus, John 13 Bible study, seared conscience, love of money, repentance vs remorse, Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane, spiritual hardening, self-examination, expository preaching, Christian apologetics

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and that is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Pick up a copy of the book Happiness, wherever books are sold or visit you. visit crossway.org forward slash happiness to get 30% off with a free Crossway Plus account. What happened to Judas? I find it so interesting that Judas was from all appearances, a great preacher, a great theologian, trusted amongst the disciples, heard every single one of Jesus' sermons, could cast out demons, and yet his life is probably the most tragic life in human history. And I just want to ask the question, what went wrong? How do you end end up like Judas, what are the signs of someone who ultimately is exposed to the truth,

but ends up rejecting it and turning away from Jesus? Hank, how are we doing? Doing great, Johnny. How are you? It's always good to be with you. It's just great to be here. Thank you. Come on.

Hey, well, I want you, if you're listening or watching, to take your Bibles, if you're sitting down and you're not driving, to look at a passage in John 13, at least initially. I want to ask the question, or maybe just examine, what happened to Judas? maybe four ways to end up like Judas. I find it so interesting that Judas was, from all appearances, a great preacher, a great theologian, trusted amongst the disciples, heard every single one of Jesus's sermons, could cast out demons, and yet his life is probably the most tragic life in human history. Well, and not only that, but you, I feel like you almost even buried the lead there of,

we know how the story ends. And so it's so easy to approach your Bible, kind of knowing that Judas, is like the bad guy of the 12. But to your point, and where we find ourselves maybe in John 13, is the betrayal is unknown at this point. And it's actually going to play out in front of us. Yeah, at least to the disciples. Jesus knew.

In John 13, we find herself on Thursday. Jesus is going to die on Friday. It's the final night of his life. He begins that chapter by washing the disciples' feet. He shows them his love. And that washing of their feet is not just a symbol of his sacrificial service. It's a sign of what he is going to accomplish for them when he dies for their sin. He's going to offer them cleansing. And then he tells them that one of

them is going to betray him. And I want you just to pick it up in the text in John 1321. Yeah, absolutely. It says, when Jesus had said these things, he became troubled in spirit and bore witness and said, truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me. The disciples began looking at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now, I think it's one thing just to observe is Jesus did know his entire life that he was going to be betrayed by Judas and he knew that throughout his ministry, but he's still troubled over it. He's not a stoic savior. It wasn't like, I know I'm going at the cross and it doesn't matter. He was grieved here. He became troubled in spirit and testified truly, truly. That's one of 25 times in John's gospel that we see truly, truly. And he says,

one of you is going to betray me. Now, one of the things that I find interesting here is that in Mark's gospel, when Jesus says one of you is going to betray me, it's not like, you, everyone eyes Judas and says, mm-hmm, no, no, they each begin to sequentially ask, is it I, is it I, is it I, is it I, which tells me this, no one was more suspicious of Judas than they were of their own heart. Judas was up for re-election. He was in charge of the treasury, which means like, hey, at church, who do you put in charge of the money? Yeah. People you trust. The most trustworthy. The most trustworthy guys. Even contextually, we read that, you know, we know that John was the one reclining on Jesus' bosom,

and Jesus is going to say, whoever I dip the bread in and give it to him, that's the one who's going to betray him, which means that Jesus, we would believe from a commentary perspective that Judas is sitting in the place of honor at this feast. In Luke 22, they're arguing about who is the greatest amongst them as they go into this last supper. And it's as if Jesus says, it's Judas. I mean, they're looking at Judas. He's respected. He's trusted. and I think I just want to evaluate this for a moment

because you see this not just with Jesus' life and ministry but elsewhere that people who appear to be certain things, preachers, theologians, exceptionally gifted, you can sit in places of honor and yet ultimately end up denying the Savior and Judas is going to occupy one of the darkest corners of hell for all of eternity. And I just want to ask the question,

what went wrong? How do you end up like Judas what are the signs of someone who ultimately is exposed to the truth, but ends up rejecting it and turning away from Jesus? When we were talking about briefly before we clicked to record, you look through all these kind of the canonical stories of like Western thought, and just all these, if you pick up a book or any major novel, oftentimes kind of centered in the kind of core places of the narrative is some kind of betrayal.

And it's fascinating almost to our human nature just by kind of by definition. And yet, it's actually said, I'm just reflecting on my own heart when they're in the gospel, in Mark's account that they're all asking is it me. It's so easy for us to kind of look externally at others and kind of think like, oh, who would be the most likely to be the one who betrays? And yet so often, at least in my own heart, I'm not nearly as self-examining of that same premise, which I think hopefully this episode will be so convicting it. Yeah, so I think just here, and that's a good thought, Hank, just want to do maybe look at

four different ways. you can end up like Judas and these aren't in consecutive order but they're observations about the life of Judas first of all to love money love money first Timothy 610 says that the love of money is the root of all types of evil is money wrong no not at all

is having a lot of money wrong no not at all Job was rich Abraham was rich is loving money wrong well the Bible says that it is the root of all types of evil which means that the Bible is saying to you through the power of the Holy Spirit woe to you, right, if you love money. Be very cautious of the condition of your soul if you love money.

Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6 that you cannot serve God and money, and Judas had chosen his master. Judas loved money, he craved money, and he began to, because he loved money, to break other commandments in the Word of God. For example, the 10th commandment is do not covet, wanting something you do not have. And because Judas wanted something he did not have, he began to break other commandments like the Eighth Commandment, which is do not steal. Over and over again, we read in the Gospels that Judas pilfered the money box,

meaning that whatever was donated to Jesus, he would take from it. And, you know, I was thinking about this when I was studying through John, I bet the first time that Judas took a little, you know, a coin, a shackle from the money box, I don't think he had the thought, in three years' time, I'll be selling out the Lord Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. You know, but this is the way it go. This is the way sin goes. It starts slow, then it gets slippery, and then before you know it, you're all wrapped up in it.

And the whole time, Judas is the master of appearances, meaning that when the woman breaks the precious nard and annoys the feet of Jesus with it, Judas says, what are you doing? That could have been sold and donated to the poor. So he acts like he's concerned. He acts like he really cares about stewardship, but really we know from the scripture that he loved, money and this is where I think his sin begin to start. It's really personally convicting. I work, I'm not a pastor. I work in investment management and it's just so it hits close to home because

working around money all the time, to your point, it's not like someone goes from kind of point A to point Z overnight, but rather the little ways in my own heart that you can begin to kind of idolize the control or the comfort all, or, all the derivatives that money brings. It's not like money per se is necessary. Not holding the stack of dollars. Yeah, it's not, it's not Scrooge McDuck like in the gold coins. Yeah. But rather it's all the power and influence. Comfort security. That it represents. Yeah, I don't want to worry about it. And that can be true with $1,000. That can be true with $100 million and everything in between.

For sure. At the, at the moment, no one can tell the difference between backsliding and the beginning stages of apostasy. What I mean by that is when Judas sin the first time, I don't think, again, he knew that he was going to reject Jesus a few years later, but this is what corruption looks like. It progresses slowly and then it collapses suddenly. This episode is brought to you by one of our ministry partners, the Masters University. One of the things I love about TMU is their commitment to Christ and Scripture. And not only that, they offer 150 different fields of study, all that are established upon a biblical worldview. This is so important, regardless of the field of study you may be going into.

They offer engineering, elementary education, music, business. Some of you may know that I studied actually accounting and finance, and I'm so thankful for them at today, but I was so grateful to learn finance, business, accounting from a biblical perspective. I would encourage you to check out the Masters University by visiting masters.edu. And when you do, you can even look at our own dial-in page if you go to masters.edu slash dial-in and see if this would be a good fit for you. And if you use our code dial in, that'll waive the application fee for you if you're a student or for the student in your life looking to pursue higher education. You know, I have a friend's Bible that I've mentioned before. And in the margins of the Bible, it was his dad's Bible.

And you see all these different notes to himself, the dad's notes to himself, like finish strong, you know, keep your eyes on Christ and things like that. And that, that ended up walking away from the Lord. And it just goes to show you that, like, hey, no one wakes up one morning. and they're all of the sudden, you know, like I'm turning my back on the Lord. I want nothing to do with the church or anything like that. It's a moment by moment.

Hardening. Hardening, which brings me to number two here. First of all, you love money. And secondly, you sear your conscience. What is the conscience? Well, your conscience is your God-given warning system that tells you that you are violating the natural law written on your heart.

It's not the voice of God, but it is the perceived highest level of good that you're aware of. MacArthur says the conscience is a built-in warning system that signals us when something we have done is wrong. The conscience is to our souls, what pain sensors are to our bodies. It inflicts distress in the form of guilt whenever we violate what our hearts tell us is right. Your conscience can be pricked, it can sting, it can be sore. And praise the Lord if your conscience is sore.

At that point, there's still hope. But the Bible says, woe to the one whose conscience is no longer sore because it has been seared. maybe the sin that used to keep them up at night is now ho-hum and they sleep like a babe. Potentially that was Judas that the first time he stole from the money box it was like, I don't know if I should do that, maybe I should tell Jesus.

And then later on it just becomes a part of his rhythm and he learned and people learned to live with their guilt. When you learn to silence your conscience, you are on a slippery slope that leads to destruction. I've used the example before of when I was in junior high, I learned guitar and I went to, to a classical guitar instructor. And I told him I wanted to learn guitar.

And he used to make me hold the chord positions. And I remember being like 11 and 12 years old and my fingers would be shaking. And I would go home and wrap my fingers and bandages and dip him in ice because it would sting so bad. And one of the things that I noticed is within a few weeks of learning and practicing the guitar, I developed calluses and I no longer felt anything.

And this is what sin does to our conscience. what used to sting us, now we've become numb to. And when we become numb to sin, our souls are in grave danger. And it's just, again, it just strikes me like, this isn't overly profound. But if anyone's walked with the Lord for any period of time, one, it rings very true on a soul level. And secondly, I can reflect in my own life. There are seasons where you can even sear your conscience in varying degrees. And so, again, it's not like overnight.

I had a mentor once sit down with me and discerning some career decisions. He wasn't worried like, oh, you're going to walk away from the faith and go open up a business that's totally. And brawful. Yeah, exactly. That was literally an example he gave. But rather, it's the point of incremental change over time. And I can think back in my own life, even types of music I would listen to all of a sudden starts to bother you less or even your language. Shows or, yeah.

Absolutely. And then it can almost be jarring. to return to some of those same things and realize, like, at one time, this didn't bother me. Not in a self-righteous, legalistic sense, but actually in like a brokenness of, oh, my goodness. It was desensitized to sin. Totally, and to the profane kind of perversion of what sin represents. Yeah, it says in John's Gospel that Satan entered into Judas, and what does that mean and how does that happen? Well, it's worth a longer conversation at some point, but at least means this, that a seared conscience is the devil's play toy.

when Jesus says even to the 12, one of you is going to betray me. That should have been a lance to the coterized conscience of Judas. It should have woke him up. And he should have been like, it's me, it's me. You know all things. You know everything. Almost David's response to Nathan. Exactly.

But he just, he goes, oh, is it I? And J.C. Ryle says this. He was blind to every warning and death to every appeal. But the tragic part of all in all of this is Jesus. here is making a final appeal. And third here, how do you end up like Judas? Well, you reject the Savior's love. I want you to think for a moment, as I have been,

even as I've been kind of preparing for this, about the reality that Jesus never treated Judas in a way, that when Jesus said one of you is going to betray me, that the rest of the disciples went, oh, now it makes sense why Jesus is always annoyed with Judas. No, I mean, he was the last guy on earth, he would have expected because Jesus had loved him so proactively throughout his life and ministry. And Judas chose to spurn and reject that love.

That such actually, that strikes me in a different way because Jesus was the perfect leader. I think back to coaches I've had or teachers, like everyone can relate to certain oftentimes like students or lesser authority really grind the gears of the person in charge. And it's like palpable to everyone in the room of like, oh yeah, yeah, Johnny. They don't click. Totally. And yet, to your point, the fact that that wouldn't have been even on the disciples' radar, and everyone's asking, is it me? So in this moment, Jesus is washing, had just washed his feet. And he's looking at him with eyes of love. And D.A. Carson says that this is the final gesture of supreme love, meaning he's washing his feet. He's dipping bread into the bowl and giving it to Judas. He says, this is a token of friendship. In ancient times, when you would dip something in and then give it to someone, this is a symbol of deep loyalty, a bond. as when Bo has invited Ruth and says,

come over here, have some bread and dip it into the wine and vinegar, and he offered her some roasted grain. This is a symbol of, I'm for you, I'm with you, be my friend. And in this final hour, Jesus is still offering himself. He's offering friendship, offering love, and Judas receives it and continues to play the game. When someone rejects Jesus, they spurn someone who offers friendship and love. And Judas had participated in, had been the beneficiary and recipient of,

not like the annoying glances from Jesus, but total kindness over and over and over and over again. And when you sear your conscience, going back to our previous point, you become numb to even the kindness of God. And that's the case with Judas. And then I think just forth and finally, how do you end up like Judas? Well, you feel remorse without repentance. In chapter 13, verse 27, Jesus says after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore, Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. Now, no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose he had said this to him. For some were supposing because Judas had the money box that Jesus was saying to him

by the things we have need of for the feast or else that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately and it was night. And the truth is, Judas never saw the light of another day. Do you have Matthew 26? Yeah. Could you read verse 14 for me? Absolutely. Verse 14 says, then one of the 12 named Judas Askeriat went out to the chief priest.

Should I keep going? Yeah. And he said, what are you willing to give me to deliver him to you? And they weighed out 30 pieces of silver to him. And from then on, he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. Now let's immerse herself in the drama. Would you pick up in verse 47 of the same chapter? Matthew 26.

And it begins, and it continues. And while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the 12 came up. And with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs who came from the chief priest and elders of the people. Now he who is betraying him gave them a sign saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one, seize him. And immediately Jesus went to Jesus and said, greetings rabbi and kissed him. And Jesus said to him, friend, do it you have come for.

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. That was in the Garden of Yosemite. and even as he approaches Jesus, you know, Jesus says, friend, do what you have come for. I mean, can you bear the thought? I mean, Judas is proactively betraying the son of God. And then I want to look just to the initial remorse.

Judas does what he had been planning to do. He's got the bag, so to speak. He's making money. And it says in Matthew 27, it says in verse 1, now when morning came all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put him to death,

and they bound him and led him away and delivered him to pilot the governor. Then when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he felt, that means guilty, he felt remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,

but they said, what is that to us? See to that yourself. And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself. How do you end up like Judas? Well, just forth and finally again, you feel remorse without repentance.

Judas felt horrible over his sin. He had true guilt over his sin. It says here that he felt condemned, but it's possible to feel deep guilt and horrifying remorse over sin without that remorse leading to repentance. Paul talks about that in 2nd Corinthians 7, that you can feel so guilty

and beat yourself up over it and not let it bring you to a place where you cast yourself at the mercy of God and you're desperate for his cleansing and for his grace. Judas ultimately feels so guilty that he ends up killing himself. And we read in the book of Acts that the rope broke and his guts splattered everywhere over the rocks. I mean, you can feel guilty to the point of death and never turn to Jesus. And that's exactly what Judas does. Well, and it could be almost an entirely separate episode, but that's not only that,

but in the gospel account, we're contrasting, were juxtaposed Judas's remorse with Peter's repentance and how wildly of a different outcome both those final steps take in one's life. Yeah, turning to Christ. Yeah, I mean, I think it's tragic. You're looking at the most tragic life, maybe in human history, men can confuse other men, but in the end,

no one confuses Jesus. So maybe before we go any further, if someone's listening to this and saying, what is actually the difference between repentance and remorse? And how do I maybe know if I'm in a posture of repentance versus just being remorseful over guilt? Yeah, I think we could talk about this at length. I want to read the passage I referenced from Paul in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 9.

He says, I now rejoice, not that you are made sorrowful because people can beat themselves up over sin, but that you are made sorrowful to the point of repentance, which means there is a change of heart, there's a desire to honor God, there's a dependence upon His grace. And grace means not just that I don't get what I deserve, but I need the power of God in my life

so that I might honor him and live for him. He says, for you are made sorrowful according to the will of God so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. What he means is it's possible to beat yourself up,

my sin, I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself. And ultimately, even like Judas, kill yourself without going, I need the grace of God in my life, I need him to forgive me, and I want to change. And that desire to change is manifested by even, you know, the practical steps of accountability, confession, a drawing near to Christ. Well, and that, to me, just hearing you say that puts like underlines, the difference is guilt makes you look introspectively. Yeah. stays introspective. He doesn't, in some regards, like I'm superimposing this on the text,

but he isn't looking for a savior fundamentally. Yeah, the end result of repentance is, it's a rejoicing. And the fact that God is a forgiving God, there is always hope for the person that takes inventory of their life and comes honestly and humbly to God and bows down and says, I need grace,

I need mercy. There is always hope for the person who dismisses all pretense and posturing and says, God, my heart is full of sin and I need a savior. Judas, remorse can be a form of pride because it's like self-penance. Judas, you know, he punished himself rather than trusting in what God could do. And obviously there's other elements at play here. But Judas, you see this a lot.

I mean, in the modern world, people feel so guilty over their sin that the only thing they can think to do is to harm themselves because they're not going to a gracious and merciful God. I was, we were doing family worship. This was a couple weeks ago. I think I told you about this when we were visiting Michigan. I was talking with my son, who's five, we were talking about the narrow gate versus the wide path to destruction. And I asked him, how many ways are there to heaven? He said, one, dad.

And I said, how do you get to heaven? And he got really quiet. And this is a moment where, like, as a parent, like, the music stops. Like, have we made it? No, but he got really serious and said, God has to change your heart. And then I said, and how does God change your heart? and we unpacked the gospel again, but it was so encouraging to me.

And that to me is the difference of Peter looks to Jesus and says, I need to be transformed. Yeah, it's a gift from God. Exactly. And pursue the gift. Exactly. And recognizing, like, I need you to do something to me. And I lay down whatever throne I was on.

I need your grace in my life, as opposed to the one who's filled with guilt and never seeks transformation from the only one who can grant it. Yeah. Judas's life shows. you that it's possible to be a professor of faith but not a possessor of a saving relationship with Jesus. You can talk Christianese but not know Christ. If you're living like Judas and you love money and you're searing your conscience and you're playing the game and spurning and

rejecting the Savior's love and you there's a continual pattern of remorse without repentance go to the Savior ask them to change your heart involve people in your life don't don't spurn the Savior's love come to Jesus and because as much as you say it's God is God's got to do a work in your heart you can't elevate it well God's God's just not doing something in my heart and not be obedient yeah not be obedient to to humble yourself before the Lord and to to cry out to him and say God changed me. And so I think this example shows just it's scary. And I forget which one of the reformers said it, that Judas heard every single one of Jesus's sermons. And you can know the truth, be exposed to the truth, and end up living in the darkest corner of hell for all of eternity

and have, you know, and Jesus says of Judas, it would have been better for him to have not even been born. And it's a tragedy. And yet the scripture says that these things were written for our instruction and to show us, hey, you can be around the truth, but not know the true one. And it's always good to take inventory of our hearts and lives. Yeah. And it's, again, it just strikes me. All four of those questions are deeply personal questions that you can fool the people around you, but you cannot, when you let your head on the pillow at night, fool yourself. And you can't fool God. And so, and that's the only one that matters, right? Absolutely. It's a convicting, it's a convicting reflection.

So thanks for taking the time to unpack it, Johnny. Yeah, thanks, Hank.