Then one of the Twelve – the one called Judas Iscariot – went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:14-16 NIVUK
When I was in my teens, I spent a lot of time talking with street gangs in my home town. Most nights had 'interesting' elements. It was difficult for them to be boring when young people, armed with knives and blades, spent their evening getting drunk on cheap fortified wine, cider and lager, and taking illegal drugs.
There is one night I will never forget. I was standing talking to a relatively sober group when one of their acquaintances - of whom they were very wary - approached them. One of the geography teachers in my school had been stabbed the night before and was on a life support machine. His daughter was known to everyone in the gang. The atmosphere that evening was horrible.
And there were rumours that their acquaintance had carried out the stabbing.
The expletives flowed as soon as the acquaintance came close. That gang grilled him until he confessed. One of the gang snarled at him, saying, 'Well, if you don't turn yourself into the police, I will.'
The acquaintance couldn't take it and ran away.
The police arrested him later. He was tried, found guilty and jailed. The geography teacher survived.
We understand the type of betrayal the gang member was about to carry out. It's principled. Fair. It's the right thing to do. It leads to the guilty being punished.
But Judas' betrayal?
We have to understand why he did it. And with careful investigation, the truth comes to light.
However, we might not like what we see.
Although we don't know a great deal about the man and don't have a record of his calling, we do know that he was chosen by Jesus as part of His inner circle (Matthew 10:2-4).
He is not so prominent throughout the Gospels before his betrayal. We hardly hear him saying a word. But he did have an important role as one of the Twelve: he was their treasurer (John 12:6, 13:29).
And it's here where we start to see the real character of the man. John characterises him as a thief (John 12:6). Imagine being so crooked that you steal from Jesus!
What's more striking is that all four Gospels place his betrayal of Jesus close to teaching on financial matters and directly before the institution of the Lord's Supper, where Judas was present (see Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 21:1-4 and John 13:18-30). Three of the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark and John - also place Judas' betrayal as taking place right after the same event: when Jesus was anointed by a sinful woman at Bethany.
John makes it plain that Judas was indignant at the financial loss incurred when the expensive alabaster jar was opened and the perfume was poured onto Jesus:
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
John 12:4-6 NIVUK
Judas really didn't care for her extravagant worship because he could not personally gain from it.
John goes even further. He sets the betrayal against an event that only he records - Jesus washing the feet of His disciples:
The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
John 13:2 NIVUK
He then describes Judas, having been there as Jesus instituted one of the most sacred sacraments of Christianity, and having had his feet washed by Jesus, leaving the meal to hand Him over to the Jews:
As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’ But no-one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
John 13:27-30 NIVUK
This is truly scandalous, but as Jesus had pointed out, completely part of God's plan and predicted in prophecy (John 13:18).
So what can we say about Judas?
Like the other disciples, he may have been motivated to follow Jesus because he believed Jesus was the Messiah. Like the other disciples, who squabbled over who was the most important, he may have been hypnotised by the idea that following Jesus may lead to personal power and prestige.
But completely unlike the other disciples, he was not shy about seeking to profit from it. He was quite unafraid to embezzle funds that Jesus received for His mission. That doesn't seem to have bothered him.
Every Gospel writer sets his betrayal in a context of sacrifice, whether it's the woman of ill-repute (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:1-9; John 12:1-8) or the widow who gave all she had (Luke 22:1-4), and all of them have his first act of betrayal happening around the time when he'd met with Jesus and the other disciples to eat Passover with them.
So what does this mean?
It means to me that Judas was a man who was driven by what he could get for himself. He was driven by money. He was driven by financial gain. He didn't fully comprehend worship or extravagant, selfless giving.
Everything had to benefit him and no-one else.
It's no wonder at all that Paul wrote these words:
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10 NIVUK
We don't know if Judas started off well and then fell away or if he was greedy from the beginning. What we do know is that his self-centredness cost him everything and he died a remorseful figure, having surrendered the blood money he'd received for Jesus (Matthew 27:1-5; Acts 1:18-19).
Quite shockingly, this same price in silver was a fine to be paid if your bull gored a slave (Exodus 21:32).
In our modern culture, this is essentially saying that Jesus is of little worth.
The Gospels present Judas with no redeeming features at all. In fact, John even presents Jesus calling him 'doomed to destruction' (John 17:12). In other words, not only did he have no redeeming features, he wasn't redeemed!
There is a stern, and rather shocking, message in Judas' story for us. The devil entered into Judas because Judas opened the door.
But how did he open the door?
Simple: something else was more important in his life than following Jesus.
This has always been the way that persecutors of Christians have tried to turn our brothers and sisters against the church. They find some weakness, some chink in our armour, and they exploit it.
The easy way is to find something they value more than Christ and threaten to harm it, be it money, fame, power, family, position, possessions... anything. And if they prize these things more than Jesus, turning them against the church is quick and it is easy. Judas valued money more than Jesus. The door to his heart was already open. Satan just entered right in and wiped his hooves on the 'Welcome' mat.
How many Christians have fallen for this? How many Christians have ruined their witness and shipwrecked their faith by valuing something -anything - more than Christ?
Judas' tale is a cautionary one, and a stern one at that.
But the good news is that we don't have to fall for this. We can choose to stay loyal to Jesus, to make Him well and truly Lord in our life.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NIVUK
We can choose to shut the door to satan and lock it tight.
But we have to make the choice.
Questions
1) 'Judas' tale is a cautionary one'. In what way is Judas' tale a cautionary one for you? In what ways do you need to careful so you don't fall?
2) Judas was part of Jesus' inner circle, and yet betrayed Him. In what ways is this a strong warning for every Christian to be careful?
3) What was the main reason why Judas betrayed Jesus? Do you see any traces of this in your life?
Comments