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apostate
April 1st, 2010
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 hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Matthew 26:14-16
We don’t know what Jesus did on Wednesday–perhaps a day of prayer and rest to prepare for the coming days? But we do know what Judas accomplished on Wednesday.
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Ah Judas…
I used to trust the theory that without Judas, we couldn’t have gotten to the crucifixion…which ultimately led to the resurrection…which ultimately led to the faith I have in Jesus, and my understanding of that faith. I still somewhat struggle with whether or not Judas was a divine actor merely caught playing his role.
For the purposes of learning from Judas’ “mistakes” (and we can certainly call them mistakes), that is all irrelevant. I’m focusing on his life as a messed up man.
I want to first point out that Judas wasn’t the first Biblical character to make missteps…and he certainly wasn’t the last human to do so. I think that so many people focus on Judas’ ONE act of betrayal as the single event in his life that made him a “horrible and unforgivable person.” But his whole life (at least the parts of it we are able to read about in the Scriptures) pointed to that single act of betrayal.
Such was the case for David…yes, King David…
Think about what happened with David and Bathsheba. So much emphasis is placed on the single act of adultery (or murder…or a combination of the two). But David didn’t just commit ONE misstep over the course of that story. Think about it with me for a minute. What happened during the day? Ding, ding, ding!!! David didn’t go out with his army that day. He spent it lying in his bed daydreaming about Bathsheba undoubtedly focusing on impure thoughts, ultimately leading to his demise later that evening.
In my conclusion, I’ll hammer my point home about my Judas-David comparison.
So why, then would Judas have followed Jesus?
Opinions on this matter are so varied, but I’ll give you mine (you don’t have to agree with me).
1. GREED…Judas served as the treasurer of the twelve. And remember, it is Judas who seemed particularly miffed at Mary’s seemingly wasteful use of the expensive perfume to anoint Jesus (I assume, though he stated otherwise, that he resented not being able to pilfer the proceeds of the perfume’s sales). Also, his words to the religious rulers were, “What are you willing to GIVE me…” Jesus was not the master of Judas…money was!
2. AMBITION…Judas most likely joined Jesus’ group expecting to further his own position – not unlike some of the other twelve (Luke 22:24).
Here’s where Judas’ following of Jesus gets weird.
Distinct from the other eleven, Judas joined Jesus, apparently in a state of unbelief. The faith of the other eleven was limited, but real. Not so with Judas.
My guess is that Judas thought Jesus was going to revolt against Rome and physically restore Israel to its rightful place. When Jesus kept speaking of spiritual reform and social justice, Judas’ dreams of political revolution died.
The real dilemma came in the “Bread of Life” crisis (John 6:22-71) when the crowds were ready to crown Jesus their King. Judas must have been chomping at the bit. This was everything he’d ever wanted. Jesus declined, and began teaching his self-sacrifice and atoning death. The crowds departed, never again to follow Jesus.
Jesus knew Judas may have never “believed” in him. What I don’t understand is why Judas didn’t just leave after the “Bread of Life” incident. It would have been his perfect exit. Their goals no longer matched. He had the perfect out, along with all the others.
But, Judas stuck it out…perhaps he thought the chance would come again. Or, maybe it was as I suspected, and he was a divine actor playing his role. If so, then he couldn’t leave. He had to stay on as a necessary evil…the guy in the background…the extra with a few lines here and there…leading to the big plot twist…where the supposed friend would betray his bestie for 30 pieces of silver.
Regardless of any of that, Matthew 26:25 is striking…like a slip of the tongue – “Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, ‘Rabbi, am I the one?’ And Jesus told him, ‘You have said it.’”
Jesus was not Lord to Judas…only a Rabbi. Rabbi means “teacher.” I don’t know about you guys, but for me, Jesus is no mere teacher, he is Lord. He is God.
Jesus was more an opportunity for Judas to get ahead than the object of his unfailing affection and worship. Judas begrudged Jesus for his failure to seize opportunities.
To Judas, money was something to be gained and grasped, even if done so deceitfully, and any money spent on Jesus was wasted.
Judas looked on those who gave their lives in service to the Savior as foolish. How do we feel about that?
The warning of Judas is that you can’t judge a person’s spiritual state by his or her associations. Look how close Judas was to Jesus…but how far away he was from having Christ in his life.
I think we can be reminded that in spiritual matters, many of our “flat tires” aren’t blow-outs, but slow leaks over time. Many of the sins that appear to occur so spontaneously or unexpectedly are really matters which have long been deliberated. We see this with Judas, and with David, and with so many people…both in and out of the Bible.
Sorry that got so long…I’ve had bits and pieces of that tucked away in a journal for a couple of years now, and I finally got around to using some of it. Thanks for a forum for doing so.
I think Judas stayed in the entourage because he was so besotted with the vicarious fame he enjoyed with the crowds because of his association with Jesus and his addiction to it would not allow him to return to an ordinary, anonymous life. Remind you of the people who live off of today’s rich, famous, and/or powerful…or even just “popular people”?
I do believe that Judas’ part in Jesus’ destiny was God-breathed, but if Judas had decided to leave Jesus’ entourage, God would have provided another to take up that role–which punches a hole in the inflated egocentricism of mankind. Our Father has done just fine performing His will in all of these past millenia without our help and He will continue to do so…it’s just so miraculous for us that God desires a relationship with humanity and refuses to give up on us.
I also believe that Judas had as much free will as the rest of us, but God knew that Judas’ true personality and mindset was going to lead him to commit the act of betrayal that he did. I honestly think that Judas was so angry and felt so double-crossed by Jesus for changing His agenda (of course, we know Christ’s agenda was always the same, but we have the advantage of 2,000 years of hindsight) that he justified his (Judas’) actions to himself.
I do believe that once his temper had cooled, he was consumed with fear (not guilt) of what was going to happen to him once the crowd turned, but I don’t go so far as to conjecture what caused him to make his final decision of suicide. It’s sad that he chose suicide rather than seeking God’s forgiveness and Christ’s gift of salvation.
Christ knew Judas’ heart and mind and how it must have saddened Him daily. Can you imagine the strength of heart, the patience and self-control it would take for one of us to keep quiet and let Judas remain with the apostles without calling him out or banishing him?