8  Common Men, Uncommon Calling—Part 7: Judas Iscariot  (Luke 6:16b)

Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (6:16b)

There are few people more despised than a traitor, a person who betrays the cause and trust of friends, groups, or country. Such heinous acts have historically resulted in the most severe punishment—often the death penalty

There have been many notorious traitors throughout history. In the ancient world, the Athenian general Alcibiades revealed Athens’s plans to the city’s enemy Sparta. As a result, the Athenians were defeated in battle by the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War. The Athenian soldier and noted historian Xenophon also turned traitor and fought for Sparta against his native city. As noted in chapter 4 of this volume, King Leonidas of Sparta and his vastly outnumbered force threw back repeated assaults by overwhelmingly superior Persian forces at Thermopylae. It was not until a traitor showed the Persians a way to outflank the Greek forces and attack them from the rear that Leonidas and his brave men were defeated.

During the American Revolution Simon Girtya deserter from the Continental Army led Native Americans in raids against the colonists. Girty was much feared for his brutality, so much so that he was dubbed the “Great Renegade.” But the most infamous traitor of the Revolutionary War (and indeed in all of American history) was Benedict Arnold. Angered at being passed over for promotion and seeking money to support his extravagant lifestyle, Arnold offered to surrender the important fort at West Point to the British. When Arnold’s plot was uncovered, he deserted to the British, and fought against his own countrymen.

The French general Henri Pétain had been a national hero in World War I. But after France was defeated by the Germans in World War II, he became the head of the Vichy government, which collaborated with the Nazis. Vidkun Quisling, whose name has become a synonym for “traitor,” headed the puppet regime established by the Nazis in Norway The English traitor William Joyce (“Lord Haw Haw”), and the American traitors Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino (“Tokyo Rose”) and Mildred Elizabeth Gillars (“Axis Sally”) made propaganda broadcasts for the Japanese and Nazis respectively.

The Bible also records numerous traitors, including Absalom, who tried to usurp the throne of his father, David (2 Sam. 15:10–13); Ahithophel, David’s counselor who joined Absalom’s rebellion (2 Sam. 15:31); Sheba, who led a revolt of the northern tribes soon after Absalom’s rebellion was defeated (2 Sam. 20:1–2); Jeroboam, whose revolt against Solomon resulted in the nation being split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah (1 Kings 11:26ff.); Baasha, who murdered Jeroboam’s son Nadab and seized his throne (1 Kings 15:25–28); Zimri, who killed Baasha’s son Elah and took his place (1 Kings 16:8–20); Athaliah, Israel’s only queen, who seized power after the death of her son, King Ahaziah (2 Kings 11:1–16); the servants of Joash, who conspired against him and killed him (2 Kings 12:20–21); the unnamed conspirators who assassinated King Amaziah (2 Kings 14:18–20); Shallum, whose conspiracy ended the brief reign of King Zechariah (2 Kings 15:8–10); Menahem, who murdered and replaced Shallum (2 Kings 15:14); Pekah, who overthrew and murdered Menahem’s son Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:23–25); Hoshea, who killed Pekah and became the last king of the northern kingdom (2 Kings 15:30); Amon’s servants, who conspired against him and murdered him (2 Kings 21:23); and the Persian officials Bigthan and Teresh, whose plot against King Ahasuerus was uncovered by Mordecai (Est.2:21–23).

But the most notorious traitor of all time was Judas Iscariot. Judas had the unmatched privilege of being one of the twelve intimate followers of the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. Yet inconceivably, after more than three years of living constantly with the incomparably perfect Son of God, observing the miracles He performed, and hearing His unparalleled teaching, Judas betrayed Him to His death by selling Him to His enemies. The dark, tragic story of Judas reveals him to have been the most profoundly wicked man in all of human history. It graphically illustrates the depths of evil of which the human heart is capable, even in the very best of circumstances.

Because of his heinous treachery, the early church universally detested and scorned Judas. His name appears last in every New Testament list of the apostles, except for the one in Acts 1—where it does not appear at all, since Judas had already committed suicide. In addition, whenever the gospel writers mention Judas they always identify him as the traitor who betrayed Jesus (Matt. 10:4; 26:25, 48; 27:3; Mark 3:19; 14:44; John 6:71; 12:4; 18:2), as Luke does here.

The story of Judas also demonstrates that Satan uses people to accomplish his evil purposes. He moved David to take a census of Israel that displeased God and resulted in His chastening of His people (1 Chron. 21:1–7). Satan also used demon-possessed false prophets to deceive King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 22:19–23). He even used Peter to tempt Jesus to avoid the cross (Matt. 16:22–23). The future Antichrist will be “the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan” (2 Thess. 2:9). With full complicity on the part of the apostate disciple, Satan entered Judas to manipulate him (John 13:2).

The melodrama that was Judas’s life may be discussed under four headings: his name, call, disillusionment, and betrayal.

HIS NAME

Judas was a common Jewish name (the New Testament records at least eight men with that name), and had no evil connotation before Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of the Lord. It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name “Judah,” (“praised”). His father was Simon Iscariot (John 6:71; 13:2, 26); their surname is most likely the Greek translation of a Hebrew phrase that means “man of Kerioth.” The Old Testament lists two villages named Kerioth, one in Moab (Jer.48:24, 41; Amos 2:2), and another in the extreme southern part of Judah, about fifteen miles south of Hebron (Josh. 15:25). Judas Iscariot was almost certainly from the latter village, making him the only one of the Twelve who was not a Galilean. While there is no evidence that the other eleven ostracized him, Judas may have viewed himself as an outsider, which might have helped him to rationalize his detachment and treachery. That the other eleven knew little of Judas’s background helps explain how he managed to become the group’s treasurer (John 13:29)—a position he took advantage of to embezzle money (John 12:6).

By all outward appearances, Judas looked no different from the rest of the apostles. He did not appear sinister. The evil that would eventually manifest itself in his betrayal of the Savior lay hidden in the darkrecesses of his heart. Thus when Jesus, on the very night that Judas betrayed Him, told the disciples, “Truly truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me” (John 13:21), no one pointed an accusing finger at Judas. On the contrary” the disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking” (v. 22). Only Jesus knew Judas’s evil heart from the beginning (John 6:64, 70).

HIS CALL

The Bible does not record when and where Judas first encountered Jesus. He may have been among those who went to the Judean wilderness to hear John the Baptist (Matt.3:1–5), or he may have met the Lord at the outset of His ministry when “Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing” (John 3:22). When the Lord first called Judas to follow Him is also not recorded in Scripture. With the other eleven, he was chosen to be an apostle (Luke 6:12–13). At that point (if he had not already done so), Judas left his former occupation and became a full-time follower of Christ. He even stayed with Him when many other false disciples abandoned Him (John 6:66–71). But though Judas was skilled as a hypocrite, appearing outwardly loyal to Jesus, he never gave Him his trust as Messiah and Lord. He was crass to the core, indifferent toward godly, spiritual matters.

Judas was probably young (perhaps in his early twenties), zealous, and patriotic. Like most of his fellow countrymen, he hated the Roman occupation of Israel, and longed for the Messiah (whom he thought of in political and military terms) to drive out the Romans and restore Israel’s sovereignty. In that regard, he was no different from the rest of the apostles, who also hoped Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom (Acts 1:6). But unlike Judas, they also believed that Jesus was the Son of God (Matt. 16:16), who alone was the source of eternal life (John 6:68).

It was precisely that spiritual dimension that was absent in Judas. He saw Christ’s miraculous power and fervently hoped that He would use it to throw off the yoke of Rome and establish His kingdom. Judas’s motives, however, were not merely patriotic; he was also driven by greed and personal ambition. He hoped to reap the benefits—power, prestige, and wealth—that would be his in the kingdom as a member of Christ’s inner circle. It was materialism, not spiritual realities, that fueled Judas’s ambition.

It must be clearly understood that although Jesus chose Judas, Judas chose to follow Him of his own volition. He was not forced to become an apostle, nor was he compelled against his will to betray Jesus. The biblical tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility is evident in the calling of Judas, as it is with the rest of the Twelve. They chose to leave everything and follow Jesus (Matt. 19:27), but He chose them first (John 15:16).

That the Lord Jesus Christ would be betrayed and die for the sins of the world was foreordained in the eternal counsel of God. Centuries before it happened, the Old Testament prophesied Judas’s role in the betrayal of Jesus. Psalm 41:9 says, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” Jesus told the apostles in the upper room that that prophecy would be fulfilled in His own betrayal (John 13:18). Psalm 55:12–14 also refers to Judas’s betrayal:

Zechariah 11:12–13 predicted the exact amount Judas would receive for betraying Jesus:

Matthew’s gospel cites that passage as a prophecy of Judas’s betrayal of Christ (27:9–10).Thus long before Judas was born, his treachery was foreseen and designed into God’s eternal plan. Jesus knew exactly the kind of man Judas was from the outset. But He chose him so that the divine plan revealed in the Old Testament prophecies would be fulfilled.

But on the other hand Judas freely chose to do what he did, and was fully accountable for his actions. That his betrayal was predetermined in no way contradicts the truth that he acted of his own volition. Jesus affirmed both realities when he said in Luke 22:22, “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined [God’s sovereignty]; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed [Judas’s responsibility]!” Peter expressed the tension between God’s plan and human choice as they relate to Christ’s death in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost: “This Man [Jesus], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). As He did with the others involved in Christ’s death, the sovereign God, “who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11), used the evil plans of Judas’s wicked heart to bring about the good of redemption (cf.Gen.50:20).

Judas had every opportunity to turn from his sin. Much of Christ’s teaching applied directly to him, such as the parables of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1–13) and the wedding garment (Matt. 22:11–14), and Jesus’ warnings against the love of money (Matt. 6:19–34), greed (Luke 12:13–21), and pride (Matt. 23:1–12). Judas was present when the Lord said to the Twelve, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). Just hours before his betrayal, Judas heard Jesus declare that not all the disciples were spiritually cleansed (John 13:18). But all of that left Judas unmoved. He determinedly hardened his heart and refused to repent, and went to that eternal hell where he belonged. Acts 1:25 calls it “his own place.” There is an instructive parallel to this combination of divine decree and human will in Isaiah 10:5ff., where God prophecies that He will use Assyria as His rod of judgment on Israel, though Assyria has no intention of serving Jehovah. When Assyria has worked that decreed judgment, He will turn on her and destroy her for the very pride that motivated her to assault Israel.

HIS DISILLUSIONMENT

Judas’s initial excitement over being chosen as one of Christ’s twelve most intimate followers did not last. At first, as noted above, all of the Twelve had shared the common Jewish belief and hope that the Messiah would be a political and military deliverer. The other eleven apostles eventually learned that Jesus had not come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5), but as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. But as that became evident, Judas grew disillusioned; his disillusionment turned to hatred; and that hatred motivated Judas’s treachery John’s gospel records Judas’s downward spiral to ultimate disaster.

John 12 opens with Jesus and the Twelve in Bethany on the Saturday before Passover (v. 1). While they were at a supper in the home of Simon the leper (Matt. 26:6), “Mary [the sister of Martha] then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (v. 3). This was an extravagant act of unrestrained love on the part of Mary, since the perfume was extremely expensive, and must have shocked those present.

Sputtering in outrage over what he considered to be a colossal waste of money, Judas demanded, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii [a year’s wages for an average laborer] and givento poor people?” (v. 5). But Judas’s philanthropic concerns were merely a mask for his greed. “Now he said this,” John explained, “not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it” (v. 6).To see such a large sum of money elude his grasp after years of disappointed hope infuriated Judas, and he lashed out at Mary So convincing was his pious display of concern for the needy that others present echoed his protest (Matt.26:8–9; Mark 14:4–5). But the Lord came to Mary’s defense. “Let her alone,” He commanded Judas (the verb translated “let alone” is in the second person singular) “so that she may keep it for the day of My burial” (v. 7). In verse 8 the Lord reminded them all (the verbs and pronouns in this verse are plurals) that if they wanted to help the poor they would not lack opportunity since, He told them, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” But Mary had chosen to save the perfume for this special occasion instead of selling it and giving the proceeds to the poor.

Judas was now at a crossroads. His avarice and greed had been unmasked by Jesus, and he could have humbly repented, confessed his sin, and sought forgiveness. But the pride, greed, and disillusionment that controlled his heart won out. Desperate to salvage something financially for the wasted years he had spent following Jesus, “Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time” (Mark 14:10–11).

That “opportune time” came on the following Thursday evening. Jesus and the Twelve had gathered in the upper room for their final Passover meal together. After giving the disciples a remarkable example of humility by washing their feet, the Lord affirmed to them that by faith in Him they had been made spiritually clean—except for the one who would betray Him (John 13:10–11, 18). The prophecy of Psalm 41:9 would be fulfilled that very evening. “Truly truly I say to you,” Jesus solemnly told them, “that one of you will betray Me” (v.21). Appalled, “the disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking” (v. 22). As noted earlier Judas, the consummate hypocrite, had so completely fooled the other apostles that no one suspected him. Jesus designated Judas as the betrayer by dipping the morsel (a piece of unleavened bread) into the common mixture of bitter herbs, water, salt, crushed dates, figs, and raisins, and handing it to him (v.26).To be given the morsel by the host was a special honor; thus, the Lord showed kindness and compassion toward Judas to the very end.

But Judas spurned this final gesture of love from Jesus, as he had all the previous ones over the previous three years. With this ultimate rejection, the day of salvation closed for him (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2) and divine mercy faded and was replaced with divine judgment. Judas was in essence handed over to Satan (cf. 1 Tim. 1:20), who entered into him (v. 27). Having irrevocably crossed the line and sealed his eternal doom, Judas was dismissed by the Lord to carry out his wicked plot (v. 27).

HIS BETRAYAL

After leaving the upper room, Judas evidently went straight to the Sanhedrin to set his evil plans in motion. He informed them of the final, irreparable breach between himself and Jesus. More significantly, he told them that Jesus would be in Gethsemane later that evening (cf. Luke 22:39; John 18:2)—a secluded place where they could seize Jesus without fear of provoking a riot (cf.Matt.26:3–5; Luke 22:6).

Judas did not betray Jesus in a moment of passion; he could not have pleaded temporary insanity How long he had plotted in his wretched heart to betray the Savior is not revealed. But he had made his bargain with the Jewish leaders almost a week earlier, and had been looking for an opportunity to deliver Him into their hands ever since (Luke 22:6). His evil act was thus fully premeditated.

Judas next appears in John’s narrative at the head of the large contingent of Roman soldiers and Jewish officials that arrived at Gethsemane to arrest Jesus. The Lord did not attempt to hide or escape, nor did He wait for Judas to single Him out. Completely in control of the situation, He went to meet the arresting party and calmly asked them who they were seeking (John 18:4). After they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene” (v. 5), Jesus identified Himself using the divine name “I am” (cf. Ex. 3:14). In response the entire detachment—including Judas—was slammed to the ground (vv. 5–6). Incredibly, despite that stunning display of Christ’s divine power, Judas proceeded with his diabolical plan. Using the prearranged signal (Matt. 26:48), Judas brazenly “went to Jesus and said, ‘Hail, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him” (v.49).To betray the Son of Man with a kiss of affection was the last act of Judas’s devious hypocrisy; it was a cynical attempt to feign innocence and conceal his treachery. Judas used the symbol of love, respect, and homage to attempt to mask the evil in his heart. He profaned the Passover, Gethsemane, where Jesus had poured out His heart to the Father and been ministered to by an angel (Luke 22:41–44), and most of all the sinless Son of God.

The monumental sin of betraying Jesus produced unbearable guilt. Judas’s conscience immediately came alive and began tormenting him. He was overwhelmed with remorse (but not genuine repentance). In a desperate but faithless and futile bid to gain relief from his tormenting conscience, he attempted to return to the Jewish leaders the paltry sum (thirty pieces of silver; the price of a slave [Ex. 21:32]) he had received from them (Matt. 27:3). Judas had been a useful tool to them, but now that they had Jesus in custody, the Jewish authorities had no further use for him. They contemptuously dismissed him, callously responding to his plaintive cry, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” by telling him, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” (v4).

This was the end of the line for Judas. After throwing the thirty pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary, he went out and hanged himself (v. 5). In a fitting end to the tragic story of his life, he could not even do that successfully. Either the knot came undone, or the rope or the branch to which it was tied broke, and Judas plunged to his death in a gory fashion (Acts 1:18). Acts 1:25 records the chilling epitaph to the life of Judas, noting that that son of perdition (John 17:12), went to his own place—hell (Acts 1:25). In that place of unspeakable torment, his guilt-ridden conscience will refuse to be silenced for all eternity Truly as Jesus declared of him, “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Mark 14:21).

Several compelling lessons maybe drawn from the life of Judas:

First, Judas is history’s greatest example of lost opportunity and wasted privilege. He heard Jesus teach day in and day out, and he personally interacted with Him. He saw firsthand the miracles Jesus performed, which proved that He was God in human flesh. But Judas refused Christ’s invitation to exchange the oppressive burden of sin for the easy yoke of submission to Him (Matt. 11:28–30).

Second, Judas is the foremost illustration of the danger of loving money (1 Tim. 6:10). Riches meant more to him than the salvation of his soul (cf.Mark 8:36).

Third, Judas exemplifies the vileness and danger of spiritual betrayal. In every age there have been Judases, who professed to follow Christ but turned against Him. Judas’s life is also a sobering reminder of the need for self-examination (2 Cor. 13:5).

Fourth, Judas was living proof of Christ’s patience, mercy and loving-kindness. Even when he arrived with the detachment to arrest Him, Jesus still courteously addressed Judas as “friend” (Matt. 26:50).

Fifth, the example of Judas is a sobering reminder that the devil will always be at work in the midst of God’s people. Jesus illustrated that truth in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43).

Sixth, Judas proves the deadliness of hypocrisy He was a fruitless branch, cut off and cast into the eternal fire of hell (John 15:6).

Finally, Judas demonstrated that there is nothing sinful men can do to thwart the sovereign will of God. Out of the seeming tragedy of the cross came the triumph of redemption; Satan’s apparent victory was in reality his ultimate defeat (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; cf. Gen. 3:15). God used Judas’s treachery for His own glory (cf.Gen. 50:20).

When Judas sold Jesus to His enemies, he was in effect selling his own soul to the devil. In the words of the nineteenth-century poet Hester H. Cholmondeley,