Not Just Judas

Judas Iscariot. The name itself conjures ideas of “the worst of the worst.” Judas is something of a special case, or so some have thought. But believing that Judas is a “one off”—a special case of someone doomed from the beginning—flies in the face of the idea of free will and of God’s justice, fairness, and love for all his creatures. Examining Judas’s case closely will show us that it is likely he had a choice in his destiny just as everyone else does. It will also show us that we are susceptible to the same temptations and likely to fail in similar ways, if we do not heed the warning of his negative example.

There are reasons why people see Judas as doomed by fate and not his own choice. Jesus says in John 17:12, “None of you has been lost, except the son of destruction.”  And in John 13, during the Last Supper, Jesus predicts that the one to whom he gives “this piece of bread” will be the one that betrays him (v. 26). The Bible then says that “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him” (v. 27). Both verses could suggest that Judas is controlled by an evil, satanic force and has no say in his condemnatory behavior. However, to call someone a “son of destruction,” especially after the destructive act has taken place, only designates the behavior; it does not doom him. In terms of Satan entering Judas, the Bible tells us that Judas had already made a deal with the chief priests to betray Jesus, accepting their “thirty pieces of silver” (Matthew 26:15). Before that, John tells us that Judas had been stealing from the money bag he was entrusted to keep (John 12:6). In fact, it is possible that Jesus’s statement regarding the piece of bread represents a last chance for Judas to renounce what he had done. Perhaps Jesus was making the situation clear to him, pointing out that he knows what Judas had agreed to do. Handing him the bread could be understood as a gracious act, signaling they could still eat together, still commune together. But as soon as Judas takes the bread, he takes off, unable to bear Jesus’s presence. He allows the work of Satan, which had already tempted him to betray the Lord, to come to completion.

So, Judas is guilty of his own choices—just as we are. We betray the Lord in much the same way for many of the same reasons because Satan works on us the same way he worked on Judas. First, he tempted him with small acts of theft. These acts must have been small, because Judas was entrusted with the money bag (John 12:6; 13:29). Why would the disciples continue to allow him access to it if he were known to steal from it? Satan also tempts us to betray the Lord with small acts of disobedience: lust, anger, laxity in service—the list could go on. But note that Paul warns how letting these small sins persist gives “the devil a foothold” in our lives (Eph. 4:26-27), which, the verse implies, can be leveraged for greater destruction later.

Judas was tempted, as we are, by money. Paul warns, “People who want to get rich fall into a temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Judas is a concrete example of Paul’s warning.

Judas was tempted, as we are, by disappointment. Perhaps, like the rest of the disciples eventually realized, Judas could see that Jesus was not going to actually triumph as the leader of an earthly kingdom that would bring wealth and power to Israel. Or maybe he was stung by Jesus’ retort to his complaint that the woman who anointed him should have sold the perfume and given the money to the poor. (Note how Judas’ betrayal comes directly after this chiding from Jesus—see Mark 14:9-10 in conjunction with John 12:4-8). We are tempted similarly by disillusionment and disappointment when difficulties arise in our lives.  

Judas betrayed Jesus, like we do, by hypocrisy and lies. Even after he agreed to hand Jesus over to the authorities, he continued in the Lord’s presence, acting as if all were well. At the Last Supper, when Jesus mentions that one would betray him, Judas asks, along with the rest, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” (Matthew 26:25). And then he has the audacity to “betray the Son of Man with a kiss” (Luke 22:48). He acts like a friend, knowing all the while that he is condemning his master and teacher to death.  

Amongst all sins, lying is one that strikes at the core of God’s nature, since He is truth itself (John 14:6; Hebrews 6:18). Lying is not merely identified as a sin, but an abomination (Proverbs 6:16-17; 12:22; 26:24-26); Jesus excoriates the Pharisees and teachers of the law for their hypocrisy, pronouncing seven woes upon them (Matthew 23). And yet, Judas persisted in these sins. So will we if we give in to temptation, give the devil a foothold, fail to repent, and hypocritically act as if our lives are right with God. 

Judas is not a special case. Christ is betrayed all the time, in the same ways, by us. May God help us take heed of the warning of Scripture to repent and turn to our merciful Father rather than turning to the world and its money, deceit, and hypocrisy.

-Nick Boone

First Published in the Words of Life Bulletin