Judas Iscariot, A Blessed And A Cursed Man

Today we will discuss this topic: “Judas Iscariot, a Blessed and a Cursed Man,” taken from Mark 14:43-52.

Who is Judas Iscariot? The Bible and history do not provide much information about the origin of Judas. What is certain is that he was one of the twelve men that the Lord Jesus chose to be His disciples. Luke 6:12-17 tells how Jesus prayed all night long before choosing them. So the selection of Judas was not done randomly but through an earnest prayer, and also certain considerations.

Judas' status was the same as the other eleven disciples; he was not higher or lower in position than them. Judas was even trusted to be the treasurer of the group, who was responsible for managing their finances (John 12:6). Although he was not among the three disciples who were very close to Jesus, there is no indication that Jesus mistreated him so that feelings of jealousy or resentment towards Jesus arose.

If so, how could Judas have the heart to betray Jesus, his Teacher? Before we discuss it, you need to know that the relationship between a teacher or rabbi and his students is very different from the relationship between teachers and their students in modern times. Currently, the relationship between teacher and student is limited to the classroom for a few hours each day. After that, the students will go home and live in their world. In seminary, like I did for seven years, I only met the lecturer for a few hours every day after that, I returned to the dormitory where I lived.

In Jesus' time, students lived with the teacher or rabbi. So they shared food, prayed, and worked together every day. Day and night, the students not only studied the Scriptures but also learned from the life of their rabbi. They observed how their teacher lived and they tried to imitate the behavior of their rabbi. The students also followed their rabbi wherever he went so that they could see and hear the teachings of their teacher and what their teacher did. So, in that era, discipleship was a radical commitment to surrender to the authority of their teacher or rabbi.

The disciples were expected to be willing to give up their old way of life and follow the new teachings and lifestyle that the teacher taught. And later, the disciples were expected to have their own disciples continue their teachings. That is the picture of discipleship in the context of Judaism in the time of Jesus.

You can imagine, that for three and a half years, the twelve disciples lived, stayed, ate, studied, worked, prayed, traveled, and served with their Rabbi, Jesus. So, they must have built a very close and strong spiritual bond. Emotionally, their relationship was also very close, beyond friendship or even relationships with siblings who did not live together.

How could Judas, who had known Jesus very well, betray and sell his Teacher for 30 pieces of silver, which today is less than $300?

Let's look at verse 43, which says, "Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders." The Jewish leaders knew that Jesus was not a rebel or a big criminal who liked to mobilize the masses to carry out acts of violence. But they came bringing security officers of the Temple and hundreds of Roman troops carrying swords and clubs.

What was outrageous was that Judas handed over his Master with a kiss that is usually given to someone who is loved or respected, as is said in verses 44-45: “Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.”

What was Judas's true motive for turning over his Master who had chosen him to be one of His disciples? Imagine, out of millions of men in Israel, Jesus chose Judas as one of His disciples. The man appointed by Donald Trump to be one of his ministers was proud and overjoyed. He should have treated Jesus like the meaning of his name. The name "Judas" comes from the Hebrew "Yehudah," which means "grateful" or "praise." But instead of being grateful and being praised, he became the most famous traitor in history so until now I have only found someone named "Judas" but not "Judas Iscariot."

There are several possibilities as to why Judas sold Jesus:

First, it is related to theological matters, namely to fulfill God's plan. According to this view, although it seems evil, what Judas did was part of the divine plan, which fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53: 7-12 as Jesus said in verse 49: "But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”