Judas - Walking With Jesus But Following Satan

Judas the traitor.

Walking with Jesus but following Satan.

John 13: 21-27

Every story needs a villain and Judas Iscariot fills this role in the gospels. He is the apostle who betrayed Jesus and helps the Jewish authorities to arrest him. Judas enjoyed a privileged position among Jesus' apostles — John describes him as the band’s treasurer and he is often present at important times. John also describes him as a thief.

The Gospels are very selective in what they tell us about people. We get very few details about Jesus’ childhood and teenage years, and almost no details about what the apostles were doing before Jesus found them (other than what some of their professions were). However, there are some things we know about Judas:

His last name probably tells us where he was from. The word “Iscariot” means " man of Kerioth,” a town in south Judea.

Jesus gave him spiritual authority. Matthew 10:1 says that Jesus gave spiritual authority to all 12 apostles, which allowed them to cast out demons and perform miracles. They also preached (Mark 3:14). So Judas also had authority to heal and cast out demons.

He was in charge of the finances. Several passages in the Gospels tells us that Jesus and his disciples were funded by the women who followed Jesus - Luke 8:1-3, and John 12 says that Judas was in charge of the disciples’ money, implying a communal bag the group used to cover their expenses. John 12: 6 also mentions that Judas stole money from that communal bag. Given that Matthew was a tax collector, a profession associated with theft and extortion, it’s perhaps ironic that someone other than Matthew turned out to be sneaky with the finances.

The other disciples didn’t suspect him. While John 12:6 says that Judas stole from the money he was put in charge of, it’s worth noting that when Jesus announced at the Last Supper that one of the apostles would betray him, they were all surprised. In fact, they each asked Jesus “Am I the one?” (Mark 14:19), meaning Judas didn’t have a reputation that immediately made them think “Oh, I know who He’s talking about…”

How did Judas betray Jesus? He points out Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is hardly an action worthy of payment because Jesus wasn’t someone unknown and was not in hiding. Judas doesn’t actually do anything except fulfill the narrative and eschatological need for the Messiah to be betrayed by someone.

Jesus says several times in the Gospels that He know someone would betray him. He predicted his death at least twice, with different Gospels apparently referencing the same two predictions, and Jesus uses the word “betrayed” (as opposed to being “handed over” or arrested) in at least some of these predictions. We see this in Matthew 17:22-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Mark 9:30-32, Mark 10:32-34, and Luke 9:43-45.

In John 6, after Jesus gives a hard teaching about people eating His flesh, many of his disciples leave and Jesus asks the 12 apostles if they’re leaving Him too. Peter replies, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Jesus answers, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John 6:70). The only time where Jesus calls a man "a devil."

There are few more perplexing questions of the Bible than this: If He knew that Jesus would betray Him in the end, why did Jesus choose Judas as a disciple to begin with?. And what does Jesus have to teach us by choosing someone to be his disciple, knowing full well he would betray him?

John 6:64 says, “Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him

(1) The Old Testament Scriptures prophesied that this would take place. So Jesus chose Judas to fulfill the Scriptures. In John 13:18, Jesus says to his apostles, “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled.” And then He quotes Psalm 41:9: “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” And Peter, on the day of Pentecost, in Acts 1:16, says, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled . . . concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.”

Step by step, Jesus moved toward the cross, taking pains to fulfill every Scripture concerning his death, right down to the details of how he would be handed over. The point was to show that the Scriptures cannot be broken, and that God is in control.

2. Saving faith is not the same as religious activity.