Judas and Betrayal
Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50, 27:1-5
When Jesus finished washing the disciple’s feet, he shared a last meal with them and the Scripture says, “Jesus was troubled in spirit…” Why wouldn’t he be? Within a few hours, he would be hanging on the cross, slowly suffocating to death. But the most painful thing according to John was the betrayal by his friend and disciple. The agony that it brought him must have been a burden. It’s one thing to be betrayed by a stranger but quite another to be betrayed by a close friend and follower, someone you had hand picked. In this moment of his betrayal though surrounded by his disciples, Jesus must have felt all alone knowing they would all turn from him. Though he chose every one of them, each in their own way would betray Jesus and fall away, but none more so than Judas.
That betrayal forever stained the name of Judas. No one names their babies Judas. Today, we associate the name Judas with treachery. But it has not always been so. The name Judas means “the praise of God.” It was a very popular name in Jesus’ day, that is, until the name was marked by Judas Iscariot. So what do we know about Judas? No one ever questioned the fact that Judas was a disciple. He apparently followed Jesus with the same allegiance as all the other disciples. There is no evidence to show differently. What we do know is that Judas was the only disciple not from Galilee. He was from Judah. We also know he was a fiery man, full of zeal and passion. And we know he served in a position of authority and responsibility as treasurer of the disciples.
So why did Judas betray Jesus? Many have ventured their opinions throughout the centuries. Let’s first start with the Scriptures. First, the Gospel of John says it was greed. This is based on what happened at a feast honoring Jesus. Mary broke a jar of very expensive ointment to anoint Jesus’ feet. Judas objected to such waste, “Why was the ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?” John then wrote, “This he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief and had the bag.” John 12:6 Judas apparently used his position as treasurer to steal from the treasury. So John states that greed and his love for money were the primary motivating factors to betray Jesus which the High Priest paid him for, the sum the equivalent of two month’s salary. Second is fear. The Bible says that the fear of man is a snare. Jesus tried to make clear that those who would follow him would experience the same fate as he, death on a cross. If Jesus was out of the way, perhaps the same fate would not fall on Judas. Third is rebellion. Others have stated that Judas betrayed Jesus to make him get involved in the movement to rebel from Roman rule. The hopes and dreams of the people were that God would raise up a new David who would establish his rule of justice and righteousness. This is what Simeon and many other faithful Jews prayed for daily, the consolation of Israel when the pain and suffering under Roman rule would end. Some scholars have surmised that Iscariot is taken from a group in Jesus day known as the Sicarii who were fanatical nationalists seeking to free Israel from Roman rule by any means, including terrorism. Up to this time, Jesus was not interested in getting involved in politics. Perhaps, Judas surmised, he just needed a little encouragement and his arrest would do the trick. The fact of the matter is we don’t know for sure Judas’ motivations for betraying Jesus. But what we do know is that once the act was taken, the money received and Jesus was arrested, Judas immediately regretted his actions.
Judas went back to the High priest and said three of the hardest words anyone can say, “I have sinned.” Just 19 times in the Bible does someone say those words and Judas was one of them. The sad thing is that Judas’ sin is not confined just to him. All of us have betrayed Jesus at one time or another. Upon hearing those words, we may respond like the disciples by saying, “Not me, I would never do that.” But the reality is we have done that and we continue to do so. Wang Mong Dao served as pastor of Peking’s largest church. During Communist persecution of Christians, he was thrown into prison and tortured. He was told he could stop it though if only he recanted his faith. He refused until he began to fear even greater suffering. He recanted his belief in Jesus and was freed. He quickly regretted his decision and was seen walking the streets of Peking weeping and mumbling, “I am Judas. I have betrayed my Lord.” Within a few weeks, he was unable to bear the guilt and shame any longer. He returned to the Communist authorities and confessed his faith in Jesus. He was put back in prison and spent the next 27 years there. We all betray Jesus at times in our lives. We have moments or perhaps even seasons when our actions have not represented the faith we profess. We may not have refuted our faith but we have betrayed him nonetheless. Perhaps it was a moment when we remained silent rather stood up for our faith, when we have refused to give money to the hungry or homeless passing judgment on them rather than having compassion, when we have compromised our values and beliefs through our words and actions. Just this once, we say. We betray Jesus when we exclude God from the decisions we make whether that be where we go to school or work, what career we pursue or who we choose to date, never praying over those decisions and seeking God’s will.
So what can we learn from the experience of Judas? First, sin never delivers what it promises. Judas believed that if he just twisted Jesus’ hand a little, if he could just put him in a position where he would have defend himself, then he would be the Messiah Judas wanted him to be. The problem was that was not God’s plan. Judas sought his own plans to accomplish his desires and dreams by his own hand. But in the end, it ended in regret and remorse, leaving him to believe that there was no other option but to end his own life.
Second, there is a spiritual battle over your life. “Then Satan entered Judas…so he went his way and conferred with the priests.” From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the temptation in the wilderness, we are aware that there is a battle between good and evil, Satan and God. And if Jesus was caught up in the battle, then those who follow him will be caught up in it too, including you and me. Luke’s statement that Satan entered Judas doesn’t speak so much to demon possession as it does Satan’s influence in Judas’ life. But here’s the thing: Satan could not have entered Judas’ heart and influenced him if Judas had not opened the door. I think that begs the question of what is there in your life, attitudes, thoughts, actions which Satan could use to get a toehold in your life. The reality is that Satan will do just about anything to keep you from doing God’s will. Most of the time that doesn’t manifest itself in overt acts of rebellion but in smaller acts seeking to neutralize your faith and your witness, like choosing just to attend worship and not get involved anywhere else or failing to speak up in the face of injustice or being afraid of sharing your faith.
Third, it is possible to be near Christ and still not faithful to him. Howard McGlamery writes, “How is it that a person can grow up being constantly exposed to the Gospel and still not be a believer? Judas spent over three years at the feet of Jesus and yet he sill betrayed him. He saw Jesus walk on water. He saw Jesus raise the dead. He was there when Jesus opened the eyes of the blind. He heard all of the divine wisdom Jesus used to silence his critics….and yet he still betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Judas shows how close a person can come to the Kingdom of God and still not really follow him.” Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Judas’ life is a reminder to us today that church attendance, membership, even involvement in a Bible study or a ministry is no guarantee that we will be faithful to Jesus. You can be near Christ and still not be faithful to him.
Fourth, betrayal is not a sudden act but a process of growing further away from Jesus’ influence on our lives. Most people don’t wake up one day and say, “I’m going to betray everything I believe and the one person I hold most dear. It’s a process of growing away from God. Norm Story tells of a being a businessman and having an experience with employees who steal. I observed some common patterns among them. First, it was always a gradual processs….It began with a seemingly insignificant theft- just a minor compromise with integrity and truth. But then with growing momentum, they always took more and more, until it had a life of its own and they were unable to stop…No matter how much they had, it was never enough. Judas was probably a good and faithful treasurer, at first; but then along the way he began to make compromises, which grew into full blown greed and love of money, leading to betrayal.” And then he writes, “Likewise in our life, betrayal begins with the little decisions, the small concessions and the infrequent lapses and then slowly grows until we find we are outside the influence of Christ.”
Fifth, remorse without repentance leads only to despair. After Jesus’ arrest, Judas was in a hell of his own making, repeatedly hammered by what he had done. Sin always brings guilt and Judas’ sin brought him unbearable misery. There was great remorse but no repentance and that led to despair and eventually his death by suicide. No amount of remorse can save anyone. Even if we realize our sin, our sorrow alone cannot redeem us. It takes repentance which is not only feeling bad about a sin and confessing it but deciding to live a different way. Judas tried to undo what he had already done. It was futile. Sadly, he did not cry out for mercy or seek deliverance from his sin. Instead, he tried to fix it himself and when he could not, he sought relief from his pain by taking his own life.
Sixth, God can redeem anything. The greatest tragedy is that Judas didn’t wait around to see how God might redeem him and his act of betrayal. Judas didn’t really hear and take to heart Jesus’ warnings of his impending reject by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” And even though Mark tells us Jesus “spoke plainly about this” Mark 8:31-32 Judas did believe it. As much as Judas has been disparaged and his name maligned, the reality is he played a key role in our salvation. The question was never if Jesus was going to die on the cross but when and under what circumstances. Judas was a part of that story which was going to unfold one way or another. Perhaps the biggest tragedy in the story of Judas is not that he betrayed Jesus but that he never sought how God could redeem his betrayal.
The story of Judas reminds us that the key to following Jesus is remaining faithful to him even in the midst of difficult times. Judas is a reminder that any one of us can betray Jesus and that following Jesus comes down to one thing: faithfulness. Clarence Jordan received two Phd’s, one in agriculture and the other in Hebrew and Greek. As gifted as he was, he could have chosen to do anything he wanted. He chose to serve the poor. In 1942, he founded a farm in Americas, GA and called it Koinonia. It was a community for poor blacks and whites to live, work and share life together, all to show what the Kingdom of God is meant to be. As you can imagine, such an idea did not go well in the Deep South. Ironically, most of the resistance came from church people. They tried to stop Clarence by boycotting him and slashing his tires. Finally in 1954, the KKK decided they had had enough of Clarence Jordan. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to every building on the Koinonia Farm, except Clarence’s house, which they riddled with bullets. They chased off all of the families except one which refused to leave. That night, Clarence recognized many of the voices and some of them were church people. Another was the local reporter. The next day, that same reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and the land was scorched but he found Clarence in te field hoeing and planting. The reporter called out to him, “I heard the awful news and came out to do a story of the tragedy of the farm closing. The reporter kept prodding Clarence with his words, trying to get a rise out of him. But Clarence kept planting rather than packing his bags. Finally the reporter said, “Well Dr. Jordan, you two of them Phd’s and you’ve got 14 years in this farm, and there’s nothing left at all. Just how successful do you think you’ve been? Clarence stopped hoeing and turned to look at the reporter with his steely blue eyes and said, “About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don’t think you understand us. What we’re about is not success but faithfulness. We’re staying. Good day sir.” Beginning on that day, Clarence and other began rebuilding the farm. In the 1970’s, they began building homes for the poor with no interest loans which became Habitat for Humaity.
