Judas - how could this happen?

John chapter six concludes with the following staggering words (v.70-71):

Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil’. [Jesus] was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

The context of these words was the preceding teaching on believing in Jesus and receiving eternal life. We have already determined that ‘believing’ in Jesus is far more than intellectual assent that he lived. Believing in Jesus is about: seeing that Jesus is God – the source of all satisfaction, accepting the grace he offers us and fully focussing on him, understanding what he stands for and applying our lives to this, and placing our life in his hands – following him wherever that leads. This was too much for some and they turned away. When Jesus faced off with the twelve disciples concerning where they were at, Simon Peter understandingly said, “Lord to whom can we go”? Peter then continued with the affirmation, “You have the words of eternal life … we have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (6:68-9). Yet it seems, Peter was not speaking for all the ‘twelve’! There was one numbered among the inner twelve disciples, who was not going to stay the course.

How could this be? How could this happen?

Judas must have believed in Jesus to some extent, to have travelled with Jesus for three years – that is, unless he was some sort of infiltrator or spy, but we know that wasn’t the case. Judas must have found something attractive about Jesus initially, but what went wrong? Judas obviously didn’t believe enough, or believe the right things, or believe in the right way, or perhaps too many other things just got in the way of truly believing in Jesus. We can’t say that Judas lacked for Jesus spending time with him or being available to him! There was obviously something that made him vulnerable to a fall.

We don’t know that much about Judas. He was listed as one of the original twelve disciples. Given that the Gospels were written after the fact, Mark, Matthew and Luke include the name of Judas with the additional remark – “who betrayed [Jesus]”. We sense from John’s Gospel (6:71), that Jesus knew from a long time before, that Judas was going to betray him. We also gather from John’s Gospel (12:4-6 & 13:29) that Judas had charge of the disciples’ collective finances (their ‘common purse’), but, unbeknown to the other disciples at the time, Judas would steal from those funds for his own purposes.

So Judas had a problem or weakness in the area of money, which would certainly affect his judgment. If Judas was a lover of money, then certainly this would put him at odds with Jesus’ teaching. According to Jesus, wealth would tend to get in the way of following Jesus to the full, and rather than being accumulated should be shared with the poor. We read in John that Judas criticised the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume for wasting money that could have gone to the poor, but we read that his motivation was really compromised by his own habit of stealing from his friends. In this same incident, we also see Judas not understanding the notion of lavishly worshipping Jesus.

So we see here the possibilities of belief being restricted by misdirected loyalties and continuing sin.

Perhaps this could have been combined with misplaced expectations about what Jesus would do!

Along with the other disciples, Judas may have thought that Jesus had earthly rule in mind – overthrowing the Romans and taking charge, for this was the ‘messianic’ hope of many. Judas may well have been disappointed as it emerged that Jesus was really on about reconciliation with God, and a spiritual kingdom being lived out on earth based on forgiveness and peace-making. Judas may have also thought and hoped that there would be a particular material and financial gain out of following Jesus (perhaps the first ever prosperity type thinking). When it became evident that this was not the case, Judas’ enthusiasm could have waned markedly. When the penny started to drop that the way of Jesus was potentially the way of suffering and not comfort, this may have been too much for Judas to contemplate. Is a willingness to betray sown, where a person cannot get their own way!?!

Jesus taught well, but Judas wasn’t letting it soak in! Or perhaps conversely, Judas was listening well, but just didn’t like what he was hearing!! People can be so set on their own course, and completely unwilling to change … sometimes with disastrous results! We go on to read in the Gospel accounts (Mark 14:10, Luke 22:3), that Judas himself approached those religious leaders (who had their own deep-seated reasons for destroying Jesus). We can only conclude that Judas’ own misadventures, his unwillingness to adjust his thinking, and resultant weakness, had taken him on this path of betrayal. When Judas approached these certain religious leaders, they offered him thirty pieces of silver … which was sure to close the deal. We also read, that far from being hesitant about this, Judas would be the guide for the group who would arrest Jesus (Luke 22:47).

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Jesus’ ministry or mission – in reality it was wonderfully revolutionary. It was Judas’ unwillingness to change that fuelled his reservations about Jesus and his ultimate betrayal of Jesus.

This all begs the question … in what ways might we betray Jesus???

Not living for him; not speaking for him; not serving our neighbour?!? What theological lessons haven’t we learnt, or what character adjustments haven’t we made? We are supposed to be so hungry for the “Bread of Life” and so thirsty for the “Living Water” that we continually consume the teachings of Jesus until we are full to the brim. Then we could never betray Jesus.

There was some sense in which it was inevitable that someone close to Jesus would betray him. Peter, speaking in Acts 1 (v.16-17) identifies Judas as the one that had done the deed that had been long foretold. Yet could we ever believe that God would deliberately set anyone up for such failure and destruction. I think not!! That this was not predetermined is seen in the way that Jesus views the one who would become the betrayer; “… but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed” (Luke 22:22). Mark 14:21 says, “It would have been better for that one [the betrayer] not to have been born”. Human vulnerability and poor decision-making would be enough to foresee such a betrayal. A serious mistake would lead to Jesus’ betrayal, and Jesus expresses grief and regret for what Judas would have brought upon himself.

Luke’s version of the Judas story (along with John’s) suggests Satan’s role in Judas’ actions. We read in Luke 22 (v.3-4): Then Satan entered into Judas … [then] he went away and conferred with the chief priests … about how he might betray [Jesus] to them. This could only have happened if Judas had allowed himself to be vulnerable to such an evil inclination. I would say that such vulnerability comes in two ways, and Judas fell for them both. He both continued in sin i.e. stealing from the disciples’ common purse, and secondly, refused to align himself with Jesus’ ways. These were deficiencies in the depth of his ‘believing’, and brought him down. Graphically, according to John’s Gospel, it was at the moment that Judas took the bread at the ‘last supper’ that Satan entered into him (13:27). It was at what should have been the most significant moment of repentance and commitment, that Judas remarkably went the other way.

We too can be brought down if we allow certain weaknesses to continue unaddressed. For men it can be pornography, for both men and women it can be lingering bitterness toward others because of hurts in the past. Judas had ongoing character flaws and troubles that were not yielded to Jesus, and he suffered as a result. And not only he suffered, but we know what the flow-on-effect was. The good news is that, as we live in the saving grace of the cross and the power of the resurrection, such vulnerabilities and weaknesses should progressively be less problematical to us. We have the victory in Jesus. Greater is the One within us than the one that is against us (1 John 4:4).

Isn’t it interesting, that Jesus, knowing that Judas would be his betrayer (according to John’s Gospel at least), kept Judas with him!! Jesus didn’t directly tell the other disciples who the betrayer would be, in order to protect himself. Rather he continued to love Judas, while letting proceedings take their course. We read in Luke 22 (verse 47) that Judas wanted to kiss Jesus when he led the arresting party right to him. This seems to be a kiss based on an affection Judas thought that he could have for Jesus, but in the end couldn’t. This was a kiss that Jesus could not receive, because Judas really only wanted Jesus on his own terms, rather than following Jesus on God’s terms.

As it turns out Judas couldn’t live with his actions, and we read of his grisly and tragic death (Matthew 27:3-5, Acts 1:18). This in itself shows a measure of remorse. We also read in Matthew 27, that feelings of repentance led Judas to attempt to return the thirty pieces of silver. Yet what is done cannot be undone, and the guilty party is left to deal with the guilt and shame attached to their actions. Judas had, in his own mind, gone past the point of no return. Yet, could Judas have been forgiven, had he lived on? Of course he could have! Perhaps he was forgiven anyway!!