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CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 1

Judas

Dr. George E. Meisinger *

Chafer Theological Seminary

[*Editors note: George E. Meisinger is dean of ChaferTheological Seminary, as well as teaching in the Old and NewTestament departments. He earned his B.A. from Biola University,a Th.M. in Old Testament Literature and Exegesis from DallasTheological Seminary, a D.Min. in Biblical Studies from WesternSeminary, and presently pursues a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology.Dr. Meisinger also pastors Grace Church in Orange, California.]

Introduction

Don Richardson wrote a book that I encourage everyone to read. The title is Peace Child 1and is the story of his missionary labors among a tribe in Papua NewGuinea.

When Richardson had finally learned their language, there came a day whenhe had opportunity to tell them the Gospel. He started with Christs miraculous

birth, His life and ministry, and then proceeded to the end of Jesus time on earth.

He set the stage talking about how Jesus made His final journey to Jerusalem,the incredible reception of the people on Palm Sunday, then the treachery of Judaswho worked behind the scenes to betray Jesus to death. To his amazement, whenhe finished telling them about the traitor, the people showed complete delight inJudas. Richardson was appalled at their reaction.

He discovered that the highest virtue in their culture was deceitand Judaswas the greatest example of deceit about which they had heard. Here was a manwho successfully betrayed to the death a great and good man, thus Judas becametheir instant hero. It was obvious to Richardson that he had his work cut out forhim to evangelize this tribe. You need to read the book to discover the beginningand end of this incredible and true missionary story.

The Men named Judas

Judas was a common first century name. In fact, there are eight mentioned inthe New Testament:

1 Don Richardson, Peace Child (Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1974): you may call Regal @1800-4-GOSPEL.

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(1) Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus and one of the twelve apostles(Matthew 10:4);

(2) Judas the son of James, and one of the twelve apostles (Luke 6:16);

(3) Judas, a brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55);

(4) Judas, Pauls host in Damascus (Acts 9:11);

(5) Judas, called Barsabbas, a leading


Christian in Jerusalem and a companion of Paul (Acts 15:22);

(6) Judas, a revolutionary leader (Acts 5:37);

(7) Judah, an otherwise unknown person in the genealogy of Jesus (Luke3:30);

(8) And Judah, a son of Jacob in the genealogy of Jesus and an ancestor of anIsraelite tribe (Matthew 1:2; Revelation 7:5)Judas or Judah. 2

Observe a verse in Luke 6 regarding the first Judas, who is the subject of thisstudy: Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor (Luke 6:16b). In what followswe will provide a panorama of the career of the Bibles most notorious man.However, do not turn the page to another article yet. There is, what I will call,considerable backdoor encouragement from the story of Judas.

Judas Background

The New Testament does not reveal much about Judas family and theenvironment in which he grew up. His surname was Iscariot ( = manof Karioth). Most scholars understand it to refer to the place of his origin, fromKerioth, in southern Judaea (Matthew 10:4; 26:14; John 6:71; 12:4; 13:2, 26;14:22). 3 The best estimation today would be to identify Kerioth with Kerioth-hezron (Joshua 15:25), which is about 15 miles south of Hebron. Judas was, then,the only apostle from Judea; the rest were from Galilee. All we know of hisfamily is that his fathers name was Simon (John 6:71).

2 [Editors note: this footnote text was omitted in the print, so was not included here.]3 Vine, W. E., Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, [Logos LibrarySystem 2.1, CD-ROM] (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell), 1981.

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Judas Infamous Titles

Traitor

Luke 6:16 says Judas became a traitor, denoting a double-crosser, or betrayer. The New Testament uses the term traitor of Judas and of evil peoplein the End Times (2 Timothy 3:4). The term to betray ( ) literallymeans to give over, and the New Testament uses it several ways including todeliver over treacherously by way of betrayal (Matthew 17:22; 26:16; John6:64). The noun form, , deriving from , to betray, doesnot occur in the New Testament, and speaks of one who delivers a person without

justification into the control of another.

Son of Perdition ( John 17:12 )

As terrible as traitor is, that title pales into insignificance compared to thisone. To be the son of perdition denotes that Judas is a man identified with

eternal destruction, or whose destiny is the Lake of Fire. Son of perdition is a predictive designation.

Furthermore, Acts 1:25 says that Judas went to his own place, the thought being the place of his own choosing. Accordingly, it is not that Judas wasforeordained from eternity past to go to hell, without opportunity to be saved.Instead, he chose to reject Jesus Christ and will suffer the consequences of any

person who rejects the Savior.

Judas Inclusion in the 12

[Jesus] called His disciples to Him; and from them He chosetwelve whom He also named apostles and Judas Iscariot, whoalso became a traitor (Luke 6:16).

According to Mark 3:19, after Jesus selected the 12 they went into a house.This is probably the same house mentioned in Mark 2:1 in Capernaum, quite

possibly Peters home. As Mark 3:20 continues, we see that such a largemultitude gathered together in the house, they could not so much as eat bread.Being involved in an exploding ministry, Jesus and His disciples found frequentlythat it was a challenge to find time to eat (cp. 6:31b).

When you commit yourself to ministry, giving your time, energy, and bestefforts to the Lords work, others may view you with raised eyebrows. In fact,Jesus family thought He was out of His mind and tried to seize Him (Mark 3:21).

When his relatives heard that His ceaseless ministry worked against what theyconsidered proper care of Himself, they came (no doubt from Nazareth) to layhold of Him, a term used for making an arrest (Mark 6:17; 12:12; 14:1, 44, 46,51).

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Why apprehend the Lord? For (yap) they thought that he was out of Hismind (Mark 3:21b), that is a mentally unbalanced religious fanatic (cf. Acts26:24; 2 Corinthians 5:13). 4

So, what did Judas experience as soon as Jesus selected him? (1) Selection

into the unique circle of the 12, becoming an apostle; (2) he observed greatcrowds flocking to Jesus; and (3) he saw Christs own family thinking Him crazy. Nevertheless, Judas was no fool. He observed that Jesus had extraordinarycharisma and attracted large crowds, which meant potential political power,influence, and wealth. Judas wanted in on the action. Linking with Jesus seemedto be a fast track to success.

Judas Place Among the 12

We might have supposed that Matthew would handle the money needed tosustain the Lords ministry because he had been a tax collector and wellacquainted with money matters. Judas, however, was the treasurer of the Lordsgroup of apostles indicating that he was no imbecile (John 12:56; 13:29). Heknew the ins-and-outs of collecting, managing, and spending money better thanthe others did, including Matthew. We will see what kind of treasurer he wasnext.


Judas Character

In the village of Bethany six days before the Lords final Passover, whereLazarus had been raised from the dead (John 12:1), Martha served supper withLazarus at the table (12:2), but Mary anointed Christs feet with expensive oil ofspikenard, wiping His feet with her hair (12:3). It was a wonderful display oflove, gratitude, and worship.

Then Judas asked

Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because hewas a thief and had the money box; and he used to take what was

put in it (John 12:46).

Character trait #1: He did not care about the poor. He was a hard-heartedman, too concerned with feathering his own nest while others, less fortunate,suffered around him.

Character trait #2: He was a thief, pilfering funds from the Lords money box, which exposes that Judas was full of avarice, or greed.

4 Walvoord, John and Zuck, Roy, Bible Knowledge Commentary [Logos Library System 2.1, CD-ROM] (Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, 1983), 985.

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Accordingly, Judas was not in tune with Jesus, rejecting the Lords message.To the poor, Jesus preached the gospel (Luke 7:22). And for the needy, Jesustaught that we should go out of our way to help them so far as we are able(parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:2937). Judas did not welcome thatmessage, nor did he want to help the needy. The man was not regenerated for in a

believer God works to will and to do of His good pleasure, which includesministering to those with pressing needs (cp. Philippians 2:13 with Titus 3:14). Ofcourse, carnality can quench this work of the Spirit in believers also.

Observe the opposite attitude of Paul, a man who was in tune with the Lord(Galatians 2:10; cp. 6:10).

One commentary says this about Judas:

The comment of the Evangelist [that Judas was a thief] is intendedto stress the avarice of Judas, who saw in the price of the ointment

nothing of the beautiful deed which Jesus praised (Mark 14:6) butonly a means by which the apostolic fund would be increased, andthereby his own pocket lined. And even this motive was cloakedunder a specious plea that the money could be given away torelieve the poor. Thus to covetousness there is added the trait ofdeceit. 5

Commentators have suggested many possibilities to explain Judas character:

Love of money; jealousy of the other disciples; fear of theinevitable outcome of the Masters ministry which made him turn

states evidence in order to save his own skin; an enthusiasticintention to force Christs hand and make him declare himself asMessiah a bitter, revengeful spirit which arose when his worldlyhopes were crushed and this disappointment turned to spite andspite became hateall these motives have been suggested. 6

What is clear is that Judas was a self-serving thief. who followed Jesus not because his inner man had converted to Him, but because he hoped for personalgain by the relationship.

Jesus did not permit Judas criticism of Marys generous worship to go

unchallenged. He said Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial(John 12:7). In other words, mind your own business and let her worship Me asshe wants; it is a straightforward rebuke.

5 The New Bible Dictionary (NBD) [Logos Library System 2.1, CD-ROM] (Wheaton: TyndaleHouse Publishers), 1962.6 NBD.

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Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

King David was the first to predict that someone would betray the Messiah:

Even My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate My bread,

Has lifted up his heel against Me (Psalm 41:9).

Jesus quoted this verse of Himself at the Last Passover (John 13:18). Shortlyafter the Transfiguration, while they were in Galilee, Christ predicted:

The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hand of men andthey will kill him, and on the third day He will be raised up Andthey were exceedingly sorrowful (Matthew 17:22 23).

On His way to Jerusalem, the Lord repeats his prediction:

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will bebetrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they willcondemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mockand to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again (Matthew 20:1819).

Thus those who had eyes to see, and ears to hear, should not have beenshocked that one of His inner circle (familiar friend) would betray Him to thereligious leaders.

Judas Betrays the Lord Jesus

The trigger event

What finally motivated Judas to betray the Lord? The setting is the anointingof Jesus in Bethany. The trigger was the rebuke that Jesus gave Judas. Therefore,


being stung by the Lords rebuke, and becoming increasingly disenchanted because Jesus messianic prospects seemed to be dimming, Judas decided to cuthis losses.

Judas contacts the religious leaders to make a deal

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me If I deliver Himto you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So

from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him (Matthew26:1416).

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Then denotes after Mary anointed Jesus in Bethany with costly fragrant oil.Moreover, the disciples (plural) were indignant, saying it was a waste and shouldhave been given to the poor, and Jesus rebuked them (26:613).

Though all of the disciples were indignant and complained, it was particularly

Judas who asked, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given tothe poor (John 12:4)?

The role of the devil

Jesus knew that ultimately His battle was with the evil one. On an occasionwell before His final trip to Jerusalem, He implied that the devil would beinvolved.

Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also Simon Peter answered Him, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternallife. Also we have come to believe and know that You are theChrist, the Son of the living God Jesus answered them, Did I notchoose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil ( )? He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was

he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve (John 6:6771).

When Jesus says, one of you is a devil, it reveals His omniscience (cp. 1:47;2:2425; 6:15, 61). He knew that the devil would possess Judas and use the traitoras a puppet to accomplish satanic objectives.

And sure enough, on Tuesday night following a dinner party at Mary, Marthaand Lazarus home in Bethany-where Jesus rebuked his disciples and particularlyJudas-the traitor rejected the Lord one time too many. The devil then possessedhim the first of two times this final week of Jesus life.

Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numberedamong the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief

priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And theywere glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and

sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of themultitude (Luke 22:36).

The Night Judas Betrayed the Lord

The gospels do not state why Judas betrayed Jesus. Yet, we may infer at leasttwo reasons:

Judas did it after becoming convinced that Jesus was going to die and notreign as King (Mark 14:311). This dashed Judas hopes for political powerand influence.

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Judas did it for money (Matthew 26:1416). Thus, his expectation offinancial wealth no longer existed, so he bargained for what he could receivefrom the religious leaders (30 pieces of silver).

Judas thought, Whats the use of continuing to follow Jesus when the whole

world is turning against Him and the governmental authorities may swallow meup with Him?

Now the night of Christs betrayal began with the Passover feast and Judasapparently was still smarting from Jesus rebuke. Judas sat at the table seethingand frustrated about how things looked to be coming down. At the same time, thereligious leaders were meeting to discuss how they could arrest Jesus and put Himto death, but the multitudes intimidated them. Thus, they needed and discussed a

private way to apprehend the Lord (Mark 14:12).

Count on it, Satans demons attended that meeting also. Once they knew of

the religious leaders desire, they beat a path to Satan with the news. The devilhad stepped out of Judas life for a short time. Satan then hatched a plan andimparted it to Judas soul while he sat at the Passover table with Jesus.

And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into theheart of Judas Iscariot, Simons son, to betray Him (John 13:2).

This Satan apparently did without possessing Judas because it is not until afterJesus gives bread to him that Satan re-enters Judas.

As the Last Supper continues, Jesus proceeds to train His apostles, giving

them a huge lesson in humility, servanthood, and forgiveness, which He illustrates by washing their feet (John 13:320).

When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, andtestified and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you willbetray Me (John 13:21).

In John 13:2225, the Lords announcement of betrayal, during the solemnPassover occasion, bewilders the apostles. Thus, Peter gets John to ask Jesus whothe traitor is.

Jesus answered, It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satanentered him. Then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly(John 13:2627).

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This is the second time during the final week that Satan possesses Judas.Consequently, in John 13:31, Judas departs the Upper Room where the Lord andapostles were eating the Last Supper.

Now as we compare the other Gospel accounts, we see the devil next motivateJudas to tell the religious leaders that he will find a way to betray Jesus. His planwould avoid confrontation with the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover(Luke 22:6). The religious leaders promptly paid Judas for his treacherous scheme(Mark 14:1011).

Judas figured that the Garden of Gethsemane would be an ideal place to arrestJesus because it was outside the citys eastern wall and away from the crowds.Satan, who anticipated the Lords movements, had put this plan into Judas head.

The traitor notified the religious leaders that he would identify Jesus with akiss. Why a kiss? Because it would be nighttime and not immediately apparentto the soldiers who Christ was among his disciples!

Once the religious leaders called together the Roman soldiers (a military unit,or cohort, of 600), they tagged along themselves, and Judas led them to the placein the Garden where Jesus prayed. For this leadership, Judas became known asa guide to those who arrested Jesus (Acts 1:16).

In the Garden of Gethsemane

And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus oftenmet there with His disciples. Then Judas, hawing received adetachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and

Pharisees, Came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesustherefore. knowing all things that would come upon Him, went

forward rind said to them, Whom are you seeking? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, l am He. And Judas,who betrayed Him, also stood with them (John 18:56).

This treacherous act by Judas became embedded in the minds of the apostles,so much so that Paul, when explaining the communion service says:

I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: thatthe Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed tookbread (1 Corinthians 11:23).

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Judas Death

The morning of the day of Christs crucifixion

Seeing that Christ was condemned to death, Judas was remorseful, admittedhe betrayed innocent blood, threw the 30 pieces of silver (about $220.00) theleaders paid him into the temple, then hanged himself (Matthew 27:35).

The religious leaders, ever scrupulous of keeping the Law (at least the partsthey liked!), did not take back the blood money, but instead purchased from alocal pottery maker a field in which to bury strangers. It was renamed the field of

Blood (Matthew 27:68), which fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy (Zechariah11:13).

Judas suicide: A mystery explained

Matthew says that Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). This establishes the

fact that Judas fastened a noose around his neck and jumped from the branch towhich the other end of the rope was attached. 7

In addition, Acts 1:18 reveals that falling headlong, [Judas] burst open inthe middle and all his entrails gushed out a considerably more dramatic picturethan Matthew gives. It is terrible enough to commit suicide, but to take a fall,have your body burst open, and your inner parts gush out, is horrendous to say theleast.

The question is: Do we have a contradiction in the Bible, or is it possible toharmonize Matthew and Luke? It is possible to harmonize: 8

The limb from which Judas hung was over a precipice, that is, the valley ofHinnom. In fact, to this day there are many dry trees on the brink of thiscanyon near the traditional site of Judas suicide. Thus, it could be that theweight of his body on a dry and dead limb broke the limb causing his body to

plummet into the canyon and burst open.

Or, perhaps the rock shattering earthquake that ripped through Jerusalem atthe moment Jesus yielded up His spirit caused the limb to break and

plunged the swollen, three day old corpse into the canyon splitting it open (cp.Matthew 27:51).

Or, even a strong gust of wind, funneled through the canyon, could havecaused the limb to break.

7 Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids: Zondervan PublishingHouse, 1982), 344.8 See Archer, 344.

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Whatever, there is no contradiction in Gods Word; a contradiction here isonly in the minds of those who want a discrepancy. The ultimate tragic end of theson of perditionan end immeasurably more dreadful than his burst open

bodyis that he went to Hades, to await the second resurrection and judgment atthe Great White Throne, then an eternity in Hell.

Jesus had said at the Last Supper:

Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It wouldhave been good for that man if he had not been born (Matthew27:24).


Two Lessons

Lesson #1: The life of Judas Iscariot is an enormous tragedy. It shows what

happens when one exposes himself to the truth day-after-day, but does notembrace it, use it, obey it! By application, we cannot go to church Sunday afterSunday, and even attend Bible classes during the week, thinking that our mere

presence there will keep God pleased with us.

Nearly every day for three plus years Judas listened to the best Bible teacherwho ever walked this planet. He heard the truth not only preached, but also saw it

perfectly lived-out in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Yet, the more Judas heard, the more he possessed to reject, and the more herejected the more his heart became hardened. His conscience became seared so

that he no longer felt the critiquing ministry of the written Word and theconvicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. His inner man gradually hardened to the point that it became a convenient habitation for the devil himself, leading to betrayal and finally suicide.

We must not let be lost on ourselves what happened to Judas. The correctiveis diligently to put into practice what we learn from Gods Word. Do not permityour intake of the Bible to be merely an academic head-trip.

If you learn that you may confess your sin: Keep confessing.

If you learn that you should pray: Keep praying. If you learn that you are to witness to Christ: Keep witnessing.

If you learn that you should not forsake the assembling of yourselvestogether: Keep assembling.

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If you learn that God gave you a spiritual gift for the common good: Useyour gift to serve your fellow believers in love

As Christians, we must become vigorous doers of the Word, not mere hearersonly, lest the hardening process overtakes us and we lose opportunity for eternal

reward to the glory of God.

Lesson #2: For those who are servants in various leadership positions as pastors, teachers, evangelists, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, and so on,there is encouragement from the tragic life of Judasback door encouragement!

Every leader eventually experiences the disappointment and grief of someoneclose to him turning traitor. It may not be as dramatic as what Judas did to ourLord, but betrayal it is.

Judas violated Jesus, deceiving Him with the worlds greatest hypocritical

kiss, resulting in Christs execution. However, in three days God turned the tableson Jesus enemies and raised Him from the dead. And the same God who raisedthe Lord Jesus out of seemingly utter, devastating treachery and defeat is still inthe business of supporting and protecting us, even reversing our losses.

The devil thought he had won. The demons threw their biggest celebration party ever. The religious leaders danced home after the crucifixion and toastedtheir success. However, God raised Jesus from the dead!

There are other examples of the Father delivering His people from treacheryand defeat. The Lord raised David from sure defeat to victory in the civil war with

his treacherous son, Absalom. Why? Because David confessed his sin, repented,and his heart was still inclined to serve the Lord.

The Lord brought Jonah back from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea tominister to Nineveh. Why? Because in the belly of the great fish, Jonah repented!Although he still needed an attitude adjustment about the Assyrians, God workedthrough Jonah the greatest evangelistic crusade recorded in the Old Testament.

So, where are we? Though there may be a Judas in our church, or school, orfellowship group, God will never desert or abandon those who fear the Lord andtake refuge in Him.

Therefore, let us take heart! Let us not grow weary while doing good, for indue season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9). God will takecare of the Judases of life; our business is to be faithful so long as He gives us

breath and energy to serve.

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