Why Judas Iscariot, and Some Other Concerns

[newton3005]

Many know that Judas Iscariot, who was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, betrays Jesus by enabling Jesus’ deliverance to the chief priest as described in Matthew 26:47-57. Why did he do this? We also know that according to Luke 22:3-6, Satan enters into Judas, inducing him to confer with the chief priests, offering to deliver Jesus up to them for money.

At first glance, one may wonder why, of all the twelve apostles, it was Judas that Satan induces? Why not Simon, or Peter, for instance? Did Satan choose Judas at random?

Well, we also learn that before Judas betrays Jesus, there was an incident that occurred during Jesus’ preparation for the Passover that weighed heavily on Judas’ mind. It also weighed heavily on the minds of the other disciples, but Judas was the one who really took it to heart. The incident is described in Matthew 26:6-13. Here, when Jesus was in a house, a woman comes up to him and pours a “very expensive ointment” on Jesus’ head. In Verses 8-9, his disciples said “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”

One may say they did have a point to a certain extent. After all, did Jesus not tell the people in Matthew 25:31-46 to give to the poor? And did he not tell a rich young man in Mark 10:21 to “sell all that you have and give to the poor”?

But Jesus responds in Matthew 26:10-11, ““Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” The response seems strange on several fronts. He seems at first to be saying that there will always be poor people among us, so what’s a little expensive ointment among friends? One might see why his disciples, who believed his teachings and were gung-ho for them, would wonder if Jesus was backtracking, implying you may not have to give EXACTLY all you have to the poor.

As for the second part of the quote, Jesus must’ve known that although he wouldn’t always be with his disciples physically, he would be with them in spirit. And this was born out when he meets his disciples who were stuck in a storm while at sea, after his Resurrection. One might wonder why at the house his disciples not respond then and there, saying, ‘It’s not about you, Jesus, it’ about the gospel you want spread to the world and in which we believe you on.’

Jesus’ last comment, in Verse 12, must’ve seem stranger than the first two Verses. Here, Jesus says “In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.” At this point, his disciples must’ve been thinking “Huh?” since it wasn’t until the Passover later on that Jesus predicted his betrayal.

In John’s version of the incident, it was Judas who spoke up. He says, in John 12:5, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” In Verse 6, John explains that Judas said this “not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Well! Sheds a new light on things, doesn’t it? One might surmise at this point that given Judas was nothing more than a thief, instead of a devoted disciple, Satan saw a prime candidate for inducing to betray Jesus to the chief priests. Seeing that money mattered more to Judas than Jesus’ Gospel, and therefore his belief in Jesus is on shaky ground compared to the other disciples Satan must’ve seen Judas would be the easiest to prime among the disciples.

Given all this, why did Judas commit suicide after his betrayal of Jesus? That’s a mystery for another day...

 

[sandman]

Given all this, why did Judas commit suicide after his betrayal of Jesus? That’s a mystery for another day...

I think Judas like the other Apostles were expecting something a bit different from the King of Israel ....their concerns were noted in Act 1:6. …
Just speculation, I don’t really know.

But as far as the Judas committing suicide I think there is a good reason for that…..although I believe scripture has Judas alive up until the time Jesus was taken up into the heavens…not shortly after he returned the 30 pieces of silver.

The following is a short synopsis of the orientalism of the covenant of salt

The salt covenant is an oriental custom still in practice today. It means that when you partook in the covenant, be it from salted food, drink, or exchanged a pinch of salt at the marriage ceremony, your words were your bond, you would never …..even at the cost of death, betray that person you had a covenant with.
There is no reference I could give you, at least in western culture that would equal that of the covenant of salt. It is so honored that you could leave a known thief with all your worldly possessions and money, and not worry about a thing if you had a covenant of salt with that person.
The honorable thing to do if you broke the covenant of salt was to commit suicide, and if you did not, someone else would be obliged to do it for you.
Many references of salted words and salt covenant are found throughout the old and new Testament; Judas, as did the rest of the Apostles had a salt covenant with Jesus.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Judas was a zealot. I think he was giving the stolen money to his zealot mates to buy weapons, which are expensive in any age. He could hardly have been spending it on himself - you know, buying the eqivalent of a Gucci man-bag and then hanging around in typical disciple fashion. He was probably going to do the same thing with the 40 pieces of silver.

Mind you it was a lot cheaper way back then that it is now -

Cost to Kill an Enemy Soldier | Bible.org

A few years ago a Dutch professor took time to calculate the cost of an enemy soldiers death at different epochs in history. He estimated that during the reign of Julius Caesar, to kill an enemy soldier cost less than one dollar. At the time of Napoleon, it had considerably inflatedto more than...

bible.org

I believe he tried to manipulate Christ into defending Himself. Judas had seen the miracles Christ had done - stilled a storm, walked on water, raised the dead, cursed a fig tree - and to his mind if anyone could drive out the accursed Romans, Christ could. By putting Chirist on the spot he hoped for a revolution led by Jesus as He was forced to use His obvious supernatural powers.

But Christ refused to play Judas's game, and when Judas realised this he was full of remorse. I don't think he was just a common thief.

 

[ZephBonkerer]

Judas was a zealot. I think he was giving the stolen money to his zealot mates to buy weapons, which are expensive in any age. He could hardly have been spending it on himself - you know, buying the eqivalent of a Gucci man-bag and then hanging around in typical disciple fashion. He was probably going to do the same thing with the 40 pieces of silver.

...I believe he tried to manipulate Christ into defending Himself. Judas had seen the miracles Christ had done - stilled a storm, walked on water, raised the dead, cursed a fig tree - and to his mind if anyone could drive out the accursed Romans, Christ could. By putting Chirist on the spot he hoped for a revolution led by Jesus as He was forced to use His obvious supernatural powers.

But Christ refused to play Judas's game, and when Judas realised this he was full of remorse. I don't think he was just a common thief.

An interesting perspective. I believe Judas may have been driven by the lust for money AND power. If Jesus drove out the Romans as many people desired, then Judas (in his mind) would be in a prime position to receive some position of influence.

In societies where there is some occupying power, you will almost always have some group of people who seek to drive them out not because they want freedom from tyranny for themselves and their countrymen, but because they want to secure positions of power for themselves.

There are people who come to Jesus for all the wrong reasons. Even today, some people seek high positions in a place of worship not because they want to honor the Lord, but because they love the power that such a position brings. I believe these are the kind of people to whom Jesus will say "Depart from me - you who do wickedness - for I never knew you." While this may be a topic for another thread, I don't believe these people lost their salvation - they likely never had it in the first place.

 

[BeyondET]

Judas the flaming sword

 

[Aaron112]

Given all this, why did Judas commit suicide after his betrayal of Jesus? That’s a mystery for another day...

Not so much a mystery. First, I think it was all prophesied, God's Revealed Plan.

Second, look how many (don't dwell on this though, just notice)
how many people who killed others in our lifetime
committed suicide .

 

[Aaron112]

At first glance, one may wonder why, of all the twelve apostles, it was Judas that Satan induces? Why not Simon, or Peter, for instance? Did Satan choose Judas at random?

It may well be that hasatan tempted all the apostles,
as remember he tempted Jesus much,
and tempts many / all/ TODAY.

The 'choice' though, as we know from Scripture, relies on Yahweh.
And
then , on each one of us - as in Yahweh's Word "Choose Today who you will serve"....