A Case for Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot is typically remembered for one thing: his betrayal of Jesus.
He was one of the twelve disciples who lived with and followed Jesus for three years. He saw Jesus’ ministry, His teaching, and His many miracles. He was the treasurer.
While in Israel, we went to Magdala. There was a church there dedicated to women. It was kinda overdone, but had a modern feel, as you can probably gather from the image.
Along the sides of the main service room, there were tall images of each disciple, and then Mary and Jesus were at the front. On the right side, there was an image of Judas Iscariot.
Our guide told us that, when they were bringing it in, a dog ran up and bit it. They left it like that, and you can still see it.
His good deeds are forgotten and his name is a taboo.
We look upon Judas in the same way some of us might look upon Hitler, or Osama bin Laden. All of these kind of people deserve the darkest pit of hell.
Who is Judas? He was a thief, and, according to Matthew 26:13–15, the chief priests paid him “thirty silver coins” to betray Jesus. As I mentioned before, Judas was the treasurer – he used this trusted position to steal from their resources (John 12:6). There were prophesies about what he would do (Psalm 41:9), and Jesus was fully aware also. Jesus told His disciples, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John 6:70). And at the Last Supper, Jesus predicted His betrayal and identified the betrayer: “Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ Judas was empowered to do what he did by the devil himself: “As soon as Judas took the bread [that Jesus had given him], Satan entered into him” (John 13:27). No one suspected Judas. He was a trusted member of the Twelve.
Judas famously betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
For this, we can argue that Judas is the son of perdition. The “man doomed to destruction,” as written in John 17:12. The connotation is that of a person in an unredeemable state, someone who is already damned while he is still alive.
Judas experienced a closeness to God and had a good understanding of salvation, but then denied it. Shame on him, right? Let’s single him out as the worst person to ever have existed. The worst betrayal in history. How dare he!
But who was Judas? Well, he was human. Human nature is what makes us distinctly human. The Bible teaches that God created human beings in His image. Our human nature reflects some of God’s attributes, although in a limited way. Because we are created in His image, we can be compassionate, faithful, truthful, kind, patient, and just. In us, these attributes are distorted by sin, which also resides in our nature. So we have the natural inclination to disobey God. Or, if you may, betray God.
Humanity is sinful, not just in theory or in practice, but by nature. It’s part of the very fibre of our being. There is only one person in the history of the world who did not have sinful nature: Jesus Christ. So, why do we condemn Judas?
Why do we condemn the actions of a man who, after what he’d done, returned the blood money then went out and hanged himself out of remorse? (Matthew 27:5)
Let's do a little bit of a comparison. We know that both Peter and Judas prayed, for Jesus taught his apostles to pray. We know that both Peter and Judas, along with all the apostles, read their Bibles and learned Scripture.
Jesus washed both of their feet. During Passover, Judas got a place of honour at the table, at Jesus’ left hand. Jesus thought highly of him and loved him.
Both Peter and Judas wanted Jesus to overthrow the Romans, and set himself up as king, and return Israel to the glory they once had, and which is prophesied they will have again. Both wanted a type of Messiah that Jesus had not come to be.
Judas sold Christ to those who wanted to kill him for 30 pieces of silver, which was the price of a slave, but Peter’s betrayal was almost worse.
Peter boasted that even if all of the others denied him, he would not. But when Jesus was arrested, all of his disciples fled and hid. Peter followed Jesus from a distance. But when people began to recognise Peter as one of Jesus’ followers and question him about it, he denied ever having known Jesus. He cursed and swore that he did not know the man. All in all, Peter denied Jesus three times.
They both betrayed Jesus.
After the death of Jesus, Peter quit following Jesus and went back to fishing. Peter had a tendency to jump first and look later. He was impulsive. He was bold, but often in the wrong. So why don’t we condemn Peter for his constant failures and instead blame Judas for everything?
So, what's the difference?
Probably because of the way they dealt with their betrayals.
Judas was greedy and a thief, but he wasn’t bloodthirsty. When he realised Jesus would die, he was grieved. Judas for the first time saw the consequences of his sin and was overwhelmed by it. Judas punished himself by suicide, instead of accepting grace. But remorse does not equal repentance.
Peter wept after he realised what he’d done. Peter did not remain in this sin, nor did he repeat this sin. So committed to Christ such that, when taken captive for his faith and sentenced to die, he chose to be crucified upside down, not feeling worthy to be crucified in the same way as his Lord.
John 3:18 explains this clearly. Judas was foolish to not seek repentance, and there are a few hints from the Bible that he may have gone to Hell because of it. Really, we should be condemning the choice Judas made at the end, rather than his actions previous. It wasn’t his actions that doomed him, but his decision not to repent.
Who really betrayed Jesus?
You’d like to think it was Judas, or maybe now Peter. Maybe even the Romans or the Jewish Elders. You might even blame God for the death of Jesus.
But you can look at the theological implication: the whole world killed Jesus. You killed him.
His death was to pay for our sins. Jesus dies and Barrabas goes free. Jesus dies, and we go free.
Though we are the ones deserving death, the sentence for our sin, Jesus takes our punishment upon himself. He goes to the cross in our place. Our rebellion against God, beginning with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and continuing to the present, all put Jesus on the cross.
Judas is just the representation of humanity – all of us are to blame since Jesus died because of our sins. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Jesus didn’t die at the hands of the Romans, the Jews, Peter or even Judas. He died for us.
So who betrayed Jesus? You did. You do it every time you sin, no matter the kind of sin.
QUESTIONS:
Matthew 7:1-5 - “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.
John 7:24 - Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
John 3:18 - He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
How do these verses relate with what we have covered? Do we then have the authority to condemn any person? Do we have the right to blame Adam for sin?
http://www.theologicaleditions.com/Features/previousfeatures/judas.htm
http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1450988/judas-iscariot-blame-death-jesus
http://www.hcna.us/columns/judas3.html
https://www.gci.org/jesus/youkill
https://www.gotquestions.org/
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/augustweb-only/42.0b.html
http://biblereasons.com/all-sins-being-equal/
http://thebiblicalworld.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/did-judas-repent.html
http://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/what-happened-to-judas-11532302.html
http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/masihiyyen/judas_death.html
https://redeeminggod.com/sermons/miscellaneous/peter-and-judas/
http://www.tentmaker.org/Dew/Dew3/D3-JudasIscariot.html
http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/judas-iscariot-the-suicide-of-satan-and-the-salvation-of-the-world
http://www.biblestudy.org/question/did-judas-repent-betraying-jesus.html
https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/trevinwax/2007/03/20/who-killed-jesus/