Today is Spy Wednesday. Spy Wednesday commemorates the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot during Holy Week. “But wait!” you say. “Judas didn’t actually betray Jesus until Thursday night.” And you would be correct. Thursday is when Judas actually approached Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and, identifying Him with a kiss, allowed Him to be arrested by the temple guards and brought to trial, which ultimately led to His crucifixion. But Judas made this decision the day before. It was on Wednesday, according to Matthew 26:14 that Judas approached the chief priests looking for a payoff in exchange for handing Jesus over to them. Mark 14:10 agrees, saying that the plan to betray Jesus was formulated just after Mary anointed Jesus with a costly perfume.
What do we know about Judas? Not a whole lot. Judas was one of the twelve disciples. He was known as Judas Iscariot, and no one can really agree what Iscariot means. It could have been a designation of his hometown, Kerioth, since the Bible tells us that he was the son of Simon Iscariot. With his father going by the same designation, it makes sense that this could refer to the area where they were from. If that’s true, it makes Judas the only apostle who was not from the region of Galilee. Kerioth is in the southern part of Judea. Some scholars belief that it aligns him with the group known as the Scarii, a terrorist group that sought the overthrow of the Roman government. That would give Judas a reason to betray Christ, but there’s nothing else that would link him to the group. The group also didn’t appear in records until 10 years later, so chances are that Iscariot does not mean a member of this group.
We do not have a story of Judas’ calling to apostleship. I don’t know whether or not that’s significant or not, after all, we don’t know how Thomas, Thaddeus, or Bartholomew were called either. It might indicate that instead of Jesus actively choosing Judas like he did with Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew, that Judas approached Jesus and began following Him. Whenever the twelve disciples of Jesus’ inner circle are named, Judas is always named last. Some scholars find significance in this. After all, Peter, James, and John are always listed first, and they seem to have the closest relationship with Jesus. Perhaps Judas being listed last means that he wasn’t as close to Jesus as the others were. Whatever the case may be, we know that Jesus was among the twelve who were sent out with power and authority and that he walked closely with Jesus for three years.
We know Judas’ occupation within the group of disciples. John tells us in chapter 13 verse 29 that Judas was in charge of the money. In chapter 12, John tells us that Judas was in the habit of stealing money from the group. It may also be significant that we have no real conversations between Judas and Jesus. We have only his complaint about the waste of money when Mary anoints Jesus with perfume. Other than that, the only conversation they exchange is at the time of Jesus’ betrayal. Judas doesn’t call Jesus “Lord” the way the other disciples do. He merely refers to Him as “Rabbi” or teacher, and that may be a reflection of the fact that Judas did not really believe in Jesus the way the other disciples did.
Judas leaves the gathering of the twelve just after Jesus hands him the bread at the last supper, and so he misses being included in all the words Jesus gives the disciples in John 14-17. In Matthew 26:15, we are told that Judas agrees to hand Jesus over to the chief priests and religious leaders for 30 pieces of silver. This is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 11:12-13: “I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.” It’s the price of a slave according to Exodus 21:32, and accepting that price may indicate just exactly how highly Judas valued Jesus–as no more than a slave.
Why did Judas do it? Was it just for the money? It’s possible. After all, we are told that Judas was a thief. A love of money and position may have been his motive. He followed Jesus, thinking that Jesus was going to establish Himself as king over Israel and that His followers would surely get a reward, but lately Jesus had been talking about His death. Judas may have believed that Jesus would not become king and so decided to see what offer he could get from the religious leaders of the day. He may have done it for political reasons. He may have thought that offering to hand over Jesus to the religious leaders would force Jesus’ hand, so to speak, and prompt Him to start the revolution Judas wanted.
The Bible tells us that Satan put it into Judas’ heart to betray Jesus. People have a hard time with this one because they wonder how Satan could possess Judas if Judas was a follower of Christ. We’ve already discussed the possibility that Judas followed Christ is word only, believing He was a good teacher, but not believing that He was the Messiah or the Son of God. There’s also the fact that Judas’ sin of stealing money opened a door to allow Satan into his life. It doesn’t appear that Judas ever repented for his sin of stealing money, nor does it appear that he ever really repented for betraying Christ. An unrepentant heart belongs to Satan. We also know that any words that are not in agreement with God’s words are from Satan. When Peter rebukes Jesus for discussing His upcoming death, Jesus responds, “Get behind me, Satan.” Now, that could mean that Satan had literally possessed Peter as well, or it could just refer to the fact that Jesus was rebuking a message that was in direct contradiction to God, something that Judas’ plan to betray Jesus for money would also have been in contradiction to.
Whatever the reason, Judas agrees to do it and carries out his plan at night in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is perhaps the final sorrow that Jesus faces that makes Him a high priest who understands sorrow. Betrayal happens to all of us at one time or another. In Psalm 41:9, David laments a similar betrayal, “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.” Again in Psalm 55:12-14, David laments: “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.” Job says something similar in Job 19:19: “All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.” There is no doubt that the pain of betrayal at the hands of a friend is great indeed.
Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. A kiss was a sign of affection and honor. A kiss on the cheek was a greeting of equals, and here we see again that perhaps Judas did not really understand who Jesus was. He saw Jesus as his equal. Proverbs 27:6 says: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” The Greek tells us that this was indeed a multiplying of kisses–this final act of betrayal. So Jesus is handed over to the temple guards to stand trial and ultimately be crucified, and Judas, seeing what he has done tries to return the money to the religious leaders and ultimately goes out and hangs himself.
All throughout the story of Judas, we sees shadows of the things that the rest of us struggle with. There is hidden sin, unrepentant sin. Do we have sin in our own lives that we justify and excuse? Are we “helping ourselves to the bag” like Judas did? Are we truly repentant for our sins? There is a misunderstanding of who Jesus is… a desire to follow after His teachings and to be a good person, but not to give 100% of ourselves in service to Jesus as Lord. Is that where we are? Are we all in with Christ? Have we handed over Lordship of our lives to Jesus, or do we just think of Him as Rabbi? There is the possibility of unmet expectations. Do we, like Judas, want Christ to fit our definition of who He should be? Do we try to manipulate our circumstances to force God’s hand to act in the way we want Him to act? Do we value Jesus as more than just a slave? More than the price of a field?
Aside from this, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus did suffer this betrayal. As we face the betrayals in our own lives–betrayals at the hands of friends, neighbors, co-workers–we know that Jesus has felt our pain and understands it. Very few of us will be betrayed to death by a friend or neighbor, and yet even that is not outside the realm of possibility. After all, the Jews of the Holocaust were betrayed by their friends and neighbors. No matter the situation, we will find Jesus there in the moment of our betrayal. He is a high priest who understands His people because He has stood where we stand and walked where we walk.
The story of Jesus’ betrayal is a story of caution to the disciple of Christ, to be sure that they are truly following after Jesus and guarding against the temptations of sin. It’s a story of comfort for those of us who are betrayed in this life. It’s a story of tragedy because it appears that Judas’ unrepentant heart has kept him from enjoying forgiveness and restoration.
So I close with this English adage:
“Still as of old, man by himself is priced. For 30 pieces of silver, Judas sold himself, not Christ.”
A Beautiful Mess 