Wednesday in Holy Week

In recent times a lot of literature has sprung to the defence of Judas Iscariot – He wasn’t as bad as he seemed, he was doing what had to be done to ensure the death of Jesus, which was the only way the resurrection could be completed, and perhaps he was the one chosen above all others to fulfil this unique part in the resurrection story. Perhaps he wanted to try and force Jesus’ hand, speed things up a little bit, make Jesus do what he had come to do.

A lot of what has been written is rubbish, based on very little fact, and an awful lot of imagination – Judas was a bad man… But, I think that we should all perhaps share a little bit of sympathy for him, because he was, in so many ways, just like the rest of us.

There is no known information on his birth or life before he became an apostle. However, unlike the other 11 apostles, he was probably from Judea An interpretation of “Iscariot” is “man of Karioth”, which was a city in Judea. This makes Judas the only Judean in Jesus’ group as the rest were from Galilee.

In the Gospels hardly anything is written about Judas except stories of his betrayal. For three years he was part of the group of disciples of Jesus, yet nothing specific is recorded of his work, or how he became an apostle. It is hardly likely that he joined the group only in order to betray Jesus, but rather that he was overcome by greed, selfishness, and the devil in the end.

Prior to his act of betrayal, it seems certain that Judas participated fully in the work of the apostles, healing the sick and feeding the hungry. He’s even referred to as Jesus’ close and trusted friend. He was also in charge of carrying the disciples’ money box.

During the Last Supper when Jesus talks to His disciples of His imminent death, and gives them instructions for what to do afterwards, He reveals that He will be betrayed by one of them. They all deny it, and wonder who, and ask Jesus to reveal the traitor. Jesus hands a piece of bread to Judas which signifies that he is the one. He tells Judas to do what he is going to do quickly, but none of the other disciples understood.

The high priests and teachers of the law were looking for a way to bring Jesus into custody without upsetting the people, and Judas fell into their hands. He approached them, offered to help them get Jesus, and they in turn bribed him with thirty pieces of silver for his betrayal. Realising it was a good time to turn Jesus in, he went to alert the priests and teachers. He led the temple guard to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was praying, and identified Him with a kiss, a predetermined sign. The soldiers seized Jesus and took Him away to the priests.

There are two different accounts of what happened to Judas after his betrayal, but in both explanations he returns the money, overcome by guilt and remorse, and he dies. His name has since become synonymous with betrayal and treachery.

And so we know that Judas was the betrayer of Jesus but what were his motives. I think they are probably threefold – firstly Judas was a man who was greedy. He was prepared to take the money that was offered in order to betray a friend. 30 pieces of silver may not have been a fortune but it was more than he would hope to get anywhere else. If there was some disillusionment with Jesus then the money would surely be a very tempting offer.

Secondly he was selfish. Not only did he take the money for himself, he denied the other apostles any part in the money, but worse than that, he allowed Jesus to be taken away from them. If he had issues they would have been better discussed, better debated, but Judas was selfish. He knew best !

And this was a third failing – Judas was an arrogant man. Whatever his motives, there is no doubt that either he felt he could do without Jesus altogether, or he could force Jesus to do something he wasn’t ready to do.

Greed, selfishness and arrogance are the qualities that Judas displayed in his betrayal of Jesus, but as we reflect on the betrayal, we are once again called to look at ourselves, and wonder how often we, albeit sub consciously, also display those qualities.

Perhaps a few examples may be the times when we as individuals and as a Church look to put money away for a rainy day, or spend it on our own desires, rather than really looking at the real needs around us. Maybe the occasions when we hang on to positions that others could be doing better, or the many times we try to make Jesus fit our own mindset rather than listening to what he is saying, and acting upon his will.

Judas committed the greatest act of treachery that there has ever been, but let us be aware of how many times we too betray Jesus through our actions, or lack of them, and let’s seek his strength to rise up with him to glorify his name. AMEN