Judas Iscariot: The Betrayer who was the lamb for the Lamb

By Shayna Taylor

The story of Jesus arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection can’t be told without the disciple Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve who betrayed his Rabbi, the Son of Man for 30 shekels of silver, approximately $185-$215 dollars in todays value, is the clear villain in the Easter story. The argument could be made that the Chief priests, Sanhedrin, and the crowds who cried out to crucify Jesus wouldn’t have had the opportunity to send Jesus to the cross if it wasn’t for the betrayal of one of Jesus closest friends and follows who gave him over to their hands. Whats interesting is the story of Judas’ betrayal is different in all four of the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.)

In Matthew 26 as the disciples and Jesus are in the upper room celebrating Passover, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you one of you will betray me. They (the disciples) were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me (v21-23)” Then in verse 25 Judas the one who would betray Jesus said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered. “You have said so.” Pause, wait a minute, Jesus just told the entire table that Judas would be the one to betray him, and no one has jumped up from their seat and attempted to kill Judas, restrain him, ask him how he was going to do it or where? This is extremely puzzling to me as I read the text because after Jesus affirms Judas’ statement, he immediately goes into the dialogue for the last supper, proceeds to tell Peter he will betray him three times, and then off to Gethsemane to pray with Peter, James and John. Jump down in the text to Verse 48-49, “Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Do what you came for friend.” Jesus knows that he has just been betrayed by one of his close friends and followers, yet he calls him friend? This doesn’t make any sense.

Looking to the other three Gospels to find continuity, the book of Mark doesn’t capture any dialogue between Jesus and Judas and neither does the book of John. Luke has a completely different account. In Chapter 22: 2-5, it says that the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot one of the twelve. Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. After this verse, there is no face-to-face discussion with Jesus and Judas at the Passover dinner. Jesus announces after he instructs the disciples in communion that “the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table (Luke 22:21)” which sends the disciples into discussion among themselves as to who would do such a thing. Jesus and Judas do not speak directly in this account. If Satan really did possess Judas, he would not want to look Jesus directly in the face, as he is trying to orchestrate Jesus’ death through the hands of one his closest friends. Later in verse 47 when Judas is leading the crowd to arrest Jesus he approaches Jesus to kiss him as the signal, but Jesus calls out to him, “Judas are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” to which there is no response from Judas in the text. Matthew’s account is the only book which records Judas and Jesus’ face to face conversation.

Matthew is also the only book of the four Gospels that records that Judas “was filled with remorse when he saw that Jesus was condemned and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. Judas says in verse 4, “I have sinned for I have betrayed innocent blood.” The chief priests and elders replied, “What is that to us. That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5). The question remains which is it? Did Satan really enter Judas to be the forcing function of the betrayal to get Jesus to the cross? Did Judas conduct this action on his own without the spirit of Satan? Was Judas upset with Jesus? Did he feel jealous of the other disciple’s closeness to Jesus and wanted to get revenge? Did he not feel worthy of being a disciple? Did he feel as a Jewish man that he owed his loyalty to the chief priests, laws and culture that he grew up within?

I think the answer is both. When Judas asked Jesus at the table “surly it is not I Lord who will betray you,” I think this is Judas asking Jesus to call out the sin he is about to commit. To forgive him of what he had decided he was going to do. I think Judas called out to his Savior to save him from the weakness that he was about to about to execute. Judas’ actions consequently aligned with Satan’s ploy to tempt Jesus to change his destiny and the course of human history. To tempt Jesus to operate outside of the Father’s will. The bible mentions Satan attempting to do this with Peter in Matthew 16:21-23 where Jesus is foreshadowing his death and resurrection and Peter takes Jesus aside and says “Never Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turns and says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Satan once again is using a disciple to derail Jesus’s mission; to save the world through his death and resurrection. Satan wanted Jesus to die, but he didn’t know the secret mission that Jesus was sent to conqueror death and sin thereby saving the human race. In the garden when Jesus calls Judas friend, I believe Jesus saw Judas as his sacrificial lamb. Judas became the villain for all of human history as the man who volunteered to send his Savior to the cross. Judas was the physical embodiment of God’s decision to give man free will to make our own choices. Unbeknownst to Judas, he had to betray Jesus so that Jesus could die on the cross in exchange for the ransom of humanity.

Jesus knew all of this, and that is why he called Judas friend in the midst of one of the greatest betrayals of human history.