LESSONS FROM JUDAS ISCARIOT

 It is easy to overlook the fact that Jesus chose Judas to be his disciple. We may also forget that while Judas betrayed Jesus, all the disciples abandoned him. With the other disciples, Judas shared a persistent misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission. They all expected Jesus to make the right political moves. When he kept talking about dying, they all felt varying degrees of anger, fear, and disappointment. They didn’t understand why they had been chosen if Jesus’ mission was doomed to fail. 

 The exact motivation behind Judas’s betrayal is unclear. What is clear is that Judas allowed his desires to place him in a position where Satan could manipulate him. Judas accepted payment to set Jesus up for the religious leaders. He identified Jesus for the guards in the dimly lit Garden of Gethsemane. It is possible that he was trying to force Jesus’ hand: Would Jesus now rebel against Rome and set up a new political government? Whatever his plan, though, at some point Judas realized he didn’t like the way things were turning out.

 He tried to undo the evil he had done by returning the money to the priests, but it was too late. The wheels of God’s sovereign plan had been set into motion. How sad that Judas ended his life in despair without ever experiencing the gift of reconciliation God could give even to him through Jesus Christ. Human feelings toward Judas have always been mixed. Some have fervently hated him for his betrayal. Others have pitied him for not realizing what he was doing. A few have tried to make him a hero for his part in ending Jesus’ earthly mission. 

Some have questioned God’s fairness in allowing one man to bear such guilt. While there are many feelings about Judas, there are some facts to consider as well. He, by his own choice, betrayed God’s Son into the hands of soldiers (Luke 22:48). He was a thief (John 12:6). Jesus knew that Judas’s life of evil would not change (John 6:70). Judas’s betrayal of Jesus was part of God’s sovereign plan (Psalm 41:9; Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 20:18; 26:20-25; Acts 1:16, 20). 

 In betraying Jesus, Judas made the greatest mistake in history. But the fact that Jesus knew Judas would betray him doesn’t mean that Judas was a puppet of God’s will. Judas made the choice. God knew what that choice would be and confirmed it. Judas didn’t lose his relationship with Jesus; rather, he never found Jesus in the first place. He is called “the one headed for destruction” (John 17:12) because he was never saved. Judas does us a favor if he makes us think a second time about our commitment to God and the presence of God’s Spirit within us. Are we true disciples and followers, or uncommitted pretenders? We can choose despair and death, or we can choose repentance, forgiveness, hope, and eternal life. Judas’s betrayal sent Jesus to the cross to guarantee that second choice, our only chance. Will we accept Jesus’ free gift, or, like Judas, betray him? 

 Strengths and accomplishments: He was chosen as one of the 12 disciples; the only non-Galilean He was in charge of the disciples’ funds He was able to recognize the evil in his betrayal of Jesus Weaknesses and mistakes: He was greedy (John 12:6) He betrayed Jesus He committed suicide instead of seeking forgiveness 

Lessons from his life: Evil plans and motives leave us open to being used by Satan for even greater evil The consequences of evil are so devastating that even small lies and little wrongdoings have serious results God’s plan and his purposes are worked out even in the worst possible events 

Vital statistics: 

 Where: Possibly from the town of Kerioth 
Occupation: Disciple of Jesus
 Relative: Father: Simon
 Contemporaries: Jesus, Pilate, Herod Antipas, the other 11 disciples 

Key verses: “Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them” (Luke 22:3-4). 

 Judas’s story is told in the Gospels. He is also mentioned in Acts 1:18-19.