Why Did Judas Betray Jesus and What Has It Got To Do with Us?

Another short shot of Biblical truth

(Here’s a short audio and transcript addressing another faith question. I hope you find it helpful. If you do, please like, subscribe, and share.

Why did Jesus’ disciple, Judas, betray Jesus and what has it got to do with you and me?

Hi, I’m Mark Daniels and this is another Short Shot.

All four of the New Testament gospel writers–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John–tell us that Jesus was betrayed by one of His closest followers, a man named Judas. The religious authorities in Jerusalem, wanting to have Jesus killed, decided that when they sent the temple police to arrest Jesus, they would only do so under cover of darkness, away from the crowds who a few days before, on a day we now call Palm Sunday, had welcomed Jesus on His arrival in Jerusalem. But who could lead them to Jesus when the crowds weren’t around?

That’s where Judas came in.

Judas struck a deal with the religious leaders at the temple to take the police to where Judas knew Jesus would be, a garden called Gethsemane. He would do so in exchange for thirty pieces of silver, a tidy sum. Ultimately, of course, the religious leaders, known as the Sanhedrin, would conduct a kangaroo trial and convict Jesus on trumped up charges of blaspheming, that is, slandering, God. They would then take Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate, demanding that Pilate order Jesus’ execution on a cross.

So, why exactly did Judas betray Jesus?

An incident that happened a short time before the night Judas committed the betrayal may tell us.

Once, when Jesus was at the home of a man called Simon the Leper for a dinner, a woman called Mary crashed the party and, grateful for the forgiveness and new life she had already received through faith in Jesus, anointed Jesus’ feet with an expensive ointment and wiped His feet with her hair.

Even now, it would be a strange thing to see. But Jesus, knowing He would soon die on a cross, said that Mary anointed His body for burial. Mary offered an extravagant act of devotion and gratitude to the Savior Who came into our world to die and rise for us so that all who believe in Him have eternal life with God.

But Judas didn’t see it that way. John, the gospel writer, says: “Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:4-6)

Judas betrayed Jesus for cold hard cash.

But what does that have to do with us?

One of the Bible’s most misquoted passages is “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

The passage doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil. It says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Money itself is a passive entity. It’s neither good nor evil. It’s how we buy and sell things in this world, whether it’s the groceries we buy (including high-priced eggs) at the grocery store or the labor we sell to our employers.

Money becomes a problem though when it becomes our idol, the end-all and be-all of our existences. It’s this love of money as a god controlling our thoughts, actions, and motives that creates evils. For the love of money, people fight wars and commit injustices against the poor and strangers (the very people the Bible tells us we are to love, respect, and care for). I’ve seen the love of money tear families and marriages apart.

Judas loved money more than he loved the Savior he had come to know intimately over a three year period. He loved money more than the Savior Who tells us even today: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)

In this world, we all need a certain amount of cash. But when money becomes our god, we put our faith in an earthbound thing, the usefulness of which will end at the moment we draw our last breaths. Only Jesus can give us eternity. He died and rose to do that.

Jesus once said, “The thief [the person who so idolizes money he’s willing to violate his neighbor to get hold of it] comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus never promises those who follow Him will be rich. He does promise an abundant, forgiven life with God that never ends to believers though. It’s this life He gives whenever the good news of Jesus is given to and shared with us and we find ourselves, against our own wills, turning daily away from sin and death and turning daily with faith to Jesus, the One Who is and Who gives all we really need.

God bless you. See you next time.