Here comes my betrayer! While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Jesus frequently retreated into solitude to pray. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, late at night, removed from the safety of the crowds who loved him, he was especially vulnerable—and Judas knew that.
After watching Jesus heal people, cast out demons, command storms, and forgive sins for three years, why would Judas be willing to betray him? The other gospels provide us with two motives, one natural, the other supernatural, which worked together to turn Judas against Jesus. Luke and John both write that Satan entered Judas and influenced him to betray Jesus. Judas provided both the time and the opportunity. Luke records that it happened just before he spoke with the chief priests Luke , and John writes that the devil prompted him to betray Jesus before the Last Supper John , but that Satan entered him in the moment Judas touched a piece of bread:.
As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Satan thought killing Jesus would ruin everything. So by killing the Messiah, Satan thought he would prevent that restoration from happening. Paul puts it this way in his first letter to the church in Corinth. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Interestingly, a second-century text written long after the death of Judas and the other apostles suggested a different reason why Judas killed Jesus: Judas was the good guy. Throughout his ministry, Jesus dropped regular hints to his disciples that he was going to die. But during the Last Supper, the gospel writers tell us that Jesus also knew exactly how he was going to die—and who would betray him. In some accounts, Jesus even blatantly tells the disciples which one of them would betray him, but somehow they miss it:.
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.
He had been with them for three years, and despite his dishonesty, each of them wondered if they might be the eventual traitor. But Jesus knew what Judas was going to do all along. Once the chief priests found Jesus guilty of blasphemy and handed him over to Pilate, Judas had a change of heart. Matthew records that Judas hung himself immediately after the chief priests refused to take their money back:.
Then he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests then used the money to buy a field, which Matthew connects to prophecies from Zechariah and Jeremiah:.
That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama , that is, Field of Blood. He could simply be referring to something that happened after Judas hung himself. But that still leaves us with the question of who bought the field—Judas, or the chief priests?
And they appear to have different reasons for why the field was called the Field of Blood. Still, both accounts appear to be in agreement that Judas died around the same time as Jesus. The Book of Acts opens after the resurrection of Jesus, and while the apostles wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit, they get together and talk about the best way to replace Judas Iscariot.
The number 12 carried a lot of significance to the Jewish people and thus the early Christians , and Peter urges the group to fulfill a prophecy in Psalm The apostles wanted to choose someone who had been with them from the time John baptized Jesus until the time he ascended to heaven, and they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas also known as Justus and Matthias. They prayed and cast lots, and then Matthias became the new 12th apostle. The document as it survives today is in more than a thousand pieces, and due to poor handling and deterioration, more than half of the original document has likely been lost.
Judas Iscariot had no intention of redeeming humanity. He may have simply been an opportunist, seizing a chance to make some extra money. Or maybe, he really believed nothing could stop Jesus, so betraying him and forcing conflict would only accelerate his plan to restore the kingdom to Israel.
The stories say that Judas was a disciple of Jesus and that he betrayed his leader, agreeing to turn him over to a crowd led by the chief priests in exchange for money — 30 pieces of silver, according to the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all specify that Judas pointed out Jesus by kissing him when the crowd approached. Jesus was subsequently tried and crucified. A recently translated, 1, year-old text written in Coptic — an Egyptian language that uses the Greek alphabet — claims that Judas used a kiss to betray his leader because Jesus had the ability to change his appearance.
Judas' kiss would clearly identify Jesus to the crowd. The four gospels, on the other hand, don't attempt to explain why a kiss was used to identify Jesus. All the gospels indicate that Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed when he had supper with his disciples shortly before his arrest.
The Gospel of John states that Jesus confronted Judas at the last supper, telling him, "What you are about to do, do quickly. The Gospels of Luke and John both say that Satan "entered" Judas at certain times and may have influenced his decision to betray Jesus.
The Gospel of John describes Judas as an untrustworthy person. It claims that Judas was the treasurer for Jesus and his 12 disciples, carrying the money bag the group shared and sometimes stealing from it. When a woman put perfume on Jesus shortly before the last supper, Judas objected, the Gospel of John says. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. He is next seen entering the garden later that night where Jesus is praying.
Knowing the place, Judas led a detachment of soldiers and officials to Jesus. He then proceeded to approach Jesus and kiss him in greeting. After this, Jesus was arrested. When they disregarded him, he threw the money into the temple, left, and went away and hanged himself. Zechariah predicted Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah God was not blindsided by this betrayal.
In fact, it was part of His plan. In order to save the world from sin, the Bible claims, Jesus had to die. Judas reminds us that God is always in control.
Alyssa Roat is a literary agent at C. More than a hundred of her works have been featured in various publications ranging from The Christian Communicator to Keys for Kids.
0コメント