My opinion about him is gleaned from years of Bible stories, Sunday School and of course the scripture itself. The best I could say about him would be he was A Bad Egg; the definition of which is someone who does bad things, a dishonest person. We remember Judas for one thing, his betrayal of Jesus. Judas was with Jesus for three years, which means he witnessed many of the miracles that Jesus did during his ministry, shared many of the times when they were in danger and suffered the hardships that came with being a follower of Jesus. So I guess it is only reasonable to ask why he did what he did. It would also not be inappropriate to wonder why Jesus picked him to start with. Scripture leaves no doubt as to he was. One of the other disciples was named Judas (John 14:22) and in Mark 6:3 a half-brother of Jesus is named Judas. John 6:71 and 13:36, identifies Judas as the son of “Simon Iscariot”. Lastly in Luke 22:48 we read in scripture conformation that it is without a doubt that he made a conscious choice to betray Jesus. All the above leaves no doubt about which Judas is being referred to. There are so many things written about Judas by highly respected theologians that provide a depth to this Biblical account that goes beyond the written word. Having said that let’s move on to some other interesting things about Judas.

In John 6:70 Jesus says “have I not chosen you?” , speaking to the twelve disciples and goes on to state “one of you is a devil”. Reading from John 13:26 Jesus again calls Judas out. Did Jesus know the heart of Judas? Of course he did. The other disciples, well that’s another story. They did not give it a thought, after all he was one of them, a trusted member of the Twelve. Even when Jesus told Judas to “do what he was about to do and do it quickly” (John 13:27) the others simply thought Judas was off to buy food or do something for the poor. Judas betrayed Jesus with a crude brazen display of affection, continuing the sinful deception before the others. Oh how loudly the scripture speaks to us and guides us to our saviors divine nature. In John 13:18 Jesus reveals that it is Judas and his action will fulfill the scripture. Judas was was fully responsible for his actions. Most of us sitting in the pew go no father than betrayal for thirty pieces of silver and the kiss that sealed the deal. There is so much back story here that causes us to think longer about this act and the man who did it. This is what I refer to as the second act of scriptural record and Jesus’ path to the cross.

Why did Judas Betray Jesus? Most writers say we cannot be absolutely sure but there are some things that certain scripture reveal to us. John 6: 64 indicates that Jesus knew, although he picked them, that not all of the Twelve believed and he knew who would betray him. Professions of faith and loyalty from the Twelve are often recorded in scripture (John 6:68, 11:16). Also Judas never referred to Jesus as “Lord” but would address him as “Rabbi”. Judas saw Jesus as no more than a Teacher and like the Pharisees he believed Jesus would not and could not overthrow the Romans. John 12:5,6 reveals another disturbing fact about Judas. Judas was a greedy man and in John 13: 29 we learn that Judas was in charge of the money bag from which he no doubt took some from for his own use. We must be careful not to read to much into all these things but careful reading and study does show us this. If order of the Twelve in written word is an indicator of relationship with Jesus we can note that Judas is always last and infrequent. Theirs was not a strong relationship. Perhaps like many people of that day Judas just simply failed to recognize Jesus as God incarnate. So maybe he was just…..A Bad Egg.

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus! He LIVES! We will rejoice and be glad.

God Bless,
jk

Reference: On Judas Iscariot -Warren Wiersbe