As I often say, Christians need to read and study the Bible from an apologetics perspective, meaning we find in the text and stories its veracity, that it is true history and God’s inspired, divine word. I wouldn’t have included Judas in that perspective until my recent read through the gospels. It’s a sad story on many levels, and I’ve always wondered why he did it, what his motivation was. The gospels seem to make him a disreputable character, but how was it that he lived intimately with the other apostles for three years and nobody ever pegged him as a traitor? Even during the Last Supper as he walked out the door to hand Jesus over to the Chief Priests, nobody suspected him. It wasn’t until he walked up with the crowd of armed soldiers that they realized he had betrayed Jesus and them.
At the Last Supper Jesus reveals one of them will betray him, and each one wonders if it might be him. From Luke 22:
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
It wasn’t at all obvious to any of them that Jesus was referring to Judas. I can only conclude that Judas was a true believer, but what he believed was not the truth. Before trying to understand the psychology of Judas, you might ask what makes this uninvented and evidence for the veracity of the gospels.
Israel’s History and Messianic Expectations
Fundamental to understanding the gospels is the Jewish nature of the world into which Jesus was born, lived, and died. Because of that, Jesus would have been impossible to make up given Jews of the time would never have conceived of a Messiah like Jesus, not in a million years. Judas was one of those Jews. He believed passionately Jesus was Israel’s long awaited Messiah, but for some reason Jesus wasn’t playing the part. Jesus was a complete enigma to everyone he encountered, especially to those who thought they knew who he should be. I can imagine Judas got increasingly frustrated as time went on. Jesus was not proving who he was to the Jewish religious leaders and acting like the king he was supposed to be. I believe he even thought he was doing Jesus a favor when he handed him over to the Jews.
Jewish Messianic expectation is the heart of the gospel story. Jews had been waiting over 400 years for the Messiah to finally come and vanquish their oppressors once and for all. Jews had as many varying opinions about their eschatology as Christians do today, but they all agreed the Messiah, God’s anointed, would be a king like unto David, only far greater. In John 6 we see what a powerful expectation this was among the people of Judea. Jesus had fed 5000 men, and additionally women and children, with a few loaves and fishes. Notice their response:
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
That Jesus was a healer and could feed thousands of people with barely any food was amazing, but that wasn’t important to Jews who were looking for a new King David to overthrow their Roman oppressors.
Jewish Messianic expectations of the time were primarily about rectifying the political disasters of Israel’s history, once and for all. It’s impossible for any of us to capture the psychology of the Jews of Jesus’ day. One author described the times as electric with expectation as Jews hoped every man who acted like a prophet would be the one. King David reigned a thousand years previously, and Solomon solidified the kingdom both militarily and economically. It was the golden age of Israel. Everything that God had promised to the Patriarchs a thousand years before had finally come to pass. As soon as it was established and seemingly secure it started to fall apart.
First Solomon’s son as successor didn’t work out so well. Soon there was a civil war, and the kingdom was broken up into the northern ten tribes, Israel, and two other tribes in the south, Judah. This takes us to the time of geopolitical turmoil we read about in Kings and the prophets. Because Israel listened to the false prophets who scratched their itching years, and not God’s prophets who foretold doom, horrible times were ahead. First the northern tribes fell to the bloodthirsty Assyrians in 722 BC, and the Babylonians took Judah in 586 BC, destroying Jerusalem and the temple. This period was traumatic on the psychology of the Jewish people (they first were called Jews during their captivity in Babylon because they were the people from Judea).
When the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC, we read about the Jews making their way back to Jerusalem to establish the city again and rebuild the Temple in the 400s in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. These are the end of the historical books of the Old Testament. The final communication of God to His people came through the prophet Malachi and the last book of prophecy written around 430. From then on it was silence from God and much turmoil for the Jews. They were ruled by the Persians until Alexander the Great defeated them in 333, who then conquered Judea shortly thereafter. When Alexander died, the Jews were ruled by a combination of Greco-Macedonian kings, until finally in 160s to 150s they gained some semblance of independence under the Maccabees. Less than 100 years later, however, the Romans gained control over Judea; and in 37, Herod the Great, a questionable Jew, was appointed “King of the Jews” by the Romans. There was a whole cross current of ideas among the Jews trying to deal with this centuries long upheaval, but they all expected a divinely appointed human king like David, not a miracle working itinerate preacher who would be killed on a Roman cross for blasphemy.
Judas Doing Jesus a Favor
It’s easy to condemn Judas with 20/20 hindsight, even for the first Christians. We can see this condemnation in the gospels, and that makes sense since it’s a fully human book as well as a fully divine one. What would motivate him to betray Jesus? The only plausible explanation is that he wanted Jesus to prove himself, and that he was in fact the promised Messiah he and other Jews so desperately wanted him to be. His motivations were clearly psychologically complex because nobody suspected him before it actually happened. I’m sure he couldn’t fathom the Jewish religious leaders would put Jesus to death, although like other Jews he knew what happened to the prophets. Plus I’m sure it was well known Jesus’ life was in danger from the Jewish leaders. I suspect because he believe Jesus to be the Messiah, that Jesus would never allow that to happen.
In addition to the Luke 22 passage, the others are Matthew 26 and John 13, both also showing that nobody suspected Judas would be the traitor—most interestingly that Judas didn’t see himself that way. Matthew tells us one of the others said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” And it’s clear Judas didn’t see himself as the betrayer either.
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
In John 13 Jesus tells Judas to go do what he has to so, and none of the others know what he means:
28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 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. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
Sadly, we know how it ends. From Matthew 27:
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The only plausible explanation for Judas’s action to hand Jesus over, and then regretting it after, is Jewish Messianic expectation. He didn’t see himself as betraying Jesus but doing him a favor so he could finally assert himself as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Even at this point he could have repented like Peter did, but he didn’t. Why?
Who knows what goes on in the convoluted mind of sinful emotional people, but Peter had Jesus’ words to hang on to. In Luke 22 before Jesus tells Peter he will deny three times that he even knows Jesus he says to him:
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Of course Peter had no idea what these words meant, but when he was in turmoil after the crucifixion he must have held on to them for some kind of hope. Judas, on the other hand, might have had these words ringing in his ears only hours have he heard them and Jesus was condemned (Matt. 26):
24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Even then as a pious Jew he could have known there was forgiveness and atonement, but Judas chose despair, self-pity, and death.
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