Jesus Christ had many disciples but called twelve to work closely with and teach to propagate the Gospel. Among the twelve was a man named Judas Iscariot. Among believers, the name evokes images of betrayal, mistrust, and misappropriation of funds. But what if Judas has more to teach than merely being a bad example?
Jesus Christ had prophesied that he would die and resurrect on the third day. Nearing the end of his life at the Last Supper, he told his disciples that someone would betray him (Mark 14:18, 20). Even though he did not mention names, he gave hints. Whether or not the apostles caught on to the hints is a different conversation.
Judas Iscariot sold Jesus Christ to the chief priests and the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. What triggered him to make that move was when he witnessed the woman anoint Jesus Christ with an alabaster flask of very precious perfume and wipe his feet with her hair. We are told in Matthew 26:14-16 that Judas initiated the trade conversation with the chief priests. Now, why would he do that?
We do not know from scripture when Judas began to follow Jesus. However, we are certain that Judas Iscariot was there while Jesus performed so many miracles. He saw Jesus walk on water toward them, witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus, and had even seen Jesus disappear on two occasions (Luke 4:29-30; John 6:15). Judas had heard Jesus talk about himself as the Son of God and coming straight from heaven. He believed Jesus was capable of anything and everything. And he was a greedy man.
Therefore, in Judas’ mind, selling Jesus was a good way to make money. Jesus would disappear the minute the soldiers arrested Him, and nobody would know Judas betrayed Him. If the chief priests came to ask him for a refund, he had a valid response for them. He may have said, “I handed Him over to you. You couldn’t keep Him. Now that he has disappeared from your hand, what does it concern me?” He would have gone on to live a fulfilling life. Alas, it was not so, for Judas had unwittingly played into destiny. His greed made him a useful tool to betray Jesus. It had to be someone, but Judas could have chosen to stay on the brighter side.
When Judas saw that Jesus did not display any supernatural antic from his arrest to his torture, he realized that he had made a big mistake. He then returned the money. But the chief priests would not collect what they called “blood money”. Judas then committed suicide because he couldn’t face the other 11 disciples when they found out.
In the Catholic domain, despite betraying Jesus, they would have canonized Judas Iscariot and he would be a saint if he had not committed suicide. Also, Judas would have enriched our Christian experience with how to be materially wealthy without being greedy.
What is the lesson here? Among all the disciples and apostles Jesus worked with, only Judas Iscariot truly believed Jesus of Nazareth for what He was. Have the Judas-kind of faith.
