Is It I? The Story of Judas

By Nathaniel Burson – 4/17/2023

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

These verses are basically identical, except that the Lord weighs the hearts in one, and the spirits in another. So this is an absolute truth; all of our actions seemed right to us at the time. 

There is no man, woman, or angel who has not, at the time, been convinced that his action was justified. Sure, we may have had doubts; we might have thought it was wrong, but really wanted to – so balanced the want and shouldn’t incorrectly. But still, that made sense. 

We REALLY wanted it, after all. We deserved it. After all, it wasn’t that bad, was it? And he would have done it to us if we hadn’t done it to him first. And anyway, he can afford to lose it. And besides, he’s done it to others so in a way, we’re actually balancing the scales of justice. And so on. 

There isn’t one of us who, looking back, doesn’t believe all our sins were forced upon us – that we had no choice. Not Hitler; not Charles Manson; not the Catholic inquisitors nor the Aztec priests… not even the priests who plotted to kill Jesus. All the ways of ALL these men were right in their own eyes at the time. 

John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Those who persecuted the Christians were not bad people, doing bad things for bad reasons. They were good people, doing bad things for what, to them, seemed like good reasons. Yes, hurting someone was not ideal, but it served the greater good. 

John 11:47-53 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all [men] will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, [named] Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

Jesus’ death was regrettable, but it served the good of the people. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, and the ends do justify the means. And really, He brought it on Himself. He JUST. Wouldn’t. Shut. Up. 

They had tried asking nicely; they’d tried arguing with Him, attacking His credentials, but He stubbornly refused to hear reason. So they plotted to kill Him; and once they agreed that was necessary, then any means they used – false witnesses, bribery, torture – all was justified because it was good that Jesus died so that millions more wouldn’t have to do so. 

So they were good public servants, doing their sworn duty to protect their people the only way they knew how. Yes, they did wrong; but their ways were right in their own eyes. Just as all of yours have always been. 

JUST LIKE JUDAS

And just like Judas’ ways were. Judas wasn’t a bad person, doing bad things, for bad reasons. Because no one has ever been! Most people think Judas was mad at Jesus, thought He picked on him, or was just an evil person… but if Judas had wanted Jesus to be killed… why, when He was taken, did Judas repent?

Matthew 27:1-3 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led [him] away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

People also believe Judas just wanted the money; but if that were true, why did he try to give it back? 

Verses 4-5 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What [is that] to us? see thou [to that]. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Does a greedy, selfish person who would sell his own mother for silver give it back? Does an evil disciple who wanted to hurt his master repent the INSTANT he sees his plan in action?

Judas was SURPRISED when Jesus was led away in chains to be executed! Because up until that moment he honestly didn’t believe he was betraying Jesus! Jesus, whom he KNEW was innocent and had always believed to be innocent!

He didn’t want to betray Jesus, and that’s why he, along with all the other disciples, was hurt by the suggestion that he could do such a thing!

Matthew 26:21-25 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

So let’s look at what we have. Judas wasn’t after the money. He wasn’t trying to get Jesus executed. He wasn’t mad at his Master. He was shocked and immediately repented when he saw Jesus taken. And he wasn’t being deceitful when he said “Is it I?” He honestly didn’t know!

But how is that possible? Well first of all, it hadn’t happened yet. 

Luke 22:1-6 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

Now according to the timeline here, this is when Satan entered Judas. But according to the other versions, that happened during the Passover service, the same night. 

John 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

So this wasn’t something had happened days or weeks before; the agreement and the “betrayal” took place no more than about 4 hours apart. 

John 18:1-3 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.

And the other version says that when Judas came, he kissed his Master. We’ve been told that was deceitful – indeed, the “Judas’ kiss” is a nickname for those who show love but also hate; but what if it was sincere?

Luke 22:45-48 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

And Matthew’s version says…

Matthew 26:46-50 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.

Now see, if Judas had wanted Him captured and killed, he’d have said “haha sucker, gotcha, whose the master NOW??” There was no more need to pretend. And he didn’t need to kiss Him, he could have just stood behind the guys with spears and said “the shabby dude there!”

So except for the actual fact that Jesus was betrayed by him, Judas has done nothing that seems malicious or malevolent. So what WAS he thinking? Because we really have no reason to believe that he intended tobetray Him, not even as it was happening. Not until the next morning, when he saw Him delivered to the Romans. 

SO WHAT DID HE EXPECT?

Having eliminated the impossible, his motives are quite easy to determine, based on what the disciples in general understood. Look at how Peter reacted to Jesus’ capture:

Luke 22:49-51 When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

Note that they asked and then acted without waiting for an answer. So clearly, they believed that it was their duty to defend Jesus with a sword. Which means that’s what Judas would have expected to happen as well!

Matthew 26: 51-53 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out [his] hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Yes, they did in fact believe that – which means Judas knew it as well! But the disciples also knew another critical fact that they, with the short term thinking humans are known for, drastically misunderstood:

Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Luke 22:29-30 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now imagine yourself one of these young men following Jesus around. When you heard these words, you wouldn’t be thinking about the millennium, the resurrection, and so on – not understanding any of those things. You’d think that Jesus intended to free the kingdom of Israel and make you his princes. 

Indeed, a few days later, after His resurrection had failed to bring about the kingdom, it was the first thing on their mind: 

The disciples, even after all this, still believed that Jesus’ goal on the Earth was to set up a literal kingdom, as had existed under David, and which was promised in hundreds of OT scriptures (Ezekiel 37:24, for instance). They remembered, after the fact, that He had told them He would rise again (Luke 24:7-9). 

But they believed that as soon as He rose, He would RIGHT THEN take over the throne of David and rule all nations. They did not understand until much later that many other things had to happen first. So when Jesus asked why they were sad, they said it was because “…we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel” (verse 21).

They were sad because they TRUSTED Jesus to redeem Israel, and as far as they could tell, He hadn’t! Of course, Jesus HAD redeemed spiritual Israel by making salvation possible, but since He hadn’t set their nation up as head of the nations instantly upon His resurrection, He hadn’t redeemed Israel in their eyes!

They well knew, then, that Jesus was to be resurrected after three days and nights, which had obviously ended before that morning. And yet He hadn’t rescued Israel from Roman domination! And they were upset because “the third day” had come and gone, and the kingdom still hadn’t appeared!

“…we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel” (verse 21).

And they were, naturally enough, young, cocky, eager to be powerful… and they had literally JUST been arguing about who would be the MOST powerful in that kingdom:

Verses 24-27 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether [is] greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? [is] not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

But that of course wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They were excited, and wanted to see the kingdom of Israel independent and powerful again, and themselves at its head. And it was clear to the disciples that this was going to happen soon. And probably… tonight!

Verses 36-38 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take [it], and likewise [his] scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here [are] two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

To them, the “end” that was at hand could only be His kingdom. They KNEW He had the power of God, the power to call legions of angels, and it was ALMOST TIME to start the kingdom! HE kept saying so!

All that was remaining was the spark. 

HELPING GOD

Man has a long history of helping God. Abraham, having been promised a son, immediately helped God fulfill His promise by having a son with his bondmaiden. Jacob, having been promised to inherit the blessing of Isaac at birth, lied and cheated to make it happen sooner. 

Once God has promised us something, it is absolute. Whether we do nothing, or help Him, it will happen. Yet if we help Him, we risk doing it in a different way, and in our enthusiasm getting ourselves in trouble. 

Judas had been promised, along with the rest, a throne in the kingdom. He believed, incorrectly, that it was beginning that same night. The signs were there; Jesus had, for the first time, armed His disciples. It was almost a holy day, an auspicious day to begin a kingdom. And Jesus was saying “the things concerning me have an end”. 

John 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

And the people were so excited, they had already almost made Him a king by force. Judas knew that any transfer of power, violent or otherwise, would have to start with the high priesthood. The Romans were fairly hands-off; so first, Jesus would have to kill the high priests, replace them, and then later the Romans could be dealt with. 

But how to set up the situation? He needed to provoke a conflict between the two. He’d seen Jesus raise the dead, so a few old men and a handful of soldiers would be no problem. 

And so when Judas went to the high priests, it wasn’t to betray Jesus… it was to betray the high priests TO Jesus!! He knew they would be suspicious if Jesus’ disciple just asked them to come; he had to look like a betrayer, so he negotiated for the money just like a traitor would!

Matthew 26:14-16 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said [unto them], What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

And this plan was specifically sanctioned by Jesus! Judas knew that Jesus knew what was in the hearts of men…

Luke 5:22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

So when Judas was thinking along these lines, and Jesus looked at him and said…

Luke 22:26-28 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped [it]. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave [it] to Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 

Jesus literally gave him an order to go ahead with his plan! And it all seemed like it was going according to plan, until Jesus ordered Peter not to fight the priests. “Ok”, he thought, “he must be planning to do it at the temple. That’s even better!”

But then he saw Him bounce between Annas and Caiaphas, and still Jesus just STOOD there and took it! Throughout the night, he grew more and more anxious, and but when Jesus was led off in chains to the Romans, he knew – he knew that he was the betrayer. 

All because he tried to help God. How often have you done the same, with similar results?

BUT WHY?

Don’t get me wrong; Judas was wrong to do this. He did betray Jesus, whether he realized it or not. But WHY? Now, I’m not asking for his thinking process, which I think we know – but rather, what was wrong with his fractions that led him to make the judgments he did?

John 12:4-7 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s [son], which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

So Judas was covetous. He loved money; and people who love money tend to love power as well. So this means that the throne Jesus was offering held an even greater allure to him than it did to the others. 

Remember what I said at the beginning – we know something might be wrong, but the stronger we want to do something, the easier it is to tilt the scales of judgment in that direction. 

Abraham WANTED a son – so he was compelled to find a way to fit God’s words with a plan to get a son SOON. David WANTED Bathsheba, so he found a way to rationalize murder: “the sword devours one as well as another, after all” (paraphrased from 2 Samuel 11:25). 

Numbers 22:18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

Balaam was a diligent servant of God. But who wouldn’t want his house full of silver and gold? Which means if there were a way, you’d look harder to find it – you’d push as far as possible over that fence, without crossing it, to make it seem justified. 

Verses 19-22 Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, [and] go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants [were] with him.

Why was God angry? Because Balaam hadn’t done what God said! God said IF THEY COME and ask, then go; but Balaam rose up and WENT WITH THEM without them coming to him!

Jude 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Balaam would never disobey God. But he would bend God’s words as far as possible, to get a house full of gold. And when we sin, any of us, this is why; because something we want is beyond that fence; and we will push and stretch and squeeze as far as possible to get it, provided only we don’t actually cross the fence, we’re justified. Even if the fence “accidentally” breaks. 

The only question is – how far are we willing to stretch the fence and still call ourselves Christians? How far can we bend God’s words, and still insist we are “living by every word of God”?

So the question you need to be asking yourself is… “Is it I?”