Although Jesus knew from the very beginning of his ministry who would betray him (John 6:64), I don’t believe Judas ever thought of betraying his Lord until the very end. I think it came down to a matter of Judas’ worldview, who the Messiah was, and what the Messiah was supposed to do (cp. John 12:34). In the beginning Judas was ordained by Jesus to be with him (Mark 3:14), and Jesus called him his friend (Luke 12:4; cp. Matthew 12:49). Judas was given power to cast out demons and heal all manner of sickness and disease (Matthew 10:1), and it was given to him to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:11). He worshiped Jesus and truly believed him to be the Messiah (Mathew 14:33), and was exceeding sorry to hear Jesus would be betrayed (Matthew 17:23). Moreover, he rejoiced with a loud voice with the other disciples over the great works Jesus had done (Luke 19:37).
So, what turned Judas against Jesus, and what was it about him that told the Lord at the very beginning that Judas would be the traitor (cp. John 6:64)? First of all, I believe we need to put Judas’ character in context. He is often referred to in the text as Judas Iscariot (Matthew 26:14; Mark 3:19; 14:10; Luke 22:3; John 6:71; 12:4; 13:2, 26), but what does Iscariot mean? There have been several suggestions made for the word’s meaning, but the truth is no one really knows for certain what the term means. As for me, I believe it may be a transliteration of the Hebrew for “dagger man” – ish (H376), meaning man and answering to “Is” (Iscariot), and chereb (H2719), meaning dagger or knife and answering to “cariot” (Iscariot).[1] Putting this together, and if indeed it is accurate, we can logically place Judas as a member of the Sicarii, a zealot extremist group of the first century AD, who were feared assassins.[2] Probably, it was this violent nature and his hatred for Rome that exposed Judas as the traitor in the eyes of Jesus.
Judas was also known as Simon’s son (John 6:71; 13:26), and this fact is mentioned in such a manner that the text seems to imply we should know who Simon is. If, indeed, Simon is a notable person among Jesus’ disciples, Judas would logically fit in the group as the son of Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15), whom I have also identified as Simon the leper (Mark 14:3) in an earlier study.[3] So, although nothing I’ve concluded here can be placed in stone, these two facts (Iscariot and son of Simon), and assuming the accuracy of their interpretations, point to a probability that Judas was a zealot extremist, whose Jewish worldview of the Messiah, embraced a physical kingdom that would make literal war against the Jews’ enemies, like Rome. Jesus’ doctrine of a spiritual Kingdom of God within the heart of man (Luke 17:21) would have had no place in Judas’ mind and heart.
Now consider the fact that Judas has been stealing from funds meant for Jesus’ ministry (John 12:6), but why would he steal from Jesus? Nothing makes sense, if Judas stole for profit, because that couldn’t have been hidden for long. He would have soon become known by those who knew him and were so often with him. However, if the reason for his theft was to support the zealot movement among the Jews, that thing might not have become known, because Judas could have claimed the funds were going to the poor. With this in mind and knowing Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ financial supporters (Luke 8:2-3),[4] it is entirely possible that his theft had become known to her, because of her lavishly pouring out expensive ointment upon Jesus’ feet (John 12:3) and head (Mark 14:3) that she might otherwise have sold and given the proceeds to Judas, the treasurer of the group for the support of Jesus’ ministry. The fact that this was done twice within four days may imply Judas realized his thievery had been found out, so he decided to go to the Jewish authorities and hand Jesus over to them at an opportune moment (Mark 14:10-11). And, in so doing, he hoped to arouse public sentiment against Rome and ultimately free Jesus, whom he expected would at long last realize what the office of Messiah was for.
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[1] See my earlier study: A Traitor at the Table of the Lord.
[2] See Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews; 20.7.10 [185-187]
[3] See my study: Who Is Simon the Pharisee.
[4] See my studies: Who Is the Unnamed Woman of Luke 7 and Mary Magdalene, in which I seek to show Mary Magdalene is, in fact, Mary, the sister of Martha.
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