Topic: Persons Of The Bible - Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot was the son of Simon (John 6:71; 13:2, 26), surnamed Iscariot, i.e., a man of Kerioth (Josh. 15:25). The name Iscariot has received many interpretations more or less conjectural. The most probable is from Ish Kerioth, i.e. "man of Kerioth," a town in the tribe of Judah. (Joshua 15:25) Of the life of Judas before the appearance of his name in the lists of the apostles we know absolutely nothing. What that appearance implies, however, is that he had previously declared himself a disciple. He was drawn, as the others were, by the preaching of the Baptist, or his own Messianic hopes, or the "gracious words" of the new Teacher, to leave his former life, and to obey the call of the Prophet of Nazareth. The choice was not made, we must remember, without a provision of its issue. (John 6:64) His name is uniformly the last in the list of the apostles, as given in the synoptic (i.e., the first three) Gospels.

The rules to which the twelve were subject in their first journey, (Matthew 10:9,10) sheltered him from the temptation that would have been most dangerous to him. The new form of life, of which we find the first traces in (Luke 8:3) brought that temptation with it. As soon as the twelve were recognized as a body, traveling hither and thither with their Master, receiving money and other offerings, and redistributing what they received to the poor, it became necessary that some one should act as the steward and almoner of the small society, and this fell to Judas. (John 12:6; 13:29) Judas, the Galilean or Judean peasant, found himself entrusted with larger sums of money than before, and with this there came covetousness, unfaithfulness, embezzlement. Several times Judas showed his tendency to avarice and selfishness. This, even under the best of influences, grew worse and worse, till he betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver.

The evil of Juda's nature probably gradually unfolded itself till "Satan entered into him" (John 13:27), and he betrayed our Lord (18:3). Afterwards he owned his sin with "an exceeding bitter cry," and cast the money he had received as the wages of his iniquity down on the floor of the sanctuary, and "departed and went and hanged himself" (Matt. 27:5). He perished in his guilt, and "went unto his own place" (Acts 1:25). The statement in Acts 1:18 that he "fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out," is in no way contrary to that in Matt. 27:5. The suicide first hanged himself, perhaps over the valley of Hinnom, "and the rope giving way, or the branch to which he hung breaking, he fell down headlong on his face, and was crushed and mangled on the rocky pavement below."

Why was such a man chosen to be one of the twelve?-- (1) There was needed among the disciples, as in the Church now, a man of just such talents as Judas possessed,-- the talent for managing business affairs. (2) Though he probably followed Christ at first from mixed motives, as did the other disciples, he had the opportunity of becoming a good and useful man. (3) It doubtless was included in God's plans that there should be thus a standing argument for the truth and honesty of the gospel; for if any wrong or trickery had been concealed, it would have been revealed by the traitor in self-defense. (4) Perhaps to teach the Church that God can bless and the gospel can succeed even though some bad men may creep into the fold. It is written that "Jesus knew from the beginning who should betray him" (John 6:64). Nor can any answer be satisfactorily given to the question as to the motives that led Judas to betray his Master. "Of the motives that have been assigned we need not care to fix on any one as that which simply led him on. Crime is, for the most part, the result of a hundred motives rushing with bewildering fury through the mind of the criminal."

Perhaps one can learn about human nature and sin by surveying some of the speculated aforementioned motives. It can be speculated about the motives of Judas Iscariot -- (1) Anger at the public rebuke given him by Christ at the supper in the house of Simon the leper. (Matthew 26:6-14) (2) Avarice, covetousness, the thirty pieces of silver. (John 12:6) (3) The reaction of feeling in a bad soul against the Holy One whose words and character were a continual rebuke, and who knew the traitors heart. (4) A much larger covetousness,-- an ambition to be the treasurer, not merely of a few poor disciples, but of a great and splendid temporal kingdom of the Messiah. He would hasten on the coming kingdom by compelling Jesus to defend himself. (5) Perhaps disappointment because Christ insisted on foretelling his death instead of receiving his kingdom. He began to fear that there was to be no kingdom, after all. (6) Perhaps, also, Judas "abandoned what seemed to him a failing cause, and hoped by his treachery to gain a position of honor and influence in the Pharisaic party."

The end of Judas.-- (1) Judas, when he saw the results of his betrayal, "repented himself." (Matthew 27:3-10) He saw his sin in a new light, and "his conscience bounded into fury." (2) He made ineffectual struggles to escape, by attempting to return the reward to the Pharisees, and when they would not receive it, he cast it down at their feet and left it. (Matthew 27:5) But, (a) restitution of the silver did not undo the wrong; (b) it was restored in a wrong spirit,--a desire for relief rather than hatred of sin; (c) he confessed to the wrong party, or rather to those who should have been secondary, and who could not grant forgiveness; (d) "compunction is not conversion." (3) The money was used to buy a burial-field for poor strangers. (Matthew 27:6-10) (4) Judas' repentance may be compared to that of Esau. (Genesis 27:32-38; Hebrews 12:16,17) It is contrasted with that of Peter. Judas proved his repentance to be false by immediately committing another sin, suicide. Peter proved his to be true by serving the Lord faithfully ever after.--ED.)

Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible Dictionaries

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