The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JESUS AND JUDAS
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JESUS AND JUDAS
Golden Text: “Woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed!” (Matt. 26:24)
Lesson Plan:
1. Judas Betrays His Master with a Kiss (Matt. 26:47-50)
2. Judas Chosen To Be an Apostle (Matt. 10:4; Mk. 3:9)
3. Judas Becomes Treasurer (Jn. 12:6; 13:29; Lk. 8:3)
4. Judas’ Conduct at the Bethany Supper (Jn. 12:1-8)
5. Judas Sells Jesus for 30 Shekels of Silver (Matt. 26:14-16; Mk. 14:10, 11; Lk. 22:3-6)
6. Judas at the Last Supper (Mk. 14:18-21)
7. The Vision of Jesus’ Divine Love (Jn. 13:1)
8. The Closing Scenes of Judas’ Life (Matt. 27:3-10)
Lesson Setting:
Time: Immediately after the last lesson, probably about one o’clock in the morning of Friday, April
7, A.D. 30.
Place: Gethsemane, by the bridge over the brook Kidron and in Jerusalem.
Research and Discussion: The character of Judas. How he came to be so bad, under the teaching of Jesus, and the companionship of the disciples. Why did Jesus choose Judas for one of the twelve? Judas’ motives for his betrayal. Money as an end and aim. Money as a means to an end. Judas’ repentance? Or remorse? The Judas failure.
Introduction: Portions of this lesson deal with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Therefore, if you are a teacher preparing a lesson, please review the last three lessons prior to teaching this lesson, hopefully avoiding over-emphasizing similar material. In our study of the Life of Christ and in contrast with the life of Jesus are placed three men, Judas, Peter and Pilate. In each case two portraits are placed side by side. In each case the character of Jesus is revealed in a special aspect, like a facet of a gem, and the character of each man is revealed by his contact with Jesus. Judas presents an excellent opportunity for a lesson in Character Study. This lesson is concerned with the entire career of Judas Iscariot during his close companionship with Jesus and His disciples for more than two years. At the same time it illuminates the character and methods of Jesus in dealing with such a man. It is a story as full of instruction and warning for the 21st Century, as it was for the days of the Apostles. We begin with the hour and place where we left Jesus and His disciples at the close of the last lesson at the entrance to the Garden of Gethsemane, and study the scene where Judas betrays his Master with a kiss, the culmination of the depths of his infamy, and his last connection with Jesus, as given in the first verses of our lesson. Then we will turn back to the beginning of the story, the time when he first became a follower of Jesus, and in a series of scenes trace in the Gospels the steps by which, even under the teaching of Jesus, and the companionship of the apostles, he descended from his heights of privilege to the depths of his everlasting infamy as recorded in the second part of the text of the lesson.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:47-50
1. Judas Betrays His Master with a Kiss
Probably they went first to the upper room where Jesus was gathered with the disciples when Judas received the sop, and went out into the night on his foul errand. Not finding him there the traitor led them to the garden well known to him, over the ravine of the Cedars (Kidron) where Jesus was accustomed to resort with His disciples. The enemies of Jesus rejoiced in the prospect of soon having in their hands the Disturber of Israel; and in the depths of the traitor’s heart, friends were making ready the torment that worse than wolf or fire should long gnaw and burn his wretched soul (Dr. J.S. Stone in ‘The Passion of Christ’).
The Accompanying Multitude: “And with him a great multitude” (v 47). “The Levitical police of the Temple were to the front “with staves;” and as Jesus had at least eleven resolute men with Him, and these might rouse incalculable numbers of His adherents on the way to the city it had been considered judicious to ask from the Roman governor a cohort of 400 soldiers (equals the tenth part of a legion), from the fortress of Antonia, with lances and swords, and lanterns and torches, probably because they expected to have to hunt for Jesus and His followers in the recesses of His retreat” (Stalker’s ‘Trial and Death of Jesus’).
The Traitor’s Kiss: “Now he that betrayed Him gave them a sign” (v 48). That is, had given them the sign previously. It was necessary, because the Roman soldiers did not personally know Christ, and in the darkness the officers might mistake Him for one of the disciples. The sign was a kiss, which was perfectly natural, for “in the East students used to kiss their rabbis, and in all likelihood this custom prevailed between Christ and His disciples” (Stalker).
v 49 ... “And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master, and kissed Him.” The Greek word for “kissed” means “kissed Him much,” “rained kisses” upon Him.
The Savior submitted to the indignity, not stopping, but only saying, as He passed on, “Friend” (v 50) (not the endearing word, but ‘companion’), ‘is it this for which thou art here?’ Then, perhaps in answer to His questioning gesture, Luke writes, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss! Your Master, the Savior of the world, with a kiss! O that word “Friend;” how it must have burned like fire into the soul of Judas. “The sentence of our Lord is, in the original, broken and agitated, ‘that for which thou are come.’ In other words, ‘There is no need for this exaggerated kissing. It is an idle sham and waste of time, I know thy evil purpose. Carry it out’" (Farrar). The greatness of the sin is almost overshadowed by the meanness of it. A kiss was probably a disciple’s usual greeting of the Master. Nothing can be meaner than the betrayal by Judas, who just a few hours before had eaten the covenant of friendship with his Master.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:9
2. Judas Chosen To Be an Apostle
We now turn back from the awful culmination of Judas’ career to its beginning, tracing the steps by which he became what he did; in order that we may feel the full force and meaning of the warning from his experience, as Bunyan’s Pilgrims, after their escape from Giant Despair, erected at the entrance to By-path Meadow a pillar on which they engraved this sentence: “Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle, which is kept by Giant Despair, who despiseth the king of the Celestial Country, and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims.” Note that after that escape they soon came to the Delectable Mountains.
Judas: His father was some unknown Simon, and he was from Kerioth (a small town in Judea about 23 miles South of Jerusalem). “Kerioth is generally identified with the ruins el-Karjetein south of Herbron. Judas was of South Palestine, while the other eleven were of Galilee. This may have been one cause of estrangement between him and the others. Judeans had a tendency to look down on Galileans” (Hastings’ ‘Bible Dictionary’). He was brought up differently from the others in various ways. “In towns like Kerioth there lived the Jewish patricians, the men in whose veins flowed the bluest of Israel’s blue blood. There the national hopes for the Messiah were cherished and the national disgrace was most keenly felt; the homes, the hearts; the hopes, of men were ‘stained with the golden stain of time.’ Here Judas was born, reared and nurtured, till his whole soul was saturated with conservative national hope” (T.C. McClelland, ‘The Cross builders’).
Why Judas followed Jesus, as he perhaps did for a time before being chosen to be one of the apostles: Judging from his whole career it is probable that he was drawn to Jesus as the prophet who might be the Messiah, deliverer of his nation from the Romans. He would then naturally be the King or Chief Ruler. Judas would then be one of the chief officers, with full use of his natural abilities, energies and ambitions. It is not necessary to think that he was insincere. He could easily persuade himself that he was best fitted to help Jesus in His kingdom, that he was a loyal patriot.
Why Jesus Chose Him As One of the Twelve: Knowing as Jesus did all that is in man, Jesus saw in Judas a man of great possibilities, active, determined, resourceful – and He resolved to give him the opportunity of turning these qualities to their highest account. And if, like every other man, Judas had ‘the defects of his qualities,’ there was no reason to start with why they should have proved more perilous in his case than in the case of Peter or John, or why, through the constraining power of Christ’s affection, he should not have become as useful and honored a member of the Apostolic band as they (George Milligan, ‘The Twelve Apostles’). There was need for a business man among the apostles, as there is need in the church today for honest, true, sincere business men of wise abilities. Whatever the reasons may have been, the fact that one of the disciples became a traitor became also a standing argument for the truth and honesty of the Gospel, because if any wrong or trickery had been concealed, it would have been revealed by the traitor in self-defense. It is a relief to the churches of Christ in the 21st Century to know that God can bless, and the Gospel can succeed, even though bad men may creep into the fold.
Growing Bad under the Best Influences: Judas grew worse under the best influences, the best teaching, and the perfect example; as dead trees decay most rapidly under the power of sunshine and rain, which give vigor and growth to living trees. Judas was not all bad at first. He had everything in him out of which apostles are made. Unless he had, Jesus would never have chosen him to be one of the twelve. The Savior never had any idea of anything but the best for Judas. He always sees the best in men, thinks the best of them, plans the best for them, and expects the best from them. Judas was no exception. Jesus meant Judas for a missionary. He had no mental reservations (‘The Cross Builders’). The influence of environment is great, but men can and do choose to go against their environment. Out of poverty, out of slums, out of race hatred, out of ignorance have come great and good men. On the other hand, some coming from the choicest families and communities have fallen into the abyss of darkness and sin. It is true that “One ship drives East, another drives West, While the selfsame breezes blow; ‘Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales, That bids them where to go. Like the winds of the air, are the wars of the fates, As we journey along through life; ‘Tis the set of the soul that decides the goal, And not the storm or the strife” (Frances E. Tyner). But environment sometimes has tremendous power over “the set of the soul.” Judas was the one who would betray Jesus so that the Scripture and God’s plan of salvation would be fulfilled (Ps. 41:9; 55:12-15, 20, 21; Zech. 11:12, 13; Jn. 6:64, 70, 71; 13:18; 17:12).
Scripture Reading: John 12:6; 13:29; Luke 8:3
3. Judas Becomes Treasurer
When not only Jesus, but His twelve disciples gave their whole time to the teaching and work of Jesus, it was natural that their friends should come to their support, as did Joanna the wife of Chusa, Herod’s stewart, and many others who ministered unto them for their substance (Lk. 8:3). One of them needed to be treasurer, and naturally Judas, the most businesslike among them, came to hold that office – he “had the bag.” This placed Judas under temptation because he was trusted so completely. Of course Jesus knew this, but He also knew that the amount of money was small, that the temptation was not intense, and that Judas needed to grow strong by resisting temptation. There was no other way of opening the door to man’s highest possibilities, his fullest development, purest holiness, greatest happiness and largest usefulness. All who would become strong and useful must gain their power largely through victory over temptation. In this way the soul “builds itself larger mansions.” The reason is that every temptation not only presents a man with an opportunity for choice, but compels him to make a choice. And choice is an act of will, and character is made through acts of will. “When the fight begins within himself A man’s worth something. God stoops o’er his head, Satan looks up between his feet – both tug – He’s left, himself in the middle; the soul wakes and grows” (Browning). But Judas stumbled over the golden stairway to heaven. It is probable that none of the other disciples knew of his stealing. It appears they trusted him to the end. Satan tempts in order that men may fall. God tests in order that we might gain the victory – be strong and good. God uses Satan’s temptations, changing them into tests.
Scripture Reading: John 12:1-8
4. Judas’ Conduct at the Bethany Supper
Judas was growing worse and worse in his inner life. So that when he came to the supper at Bethany and saw Mary using an expensive fragrant nard to anoint the head and feet of Jesus, the old demon of avarice at work in Judas’ heart, with its attendants of selfishness and dishonesty, at last broke out in words. Though Jesus uttered no word of condemnation, defending Mary perhaps produced anger and disappointment in Judas because the prize he coveted was snatched from his hands. Perhaps he was also disgraced before his fellow apostles, making his heart burn with indignant anger, maybe even hate.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10, 11; Luke 22:3-6
5. Judas Sells Jesus for 30 Pieces of Silver
Before his anger had time to cool, Judas secretly bargained with the rulers to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver or 120 denarii, the price of a slave (Ex. 21:32). Thus Judas plunged into deeper depths of infamy.
Scripture Reading: Mark 14:18-21
6. Judas at the Last Supper
Judas had the effrontery (he could hardly help it without giving himself away) to sit with the twelve, permit Jesus to wash his feet, eat the Lord’s last supper and when Jesus announced “One of you shall betray Me,” and the other disciples with blanched faces and quivering lips whispered, “Who is he?” “Where is he?” “Lord, is it I?” – Judas asked, “Is it I, Rabbi?” Then Satan entered Judas, and he went forth into the outer darkness to do his satanic work described in the first part of our lesson. “We are not worst at once; the course of evil Begins so slowly, and from such slight source, An infant’s hand might stem the breach with clay; But let the stream grow wider, and philosophy, Age, and religion, too, may strive in vain To stem the headstrong current” (Frances E. Tyner)
Scripture Reading: John 13:1
7. The Vision of Jesus’ Divine Love
Perhaps we should strive to see through this sad story traces of Jesus’ pitying love for Judas, such as He felt toward Jerusalem when He wept over her fall and expressed in the Gospel of John, “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (v 1).
How gentle, though telling, were Jesus’ reproofs of Judas. He gave him chances to repent. He called him “comrade” even as Judas stood by to betray Him. And with sad disappointment Jesus gently says, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” As if He hoped against hope to the very last that Judas would repent, and not carry out his plans.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:3-10
8. The Closing Scene of Judas’ Life
“Then Judas ... when he saw that He [Jesus] was condemned, repented himself” (v 3). The Greek word for “repented” used here is a different word from that in Matthew 3:2 and in other passages where men are called on to repent, to change their hearts and lives. “Here ‘repent’ implies not sorrow for sin against God, but annoyance at the consequences of an act or course of acts, and chagrin at not having known better” (Harrison). “It may be little or nothing more than a selfish dread of the consequences of what one has done” (Abbot).
v 3 ... “Brought again the thirty pieces of silver.” Back into the night from which he had crawled he now slips away, where we cannot follow. Every step he took is blotted out with darkness, that is, every step but one, the one he took some time that night to the threshold of the temple. There was no gloating over those bright silver pieces; each had taken fire and was lying like a red-hot brand upon his conscience. Every moment the fire in them grew more intense, till the silver glowed white-hot under the moon. Tortured, agonized, he rushed to seek those who had thrust these hot goals into his hands, to plead with them to take them back, to pluck the burning things from his soul. But they didn’t care how he felt; they never had cared about him; they had used him and now he could do as he pleased. v 4 ...”I have sinned [he cried] in that I betrayed innocent blood” and he hurled the money they had given him through the temple door, perhaps rolling beneath the curtain that hung over the Holy of Holies. Then out into the night, the cool night where no wind could cool feeling laying like fire on his soul.
The Suicide: What could Judas do? – He felt “the laughter of the soul at itself,” and he could not stop the awful sound. A deliberate sin against light, conscious and willful treason against what Judas clearly knew to be wrong involved a kind of moral suicide – a deliberate, free will wrecking of what made his life morally worthwhile. Having done it of his own free will, he could not forgive himself. By his deed of treason the traitor consigned himself to what one may call the hell of the irrevocable. This deed is one that unless I call treason my good, and moral suicide my life, I cannot forgive myself for having done. When Judas saw the results of his betrayal, when he saw his sin in a new light, and his conscience bonded into fury: he loathed himself. He was crushed by his evil conscience, despised even by those who hired his betrayal. It has been said, “Conscious guilt is the real evil.” Judas could say in the words of Frances E. Tyner: “Good-by’ I said to my conscience – ‘Good-by for aye and aye.’ And I put her hands off harshly, And turned my face away; And conscience, smitten sorely, Returned not from that day. But a time came when my spirit Grew weary of its pace; And I cried, ‘Come back, my conscience; I long to see thy face.’ But conscience cried, ‘I cannot; Remorse sits in my place.’”
And Judas “Went and hanged himself” (v 5). Peter a few days later reported his fate to the waiting disciples in Jerusalem – an addition to the story in Matthew – “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18). There is not the slightest contradiction between the two accounts. Peter says that Judas furnished the money, and Matthew says that the priest and elders used it for buying “the potter’s field” (v 7). The soil there was good for making pottery, thus Matthew identifies it as “the potter’s field.”
v 8 ... “Field of blood.” “that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama” (Acts 1:19). Traditionally, the field is located South of Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom, where that valley crosses the Kidron Valley. In his despair, Judas went out and hanged himself. Apparently the tree on which he chose to hang himself overlooked a cliff. Likely, the rope or branch broke (perhaps the knot slipped) and his body fell down a precipice, shattered and dashed into pieces (Acts 1:18). “And he went to his own place” (Acts 1:25).
Conclusion: A Warning – Our hearts are full of pity for Judas, and not just because of his fate. Here was a man full of promise who yielded to temptation, wasted his opportunities and came to a sad, sad end. There is only one way to escape the terrible results of sin – don’t begin. Don’t do anything with an end result you do not desire in your life. Do not sow one seed of habit which fruit you do not wish to reap.
