Judas Iscariot

The Tragic Story of Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot. A man who usually strikes fear into the hearts of Christians and Jews alike. But who is this praised man of Kerioth, really? He betrayed our LORD for 30 silver shekels. Yet, there HAS to be SOME good in him, or else, why on earth would Jesus pick him? I'll inform you on Judas' possible motives, thoughts that may have been running through his head before and after the fact, his culpability, and the status of his soul.

Most people believe Judas' only motive for betraying Jesus to the Sanhedrin was greed. Others say he might be trying to simply get Jesus to confound His enemies, not get condemned. I believe the latter is more correct. First off, 30 silver shekels is not much, about $6.48. He could've easily betrayed Him for much more, so why did he settle for only 30 silver shekels? We can't use Zechariah 12:10 because it'd be circular reasoning. Maybe because he was going to give the money to the poor? Remember John 12:5-6? My theory is that Judas valued Christ, so he wouldn't declare Him to be worthless by giving Him away for free. He betrayed Christ to allow Him to setup His Kingdom.

During the Last Dinner, Jesus tells the Disciples that one of them will betray Him. They all say "Is it me, LORD?" But when it gets to our friend Judas, and he asks Jesus, Jesus responds, "Yes, it's you." (Matthew 26:25). Exactly how would you feel if you were declared to be the betrayer of the LORD? Personally, I'd feel shocked, rejected, alone, angry, scared, sad, upset, etc. Also, our dear friend Mark (Mark 14:20) did not do a very good of illustrating this tragic event. I believe it went something like this: When Jesus is talking to the Disciples, Judas' looking into Jesus' eyes, not paying any attention to the table...or his arm. When Jesus is done, to his horror, he looks down and finds his bread in the chalice of wine with Jesus' bread. Now he's probably thinking "How could this happen?! Why me?!? I don't want to go to Hell!!!! I refuse to believe what He said about me!!!!" And at that very moment, Satan possesses him (John 13:27). Which brings us to our next point.

When you are possessed by the Devil, you have no control over your body or actions. Yet you still have full knowledge of what's happening; it's like being trapped in an inescapable glass box. So is Judas accountable? My theory is yes, because he did not try to stop Satan's influences. But this also applies to the other Eleven; they didn't try to exorcise Judas, cast Satan out of him, or simply prevent him from carrying out his wicked plan. They could clearly see what happened to Judas; how else would John 13:27 be in there? The other Disciples, ipso facto of them not doing anything, were aiding and abetting Satan. Shame on them.

Now, after the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus, Judas was filled with remorse and repented. However, he then hanged himself. This now raises the question: where is Judas' soul? My theory is that since Judas was wracked with guilt and declared, "I've sinned!!!! I've betrayed innocent blood!!!!!" (Luke 27:4), this means he has the Holy Spirit in him, because, if he didn't, he would have felt no remorse, and the Holy Spirit's job is to convict us of