Miscellaneous – Jesus’s Betrayer: Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot is one of Jesus Christ’s Twelve Apostles, and had travelled with Christ throughout his journey for three years. Judas is known for his kiss and betrayal of Jesus. His hometown is believed to be Kerioth, which was about 15 miles south of Hebron, in Israel. Before he became one of the Twelve disciples, Judas was a thief. He was in charge of the group’s money bag and sometimes stole from it. He was disloyal. With the mercy of the Christ, he was invited to become one of Jesus’s Twelve Disciples. Judas sold Jesus to the Sandherin priests in exchange of 30 silver coins. The question is why did Judas betray Jesus Christ? There are several interpretations why Judas betrayed Christ. According to John 12:4-12:6, Judas’s mortal sin in greed. Another interpretation was that Judas does not love money, but rather patriotic. He assumed Jesus had failed to overthrow the Roman rule. The last interpretation, but not least was that Judas was tempted by the devil Satan (see verse Luke 22:3–6 and John 13:27).

According to John 6:64 and Matthew 26:25, Jesus already knew and foresaw his betrayal, thus allowing Judas to betray him. The reason why for this possible interpretation is because Jesus Christ’s mission is to fulfill God’s plan to save sinners on earth. Feeling remorseful and guilty, Judas committed suicide, but there were many interpretations of his suicide. Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-10), and the Gospel said that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy. According to the Acts of Apostles, Judas used the money that the priest paid him to buy a field, “… burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts of the Apostles, 1:18-19). Another interpretation was that he was persecuted by being stoned to death according to the Gospel of Judas. Not much is known about his beginning life, but he died in the year 30 A.D. Most Christians still consider Judas as a traitor, while others embraced him for what he did. For others, Judas’s name became a symbol of traitors and betrayers, and had shown the greatest error throughout history.