But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him! They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. (Luke 22:21-23)
It hurts to have family betray you. Often times it is life-changing, resulting in divorce, estrangement, or even death. Woe is always involved. The enemy looks for someone to devour, someone who has told a lie or stole something small and doesn’t repent. In Judas’ case he began by taking a small amount from the disciples’ purse. It’s important to note that Judas doesn’t repent his betrayal. Matthew tells us: “Then Judas, the one who would betray him said, ‘Surely not I, Lord.’” Once you let the enemy in, it’s difficult to stop him.
It’s hard to imagine spending three years with Jesus; using God’s power to heal, drive out demons, and preach the Gospel; and then betray Him. There’s nothing the enemy likes more than disabling God’s family. Parents beat themselves up wondering how their child walked the wrong path, but the enemy makes it easy to get off course.
Peter and John are Jesus’ two closest disciples. John gives more insight into the betrayal. He tells us Judas betrayed Jesus to fulfill Scripture. “He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:9) Then Peter asks John who it was. This indicates Peter knows Jesus confides in John more than himself. Jesus hadn’t told John. If Jesus had, Peter and John may have taken matters into their own hands. John is the only one who tells us that Jesus told Judas, “What you are about to do, do it quickly.” No one at the table understood why Judas left the room?. It happened that way because Jesus was still in control of His own death. The timing had to be perfect.
Father God, I feel relieved you are in control. Please be relentless reminding me to repent because the enemy always looks for the easiest target. Please keep the enemy from me and my family and lead my children down the right path. Thank you for this opportunity to walk with Jesus to the cross through Your word. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.
It hurts when someone betrays us. In Jesus’ case it was predestined. Jesus was in control of his own death, the circumstances and the timing. My question is, why did Jesus pick Judas? Why wasn’t it one of the other disciples? Do we have any knowledge of why he picked Judas?
I can’t speak for Jesus, but I think it was because Jesus knew Judas was the least likely to resist Satan entering him. He already had unrepented sin. Judas loved money and power, and it is thought by some that Judas was a Jew who wanted Jesus to show His power by defeating the Romans. I don’t think he meant for his sin to end up causing Jesus’ crucifixion. I think he still thought that Jesus would use his power to get away from the Romans in proving He was God’s son. He committed suicide once he thought he was the cause of Jesus’ death.
Oh my gosh…I had no idea that Judas committed suicide. Obviously, Jesus knew that Judas would commit suicide. What a very sad situation. Jesus picks Judas to betray him because he is the least trustworthy, and does not repent his sins. How does Jesus feel about Judas’ suicide? What happened to the soul of Judas? Perhaps these are questions that can not be answered until we are in Heaven. I was just talking about this to Victoria and she said, “How did you not know that Judas committed suicide?” I guess I must have known at some point and forgot.
Matthew 27:3-5: “Judas saw that they had decided to kill Jesus. He was the one who had handed him over. When he saw what happened, he was very sorry for what he had done. So he took the 30 silver coins back to the priests and the older leaders. Judas said, “I sinned. I handed over to you an innocent man to be killed.” The Jewish leaders answered, “We don’t care! That’s a problem for you, not us.” So Judas threw the money into the Temple. Then he went out from there and hanged himself.”
I am sure God is sad for everyone who feels the need to commit suicide. As for Judas’ soul, I think the following verse applies. Romans 11:32: “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” Although if you Google what happened to Judas soul, most Christian leaders say they that Judas is in hell although the Bible only says in Acts 1:25b: “Judas left to go where he belongs.”