My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16)

14Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

Every time I read about Judas, I get angry. How could he do this? I thought He was a friend to Jesus! Was he ever really a friend to Jesus? Didn’t he learn anything after all that time spent with Jesus? What could have motivated him to do this? Even footnotes in my Bible say that “Matthew clearly reveals the motive of Judas to be greed; therefore all attempts to soften the crime are useless.” Easy judgment. Case closed.

But back up a step! Wasn’t one of the conclusions I came to in the text immediately before this the lesson of not criticizing others? Especially those we don’t understand. And I really don’t understand Judas and why he would do this. I have a tough time believing Judas would take these measures if it was simply a matter of him disagreeing with Jesus’ use of the costly oil. There had to be more to it.

Now back up another step. Wasn’t the text before this about how the chief priests, scribes, and elders plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him? Was all their plotting for naught, since Judas offered them what they wanted without them even needing to fall back on any of their plots? Or is it possible that it was their trickery that prompted Judas to come to them. Did they trick Judas by indicating that they meant no harm to Jesus if they caught Him? Did they trick Judas by maybe even saying they wanted Jesus in order to protect Him? Did they trick Judas through some means of blackmail, possibly threatening Judas’ family if Judas didn’t come through with Jesus? Did they trick Judas into convincing him that Jesus couldn’t be the One he thought He was?

I am really starting to wonder if Judas’ actions were due to the trickery of the chief priests, scribes, and elders. At least that could help me understand Judas’ actions a little better. I can empathize a little with being tricked into something.

So if Judas did this due to trickery, does that make it OK? No! It was still his decision to go through with it. It was still the wrong thing to do. But it makes me feel sorrow rather than anger toward Judas.

I feel that Satan plays similarly in our lives. I think he traps many of us through trickery rather than us purposely doing his wishes. But we should always be on the lookout for such trickery so we can avoid it. I would hate to have been the one tricked into being in Judas’ shoes!