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Judas Iscariot....
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Judas
surrendering Jesus to the Romans
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Judas Iscariot knew Jesus Christ.
Really knew Him. He knew exactly what
Jesus looked like, His height, His weight,
the color of His hair, and the sound of His voice. He actually talked with
Jesus, face to face, countless times. He knew Jesus' favorite foods, the
places that He liked to go to most often, His sense of humor, and all
sorts of other personal traits because he was one of a very few who spent
years actually working and traveling with Jesus.
Judas witnessed at least
some of Jesus' miracles firsthand, so to him, rock-solid faith should have
been very easy. And yet, after all of his close experience with The
Savior, he betrayed Him to death. For a few coins.
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Not a great amount is known of Judas before becoming one
of The Twelve Apostles. We know that he was the son of a man named Simon,
who was also surnamed Iscariot. Judas is the
Greek form of Judah. "Iscariot"
is thought to be taken from the Hebrew Ish Kerioth, which means something
like "a man from Kerioth." Kerioth was a town located in the south of the
land of Israel, not far from Hebron. |
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Judas' greatest weakness seemed to be money. Or rather,
his lack of honesty with money. Perhaps because of at first seeming like a
good money manager, he got himself appointed as keeper of the disciples'
money, which was kept all together in a simple sack (John 13:29). Judas once
took issue with Mary sister of Jesus' good friend
Lazarus for her "wasting" some very expensive
perfume to anoint Jesus. He claimed that the perfume could have been sold
and the money given to the poor, but he actually wanted it for himself.
Judas wasn't merely greedy, he was an outright thief
(John 12:4-6). In the
end, he betrayed Jesus for the payment of 30 silver coins
(Matthew 26:15). |
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Jesus Christ was born to die for our sins, not His own.
He was an absolutely innocent man Who was to be betrayed, falsely accused,
unlawfully arrested, unjustly convicted , and brutally
executed. A naturally corrupt man was
required for the role of betrayer, and Judas Iscariot was the best
available candidate. |
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