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Why did Judas betray Jesus? Understand one of the most tragic and evil acts in history. Drawing on Luke 22:1-6 and other scriptural insights, we learn Judas’s betrayal was not simply an act of greed but resulted from a complex interplay of unbelief, Satan’s influence, bitterness in the hearts of the religious leaders, and disillusionment.
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Capt. Scott O’Grady was an American fighter pilot who was shot down over Bosnia in 1995 during the Bosnian War. When he ejected, he realized the Bosnians would be searching for him since they had witnessed his plane explode. Rubbing dirt on his face, he hid face-down as enemies approached his parachute, shooting mere feet from his hiding spot multiple times to try to flush him out or kill him.
He had only his essential survival gear: a radio, a pistol, a map, a compass, and a survival kit containing food and water-purifying tablets. Knowing moving during the day was too risky, he traveled at night and hid during daylight. He ate leaves, grass, and bugs and collected the little rainwater he could with a sponge in plastic bags.
He used his radio sparingly to avoid detection, sending brief signals in hopes that NATO forces would pick them up. The dense forest and mountainous terrain made it extremely challenging to locate him. A NATO aircraft detected his radio signals, leading to his rescue after six grueling days.
Capt. O’Grady’s story garnered national attention, and the 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based on it. I’m not minimizing the danger Capt. O’Grady was in, but when Jesus entered Jerusalem, He was behind enemy lines, and I would argue that the danger He was in was even worse:
Luke 19:47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.
The religious leaders have wanted to murder Jesus since early in His ministry, but they couldn’t because of the people. A public arrest would risk backlash from those who think so highly of Christ.
In Luke 20:9-18, Jesus preached the parable of the vineyard owner and said the vineyard owner, representing God the Father, would destroy the tenants or religious leaders for murdering His Son. We can only imagine how much this would further upset the religious leaders. Look how they responded in Luke 20:19:
Luke 20:19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
Again, we see why they couldn’t do anything to Jesus yet. It is shocking to think about: the religious leaders had no fear of murdering the Son of God, but they were terrified of the people.
Jesus Modeled Faith and Wisdom
Consider how Jesus responds to the opposition:
Luke 21:37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.
Luke added this at the end of the chapter to inform us of how Jesus handled the situation He was in. Although Jesus’s teachings in the temple were popular, they only increased the opposition against Him. He was safe during the day because of the crowds, but when the crowds went home in the evening, He found it necessary to retire to the safety of the Mount of Olives. This is why Judas knew where to take the religious leaders to arrest Jesus. He knew where Jesus went at night.
Jesus modeled many things for us, including combining faith and wisdom. Notice what Jesus did and didn’t do: He didn’t say, “I have enough faith that My Father will protect Me that even when the crowds go home, and I am left alone, I don’t concern myself with whether anyone would harm Me.” Instead, He took reasonable steps to avoid being arrested. He combined faith and wisdom.
Let’s talk about what this looks like for us. We take risks each day. We get in a car and risk getting in an accident. We have faith that God will protect us, but we apply wisdom by putting on our seatbelts. If we met people who said, “I don’t wear a seatbelt because I have faith that the Lord will protect me,” we would think those people had faith but not wisdom. It would be a combination of faith and foolishness.
- Imagine parents who say, “We let our children play in the road, because we have faith God will protect them.” We wouldn’t say they have faith. We would say they’re foolish.
- Imagine people who say, “I don’t lock my doors at night, because I have faith God will protect me.” We wouldn’t say they have faith. We’d say they’re foolish.
- Imagine people who say, “I need a job, but I just sit at home instead of looking for one, because I have faith God will provide one.” We wouldn’t say they have faith. We would say they’re foolish and lazy.
The point is it’s not just an issue of having faith versus lacking faith; it’s also an issue of applying wisdom to our faith. Jesus is a good example for us.
Judas: The Religious Leaders’ Solution to Their Dilemma
Luke 22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.
Here it is again. The religious leaders can’t arrest Jesus during the day because of the people, and they don’t know where he goes at night. So, they are at a loss to do anything to Him. But they are about to find a solution to their problem:
Luke 22:3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.
The religious leaders likely never imagined that among Jesus’s closest companions was a traitor who knew where He was headed and was willing to betray Him.
Satan Entered Judas Because He Was an Unbeliever
It’s radical that Judas was not just demon-possessed but that Satan himself entered him. Maybe you’ve heard people ask before if Christians can be demon-possessed. They can’t:
1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Satan can’t get in! If Christians can’t be demon-possessed, how do we explain Judas being possessed? He wasn’t a Christian. Many verses prove this:
John 13:10 Jesus said to [Peter], “You are clean (Jesus meant spiritually referring to his sins being forgiven), but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
Jesus said Judas was never forgiven.
John 6:64 [Jesus said to the disciples], “There are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him [referring to Judas].)
Jesus said Judas did not believe.
John 6:70 Jesus [said], “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas.
Jesus called Judas a devil.
John 13:17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’
Jesus said Judas was not chosen.
The Religious Leaders’ Wickedness
Luke 22:5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.
I can only imagine how happy they must have been! They had wanted this opportunity for such a long time. They hated Jesus with all their hearts and believed they would finally be rid of Him. Let me tell you what makes their actions even worse: the timing. They are attempting to kill Jesus during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, two of Israel’s holiest festivals.
Leaven symbolizes sin. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the people physically removed leaven from their homes, representing their spiritual removal of leaven, or sin, from their lives. It was similar to baptism and communion: a physical act that signifies a spiritual reality.
We understand that if we observe those ordinances physically but lack belief, they hold no meaning. Likewise, the Feast of Unleavened Bread would be meaningless if people removed leaven from their homes but failed to cleanse their hearts of leaven or sin spiritually. Consider Jesus’s words:
Luke 12:1 “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
Hypocrisy is when the outward doesn’t match the inward. This was Jesus’s primary criticism of the religious leaders in His woes against them:
Matthew 23:25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
Jesus’s point is that they looked great outwardly but terrible inwardly. We see their terrible hypocrisy no better illustrated than in this account. They were preparing for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, likely teaching about it and instructing others to prepare, while plotting Jesus’s death. They physically removed the leaven from their lives but didn’t spiritually remove the bitterness from their hearts.
The Leaven of Bitterness Grew in the Religious Leaders’ Hearts
Paul spelled out the relationship between leaven and bitterness:
1 Corinthians 5:6b Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the [Feast of Unleavened Bread], not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Bitterness spreads in our hearts as leaven spreads in bread dough. If left unchecked, bitterness can transform into malice, as happened with the religious leaders: the leaven of bitterness grew quietly in their lives until it turned into malice and evil against Christ.
Bitterness has been one of my struggles, so this is sobering to me. This is what occurs with the leaven of bitterness in our lives if we don’t repent. It grows and spreads until it fills us with malice and evil toward someone, just like the religious leaders did toward Jesus.
Judas Betrayed Jesus Because of Satan’s Influence
Now let’s talk about why Judas betrayed Jesus. I’m sure we’ve all wondered that at times.
Luke 22:6 So he (Judas) consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
So here it is: the religious leaders couldn’t do anything to Jesus because they were afraid of the people. But now they have Judas working for them, looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus when nobody’s around. We know he brings a mob when Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane at night.
When we read that Satan possessed Judas, we could almost think it wasn’t Judas’s fault because Satan was controlling him. The parallel account in John 13 helps us better understand what happened:
John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
So, first, Satan gave Judas the idea to betray Jesus. Then, 25 verses later, we read:
John 13:27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Yes, Satan possessed Judas, but not against his will. Instead, Satan gave Judas the idea, Judas embraced it, and Satan possessed him and used him to act according to his own will. Satan and Judas worked together to betray Jesus.
Judas Betrayed Jesus Because of Greed
Judas used to steal money from the group:
John 12:6 [Judas] was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
So, we know Judas was greedy. In the parallel account:
Matthew 26:14 Judas…went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
Judas sought out the religious leaders because of his greed.
Judas Betrayed Jesus Because He Was Disillusioned with Him
But, there’s one nagging problem with thinking it is only about greed: 30 pieces of silver was the amount paid for a slave that an ox had gored:
Exodus 21:32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
A slave gored by an ox wouldn’t be worth much money, and 30 pieces of silver is not much money. Judas must have known he could have received much more from the religious leaders for doing this. Something else was involved.
For a moment, let’s put ourselves in the disciples’ places. They gave up a lot to follow Jesus and thought they would get a lot for all they sacrificed:
Mark 10:28 Peter [said to Jesus], “See, we have left all and followed You.”
Peter meant,“Look at all we’ve given up. What are we going to get in return? What sort of place in Your Kingdom can we expect?” Just like the people, the disciples also thought the Messiah would overthrow Rome, establish His kingdom, and rule and reign. And guess who they thought would rule and reign with Him? Them!
Matthew 20:20 The mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to [Jesus] with her sons, and… 21 said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
James and John got their mom to go to Jesus so they could receive the number two and three positions right next to Jesus’s throne. So, initially, following Jesus seemed worthwhile to the disciples. When His ministry began, He was unbelievably popular. Many people desired to be near Him or even touch Him. Crowds of thousands followed Him relentlessly. The disciples got to do life with Him. It was incredible.
But after Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He didn’t become a rich, powerful king. He’s still walking around from place to place rather than being carried in a kingly carriage. He still has nowhere to lay His head. He sleeps on the Mount of Olives at night. He’s teaching about humility, love, and sacrifice rather than greatness, power, and authority. Judas became disillusioned with Jesus. His ambition was cruelly disappointed. He recognized he was on a sinking ship, so he wanted to at least make a little money.
I have a small marriage ministry. I have talked to enough couples to know that one of the most common causes of bitterness in relationships is unmet expectations: “He doesn’t treat me like I thought he would,” or “She isn’t the wife I thought she would be.” Maybe Judas became as bitter toward Jesus like the religious leaders: “You betrayed me by not being the kind of Messiah I wanted. So I will betray You.”
Judas (Might Have) Betrayed Jesus to Get Him to Act
The people tried to make Jesus King:
John 6:15 [The people] were about to come and take [Jesus] by force to make Him king (I’m sure Judas was thrilled to see this happening, but then it says) [Jesus] departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
If Judas wants to rule and reign with Christ, then Christ must rule and reign. Judas might have betrayed Jesus to try to force Him to become the Messiah and overthrow Rome.
Judas Committed the Evilest Act in History
There was nothing noble about Judas’s actions. It is important to mention this because, over the years, some people have portrayed him as almost sympathetic. I think this view comes from his returning the money and being sorry. But it was not godly sorrow that led to repentance. It was worldly sorrow that led to death, and we see that when he hung himself. Matthew 10:1-15 records Jesus sending out the 12 apostles:
Matthew 10:15 It will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Jesus is talking about the towns that rejected the 12 apostles when they visited them, and He says that it will be worse for those towns than Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire rained down from heaven and destroyed them. We wonder how a town could receive worse judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah. Did these towns receive worse judgment because they were worse than Sodom and Gomorrah?
From a human perspective, no. They didn’t seem to engage in wickedness that approached Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness. But from a heavenly perspective, yes, because they were visited by the very apostles of Christ, which gave them high accountability. When they rejected the apostles, they brought severe judgment on themselves.
Matthew 11:20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
These cities weren’t judged solely for rejecting the apostles or Christ. They faced severe judgment because they had witnessed Jesus’s miracles, which placed them under great accountability, yet they still refused to repent. Tyre and Sidon were notoriously wicked, but Jesus said it would be more bearable for them than Chorazin and Bethsaida, which never engaged in as much wickedness as Tyre and Sidon, because they saw Christ’s mighty works but wouldn’t repent.
Again, we’ve got the wicked city of Sodom, yet God said it would be more tolerable for Sodom than Capernaum because Christ never visited Sodom, preached there, or performed miracles there. Christ visiting Capernaum meant it had immense accountability, and failing to repent brought immense judgment.
What does this have to do with Judas? We see how dire the situation was in the cities the apostles visited and witnessed some of Jesus’ miracles. Can you imagine how bad it will be for Judas, who spent years with Jesus, witnessed many of His miracles, sat under His teachings, and saw His kindness and compassion to the multitudes? His accountability was so high. Betraying Christ after all that truly was the evilest act in human history.
Religious and Unsaved
Judas engaged in incredible religious activity…as an unbeliever. He traveled with the other disciples and preached the gospel alongside them. He performed miracles and cast out demons. He is probably the most prominent example of Jesus’s terrifying words:
Matthew 7:22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
When Jesus told the disciples one of them would betray Him, they didn’t realize it was Judas. How could they be unaware? He looked so much like the other 11 disciples. But he was an unbeliever. He remained a slave to sin, ensnared by Satan.
The Application for Us
Some people attend church and partake in impressive religious activities, but they have never been born again. Like Judas, they will hear the words of Matthew 7:23: “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Judas is a picture of what we are if we are not Christians. If Jesus isn’t our lord, then we serve the devil. He might not possess us, but he is still using us.
Judas is an example of why the Lord came in the first place. Our first parents freely submitted to Satan. Sin and death entered and now rule and reign over all people. We are slaves to our nature; the devil is our master. But Jesus came and defeated the devil on the cross. He redeemed the human race from slavery. His death and resurrection are effective in saving anyone who believes in Him.
