Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot

**Judas Iscariot** was one of Jesus' twelve apostles. He was the appointed treasurer for the disciples, but he did not understand that Jesus' kingdom was a heavenly one and not an earthly one. He became disillusioned and dishonest. After the Passover supper, Judas betrayed Jesus. Because of the guilt he felt from this act, he killed himself, instead of asking Jesus to forgive him.

## Bible InfoScan

Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus' twelve disciples. He was the son of Simon Iscariot (John 6:71, John 6:71). The word "Iscariot" refers to his hometown of Kerioth in southern Judah.

Judas was the only one of Jesus’ twelve disciples who was not from Galilee. "Iscariot" is used to separate him from the other disciple named Judas (Luke 6:16). Judas Iscariot was the treasurer for the disciples. He believed that Jesus would establish a kingdom on earth. Judas became unhappy and dishonest when it became clear that Jesus' kingdom was a heavenly one. He often stole money from the funds that he kept for the disciples (John 12:4-8, John 13:29).

During the week of the Passover festival, Judas went to the chief priests. He offered to betray Jesus for a reward of thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). Jesus was not surprised by Judas' plot. He revealed the plan as the disciples ate together for the last time. "Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!” The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean. The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?” So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. So Judas left at once, going out into the night" (John 13:21-30). After the Passover supper, Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with a kiss, and Jesus was arrested.

Judas was overcome with guilt by what he had done. He returned to the Jewish leaders and told them he had sinned by betraying an innocent man! Judas tried to return the money to the chief priests, who refused to take it. So, he threw the money on the floor and went out and hanged himself.

The leaders of the priests determined the money could not be put back into the Temple treasury since it was used to pay for murder. They used it to buy a potter’s field to be used as a cemetery (Matthew 27:3-10, Acts 1:17-19). After Judas' death, another disciple named Matthias was chosen to replace Judas (Acts 1:26).

## Life Lessons

* Stop bad thoughts before they become evil plans.
* Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy: the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:9).
* When you do wrong, ask for forgiveness.
* God’s plan and purposes always work out.