It Is Not unusual to hear or read of explanations of the Lord’s betrayal by Judas which attempt to explain the motives which drove Judas to commit such an evil deed. Due to the terrible consequences, it has been suggested that Judas really wanted Jesus to show his hand and to take the kingdom by force, and the betrayal is interpreted as an attempt to force Jesus into action. Other suggestions have been made. Our concern is not to list them all, but to point out that this type of reasoning ignores certain details recorded by the Holy Spirit about the motives of Judas. What follows is not an attempt to condemn Judas, or to ignore the question of his repentance prior to his suicide. The present purpose is to highlight what the record has to say about his motives for betraying the Lord, that is all.
In Scripture, when we are concerned to find out what a word or phrase means, we have to see how it is used in the Bible, for use is the means whereby we can define meaning. For example, the word nephesh in the Old Testament is translated “soul”, “spirit”, and “breath” (among other renderings). The only way to find out precisely what is meant by the original word is to consider its use and not to rely upon traditions or translations which could confuse us by introducing the term “soul” and all the doctrinal aberrations that go with it. We would define nephesh as meaning ‘living thing’, a definition based upon the use of the original word in context. Once this principle is understood it helps greatly in showing why Judas betrayed Jesus.
In Acts 1 the eleven are discussing the demise of Judas, and it is said of him that he “purchased a field with the reward of iniquity” (Acts 1:18). Now we are not at the moment concerned with precisely how the purchase took place. However he managed it, Judas is said to have used the “reward of iniquity”. If it can be established what that means we may be able to see why Judas betrayed the Lord.
2 Peter is an exhortation to believers who were forsaking the true way. Peter exhorts them by continual reference to Old Testament incidents and characters. One such is Balaam,the son of Bosor, “who loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Pet. 2:15). “Wages of unrighteousness” is a quotation from Numbers 22:7. The Greek in 2 Peter is almost identical in form, and has precisely the same meaning as “reward of iniquity” in Acts 1:18. In fact the phrase in Acts is also quoted from Numbers 22. By virtue of the fact that use determines meaning it thus becomes clear that the problem that Judas had was the same problem as Balaam.
Jude, in a letter of similar type to 2 Peter, warns against apostasy, and also takes his warnings from the Old Testament. Of certain who have wandered from the narrow way he says: “Woe unto them! for they . . . ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward” (Jude v. 11). In thus pointing out the error of some, Jude compares them to Balaam: they are greedy. By examining the relevant passages it can be seen that the “wages of unrighteousness” were the gift received by Balaam, who out of greed had gone with Balak and had given him counsel. Since the very phrase describing Balaam’s greed is applied to Judas, the Holy Spirit is clearly informing us quite simply that Judas’s problem was one of greed. For the thirty pieces of silver he was willing to sell his Lord.
It is not without significance that, when writing to the Corinthians and describing the Last Supper, Paul says that “the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread . . . ” (1 Cor. 11:23). Paul is reminding the Corinthian brethren and sisters who met to remember Jesus that they too were able to betray their Master. A consideration of both letters to the Corinthians shows how greed was putting those brethren and sisters in a position where they were in danger of betraying their Lord.
Those letters are warnings for us. As they were tempted and fell, so may we be. The greed of Judas is a warning for all.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One