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.

https://youtu.be/8YGeaWHt_rg

Table of contentsJesus Modeled Faith and WisdomJudas: The Religious Leaders’ Solution to Their DilemmaSatan Entered Judas Because He Was an UnbelieverThe Religious Leaders’ WickednessThe Leaven of Bitterness Grew in the Religious Leaders’ HeartsJudas Betrayed Jesus Because of Satan’s InfluenceJudas Betrayed Jesus Because of GreedJudas Betrayed Jesus Because He Was Disillusioned with HimJudas (Might Have) Betrayed Jesus to Get Him to ActJudas Committed the Evilest Act in HistoryReligious and UnsavedThe Application for Us

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 that moving during the day was too risky, he traveled at night and concealed himself 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 was aware of 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 ensure He wasn’t 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 combining 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 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 leaven, or bitterness,