Judas and His Betrayal of Jesus

I was once asked the following question by one who seemed to constantly be looking for ways to invalidate the inspiration of the Scriptures: “Psalm 41:9 is a prophecy of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot. Was he compelled to betray Jesus because of this prophecy? Churches of Christ teach that individuals are not predestined to be saved or condemned, but doesn’t this prove the opposite point?”

First of all, there is no Scriptural reason to believe that Judas was compelled or forced to betray Jesus into the hands of His enemies. If he was compelled, then it would have been God who compelled him, and he would not have been responsible for his actions. It would have been God Himself who was responsible for this betrayal.

The key lies in an understanding of what prophecy truly is. God, in looking down through the ages of history, knows just exactly what events will happen. He knows what each individual will do in their lives, but to say that He forces people to do things against their will is just not true. The best example of this comes from the life of His Son. On the night of His betrayal into the hands of His enemies, Jesus prayed to the Father. Look at what He said in Luke 22:42, “…Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

It was the momentary wish of Jesus that there would be some way in which the salvation of mankind could be achieved without the suffering and agony of the cross, but Jesus, knowing that it was the will of the Father (revealed in the Old Testament by prophecy) that He partake of that cup of agony, submitted Himself to the Father’s will and plan. The Father did not force even the Son to be obedient to His will in the fulfillment of prophecy, so to maintain that God forced Judas to betray Jesus is not a sensible position to take.

What is evident here is that it was Christ’s attitude, personality and character which compelled Him to be obedient to the Father’s will. It was the inherent personal qualities of Jesus which came through in His willingness to die on the cross for our sins. So too, it was the personality, attitude and character of Judas which compelled him to betray Jesus. Scripture gives us a very clear picture of the personal qualities of Judas. Jesus Himself described Judas in no uncertain terms in John 6:70-71, “Jesus answered them, Did not I choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil? Now he spake of Judas (the son) of Simon Iscariot, for he it was that should betray him, (being) one of the twelve.”

The word “devil” in this passage comes from the Greek word diabolos, which means “a false accuser, treacherous, a traitor.” Judas, from the description of him given by Jesus, was already the sort of person who could be expected to perform such an act, so in saying that he was the one that should betray Him, it only means that he was the very sort of man that would betray him when the time came, not that he was foreordained to do it. He would do it of his own accord because his personality was such that he would not hesitate to do such a thing if it served his purposes. Notice also that the New Testament gives other evidences of the character of Judas.

We read in John 12:1-6 the following revealing story about Judas: “Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there: and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should betray him, saith, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred shillings, and given to the poor? Now this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was put therein.”

Note carefully the character (or lack thereof) of Judas. Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with a very costly ointment, and Judas protested her actions on the pretext that it would have been better for Mary to have sold the ointment for a great deal of money, so that the proceeds of the sale could have been given to the poor. On the surface, this sounds like a very noble attitude, and a reasonable question by Judas, but John reveals that Judas was nothing but a thief and a hypocrite! His real intention was to sell the ointment and then steal the proceeds of the sale for his own possession. John states that he “had the bag.” He was responsible for the care of what meager funds belonged to the band of apostles and disciples, and he apparently was already in the habit of regularly stealing money from the disciples for his own use! Judas loved money and would do anything which would bring more of it into his own hands.

Let’s notice here that God did not make him “a devil,” but that Judas was already one. It’s likely that this is the reason why Jesus chose him to be one of the twelve, knowing that he would not hesitate to betray him when the time came. In saying that Judas was compelled to betray Jesus by God, it is also implied that God decrees that certain men shall do certain wicked things, and then destroy them for it with eternal punishment. This just cannot be true! What God does decree is that if men will live wicked lives, they shall surely suffer for it. There is a huge difference between these two points!