Then one of the Twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests. ‘What will you give me’, he said, ‘to hand him over to you? They settled the deal with him at thirty pieces of silver. From that moment on, he was watching for an opportunity to hand him over. (Matthew 26:14-16 NTE)
‘The Kiss of Judas’ Photograph: HKI Institute/The Fitzwilliam Museum, Image Library
Why would Jesus’ own friend, confidant, and disciple agree to betray him? It’s a question scholars have been wrestling with since the 1st century. Was it for the money? Perhaps. Although 30 pieces of silver for Judas would be the equivalent of around $185-$216 USD, which would not have lasted all that long for him. Also, he threw the money back at the religious leaders later in the week, after Jesus was arrested. So, there must be something more scratching beneath the surface.
It’s been noted that Judas Iscariot came from a long line of zealots, a religious family that was hell-bent on interrupting the oppression of their people from the heavy hand of the Roman Empire. Zealots such as those from Iscariot, dwelling in Palestinian lands, were notorious for using whatever means necessary in order to achieve their desired outcome, including extreme measures of violence. Think Bar-Abbas, the insurrectionist who was released from certain death by Pilate instead of Jesus. You see, revolutions and insurrections of violent means were commonplace in Jerusalem during the Hebrew pilgrimage for Passover week. The city was packed with people, therefore there were strength in numbers and a collective resolve to take their ‘salvation’ into their own hands. These insurrections however, always ended in massive bloodshed, sentences of crucifixion for the participants, and continued Imperial oppression upon the people of Jewish heritage.
Now back to Judas Iscariot…
‘Was this the year,’ he might have been thinking, ‘that we could actually do this thing? Rid ourselves of Roman rule through the power and strength and might of our Messiah that we’ve seen perform miraculous acts, even raising Lazarus from the dead?! This prophet is surely from God and is on ‘our’ side!’
Imagine the disappointment in Judas’ own heart after Jesus’ march through the streets of Jerusalem when this did not start to materialize. When instead of ‘raining down fire from heaven’ upon his enemies as James and John suggested (Luke 9:52-56), the Christ continued to live out his own teaching of cruciform love as the true ‘Son of God’ riding into the city on the back of an ass.
Perhaps Judas was not selling Jesus out for a mere 30 pieces of silver, or because he simply didn’t love him, but because he didn’t trust in the ‘narrow way’ of Shalom his teacher taught and hoped he could manipulate his Rabbi into being the Messiah he thought they needed. Perhaps Judas baited Jesus with the sign of the kiss in the garden that fateful night because he thought that that’s what would motivate his Rabbi into action, true action of revolt and insurrection in which Jesus would strike down those who came to arrest him with the same hands that’d been used to heal. I don’t know. We’ll never know 100% this side of eternity, but it does give us pause to contemplate the ways in which we try and force Jesus to fit into our ways of thinking, rather than allowing him and his life of unconditional, grace-filled, love, shalom, and restoration to form our worldviews.
Consider spending some time in contemplative prayer these next few days, meditating upon the ways in which we manipulate Jesus for our own benefit. What boxes do we try and fit the ‘Prince of Peace’ in that he doesn’t belong?
Savior of the world, save us from our sin, our sadness, and our self-deception. Give us courage to live in a world we cannot fix with hope that it has already been redeemed. Amen.