Matthew 26 Judas agrees

[hotcoffee]

Matthew 26:14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.​

Here's David Guzik's take on it.

Matthew 10:4 calls him Judas Iscariot; it may be that he was from Kerioth, a city in southern Judea. This would make Judas the only Judean among the other disciples, who were all Galileans. Some wonder if Judas resented the leadership of the Galilean fishermen among the disciples, and finally had enough of it.

Perhaps Judas was disillusioned with the type of Messiah Jesus revealed Himself to be; wanting a more political, conquering Messiah.

Perhaps Judas watched the ongoing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders and concluded that they were winning and Jesus was losing; therefore, he decided to cut his losses and join the winning side.

Perhaps he came to the conclusion that Jesus simply was not the Messiah or a true Prophet, even as Saul of Tarsus had believed.

Some even suggest that Judas did this from a noble motive; that he was impatient for Jesus to reveal Himself as a powerful Messiah, and he thought that this would force Him to do this.

Whatever the specific reason, the Scriptures present no sense of reluctance in Judas, and only one motivation: greed. The words stand: "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"​

The exact value of thirty pieces of silver is somewhat difficult to determine, but it was undeniably a small amount, not a great amount. "It was a known set price for the basest slave, Exodus 21:31; Joel 3:3, 6. For so small a sum sold this traitor so sweet a Master." (Trapp)

"Though therefore Judas was covetous enough to have asked more, and it is like the malice of these councilors would have edged them to have given more, yet it was thus ordered by the Divine council. Christ must be sold cheap, that he might be the more dear to the souls of the redeemed ones." ​

The easy english commentary says this.

His name ‘Iscariot’ may mean that he was a ‘man from Kerioth’. The village called Kerioth was in the Judea region. The other disciples came from the Galilee region. Perhaps Judas thought that he was more important than them. Perhaps he thought that he deserved special honour. But Jesus had not given him that honour. Instead, Peter, James and John had been with Jesus on some special occasions.

He may have been a secret member of the ‘Zealots’. They were a Jewish group who wanted to free the nation from the Roman rulers. And they were prepared to use force. Perhaps Judas thought that Jesus would become a political king or ruler on earth. Judas wanted to be important. He may have hoped that he would have an important position in Jesus’ government. But then he saw that Jesus did not intend to make himself king. So Judas would have been disappointed. Perhaps that was why he turned against Jesus. Or he may have wanted to force Jesus to show his power. He thought that he knew what Jesus should do.

Judas realised that Jesus would soon be in serious trouble. He wanted to protect himself, so he helped the priests.
Verse 15 A slave cost 30 pieces of silver (Exodus 21:32). That was also the amount that they paid to God’s special servant (Zechariah 11:12). He worked for God and looked after Israel’s people. But they only paid him 30 pieces of silver as an insult.
​

The GodVine commentary says that Jesus had little value.

Thirty pieces of silver - Mark and Luke do not mention the sum. They say that they promised him "money" - in the original, "silver." In Matthew, in the original, it is thirty "silvers, or silverlings." This was the price "of a slave" (see Exodus 21:32), and it is not unlikely that this sum was fixed on by them to show their "contempt" of Jesus, and that they regarded him as of little value. There is no doubt, also, that they understood that such was the anxiety of Judas to obtain money, that he would betray his Lord for any sum. The money usually denoted by "pieces" of silver, when the precise sum is not mentioned, is a shekel - a silver Jewish coin amounting to about 50 cents, or 2 shillings, 3d. The whole sum, therefore, for which Judas committed this crime was 15, or 3 pounds, 7 shillings, 6d (circa 1880's).​

Judas has time to repent and not do this awful thing.

Jesus knew what was going to happen.

 

[digitallest]

I read an interesting take from a theologian whose name escapes me, but he says it is possible that when Jesus said, "one of you will betray me" the meaning was lost in translation. He goes on to highlight the situation. They are on the run from the law, surrounding Him are all the people He entrusts to carry on his mission. The Message was important to the Messenger, He saw the Apostles as the hope for The Message to live past His death. if the Romans came upon them in their sleep, or while they were grouped together, these men who had been so loyal and true would fight to spare Him, and Jesus needed them to continue to spread the word. The theologian says, we know Jesus would not be fooled, He knew the secret hearts of the people around Him. In His life, He was not deceived.

so, the theologian posits that Jesus essentially called a meeting to declare He would need one of His men to turn Him in, and at first Judas refused, basically saying, please, not me, pick someone else. But Christ knew what He was doing, and that this was the only way to preserve the Ministry. Judas, then relented, did what The Lord required of Him, but the grief and regret weighed too heavy on his heart.

I am curious is anyone else has heard this take, and what they think of it.

 

[Amused_despair]

Judas did not have a choice, he had to betray Jesus so that Jesus would be crucified. Perhaps Judas was the only one who Jesus trusted with the knowledge of what had to happen and the other apostles made up the story about the pieces of silver, or it was added years or even centuries later.

 

[digitallest]

Or perhaps the custom was to pay for the information, so he accepted the money.

I think it was somehow comforting to think maybe it was not a malicious or even particularly greedy "betrayal" but...I guess I will someday know. apparently in ancient tongues the words for betray and "turn over" are very similar, I thought the whole 'other interpretation' was interesting.

 

[hotcoffee]

I read an interesting take from a theologian whose name escapes me, but he says it is possible that when Jesus said, "one of you will betray me" the meaning was lost in translation. He goes on to highlight the situation. They are on the run from the law, surrounding Him are all the people He entrusts to carry on his mission. The Message was important to the Messenger, He saw the Apostles as the hope for The Message to live past His death. if the Romans came upon them in their sleep, or while they were grouped together, these men who had been so loyal and true would fight to spare Him, and Jesus needed them to continue to spread the word. The theologian says, we know Jesus would not be fooled, He knew the secret hearts of the people around Him. In His life, He was not deceived.

so, the theologian posits that Jesus essentially called a meeting to declare He would need one of His men to turn Him in, and at first Judas refused, basically saying, please, not me, pick someone else. But Christ knew what He was doing, and that this was the only way to preserve the Ministry. Judas, then relented, did what The Lord required of Him, but the grief and regret weighed too heavy on his heart.

I am curious is anyone else has heard this take, and what they think of it.

At this point in the story, Judas hadn't been overtaken by Satan. We'll see that happen at the Passover Feast.

 

[hotcoffee]

Or perhaps the custom was to pay for the information, so he accepted the money.

I think it was somehow comforting to think maybe it was not a malicious or even particularly greedy "betrayal" but...I guess I will someday know. apparently in ancient tongues the words for betray and "turn over" are very similar, I thought the whole 'other interpretation' was interesting.

Judas made a bad decision when he went to the Pharisees and offered to turn Jesus over. He still could have backed out. He hadn't done the deed or received the money. He just made the deal. He still could have backed out.

 

[hotcoffee]

Judas did not have a choice, he had to betray Jesus so that Jesus would be crucified. Perhaps Judas was the only one who Jesus trusted with the knowledge of what had to happen and the other apostles made up the story about the pieces of silver, or it was added years or even centuries later.

At this point in the story, Judas still had a choice. He made the deal but he hadn't done the deed.