Who knows what Judas was thinking?

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
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.
Jesus always had people around. Lots and lots and lots and lots of people would follow Jesus wherever He went. They wanted to hear Him. They wanted to eat with Him. They wanted to be healed by Him. On top of all that, He's a curiosity. He could spit and someone would be healed.

Also, Rome was an occupying force. There were plenty of people looking for the right people to come along and run Rome right back to Italy. They didn't belong in Jerusalem. If there was ever at time for the Messiah to show up, it would be now. There were rumors this guy was the Messiah. If He was going to break out and slaughter the Romans and the wicked.... well, they should be there to see it.

On top of that, Jesus was indeed a radical. He actually tore up the court in the temple where the venders have their animals and coin exchange. Everyone loves a good temper tantrum! Right? Oh, and who pays their taxes by fishing a coin out of fish's mouth? Jesus did. People hung out to see what He might do next, or to see if what everyone was saying was really true.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees, the elders and the teachers, they couldn't arrest Jesus. It would cause a problem. Rome didn't like problems and since Rome was allowing them to continue their lives as before the occupation, they didn't want to upset the apple cart. Besides, what Messiah would ever come out of Nazareth. It was a low-income area. The Messiah was to come out of Bethlehem, or better yet, Jerusalem.

Judas was an insider. He would know when Jesus was going to separate Himself from the crowd. The Roman guard could handle a few disciples. Judas just needed to know the schedule. Judas just needed to know when Jesus was likely to be fairly alone. He could do that.

Judas probably told himself he would do so much good with that money. Thirty pieces of silver could buy a lot of fish and loaves. Thirly pieces of silver could set them up on a nice little charily organization. I don't think Judas actually intended to leave the group, he just wanted to reshape how the hat was passed and who it was passed for.

These were treacherous times in Israel. He might have even thought he was stopping Jesus from causing a riot, which would hurt so many. Or maybe he thought he could cause Jesus to call down His Legions of Angels. Nothing would happen to Jesus if He could bring in His Angels to save Himself. And Rome would be run back to Italy. Judas may have seen himself as a saving grace for Israel.

Who knows what Judas was thinking?

:coffee:
 
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