Rose asks: Did Judas already know that he would betray Jesus or was it only when Satan entered into him? Were the 11 apostles right in choosing Matthias to replace Judas? Why don’t we hear anything more about Matthias after this?
I’m excited about the fact that Rose asked these specific questions at this time. I’ll tell you why: I have been recovering from surgery, and spent part of that time in prayer, educating myself, and pondering on Scripture. And, it so happens that I have been pondering these very questions!
So I thank God for preparing me ahead of time. Finding the answers to these questions in the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit, which is the point of this ministry, was a bit of a puzzle because the information is scattered and sometimes limited. But taking the time to figure it out was definitely worth it. It took me on an unexpected journey that sheds light on the apparent tension between predestination and free will. Take a deep breath, for we are diving deep today!
Who was Judas Iskariot
Judas is the Greek version of a name most of us know from the Bible: Judah. This is not a coincidence; in fact, this demonstrates the tremendous prophetic insight Jesus had. Let me explain.
Judas was a man who, most likely, came from Kerioth (Ish Kerioth, meaning “man from Kerioth”).
Kerioth was a town in southern Judah (Joshua 15:25). Now, understanding that Judas came from Judah and his name also meant Judah, allows us to see the meaning of a prophetic text in the Book of Zechariah:
“Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel” (Zechariah 11:12-14).
The men listening to Zechariah that day understood that he shared a word from the Lord, but I doubt they understood what it meant. Jesus knew exactly what it meant, though, as He had prophesied about Himself and because He embodied the Word (John 1:14). He foreknew that these words would be fulfilled through the actions of Judas.
Without going into too much detail, here are some key pieces to piece this together:
- Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a Hebrew slave (Exodus 21:32), so it angered the Lord that that’s what the sheep traders felt His Word was worth. This was exactly the amount Judas got from the chief priests and elders, the amount with which they valued Jesus, God’s Word (Matthew 26:14-15).
- Why is there a potter in the house of the Lord, the Temple? This is explained by, among others, Jeremiah and Isaiah, who teach that God compares Himself to a potter working clay (Jeremiah 18, Isaiah 29:16, 64:8).
- Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver into the house of the Lord, as Zechariah enacted, and in doing so, at God, the Potter (Matthew 27:5).
- Judas’s betrayal meant that he didn’t belong to the family of Christ anymore, unlike the other Apostles, who were from the Northern region of Israel. Perhaps the entire rift between the two Israelite kingdoms, Judah and Israel, was a prophetic indicator of what would happen between Judas and the Eleven, and between Jesus (the Lion of Judah) and Israel. It was part of God’s plan (1 Kings 12:24) for a reason.
The text in Zechariah is one of many that prophesy about Judas’s betrayal. All of these texts together teach us that God knew beforehand that this would take place and that it would bring about the salvation of many through Christ.
Judas’s evil intent
Interestingly, these prophecies also teach us something about Judas’s character. The prophecy from Jeremiah 18, for example, tells us that God gave Judah a chance to listen to God’s Word and to repent, but that Judah was unwilling to do so. Their shocking response: “That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 18:12). It didn’t matter to them whether or not their actions were evil; they were going to do them anyway. So instead of listening to God’s Word, they plotted to kill the prophet and strike him with the tongue (Jeremiah 18:18), to eliminate whatever stood in the way of doing whatever they pleased.
Judas did the same thing. Instead of listening to Jesus and following His will, he followed his own plans and acted according to the stubbornness of his heart (Acts 1:25). We know that Judas was a thief and loved money (John 12:6). After everything that Jesus had preached about caring for the poor and obeying the Commandments, he still continued in his evil behavior, and plotted against Him. Not by accident, but on purpose, manipulatively (John 12:5-6). That speaks volumes about who Judas really was.
What makes this even more concerning is that Judas was considered a friend of Jesus. In John 13:18, Jesus said that the following Scripture needed to be fulfilled: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).
To betray a friend like that, one who has never done anything wrong, is particularly evil and self-indulgent, and it hurt Jesus’s feelings deeply (John 13:21).
Eventually, Judas did realize, too late, that he betrayed innocent blood (Matthew 27:4).
But at the same time, he wasn’t really Jesus’s friend. Because when Jesus officially called His disciples His friends, Judas wasn’t present (John 13:27-30, John 15:15). He also said that whoever does what He commands is His friend (John 15:14), which couldn’t be said about Judas.
This teaches us that closeness to Jesus isn’t something we achieve by going to church every Sunday or by working really hard for the Lord in ministry. It’s not even achieved by talking with Him all day long if our hearts aren’t invested. All of these actions are important, but not as important as our character, our attitude towards God, and the intentions of our hearts. We can only grow closer to Jesus when we listen to Him with a soft, malleable heart and do what He tells us. Then He can mold us into becoming more and more like Him, and less like the dark world He has nothing in common with.
When did Judas know that he would betray Jesus?
There is no way to know when the thought of betraying Jesus first entered Judas’s mind – only God knows that. Sinning usually starts with something small, and as long as one remains unrepentant and hardhearted, sin gets room to grow and multiply, giving the devil a greater foothold.
Judas also betrayed Jesus in “small” ways (by stealing, for example), but the idea of plotting to have Him captured and consequently killed may have entered his mind later.
We also don’t know the exact moment when Judas joined the group. The first mention of him being one of the Twelve is after the religious leaders were already planning to destroy Jesus (Mark 3:6-19, Luke 6:11-16). So, perhaps Judas knew about this plot from the start and kept it in mind.
We do know that Judas put his plan in motion some time after Mary anointed Jesus with expensive ointment, which happened six days before the Passover (John 12:1). From Luke’s account (Luke 22:1-3), we can read that Satan entered Judas a short time before the Passover, which means that his initial meeting with the chief priests and officers likely happened somewhere within that timeframe (Luke 22:3-6). Then he came back to have the Passover meal with Jesus and the other eleven disciples. I believe that Judas, through his sinfulness, opened the door of his heart to Satan, who then took possession of him. From that point on, only Satan influenced his thinking and his feelings (John 13:2).
John testified that Satan entered Judas (perhaps again?) the moment he took the dipped piece of bread from Jesus’s hand during supper (John 13:26-27). Maybe John saw a darkness in Judas’s eyes? Whatever he noticed must have been subtle, since the other disciples didn’t notice anything special, apart from the fact that he left the table in the middle of the night.
The event of Judas taking the bread from Jesus’s hand is deeply symbolic: Jesus gave His body (symbolized by the bread) into the hands of the betrayer, at that very moment, the darkest hour.
Even though that was a low point, it does seem that Judas never truly believed. I say this because of Jesus’s words in John 6:64-65: “‘But 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.) And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’”
And a little later, “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.’ He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him” (John 6:70-71).
Judas’s plan to betray Jesus was set in motion when he spoke to the chief priests (Matthew 26:14-16).
Why did Judas betray Jesus?
Judas was spiritually blind. He couldn’t understand how the prophetic Scriptures about the betrayal of Jesus applied to him, nor see the gravity of the sin he was committing. Perhaps, if he had truly surrendered to God, the gravity of the matter would have sunk in, and he wouldn’t have committed this sin, as he would also have grasped the obviously disastrous consequences of his betrayal. But God, being all-knowing, foreknew that He wouldn’t surrender despite many warnings.
Therefore, I don’t think Judas’s problem was with cognitively understanding that he was committing a sin, but with his hard heart that was willing to sin anyway, just like we read in the prophecy of Zechariah. We know that Judas did understand at some point, but remained unrepentant until it was too late. I say this because of this text: “‘The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.’ Judas, who would betray him, answered, ‘Is it I, Rabbi?’ He said to him, ‘You have said so’” (Matthew 26:24-25).
So, not only must he have known that Jesus knew what he was planning to do, but he was also made aware of the unspeakable consequences, yet he wasn’t deterred. Why? Because the devil owned him. Those who belong to the devil have no true faith and fear of God; they live only to please the flesh.
No one does evil unless it benefits them in some way. This benefit is the motivation for going against God. The motivation can be any fleshly desire, for example, power, lust, acknowledgment, career advancement, or because doing evil in itself is pleasurable to them in some way. In the case of Judas and so many other people, the driving factor was money (John 12:4-6). He violated the first commandment by putting money before God, which gave the devil a foothold.
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But God had it all planned out. Jesus allowed Judas to fall away in order to fulfill Scripture and bring about salvation, according to God’s plan (John 17:12). This means that Judas’s betrayal was simultaneously predestined and chosen. It’s like what is written in Proverbs, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (16:9), and “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (19:21).
You could say that Judas thought he used Jesus to fulfill his own desires, but in actuality, God used Judas to fulfill His desire: to save humanity from sin and eternal suffering.
In many ways, Judas’s unrepentance and lack of faith served a similar purpose to that of Pharaoh in Exodus: to set God’s people free.
Both Pharaoh and Judas were motivated by the father they chose, the devil. Pharaoh also had a hard, unbelieving, and unrepentant heart, which God used for the sake of His people. We can read in the Book of Exodus how God used Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness to show His people awesome wonders and great acts of judgment so that they would believe. Even in the presence of all kinds of awesome miracles and warnings, Pharaoh refused to believe and obey God, according to God’s purpose. He only granted God’s people freedom when their firstborns died. But even after that, Pharaoh pursued God’s people until God destroyed him and his army in the sea.
Judas also saw many wonders and heard multiple severe warnings when walking with Jesus, but still chose to rebel. Because it would take the death of the Firstborn (Jesus) to bring freedom to God’s people (Colossians 1:15-20, Revelation 1:5).
But the devil doesn’t give up easily; he continues to pursue us even when we walk with God towards the Promised Land. Thankfully, one day, God will destroy him and his whole army, and we will be victorious.
A wolf among sheep
The whole time that Judas was walking with Jesus and the other disciples, he presented himself as one of them, a friend, and a loyal student. Nobody, except Jesus of course, knew that he was a fraud. They were still guessing at the Passover meal (Matthew 17:20-22).
That is fascinating to me, because this teaches us how hard it is to spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The devil masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and so did he. He proclaimed the Gospel, healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, and cast out demons as one of the Twelve who received that authority (Matthew 10:1-8). He, directly or indirectly, led many to Christ. That is why we can never identify true followers of Christ by looking at the signs and wonders they perform, by the growth of their church, or by how many people they lead to Jesus; all of that is God’s doing. Judas was among those who performed signs and wonders, preached Jesus, and walked with Him. Yet, he was a devil (John 6:70). This means that being a Christian entails more than those things; all of that means nothing to God if you don’t follow Him in your heart.
Jesus said that many who say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” will not be saved (Matthew 7:21-23). Therefore, we cannot distinguish wolves from sheep by looking at “results” and “numbers.” Salvation and justification are not about works, but about God’s grace. Judas was unclean, despite his clean appearance (John 13:10-11).
Jesus said that we can only see the difference between wolves and sheep by looking at their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20). And people can only produce good fruit when they are rooted in Christ and from there do the will of God. Any other tree will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 7:19).
The consequences of betraying God
Even after Jesus’s final warning, during supper, Judas chose to continue his betrayal (Matthew 26:24-25, 47-50). After this, he had to face the horrible consequences of his actions.
Judas paid with his life for the fact that he lied to God and betrayed Him for money (Matthew 27:5-8, Acts 1:18-19). This is something God clearly takes very seriously, since Ananias and Sapphira both lost their lives for the same reason; they too lied to God for money (Acts 5:1-10). Judas, Ananias, and Sapphira have in common that they secretly trusted money over God. Their true love wasn’t for God; it was for the world. In their hearts, they followed money, rather than God.
Ananias and Sapphira’s deaths instilled fear in the entire church at that time, a deep reverence for God. We should take their example and see the urgency of being clean before the Lord. All of us start out as sinners, and all of us love the world before we love God. But we must turn from our sin completely so that we can stand in God’s presence with clean, fully surrendered hands. We must make sure that there is no part in us that we are trying to hide from Him, nothing we love more than Him, and nothing we aren’t willing to surrender. Instead of wanting to have more in this world, more money, more pleasure, more comfort – and sacrifice Jesus in return for those things – our deepest desire should be to give Him our all and to trust Him fully. And that will lead to sufficiency in all areas of our lives (Matthew 6:33).
How Matthias was chosen
After Jesus’ ascension, the Eleven spent their days united in prayer in the upper room of the place they were staying (Acts 1:13-15). Then, at one point, Peter spoke up among his many brothers and sisters and shared his insight into what the Word prophesied about Judas and the fact that there would be a replacement (Acts 1:15-21).
Remember that the promised Holy Spirit hadn’t come upon them yet (Acts 1:8), and that they were prayerfully waiting for further instructions when God gave Peter this insight. It seems to me that God purposely chose this timing so that all twelve would experience the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1). This way, they could all begin their ministry simultaneously (Acts 2:42-47).
Praying together unites, and as far as we know, there was no protest when it came to the course of action. There seemed to be agreement and harmony when they selected two disciples. After choosing them, they prayed again. A simple prayer: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place” (Acts 1:24-25). And then they trusted in God’s guidance, assured that God would show them who would be the one through the casting of lots. The lot fell on Matthias.
About the casting of lots
I think it is important to mention that this is the final time we hear about the casting of lots to appoint someone to a ministry. This casting of lots to establish who should get which duty or territory is an Old Testament practice (Joshua 18:6, 1 Chronicles 24:31, 25:8, Nehemiah 10:34, Luke 1:9). A holy practice, intended to fulfill God’s will. A practice that at some point was misused for gambling and distribution outside of God’s will (Psalm 22:18, Joel 3:3, John 19:24).
After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, there was no need to cast lots anymore. Christians could make these important choices with the help of the Holy Spirit. We see this in Acts 6, where the disciples prayerfully picked seven men to fulfill the duty of serving tables. In Acts 13:2, the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets and teachers that Barnabas and Saul should be set apart for the work to which God had called them. So, they fasted and prayed, then laid their hands on them and sent them off. And in Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church, and committed them to the Lord with prayer and fasting. The Holy Spirit also wants us to make decisions with His guidance today.
Were the Apostles right in choosing Matthias to replace Judas?
As we learned, God proclaimed Judas’s replacement in His Word, and then, in His providence, He let the lot fall on Matthias. It was God’s decision, made in cooperation with men, not the other way around. If you look at it like that, who are we to question whether God made the right call? The Apostles acted on God’s plan through the faithful and prayerful following of His instructions.
The fact that nothing else was written about him doesn’t mean that he wasn’t influential, or that the decision was flawed in some way. Many other early followers of Jesus, and even Apostles, are mentioned very few times. Take Bartholomew (Nathanael), one of the Twelve. The events of his calling are mentioned in John 1, and his presence is listed a few times, but we know very little else about him. That is not uncommon in the Bible; in the Old Testament, some people are only named without providing more details about them, leaving us with questions.
That said, the fact that they are mentioned is in itself pretty special. I mean, Jesus chose to include them in His everlasting Word and the testimonies about Him, which must mean Jesus found it important for us to know. Perhaps part of the reason why Jesus left us with this story about Matthias’s choosing is to let us know that that part of Scripture was indeed fulfilled, and that the number of Apostles remained twelve. Because this will be important in the future we are expectedly awaiting (Matthew 19:28, Revelation 21:14).
Many Christians today fly under the radar, their great influence only known to God. Their names written in the Book of Life, and their deeds rewarded in heaven. We may not know their names or deeds today, but we will surely celebrate with them in heaven.
If you’d like to discover more prophecies about Judas in the Old Testament, you may enjoy reading Psalm 55, 69, and 109 with Judas’s betrayal in mind.
You may also like: Identifying wolves in sheep’s clothing