There’s probably never been another person more disparaged than Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus.
He has been vilified in one Gospel as one who became possessed by the Devil, and in another, as Satan himself incarnate.
Interestingly, Peter was never accused of being possessed by Satan even though Yeshua addressed him forthright, “Get behind me, Satan: you are an offense unto me: for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16: 23 KJV)
Like Peter, Judas was not a devil, but was a man in the first century who was waiting for the Messiah to come like every other Hebrew man in Israel/Judah.
Even his name was a tribute to God. The name Judas is the Greek version of the word Judah, which means “praised.”
Apparently, Judas heard of Yeshua and began to follow his teachings like the other Hebrew citizens who were searching for the one who would sit on David’s throne forever.
Imagine how elated Judas must have been the day that he was selected by Christ himself to be one of the privileged twelve.
According to Christ, Judas was not only selected by him but by God. This can be deduced by the words of Christ as he openly said that he only did what the Father instructed him to do.
What an honor to be selected to serve and learn from a true servant of the Most High. It was a position to be sought-after.
Discipleship was not a new concept in Israel/Judah. All the prophets before Christ had disciples who learned the craft from their masters.
The goal in discipleship is for the disciple to become just like the master. (Luke 6:40, KJV)
Not only did Judas get the honor of sitting under the teachings of Christ, but Judas got the opportunity to be sent out by the master on a mission to do miracles.
It is clear from the Gospels that the disciples never did achieve the master-level status that Yeshua had planned for them, because Christ was abruptly taken from them after only three and a half years into their discipleship.
That was not near enough time for them to change their way of thinking. It would have taken much longer to shed the years of religious training that had been instilled into them during their youth.
It was those years of religious training that presented the biggest barrier, because it prevented them from transitioning into the spiritual mindset of the kingdom of God.
It is clear from the Gospels that while Yeshua was alive, none of the twelve disciples ever realized that Christ sitting on the throne of David forever, was a spiritual analogy.
They all thought that it was literal.
That is why when Christ began to talk about being murdered, they did not understand what he was saying.
In their minds, the Messiah was going to sit on the throne of David, literally, forever. There was no death in that equation.
This is where Judas started to part ways with Yeshua.
Judas was onboard with the physical plan of Christ overthrowing Rome and the pseudo-kings/sons of Herod, to bring justice to the promised land.
In addition, he most likely longed to see the day that he would rule and reign with Christ on a throne himself.
Judas was onboard until Jesus began to inform them that he was going to be murdered. That did not fit the paradigm that Judas was expecting to happen.
Just like Peter had verbalized, Judas savored the things that be of man, and not the things that God had shown Christ.
So, when Yeshua began to talk about dying, he began to lose Judas’s dedication.
Then, Christ shocked his followers with words that could only be received by truly devoted followers who could stomach such rhetoric.
Christ announced that his true believers would drink his blood.
The Laws of Moses forbid anyone to even touch blood, let alone, drink it—end of subject.
An example that still holds true today, is that an orthodox Jewish man is not allowed to sleep in the same bed as his wife who is menstruating. He is not even allowed to touch any part of her body during her menses.
Once her menses is over, and she has performed a mikveh; then, they can have contact.
The Laws of Moses are excessively hemophobic.
So, when Christ began to talk about drinking his blood, he lost a large part of his audience. His words separated out the religious ones from the spiritual seekers, and most likely it tipped Judas in the direction of being done at that point.
However, it wasn’t then that Judas defected. It was the next thing that Christ did that pushed Judas completely over the edge.
It had to do with the disparaging attitude of women in general that was prevalent within the Laws of Moses, an attitude that had been adopted by the majority of Jewish men.
According to the book of Mark, Yeshua had just been anointed by a woman with an alabaster box during dinner a few days prior to his death, and the disciples, including Judas, reviled her for wasting money on that act.
Christ sternly reproved them and let them know that she was anointing him for his burial, and commanded them to tell the story when the gospel was preached for a memorial to her.
Christ was shaming his dedicated men and elevating a woman to a place of esteem.
It was immediately afterwards, that Mark writes that Judas went unto the chief priests, to betray Christ.
Judas had had enough. The supposed forever king was talking nonsense about being murdered, he was making despicable comments about drinking his blood, and even worse, Yeshua was honoring a woman as if she were some sort of a superhero, while harshly reproving his dedicated men.
That was it for Judas. He was done.
It is apparent that his dedication to his religion surpassed his dedication to Christ.
Judas had strong opinions, religious beliefs, and prejudices that contributed to his decision to betray the master, all of which were fostered by his religious upbringing.
The moral of the story is that it could have happened to anyone, and it is a lesson for us all to reflect upon.
How many people today would choose the love of their Christian religion over their dedication to Christ if he were to ask them to leave the church?
Something to think about.