15. Judas, The Betrayer

8/10/2019 15. Judas, The Betrayer

1/35

Lesson #15Judas, the Betrayer

(Mark 14: 1-26)

1Judas, the Betrayer


2/35

Lesson #14 focused on the Olivet Discourse (13: 1-37), where Jesusspoke of a time of great tribulation; the destruction of the Temple,

the coming of the Son of Man; and of the end times.

Traditionally read as eschatological prophecy, we learned that

Marks Olivet Discourse mirrors the turbulence of the Roman

Empire, A.D. 64-70, the very time Mark was composing his Gospel:The Great Fire of Rome burned a large portion of the city on 18 July A.D. 64, and the

Emperor Nero blamed the destruction on Romes Christians;

Consequently, Nero (A.D. 54-68) launched the first state-sponsored persecution

against the Church, A.D. 64-68. Both Peter and Paul were martyred during this time,

along with a great multitude of others, as the historian Tacitus writes;

Nero committed suicide on 9 June A.D. 68;Civil war broke out, and four Emperors followed in quick succession, three of whom

were assassinated or committed suicide; and

In A.D. 66 the Great Jewish Revolt began in Palestine, resulting in the destruction of

the Temple on 29/30 July A.D. 70, the death of 1.2 million Jews by the end of the

revolt, and the Diaspora that lasted nearly 2,000 years.



3/35

These turbulent times greatly inform our understanding of MarksGospel, especially his version of the Olivet Discourse, amplifying the

tension and urgency that Marks audience in Rome would have felt

while reading his Gospel.



4/35

In Lesson #15 we continue our story as we explore thecharacter of Judas the betrayer, drawing on Matthew,

Luke and Johnand a few outside sourcesfor

additional information.

Judas is a much more complex character than he istypically portrayed. A disciple from the start, Judas was

with Jesus for his entire 3-year public ministry; Judas

witnessed Jesus teaching, preaching and healing; Judas

was present at Peters confession of faith; and he firmly

believed that Jesus was the Messiah.

So why does Judas betray Jesus? In Lesson #15 we

explore his motives.



5/35

So, who is Judas

Iscariotreally? And

why would he betray

Jesus?

Ive often

wondered that

myself.

5Peter's Confession of Faith


6/35


Lets begin by reading

Marks version of thestory in 14: 1-26.


7/35

7Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire

Heres what we know

about Judas from Scripture

Judas Iscariots name: Judas (Hebrew =

Judah, Jacobs 4thson); Iscariot (probably

from the Hebrew -Qryth, man of Kerioth,

a village about 10 miles south of Hebron,

mentioned in Joshua 15: 25 as one of thecities in Judah. If that is the case, Judas is

the only one of Jesus 12 disciples

not from Galilee.


8/35

8On the Road to Jerusalem

Hebron

Dead SeaJerusalem

Kerioth

Masada

Kerioth (el-Kureitein) archaeology


9/35


Judas is the son of Simon Iscariot (John 6:71;

13:26).

Judas is always listed last in the list of Jesus

twelve disciples.

His motives for betraying Jesus are unclear in

the Gospel accounts, opening the door to

considerable speculation.


10/35


John tells us that Judas held the money bag

and used to steal the contributions (John 12:

6).

Satan enters Judas, prompting him to act

(Luke 22: 3; John 13: 27).

Judas went to the chief priests: What are

you willing to give me if I hand him over toyou? (Matthew 26: 15); and he is paid

30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26: 14-16).


11/35


When Jesus is condemned and sentenced to

death, Judas returns to the chief priests inremorse, saying: I have sinned in betraying

innocent blood, and he flings the money back

at them (Matthew 27: 4-5).

Judas then went off and hanged himself

(Matthew 27: 5).


12/35

The Tree of Judas, (woodcut from Wynkyn de

Wordes 1499 edition of Mandevilles Travels).

The tree of Eldre, that Judas henge him self upon, for despeyr.The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, c. 1360.

Judas he japed

with Jewen silver

and sithen on an Eller

hanged hymselve.

The Vision of Piers Plowman,

c. 1370


13/35

Mark doesnt specify the amount of money Judas was given, but Matthew does.

The Greek word in Matthew 26: 15 is arguria, silver coins, not specifying what

type of coins they were. The best guess is Tyrian tetradrachms, commonly called

Tyrian shekels. A drachma is about a days wages for a skilled laborer, so 30

tetradrachms would equal about four months wages, a lot, but not an exorbitant

sum. The above Tyrian shekles were minted in Tyre between 18 B.C. and A.D. 68.


14/35

Carl Heinrich Bloch. The Last Supper (oil on copper), 1876.

Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerd, Denmark.


15/35

Giotto. Judas Betrays Christ(tempera on panel), 1304-1306.

Arena Chapel, Padua.


16/35

Mattia Preti. Tribute Money (oil on canvas), c. 1640.

Brera Art Gallery, Milan, Italy.


17/35


Interestingly, the Hebrew

Scriptures foreshadow

Judas receiving 30 pieces

of silver and then

throwing them back into

the treasury.


18/35


Then I took my staff Delight and snapped

it in two, breaking my covenant which I

had made with all peoples. So it was

broken on that day. The merchants of

the flock, who were watching me,

understood that this was the word of the

Lord. Then I said to them, If it seems

good to you, give me my wages; but if

not, withhold them. And they counted

out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

Then the Lord said to me, throw it in

the treasurythe handsome price at

which they valued me. So I took the

thirty pieces of silver and threw theminto the treasury in the house of the

Lord. Zechariah 11: 10-14


19/35

The Kiss of Judas Iscariot (colored engraving) from Heures de Charles

dAngoulme, c. 1503-1508. Bibliothque Nationale de France, Paris.


20/35


Heres what we know from

Scripture and from later

thinking about Judasmotives and actions.


21/35


Throughout Scripture Judas is called the

betrayer: Matthew 10: 4, 26: 21-25, 26: 46.

The Apostle John clearly does not like Judas:

he calls him a hypocrite, a thief (John 12: 4-6)

and a betrayer (John 18: 5).


22/35


Judas has been viewed throughout Church

history as an avaricious and dishonest man

whos sole motive for betraying Jesus wasgreed and the furthering of his own ends.

In his Divine ComedyDante clearly sees

Judas as the archetypical traitor, placing him

in the very pit of Hell in the jaws of Satan,

where he is chewed upon and clawed by Satanfor all of eternity, along with Cassius

and Brutus, the assassins of Julius Caesar.


23/35


Upon seeing Satan

encased in ice in Hells

9thcircle, Dante writes .. .


24/35


Botticelli. Dante Alighieri (tempera on canvas),

1495. Private Collection, Geneva.

Oh, how amazed I was when I looked up

and saw a headone head wearing three faces!

One was in front (and that was a bright red),

the other two attached themselves to this onejust above the middle of each shoulder,

and at the crown all three were joined in one . . .

In each of his three mouths he crunched a sinner,

with teeth like those that rake the hemp and flax,

keeping three sinners constantly in pain;

the one in frontthe biting he endured

was nothing like the clawing that he took:

sometimes his back was raked clean of its skin.

That soul up there who suffers most of all,

my guide *Vergil+ explained, is Judas Iscariot:the one with head inside and legs out kicking.

Divine Comedy, Inferno,

Canto 34: 37-42; 55-63.


25/35


OthersThomas de Quincey, for example, in

his 1852 essay Judas Iscariotsees Judas

sole motive as compelling Jesus to reveal

himself as Messiah and get on with the

business of liberating the Jews from Roman

rule and establishing a new kingdom, one

under God.


26/35


During the Middle Agesin the manner of

rabbinic midrashlegend developed to fill inJudas meager biography. Jacobus de

Voragine (1228-1298) tells the tale in his

Golden Legend, one of the most popular

works of Medieval literature. Heres a

summary of the legend:


27/35


Judas was born of the tribe of Ruben (first

son of Jacob, who betrayed his father byhaving sex with his fathers concubine, Bilhah,

as we read in Genesis 35: 22.

Before he was born, Judas mother, Cyborea,

had an Oedipusian dream that he was destined

to kill his father, commit incest with hismother, and sell out his God.


28/35


Aieeee!


29/35


As a result of the dream, at his birth Cyborea

put Judas into a chest and cast it into the sea;he drifted ashore in a foreign land and was

brought up at the royal court; in a moment of

passion as a young man he committed murder

and fled; he arrived in Judea where he entered

the service of Pontius Pilate as a page.


30/35


Once in Judea, Judas unknowingly murdered

his father and had sex with his mother; hisheinous acts revealed, he sought out Jesus the

Prophet, who people said could forgive sins.

Judas was put into a position of trust by Jesus

as keeper of the money bag; avarice then grew

within him like a cancer, and Judas fulfilled his

destiny by betraying God, thus fulfilling his

mothers

dream.


31/35

This portrayal of Judas as the archetypical villain has shaped our image

of him, both in theological circles and in music, art and literature.

Carravagio. The Taking of Christ (oil on canvas), c. 1598.

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.


32/35

Another account of Judas came to light in the 1970s with the discovery of a late

2nd-century Coptic papyrus near Beni Masah in Egypt, the The Gospel of

Judas. This gospel portrays Judasthe only one of Jesus disciples who trulyunderstood himas acting on Jesus instructions.


33/35

Among contemporary views of Judas, two are especially

insightful in the way they probe Judas motives and actions:

Stephen Adly Guirgis. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, 2005. Directed byPhillip Seymour Hoffman and first performed at The Public Theater (formerly

The Shakespeare Workshop) in New York, March 2, 2005.

The play presents a courtroom scene in Purgatory to decide Judas Iscariots ultimate fate.

Using flashbacks into Judas life, witnesses include Satan (who famously says, I dont

believe in Good and Bad. What I believe in is Truth.), Caiaphas (whos encouraged by the

impatient defense attorney to take his time: This is Purgatory, Caiaphas, I got all day.),Pontius Pilate, Mary Magdalene, Mother Theresa and Sigmund Freud, among others.

Jorge Luis Borges. Tres Versiones de Judas (English, Three Versions

of Jesus) in Ficciones, 1944.

The story is written in the form of a scholarly article, a critical analysis of a fictional writer,Nils Runeberg. In the story Runeberg writes three books: 1) Christ and Judas, 2) Christ

and Judas, revised edition; and 3) The Secret Savior. Borges analyzes the heretical views

in all three of the fictional works, presenting three versions of Judas as he does so.


34/35

1. What significance, if any, do you find in Judas being the onlydisciple who is not from Galilee?

2. What significance, if any, do you find in Judas scolding Mary

of Bethany for anointing Jesus with a very expensive

perfume: Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days

wages and given to the poor? (John 12: 5)?

3. What significance, if any, do you find in Jesus saying to Judas

at the Last Supper: What you are going to do, do quickly

(John 13: 37)?

4. What significance, if any, do you find in Gods Shepherd

breaking his covenant with all people, demanding his wages

of 30 pieces of silver, and then throwing it back into thetreasury (Zechariah 11: 10-14)?

5. Is there any other character in Scripture who hangs himself?

If so, what is the significance?


35/35

Copyright 2014 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,

photography, maps, timelines or other mediamay be

reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic

or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any

information storage or retrieval devices without permission in

writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.

Documents

15. Judas, The Betrayer