The Problem With Judas

We always think of Judas as a betrayer, the one who "sold" out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But we tend to pass right by the fact that Jesus chose him to be one of The Twelve. Judas heard all of Jesus' teachings yet he still betrayed Him. Why? The answer is found in verse three of Luke.

"Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present." - Luke 22:1-6

Judas was someone close to Jesus. He broke bread with Him, He was there when the woman broke the jar of perfume and poured it on Jesus. And that's where we get another clue into the problem with Judas. Judas questioned Jesus.

"But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. b ” 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it." - John 12:4-6

Judas was "ripe for the picking" and Satan entered easily into the heart of Judas. There is a lesson to be learned here. Several actually.

Lesson #1 - As we learned in both of these accounts, even though we profess faith in Christ, it is still possible for sin, Satan, to enter in to our lives and our hearts.

Lesson #2 - How can "Satan enter in" unless the Holy Spirit leaves? This was God's will, that Jesus be betrayed and given over to be killed. We need to remember that at all times. God can, and will, allow certain things to happen in our lives to accomplish His will. Remember that and pray against it, just like Jesus did before He was crucified. At the same time though we must be willing to follow God's will. That's a hard one.

The biggest thing we can learn about Judas is that anyone can fall. Priests, pastors, popes, you and me, anyone.

So, how can we keep this from happening? I already mentioned prayer. The second thing we can do would be for us to fill our hearts with God's Word. To live our lives exhibiting God's love to those around us. That way there won't be ANY room for Satan to enter in.

The problem with Judas was that he allowed Satan to enter in. That CANNOT be the case with us!