7 MORE Good Lessons from 7 MORE Bad Bible Characters (Pt. 2: Judas)

Continuing our series on finding deep spiritual from the New Testament’s greatest villains, we’re gonna get into Part 2 of this series! But, before we get into that, in case you missed Part 1, you may check it out HERE.

So, anyway, let’s now dive into one spiritually power-packed lesson from one of the worst New Testament Bible characters ever known:

JUDAS!

Who Was Judas?

One of the most ironic facts I’ve discovered about Judas was what his name means.

It means “praise.”

Yup, you heard that right.

JUDAS’ name MEANS “PRAISE!”

And yet, Judas didn’t live up to the meaning of his name.

Instead of leaving behind a legacy that brought praise to Jesus, he left behind a legacy that brought betrayal to the Son of God.

And for this blog post, we’re gonna dissect Judas’ betrayal against Christ and deeply examine how this infamous aspect of his legacy applies to us today.

Let’s dive in!

A Bad Promise

In Luke 22:6, we see a glimpse of Judas’ progression to betray Christ:

So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

(Luke 22:6)

We can learn a lot from this verse, but here’s the first thing that really triggered Judas’ betrayal.

He made a promise to the chief priests and captains to BETRAY Jesus!

How in the world can a guy whose been with Jesus for, like, the whole 3 years of His ministry, make a PROMISE to BETRAY his Lord?

Why would he make such a promise?

A Bad Prize

Two Bible verses highlight what may have been the likely motive behind Judas’ willing promise to betray Christ.

This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

(John 12:6)

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

(Mark 14:10-11)

So, what moved Judas to willingly BETRAY Christ was MONEY!

He loved and chose those thirty pieces of silver over the the Messiah who loved and chose him!

Fairly similar to what Delilah did to Samson!

Why did Judas choose the money pieces over Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:25)?

A Bad Purpose

I believe the answer is found in the Bible text we just looked at in the beginning of this blog post:

So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

(Luke 22:6, emphasis added)

The original Greek word for “betray” is paradidōmi (παραδίδωμι). In Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, it gives a real gut-punching definition for this Greek word:

“To give up…..to cause one to follow his own corrupt mind.”

Tying all these together, Judas pretty much “gave up” his status as a follower of Christ and chose to “follow” his mind that was CORRUPTED by LUST for money!

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

(1 Timothy 6:10)

Instead of allowing his mind to be transformed and renewed by Christ’s love (Romans 12:2), he allowed his mind to conform to selfish, money-hungry corruption.

And where did that lead him to do?

To BETRAY Christ!

How does this all apply to us as professed Christians and disciples of Jesus?

Judas vs. Jesus

As Christians in this 21st Century world, we are no different from Judas.

The temptations to be “somebody” in this world; the temptations to acquire the silver pieces of worldly wealth and fame beckon our sin-corrupted minds to an ultimate fork in the road:

Be like Judas or Be like Jesus!

When Jesus Himself faced this very same fork in the road of either choosing the silver pieces of this world or choosing God, what did He do?

In Matthew 4, when satan tempted Christ to bow down and worship him, in exchange for all the glorious kingdoms on earth, we see Christ’s response to this crucial decision in verse 10:

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

(Matthew 4:10)

Jesus proclaimed that it is God alone we–as His followers–should serve.

Not our wealth-hungry, self-seeking, corrupt minds–but GOD!

So, let me ask you today.

Are you, dear reader, serving God like Jesus or your own selfish corrupt mind like Judas?

An Appeal & A Prayer

Dear reader, if you feel convicted by God for acting like Judas, and desire to repent of following your selfish mind instead of following Christ, I wanna appeal to you to just pray the following prayer below:

I’d like conclude this blog post with two Bible verses you may claim and meditate on along with the above prayer.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Romans 12:2)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus

(PHILIPPIANS 2:5)

Amen! Maranatha!