Why Did Jesus Choose Judas? The Betrayer

Jesus Chose Judas

When we talk about betrayal a few names surface. One that comes to mind for me is Benedict Arnold. This is likely because I live in the United States. Although his betrayal was great, it cannot compare to the betrayal by Judas Iscariot who handed the Son of God into the hands of the Jews.

So, why did Jesus choose Judas? The reason that Jesus chose Judas was so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. In Jesus’s High Priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus says in verse 12, “While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given me, I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” Jesus was not surprised by Judas’s betrayal. Judas was the “son of destruction.” Rather, Jesus chose Judas knowing fully that he had a wicked and unbelieving heart that would lead to betrayal (John 6:64; 70-71) in fulfillment of the Scriptures.

As always, it is important to dig deeper than the surface. So, let’s look further into why Jesus chose Judas.

Judas Iscariot

The Gospel accounts tell us of the call of the disciples. They record where the disciples all come from and the context of Jesus’s calling them to follow Him. All but Judas.

Judas Iscariot is recorded as one of the twelve disciples. Chosen to be an Apostle. Chosen by Jesus to live with Him and to learn from Him.

All we know of the background of Judas is from his second name, “Iscariot.” Iscariot means: “man of Kerioth.” Kerioth was a small town in Judea around twenty-three miles south of Jerusalem and seven miles from Hebron. This information tells us that Judas was not from Galilee like the other disciples. He was from the Judean countryside.

We do not know the context of how or why Judas came to follow Jesus. Most likely it was due to the hope that Jesus was going to be the Messiah, King of the Jews, who would eventually subdue the nations with a rod of iron. Jesus was surely doing the miracles that pointed to Him being the Messiah.

But we do know why Jesus chose Judas. It was so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.

(For more on why Jesus performed miracles, check out our article: Why Did Jesus Perform Miracles?)

Judas, unlike many, stuck around until the end. Judas endured after Jesus spoke to the Jews about how He is the Bread of Life and many left grumbling (John 6). Jesus then spoke to the disciples directly,

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that His disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 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.”
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” (John 6:60-71)

Judas did not depart like many other disciples did that day. Perhaps he was holding on to the sliver of hope that Jesus would still establish an earthly kingdom. Yet, as time unfolded, the hope for this would become dimmer. When the time came for Judas to sell out the Messiah Jesus, he did so without a second thought until after it was too late to reverse the effects of his actions.

The Character of Judas

The Scriptures tell us that Judas was in charge of the money. They also tell us that he was a thief and would help himself to the money put into it.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray Him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.” (John 12:1-8, bold added)

This is a clear declaration of the character of Judas. He was a thief. He desired money. And money is what he received to betray Christ.

Jesus taught,

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)

Jesus’s treasure was NOT money. The evidence of this was that He put a thief in charge of the money bag. However, Judas’s treasure was money. This is simply evidence that even though he looked like a disciple, acted like a disciple, spoke like a disciple, his heart was far from God. Jesus knew this from beginning to end. Even still, the other disciples did not recognize that Judas was a betrayer.

Jesus, the Son of God, was in Judas’s midst. Yet, he knew Him not! Jesus chose a thief and a betrayer to be one of His disciples so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. Jesus knew from the beginning what was in Judas’s heart.

Judas’s greatest desire was not the kingdom of God. It was not the pearl of great price. Nor the treasure of Christ. Judas’s greatest desire was fleshly. Of the dust. Eventually, this greed and love for money would lead him to betray the Messiah for a mere 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15).

Judas had every opportunity to believe yet he failed to truly put his trust in what God had revealed. Even despite his lack of faith, Judas was instrumental in fulfilling the very Scriptures that he failed to heed.

In Fulfillment of the Scriptures

In the book of Zechariah we find several Messianic prophecies. In Zechariah chapter 9 the prophet tells God’s people to rejoice for the King is coming mounted on a donkey,

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)

The Jewish people in the time of Jesus understood this Scripture to be Messianic. This passage found its fulfillment when Jesus triumphally entered into the gates of Jerusalem mounted on a donkey’s colt. Matthew tells us,

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ (Matthew 21:4-5)

Matthew is quoting from Zechariah 9:9. As the prophet Zechariah continues, he speaks of a coming day when the Lord will restore His chosen nation through the Good Shepherd. Yet, before this would happen the worthless shepherd, the antichrist would come in fulfillment of the Scriptures.

(For much more on this passage and its fulfillment listen to our sermon, Palm Sunday).

Howell Bible Church · Palm Sunday - The Messiah Enters Jerusalem - Zechariah 9 - 4.14.2019

In the midst of this oracle, Zechariah is told to:

Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. (Zechariah 11:4)

After one month of tending the sheep, in prophetic action, he demonstrated the rejection of this flock.

So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. (Zechariah 11:9-11)

After this took place, the people knew that this was a word from the Lord. We find ourselves in the prophetic passage of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus.

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. (Zechariah 11:12-13)

This had its initial fulfillment in Zechariah and his hearers’ immediate lifetime. However, the Messianic fulfillment is seen in the following Scriptures:

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver Him over to you? And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Him. (Matthew 26:14-16, bold added)
Then when Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.” (Matthew 27:3-10, bold added)

Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. After, he realized his error and attempted to give the money back to the chief priests and elders. Due to this money being blood money the chief priests and elders could not put this money in the treasury. Therefore, they took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it to the potter in fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah. All of this was just as the Scriptures foretold.

Thus, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, the one son of destruction was lost. Judas who was near to the King of glory, Jesus, and who shared in His presence denied Him by handing Him over into the hands of the Jews to be crucified by lawless men. Judas secured his eternal destruction in this great act of betrayal.

For a helpful article on the timing of the crucifixion of Christ, see our article, The Fullness of Time.

It is also very important to understand why Jesus had to be crucified. For this see our articles:

Why Did Jesus Die For Sins?

Why Did Jesus Die For Our Sins?

The Son of Destruction

The terminology “son of destruction” (or perdition as its often translated) is used twice in Scripture. Here are both references:

“While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given me, I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12, bold added)
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (2 Thessalonians 2:3, bold added)

The first Scripture was fulfilled in and by Judas. The second usage, concerning the worthless shepherd referred to in Zechariah, is the antichrist. This is still awaiting its fulfillment at some point in the future.

The word perdition means “eternal destruction.” Most modern translations exchange the word perdition for destruction. But the meaning is the same: one doomed for destruction.

Judas betrayed Jesus because of his wicked and unbelieving heart. His actions demonstrated the fruit of his heart. Demonstrating his personal rejection of Jesus as the Messiah of God. Thus, securing the title “son of destruction.”

We are warned not to have the same wicked and unbelieving heart, lest we too suffer everlasting condemnation.

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:4-8)

This passage speaks of those who, like Judas, taste and see the beauty of God and His grace through Christ in the world. Particularly today through the Holy Spirit, Word of God, and Christ’s church. Who instead of continuing in the grace of God and being hidden in Christ fall away, rejecting the Messiah through their actions and unbelief. This is a serious warning. We would all do well to pay careful attention to it. (We have a related video we encourage you to watch and consider: The Truth About Grace - Don’t Deny Christ With Your Deeds.)

The warning is severe. Those who do this will not be restored again to repentance. God will not change His mind regarding their condemnation, either.

Their fruit is not the good fruit of God’s Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). They bear a crop of only thorns and thistles. (Don’t forget to check out our Fruit of the Spirit items in our store and remind yourself and others to walk by the Spirit, not according to the flesh.)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5: 19-21, bold added)

Take head to this warning lest we, like Judas, cultivate a wicked and unbelieving heart. Continue repenting of wrong ideas about God and of your wicked, fleshly deeds. Continue believing on Jesus the Christ of God who can save all who come to Him if we would continue in our belief until the end.

Repent and believe in Christ. Continue repenting and believing until your fleshly body dies, or until Christ comes and gathers His people to Himself.

Bearing Testimony

This question is very much related to bearing testimony. Many modern followers of Christ believe that our testimony is the most important thing we can share in the world. However, this isn’t true.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. (1 John 5:9)

God’s testimony is the most important thing to proclaim in the world. God has recorded His testimony concerning His Son in the Scriptures. When we evaluate a question like this one — Why Did Jesus Choose Judas? — and end with the answer: “to fulfill the Scriptures,” we are emphasizing the importance and power of God’s testimony.

Unlike human testimony, which can only reliably tell of what we’ve seen or experienced ourselves already, God is able to testify regarding what will take place, even in the future. Since God proclaimed the betrayal of the Messiah in advance, we can see that Jesus was not simply a victim of circumstances (as some teach or believe) but was exactly who He claimed to be.

Christians must encourage one another to grow in our ability to bear witness to the testimony of God concerning His Son. We also have a video series designed to be a good start in the right direction. We pray it will be an encouragement to you. You can watch the whole playlist of videos on You Tube by clicking here. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel so you won’t miss any of our future videos.