Curosity and intrigue has always surrounded the person of Judas Iscariot. To be clear, there were actually two Disciples named Judas, which was a popular name in those days, due to Judah Maccabeus, (Judas is the Greek form of the name Judah), meaning “praised.“ Judah Maccabeus was the famous Jewish rebel leader of the revolt against the Seleucid Empire, under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Maccabeus was thought to be the Messiah in his day! But later, this was dismissed because he failed to fulfill biblical prophecy. There is even a book based upon him from a surviving Greek manuscript, the first book of Maccabees. As for Judas Iscariot’s last name, it means “man from Kerioth,” Kerioth was a town located in Judea, making Judas Iscariot possibly the only Judean among the other Galilean Disciples. Other commentators link Iscariot to a radical and even dangerous group of Jews, known as the “Sicarii,” who sought to bring about insurrection against the Romans. Perhaps he followed Jesus in hopes that he’d partake with the Sicarii. Jesus certainly enraged the teachers of the law, so it’s a rational possibility that Judas was drawn to Jesus for this reason.

Betrayal is a covert action against someone where the betrayer wears a disguise of sympathy that covers a treacherous motive and event. Betrayal (being a part of our human sin nature) is something that each of us has experienced before — some more than others. Betrayal always hurts. Even for Jesus it hurt, “... He became troubled in spirit ...” (John 18:21). It never comes from a foe, but instead from a so-called friend or loved one. We see how intimate and close Jesus was with His Disciples, seated in close quarters with them, reclining and even lying against Jesus. Imagine the hurt and pain this inglorious betrayal brought Jesus. To think that it was all just after Judas took the morsel. The word morsel simply means a very small piece of food. Consider the sheer irony that the taking of a small piece of bread would signify the betrayal of Jesus as an event that would initiate the execution of the God-Man! Things would never return to the way they were afterward — there was no going back for Judas. His betrayal led to Jesus’s crucifixion. Bearing the sins of the world, Christ died the most painful death of any human in history. His death was ultimately bittersweet, awful, yet redeeming. However, there was nothing sweet about betrayal, which is why Judas hung himself out of the depth of remorse for his actions.

What if you or I were the one to betray Christ? Just let that sink in. How could we live with such an inglorious decision? We are to bring glory to God’s name, not the opposite. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your loving-kindness, because of Your truth.” (Psalms 115:1 NASB1995). While there’s a good chance most of us will never commit such an act of betrayal as Judas, what about betrayal in general? Have we kneeled to culture around us? If so, that is betrayal. We have all had weak moments where God’s glory hasn’t shone from our lives. My uncle’s holiday dinner prayer resounds in my heart “May everything we say and do, please you.” May we never compromise our witness as Judas did. May we never take the bread in an insincere manner.