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Lesson #15Judas, the Betrayer
(Mark 14: 1-26)
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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.
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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.
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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.
4Judas, the Betrayer
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So, who is Judas
Iscariotreally? And
why would he betray
Jesus?
Ive often
wondered that
myself.
5Peter's Confession of Faith
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6Judas, the Betrayer
Lets begin by reading
Marks version of thestory in 14: 1-26.
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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.
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8On the Road to Jerusalem
Hebron
Dead SeaJerusalem
Kerioth
Masada
Kerioth (el-Kureitein) archaeology
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9Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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.
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10Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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).
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11Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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).
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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
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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.
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Carl Heinrich Bloch. The Last Supper (oil on copper), 1876.
Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerd, Denmark.
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Giotto. Judas Betrays Christ(tempera on panel), 1304-1306.
Arena Chapel, Padua.
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Mattia Preti. Tribute Money (oil on canvas), c. 1640.
Brera Art Gallery, Milan, Italy.
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17Judas, the Betrayer
Interestingly, the Hebrew
Scriptures foreshadow
Judas receiving 30 pieces
of silver and then
throwing them back into
the treasury.
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18Judas, the Betrayer
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
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The Kiss of Judas Iscariot (colored engraving) from Heures de Charles
dAngoulme, c. 1503-1508. Bibliothque Nationale de France, Paris.
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20Judas, the Betrayer
Heres what we know from
Scripture and from later
thinking about Judasmotives and actions.
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21Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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).
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22Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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.
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23Judas, the Betrayer
Upon seeing Satan
encased in ice in Hells
9thcircle, Dante writes .. .
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24Judas, the Betrayer
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.
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25Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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.
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26Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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:
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27Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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.
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28Judas, the Betrayer
Aieeee!
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29Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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.
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30Excursus, Mark's Roman Empire
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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Copyright 2014 by William C. Creasy
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