Matthew 27:3-4 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, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
So, these veres came up in my reading through the New Testament during #NewThru30. Some questions came to my mind that I had never thought before. I figured here would be a good place to ask them. I know many of my readers are much smarter than I, so please, let me know what you think.
-Did Judas not think that Jesus would be convicted of His charges? Because it says he changed his mind after Jesus was condemned
-Did Judas hate Jesus or was he just disillusioned, looking for an easy buck while making his exit?
-If Judas had known Jesus was going to be sentenced to death would he have still handed Him over to the authorities?
According to John 12:6, " But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole from it." So, he had an agenda other than caring for the poor and he stole from the money the apostles collected for the poor. Twenty pieces of silver may have looked quite attractive to him. While this doesn't answer your questions, I thought it might add to your discussion.
My theories would be…
-Did Judas not think that Jesus would be convicted of His charges? Because it says he changed his mind after Jesus was condemned.
I think that Judas had a surge of guilt afterwards. Judas knew that the Pharisees/Romans were looking for any reason to charge Jesus. Judas knew that Jesus pretty much had no chance against them. So, I think it was more guilt than being naive.
-Did Judas hate Jesus or was he just disillusioned, looking for an easy buck while making his exit?
I doubt that he hated Jesus. He was a disciple. He gave up his life to follow Jesus, which shows a lot of devotion. But he was the treasurer, so he may have been money hungry. I think he was just too focused on this world and not the next, like Jesus encouraged them to be.
-If Judas had known Jesus was going to be sentenced to death would he have still handed Him over to the authorities?
I doubt he wanted Jesus’ “blood to be on his hands”. He even killed himself after what happened, which does show that he really felt bad. So, to give Judas some humanity, I want to say no. But who knows?!