What did Judas think he was doing when he betrayed Jesus? Judas heard Jesus announce that someone was going to betray him and he departed from the last supper when Jesus told him to go off and do what he had planned to do. All of Jesus’ disciples had ideas of what God’s plan was and what they wanted Jesus to do. And these ideas were mostly off the mark. Even after the resurrection they evidently still do not get the immediate plan (Acts 1:6). So, Judas would not have been any different to this. The difference with Judas is that when Jesus didn’t turn out to be the Messiah of his expectation and desire, Judas turned away from him. It may be that Judas thought he could force Jesus into a confrontation with Israel’s leaders to make Jesus act decisively as Judas wanted. This might have been behind his betrayal and perhaps he thought his betrayal might be vindicated in this ‘showdown’. That he committed suicide in the end, shows, in any case, that something didn’t work out for Judas. While these details remain unclear, what is clear is that Judas was more committed to his plans than to Jesus’ plans. In a way, Judas is a symbol of his nation at that time. Jesus was constantly trying to save his people from their fixation with their own agendas which would, in a few decades time, bring them to ruin. Jesus wants to save us in the same way. Make sure you don’t hold onto your dreams and plans too tightly because God may have a better idea. You don’t know what is best, so surrender your life agendas to God today.
Surrender your life agendas to God today.
Read John 18:1-14
