What did Judas do to Jesus? (How Judas Betrayed Jesus)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Judas Iscariot is one of the most infamous figures in Christian tradition. What did Judas do to Jesus? People remember him because Judas betrayed Jesus to the authorities, which led to the crucifixion. But who was Judas really? Was he a historical person, or merely a fictional character created for narrative purposes in the Gospels?

How did Judas betray Jesus? The answer to this question, described in multiple New Testament texts, raises other important questions about his motivations, character, and ultimate fate. In this article, I’ll examine the various portrayals of Judas across the Gospels, his complex relationship with Jesus, and the lingering theological debates about his actions and their consequences.

Who Was Judas in the Bible?

Biblical scholars have long asked whether Judas was a real person or simply a fictional character in the Gospels. While we cannot answer with perfect certainty, most scholars believe that Judas really existed. Part of the reason some have questioned his historicity, however, goes back to his name.

The name Judas was the Greek version of the Hebrew name Judah, which was extremely popular in 1st-century Palestine. In fact, we can confirm this by the large number of men named Judas in the New Testament. According to B.J. Oropeza, there are 36 Judases in the NT, including Judas Iscariot. However, since the name goes back to the kingdom of Judah from which we also get our English word Jew, some have implied that Judas was merely an antisemitic literary invention, meant to represent a Jew who betrayed Jesus into the hands of the Jewish authorities who, according to the NT, were then indirectly responsible for getting him killed.

While this is a plausible assumption, most scholars actually believe in the historicity of Judas Iscariot, not least because there are so many Judases named in the NT not accused of evildoing. In addition, in Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, Bart Ehrman writes that Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is “about as historically certain as anything else in the tradition.” Why?

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First, it can be found in multiple sources (Mark 14:10-11, John 18:2-3, Acts 1:16, and possibly 1 Corinthians 11:23). Second, Ehrman notes that Judas’ betrayal is not something an early Christian author would likely invent. The notion that one of Jesus’ handpicked 12 disciples would then betray him does not put Jesus or the movement in a flattering light. Ehrman said that while there are still many questions about the details of the betrayal, there is little doubt that it happened.

In The Historical Jesus in Recent Research, John P. Meier agrees, noting that although we know very little about Judas, the scholarly consensus says that “Jesus chose him as one of the Twelve, and he handed over Jesus to the Jerusalem authorities, thus precipitating Jesus's execution."

As for his second name, Iscariot, there are two theories about its origin. In Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham asserts that Iscariot is a descriptive word from the Hebrew Κ-Qrîyôt meaning “man from Kerioth.” Kerioth was a city mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible: Joshua 15:25 says it was a town in southern Judea, while Amos 2:2 says it was a town in Moab (both could be true). It may be that Judas was known to be from one of those places.

However, in Mark: A Reader-Response Commentary, Bastiaan van Iersel says that Iscariot may be a Greek corruption of the Latin word “sicarius” meaning “dagger man.” According to 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus, there was a group of Jewish political assassins late in the 1st century whom he called the “Sicarii.” He claims they had attacked the High Priest, as well as 700 Jewish women and children. Was Judas one of these assassins? While it’s possible, the earliest evidence we have of these figures occurs long after Judas’ death so it’s perhaps unlikely.

Having explored his name, let’s look at portrayals of Judas in the New Testament.

What Did Judas Do to Jesus? Uncovering What We Know

What did Judas do to Jesus? Answering that question requires going to our earliest Christian writings, the letters of Paul. Paul mentions Jesus’ betrayal briefly in 1 Corinthians 11:23-24:

All we really have here from Paul is the bare fact that Jesus was betrayed. We do not have the name of his betrayer or betrayers. This has made some question whether Judas truly existed since Paul did not mention his name. On the other hand, perhaps Paul didn’t know who betrayed Jesus.

Mark, our earliest written Gospel, mentions Judas only three times. In Mark 3:16-19, Mark gives us the list of the 12 men called by Jesus to be his disciples. In verse 19 and mentioned last, we see “Judas Iscariot, who handed [Jesus] over.” Right from the beginning, there is no doubt who the bad guy in the story will be.

Next, Mark 14:10-11 says

What’s interesting about this passage is that we don’t have a clear motive for Judas’ action. While money is always a good motivator, it seems that he offered to betray Jesus before money was proposed. Did Judas have a disagreement with Jesus or bear a grudge against him? Mark doesn’t say.

This Gospel’s final mention of Judas occurs in Mark 14:43-46 where Jesus and his disciples are praying in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Notice, that the chief priests are not there themselves, just henchmen they’ve sent with weapons to arrest Jesus. This might explain the scope of Judas’ betrayal: perhaps his job was merely to identify Jesus for these people who didn’t know him. Or, perhaps knowing Jesus and the disciples had a plan to go to the Garden after the Passover meal, he brought them to the right place to find him. In fact, the Gospel of John says this was the case. Whatever the answer, though, that’s the last we see of Judas in Mark.

In John 18:2-3, however, it says

How did Judas betray Jesus? On the one hand, it makes sense that he would have been able to lead them to a place that Jesus frequented. On the other hand, Jesus has had numerous discussions with the Pharisees in John, so couldn’t they have identified Jesus as well as Judas? Perhaps the author of John knew the tradition that Jesus had been betrayed by Judas and so had to include it whether it made sense narratively or not.

As for Judas’ fate after he betrayed Jesus, there are two stories in the NT. Matthew 27:3-10 says that

Interestingly, in this passage, Judas seems surprised that Jesus is condemned to death as a result of his betrayal. This leaves us to wonder what Judas thought would happen to Jesus at the hands of the authorities. Whatever the answer, Matthew makes it clear that Judas committed suicide out of despair and remorse.

However, in Acts 1:16, Peter addresses the remaining 11 disciples after Jesus’ ascension, saying “Brothers and sisters, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus…” Here we see the author of Acts, who also wrote Luke, repeating the tradition that Judas was one of the 12 disciples and betrayed Jesus.

Additionally, Acts 1:18 has a very different version of Judas’ death:

It's hard to know whether this death also indicates suicide in some way, or whether it is divine retribution for Judas’ betrayal.

What Did Judas Get for Betraying Jesus?

As we saw above, Mark’s Gospel simply says that Judas was paid money or silver (Greek: argyrion) and Luke says the same, with no amount given. Nevertheless, Matthew specifies that it was 30 pieces of silver, and John says 30 silver coins.

As for motivation, in Luke, while Judas does agree to accept a fee from the authorities for handing Jesus over, he only goes to them because “Satan entered into him.” Similarly, John says that when Jesus had identified Judas as his betrayer at their meal, “Satan entered into him” and he left. Is this absolving Judas since he was possessed by Satan when the idea came over him? Probably not, but it’s an interesting question.

The Gospel of Judas

There is a non-canonical gospel known as the Gospel of Judas that was discovered in the 1970s in an Egyptian cave. While the term Gnostic is certainly problematic for several reasons (see my article on the Gnostics for more information), most scholars have identified the Gospel of Judas as written by and for a Gnostic group in the late 2nd century CE.

Unlike in the canonical Gospels where he is the villain, in this gospel, Judas is the most important disciple of Jesus. The entire text consists, in fact, of conversations between Jesus and Judas. Many of these conversations are about theology and cosmology. According to the Jesus of this gospel, for instance, God is a cloud of light that exists only in a realm separate from human beings. This, and many other ideas in the Gospel of Judas contradict orthodox church teachings of the 2nd century.

The most striking difference between this gospel and the canonical Gospels is that Judas is portrayed in such a positive light. Why? Because the Gospel of Judas says Jesus had told Judas to betray him in order to initiate the divine plan. Thus, Judas is depicted not only as Jesus’ favorite disciple but also the most crucial for Jesus’ mission.

Did Jesus Forgive Judas?

While no books of the New Testament say that Jesus forgave Judas for his betrayal, some Christian writers speculated about this. Some of this was based on Judas’ brutal deaths in Matthew and Acts (his death is not mentioned in Mark or in John). Does the remorse Judas displays in Matthew entitle him to Jesus’ forgiveness?

Early Christian author Origen, in his Commentary on John, wrote that while Judas truly did repent, his crime was too heinous for him to be forgiven. Centuries later, Protestant authors, such as Martin Luther, said no amount of repentance could counteract what Judas had done.

The Catholic Church has had different answers to this question throughout its history. Pope Gregory the Great, for example, wrote that

Since suicide was considered a sin, it would seem that Gregory doubted the sincerity of Judas’ repentance and that, by killing himself, he had condemned himself further. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, however, said that if Judas had truly begged God for mercy, he would have been forgiven.

Conclusion

What did Judas do to Jesus? According to the Gospels, Judas Iscariot was responsible for betraying Jesus to the chief priests who would then hand him over to Pilate, all of which would result in Jesus’ death. But how did Judas betray Jesus?

According to the Gospel of Mark, Judas approached the chief priests and offered to betray him, for which they promised to pay him. In Mark and John, the payment isn’t specified, while Matthew and Luke report it as 30 pieces of silver.

Then, in a dramatic scene, Mark’s Gospel says that Judas came to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with a group of armed henchmen working for the chief priests. Judas kissed Jesus, a signal worked out ahead of time, identifying him for the guards, who then arrested him. However, the Markan story doesn’t give Judas a clear motive beyond money. In both Luke and John, though, Satan enters into Judas, causing him to betray Jesus.

While none of the Gospels ever say that Jesus forgave Judas, the question did arise in subsequent centuries. A non-canonical gospel, the Gospel of Judas, answers the question by saying that Judas was actually doing what Jesus had asked him to do and thus, he didn’t need to be forgiven. Many other Christian writers, however, have said that despite Jesus’ emphasis on forgiveness, Judas’ sin had been too monstrous for him to be forgiven.