Judas Iscariot (Part 1)

Judas Iscariot: The Saddest of All the Apostles

In doing a character study it is great being able to pick out all the positive aspects of an individual’s life. One could find great enjoyment from studying the life of Daniel and all the good that one can learn from him. It seems there is nothing negative which is reported of him in the scriptures. The apostle Andrew is another individual who seems to have nothing said of them or said anything negative. There are some who give both positive and negative aspects. Peter was an individual who loved Christ but had a habit of saying the wrong thing. Despite his habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, Peter did something none of the other apostles did. He walked on water. Paul is an interesting study in that he spent part of his life trying to destroy the church. After his conversion to Christianity Paul lived such an exemplary life that the Holy Spirit deemed it one which others should emulate (1 Cor. 11:1). Sometimes there is an individual who we can study whose life has nothing positive. Take the books of Kings and Chronicles. One can read of the kings who lived during that time. Many of them were wicked kings who lived their lives outside of God’s will and the problems which occurred in their lives and the lives of the people. Judas is one of those individuals.

A Brief Introduction

The name Judas is the Greek form of the Hebrew word “Judah” which means “praised.” It was a common name which is frequently used in the Old and New Testament. It should be noted that there were two men of the apostles who were named Judas. We are not talking about the man who went by the surname “Thaddaeus” (Matt. 10:3). In order to distinguish the two men apart, the writers of the gospel accounts refer to the Judas of our study as “Judas Iscariot.” Iscariot means “man of Kerioth which was the hometown of Judas’ father Simon (Matt. 10:4; John 6:71). Kerioth was a city in Judah, while its location is unknown, was thought to be located in southern Judea (Josh 15:25). This separates him from the other apostles because they were all Galileans.

He was the treasurer to the apostles. It seems that his job was to dole out the money for those who were in need and keep up with how much money they possessed. Notice John 12:4-6 and 13:29. “For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.” (John 13:29). Notice how he is referred to as having possession of “the bag.” This would have been a reference to his treasurer’s bag. The disciples thought that since Jesus told Judas to do what he was going to do quickly, that it had something to do with the money Judas was carrying. Either he was going to use it for the poor or the Passover. Turns out he was a thief.

It is not recorded when he obeyed the call of Christ. We do know how Judas came to the end of his life. While the name Judas was a common name before the betrayal some have commented that the name became unpopular afterwards. It seems there is something in a name. It is for the same reason you never read of a female being named “Jezebel” in this day and age. Those things will be considered at the end of the study.