Why did Judas betray Jesus

There is nothing said about the exact reason why Judas betrayed Jesus. Whilst there are some writings in the bible that implicitly say something about his intention, nevertheless it is only God and Judas knew the real reason behind.

There are some negative things said about him, among others are: he was a thief; that it is better for him to be thrown and drown into the sea; and that he was destined to do what he had done, or perhaps there are some more but let us always remember that the evangelists were writing something tailored made for their own intentions and for the different types of audience they were writing for.
Perhaps the best way to deduce what was Judas real intention is to examine deeper his personality.

First it is a fact that Judas was one of the twelve, meaning he belonged to the innermost circle of Jesus friends and apostles. In other words he passed the uphill requirements on how to become a true follower of Jesus. If you remember in the bible, following Jesus was not easy. You must be ready to go even if you do not know where you are exactly going, you must be ready to go while only equipped with the basic necessities; no extra tunic no extra sandals. You must be ready to go even if your parent is about to be buried. You must be ready to leave everything behind. All of these Judas had passed and very likely with flying colours.

Second, we must also consider the mind-set of the apostles when they decided to follow Jesus in the context of their belief and culture. The Jews then were waiting for a messiah, a liberator who will bring Israel’s freedom and dignity back to them. Therefore, like most of the disciples, Judas was also expecting that Jesus will eventually lead a revolution to expel the Romans out of their country.
Lastly, we now look at Judas action after his betrayal. Judas as we all know threw away the silver coins and committed suicide. Meaning, he was not happy of the outcome of what he did.

Based from the above, we can at least guesstimate Judas real intention. If Judas was a true apostle and if he was not happy in the end when he betrayed Jesus, we can therefore conclude that it was not his intention to harm Jesus. Monetary gain can also be eliminated as he threw all the silver coins away.

Considering now the second point, i.e. his expectation that Jesus will eventually liberate the Jews from the oppression of the Romans, it is very likely that Judas just wanted to create an event that will compel Jesus to make such liberation happen “here and now”. Indeed his betrayal eventually lead to the realization of Jesus mission, meaning Judas actually was successful in making Jesus “act now” with regards to liberation but the problem was Judas was expecting something else, hence he thought his action resulted in to catastrophic and tragic end. Had he waited for a little bit longer, perhaps he had understood how Jesus liberated not only the Jew but the entire world.

Judas action led to crucifixion and crucifixion gave way to resurrection and redemption. Thanks to Judas.

St. Judas Iscariot, pray for us.