How did Judas earn the trust of Jesus?

Answer 1

The "New Living Translation" [NLT] of The Bible uses "trust" where the "King James Version" [KJV] says "believe."

And the fact of the matter is that Jesus DIDN'T "trust" [have faith in; believe in] Judas, any of the disciples... or in any other man!

"...Jesus didn't TRUST [commit Himself to; KJV] them, because He knew what people were really like. No one needed to tell Him about human nature." (John 2:24-25 NLT)

Jesus Christ is the Almighty Creator WORD of God in the Old Testament WHO MADE MAN [John 1:3 & 10]. So, He knew who to TRUST:

"Jesus shouted to the crowds, 'If you TRUST [believe in] ME, YOU ARE REALLY TRUSTING [believing in] GOD [the Father] WHO SENT ME. For when you see Me, you are seeing the One who sent Me. I have come as a Light to shine in this [spiritually] dark world, so that all who PUT THEIR TRUST IN ME will no longer remain in darkness... I don't speak on My own authority. The Father who sent Me GAVE ME HIS OWN INSTRUCTIONS as to what I should say. And I know His instructions lead to Eternal Life; so I say whatever the Father tells Me to say!'" (John 12:44-50 NLT)

It wasn't Judas, who betrayed Him... or His other disciples, who abandoned Him at Judas' betrayal, that He trusted... but His Father in heaven, who sent Him to die for Judas, His disciples, and all the rest of mankind, created in their image!

Jesus knew going in who all these people were, and what they were like. Not only did He, as mankind's Creator [a foreknowledge of which He was conscious in the flesh] know human nature... but, they all grew up and worked with and among one another in the same provinces and neighborhoods.

Jesus was "the carpenter's son"... a "local business contractor" whose family business built homes in and around Judaea [He was NOT a "penniless street beggar," as this deceived world believes. He not only, as Joseph's legally firstborn son, inherited his father's household in Nazareth upon Joseph's death... but He spent a lot of time in His SECOND HOME IN CAPERNAUM, where He paid "property taxes," along with Peter, who also had a home there - Matt.17:24-27. The family business may well have built the house in Capernaum; many of them, perhaps].

Jesus didn't come to "learn to trust them"... but to teach men to "trust in; believe in Him."

He knew Judas would betray Him. He knew that Satan would "possess" him when the time came, and do the deed:

"As soon as Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, 'Hurry. Do it now.' None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and pay for the food or to give some money to the poor. So Judas left at once, going out into the night." (John 13:27-30 NLT)

So, Jesus didn't... and doesn't... trust in men. Unless, it's to trust that men will be prone to do evil:

"Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and He saw that all their thoughts were consistenly and totally evil." (Gen.6:5 NLT)

No... it's mankind who needs to "repent" of his wickedness, undergo a change [see I Cor.15:51], and learn to "trust and obey his Creator."

"Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, TURNING THEM OVER TO THE CARE OF THE LORD, in whom THEY HAD COME TO TRUST." (Acts 14:23 NLT)

"We are made right in God's sight WHEN WE TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST TO TAKE AWAY OUR SINS. And we all can be saved IN THIS SAME WAY, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's Glorious Standard." (Rom.3:22-23 NLT)

"Notice how God is both Kind and Severe. He is severe to those who disobeyed, but kind to you as you CONTINUE TO TRUST in His Kindness. But if you stop TRUSTING, you also will be cut off." (Rom.11:22 NLT)

Judas didn't live to see his LORD resurrect from the treachery and death he brought upon Him. Judas will have to wait for the Judgment to plead for Christ's Mercy, Forgiveness... and His Salvation. For we're told that Judas, after Satan released him, was sorry for what he'd done in ignorance:

"When Judas, who has betrayed Him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse..." (Matt.27:3 NLT).

So, unlike the other disciples, who lived to "repent" of their abandonment and betrayal of Christ, to be converted and forgiven by their "risen" LORD... Judas will resurrect in the Judgment with the torment of what he'd done still on his mind as the day he died. It will be then that he shall learn to "trust" his Master and LORD. And when Judas is finally "reborn" and "delivered" into God's Family with the rest of his brother disciples... and becomes an "Immortal Child of God": then Jesus will "trust" him.