Why did Judas betray Jesus?

Answer 1

Answer 1

The Priest gave Judas 30 silver coins if he would betray Jesus by Crucifixion so Judas said yes.

Answer 2

Because he did not understand who Jesus truly was. His action fulfilled prophecy. Anyone could have been the instrument to fulfill this action.

Answer 3

Asking "Why" can be a difficult question, especially when you are trying to explain God's ordained will.

Most people assume Judas betrayed Jesus because either he was jealous or was interested only in the wealth he could get (since he was the "treasurer" of their group).

But there is another theory. Jesus had been preaching and ministering for almost 3 years. He made a triumphant entry into Jerusalem with people praising him as the coming "king" of the Jews. Judas and others may have gotten impatient and wanted Jesus to take action to overthrow the Romans and drive them from their country. They wanted action. They thought Jesus was destined to become an earthly ruler and take the position of a real King of the country. So, Judas took action that he thought would force Jesus to call upon his disciples to rise up and attack the Romans. Many of the extremist people were already fighting the Romans and all that was needed was a special leader to gather them together. Judas may have thought that if the Jewish leaders went after Jesus, then Jesus would begin to fight back.

As we know, Jesus did not do this. He came not for an earthly kingdom but a spiritual one. He spoke often about the "kingdom of God" and how his kingdom was not of this world. There is prophecy that a Messiah would come and rule over an earthly kingdom but bible scholars see this as something that will happen towards the end of the Church Age.

Answer 2

Answer: In actual fact Judas betrayed Jesus and his name has thus been a by-word for betrayal and deceit ever since.

As for his motives in so doing the Gospels state a number of possibilities. One was clearly money - he was given 30 silver pieces for his dirty work. Some have suggested that he was somewhat of a political revolutionary in his thinking and so he was not happy that Jesus didn't seem interested in taking political power, although this is hardly even hinted at in the Gospels themselves. It is also stated that "Satan entered into him" (Luke 22:3, John 13:27) and so another dark power was acting upon Judas to achieve his evil purpose.