Conspiracy Against Jesus

["Click here for Matthew's account"]
["Click here for Mark's account"]

This is the last event recorded in the Gospels that is believed to have occurred on Tuesday in the last week of Christ. Judas, one of the 12 Disciples chosen by Jesus, conspires against Him.
We do not know very much about Judas. Judas was a very common name, had been for 200 years, from the time of Judas Maccabaeus who was the founder of the Maccabees who were able to free the Israelites from the Syrians in 166 BC. sense then, mothers had been naming their sons Judas, after this famous man. Judas Iscariot, son of Simon Iscariot, was from the rugged area of southeast Judea. He was always listed last in the list of Disciples. He was the only one that wasn't a Galilean. Nothing is mentioned in the Gospels about his call. He handled the moneybox for this small group. It would appear that Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would be the one to betray Him, but it does not appear that the Disciples had any idea about this.
We might ask why Judas accepted the call to follow Christ. Judas was a Zealot who secretly sought to overthrow the Roman rule. It is believed that Judas was of the same opinion as most Jews that the Messiah would set up an earthly kingdom and he wished to be a big part of that kingdom. Judas did not like to hear Jesus speak about His coming death and from the first time that Jesus spoke of this, Judas' enthusiasm for the Lord's work, grew cold. His character grew out of his love for money and reached a crises when Jesus rebuked him for his criticism of Mary for using expensive ointment on the feet of Jesus.
It was common knowledge that the Chief Priests were seeking a way to entrap Jesus. So Judas went and offered his services for 30 pieces of silver, about 40 dollars. We can pinpoint the event and the Lord's foreknowledge of it in verse 2, "After two days, Jesus said, the Son of Man is to be betrayed and crucified." Up to this time, He had simply warned them of this but now He has foretold the exact day.
Only two days, He had so little time to prepare His Disciples. As His enemies were preparing his crucifixion, He was preparing Himself and His Disciples for it. This could not, nor did it, take place until Jesus had finished His work here on earth.
Now lets look at what was going on in Jerusalem.

Who was involved in the plot? All the Jewish high archy, the Chief Priests who were judges in religious affairs, the Elders who were judges in civil affairs and the Scribes who were "Doctors of the Law". These composed the Great Sanhedrin, the council that governed the nation of Israel.
What were they plotting? They were plotting to take Jesus quietly and kill Him.
When? Well, certainly not on a feast day, not because of their regard for the sanity of the feast day but because they were afraid for what repercussions might follow with all the people in Jerusalem for the feast. Only two days before, on Palm Sunday, Jesus had been welcomed into the city by the people as a king. They surly knew how the people felt about Him.
So how were they going to accomplish what they wanted to do? Well, daylight in Jerusalem was out of the question and they did not know where He went at night. They would need someone close to Him to help them. Someone He trusted, someone who would know where He was. It certainly must have pleased them when Judas offered his services.

Many believe that Judas was possessed of a devil. We have trouble explaining it any other way. Calvinist believe he was "called" to do this that scripture might be fulfilled. Others believe that he had a choice and simply took what appeared to be the way that was to his best advantage realizing that the "kingdom" that he looked for and thought that Jesus would set up, was not going to happen.
It would seem that those who plotted this deed had a better opinion of the Disciples than one of them deserved. They certainly would not have tried to bribe any of the close friends of Jesus let alone His Disciples. Yet it was one of the Disciples that went to them. "What will you give me?" Judas' weakness was money. It was surprising that he did not ask for a position but I guess that their knowledge of his previous activities as a Zealot precluded any such ambition. Possessions was the bate that Satan used from the beginning of time to tempt people. He even tried to tempt Jesus with them. To Jesus, he offered all the nations of the world, Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver. Yes, Judas said, for 30 pieces of silver I will take you to where He is.
Notice if Judas had not been a Disciple he would not have been a traitor. Only those who profess to be followers of Jesus can betray Him. Revelation teaches that in the last days, the anti-Christ will come from within the church. Notice they do not ask, nor does Judas offer to be a witness against Jesus. Surly if there had been anything amiss in the life and teachings of Jesus, Judas would have known about it. No, Judas who knew Him so well, could not charge Him with anything criminal not blasphemous, but from that moment on, he sought an opportunity to betray Him.
This completes the events that we have recorded and believe to have occurred on Tuesday in the last week of Christ. We have no known events recorded for us that occurred on Wednesday of that week.

Previous Chapter

Return to Outline

Ask Questions

Next Chapter