Betrayal Comes: Luke vs Matthew

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
Luke 22: ¹ Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, ² and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 
³ Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. ⁴ And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. ⁵ They were delighted and agreed to give him money.  ⁶ He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. 

Matthew 26
¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.


I find these two authors to show two very different accounts of Judas' decision to turn Jesus in to the elders. In both cases we see Judas agreeing to turn Jesus over for a price. But in Luke's account, the decision is actually attributed to Satan entering Judas, rather than Judas making a conscious decision. So which one is true? We certainly can never know while on this earth.

I watched a special on the history channel that discussed Judas Iscariot and this very topic. By his name, Iscariot, he was associated with a group of zealots that much desired the coming of the Messiah. Their view of the Messiah was very different, however. They expected a conquering King, not a teacher that would sacrifice himself for our sins. The Naked Archeologist (the one whose show I was watching) surmised that Judas thought that by handing Jesus over he would bring out that conquering King. He never intended to have Jesus killed by these people.

Consider that the chief priests did not have the authority to kill Jesus. Why else would they even involve Governor Pilate? Regardless of why Judas did it, it is unlikely he foresaw where his actions would lead. How could he guess that handing Jesus over would end with his death when the chief priests had no such rights? Jesus was sent between the priests, Pilate and Herod before finally the masses themselves that were gathered for Passover were the ones to decide his fate. It was every citizen that stood before Pilate as he offered to release Jesus that instead yelled, "Crucify Him!"

So, though Judas might have committed the first betrayal, his was certainly not the last. The priests betrayed their own flock by wanting to have Jesus killed to get him out of their way. Pilate betrayed him by not following the law and setting him free as a "just person." And the crowd betrayed him by calling for his death and freedom for a murderer named Barrabas.

Consider though-had it gone any other way, where would we be today? Was this not all in God's plan from the beginning?

Share your thoughts.