The Choosing of the Twelve, Part 5—Judas Iscariot | Mark 3:19
and Judas Iscariot,
who betrayed him.
There’s something about the human condition that makes traitors
and turncoats interesting, especially the one that betrayed Jesus Christ.
For instance, theories abound as to what “Iscariot” means. For instance, the Reformation Study Bible
notes, “Some believe that Judas was a political revolutionary because
“Iscariot” may have been derived from the Latin itsicarius, ‘assassin.’
” The Faithlife Study Bible Aramaic
slur, ishqarya', meaning “the false
one.” Perhaps the best and simplest explanation
is that it’s a transliteration of Hebrew ish
qeriyyoth meaning “Man from Kerioth” (located in Judea). The bigger question, though, is what his
inclusion among the disciples teaches us.
First, God knew what would
happen, and He still used Judas. Mark acknowledges Judas’s
betray, not shying from it, even though it could be embarrassing for our
Lord in the world’s eyes. Acts 2:23 says
that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge
of God.” God providentially used Judas’s
sin to fulfill the plan of redemption, and He also drew those who heard the gospel
through Judas’s compromised time as an apostle.
As Martin Luther said, “God can draw a straight line with a crooked
stick.”
Second, Jesus still preached to
Judas. The Lord doesn’t tempt with evil (Js 1:13), and,
in fact, gave him every opportunity to repent.
Judas was there when Jesus warned of the religious and political
leavening of Herod and the Pharisees (Mk 8:15), but some of those same ideas
puffed up Judas. Jesus said that not all
of them were clean (Jn 13:10–11), but Judas never came to Him to be
cleansed. Judas obviously had a sinful
love of money (Jn 12:4–6), though Jesus warned about that (Mt 6:24), so he
served those thirty pieces of silver.
Even though
God used Judas’s betrayal to fulfill the plan of redemption, He didn’t force
Judas to sin. That man was responsible
for his own actions. No matter how far
we’ve gone into sin, as long as we are still alive, we can repent, knowing that
“now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).
