Should Judas Iscariot Be Blamed?

My answer to the Quora question:

Should Judas Iscariot be blamed for the betraying of Christ since he was only fulfilling a prophecy?

The opinion of Gary Hughes:

1. Judas Iscariot did not betray Christ. (John 13:30,31)

2. Judas Iscariot did not fulfill prophecy.

EXPLANATIONS:

1. A couple of days before Jesus was crucified, Judas, the apostle of Jesus who was gone astray and lost, became a traitor to Jesus when he went to the chief priests and made a covenant with them to hand Jesus over to them. (Mark 14:10,11; Matthew 26:14-16; Luke 22:3-5)

We know the making of the covenant was an act of treachery because the devil put the idea of it into the heart of Judas. (John 13:2*; Luke 22:3)

*Note 1: The making of the covenant would not have been an act of treachery if Jesus himself had put the idea of it into the heart of Judas. In that case, the making of the covenant would have been an act of service to Jesus.

As it happened, the making of the covenant was only the first step of an act of betrayal, and Jesus intervened before Judas took the next step, which was to actually hand him over.

Yes, Jesus intervened before Judas could finish his act of betrayal.

Jesus intervened by washing Judas clean. (John 13:1-15)

By virtue of his washing the heel lifted up against him, Jesus cast the devil out of Judas; and the desire of Judas to hand Jesus over went out with the devil. (John 6:39; 12:31)

In effect, Jesus aborted the betrayal before it came to fruition.

Then, Jesus himself put the idea of handing him over into the heart of Judas. (John 13:16-27)

In the end, that is the reason Judas fulfilled his obligation under the traitorous covenant.

Therefore, the actual act of handing Jesus over was not an act of treachery. It was an act of service to Jesus. See Note 1, above.

In the end, Judas did not betray Jesus, but he served him, when he handed him over to those who took him. (Acts 1:16)

Although Jesus himself chose Judas to hand him over, the act of handing Jesus over was no walk in the park for Judas.

A spirit of opposition to handing Jesus over, Satan, entered Judas immediately after Jesus gave the sign that he chose Judas to hand him over—the sign of giving his bread to the one who had lifted up his heel against him. (John 13:18,27)

We get an idea of how powerful that spirit is which Judas had to overcome when we consider its persistence in Simon Peter.

That same spirit, Satan, had manifested itself in Simon Peter when Jesus first began to teach his apostles those things of God which he said must happen at Jerusalem at the last day. (Mark 8:31-33; Matthew 16:21-23)

Despite his then being rebuked by Jesus for that spirit of opposition, Simon Peter still acted under its influence months later at the scene of the arrest of Jesus when he attacked Malchus, the servant of the high priest, with a sword. (John 18:10)

For a second time, Jesus rebuked Peter for that spirit of opposition to his being handed over. (John 18:11)

Still, despite these rebukes by Jesus, Peter was led by Satan to follow Jesus, with Judas, to the palace of the high priest; and we do not learn that Peter overcame Satan until he denied Jesus three times, in accordance with Jesus’ orchestration of that thing. (John 18:15,17,25-27)

We also get an idea of how powerful that spirit is which Judas had to overcome when we consider its persistence in us.

Nevertheless, Judas overcame Satan and accepted the errand which Jesus gave him. (John 13:30)

By accepting the errand which Jesus gave him, Judas glorified Jesus, just as Jesus glorified God by accepting the errand which He gave him. (John 13:31)

2. Although Jesus spoke of fulfilling Scripture as his rationale for choosing the one who had lifted up his heel against him, the psalm he paraphrased was not a prophecy in the sense of being a foretelling of the future. (John 13:18)

In fact, Jesus did not even quote the psalm, but he paraphrased it, changing especially the verb tenses to make the eating of the bread come after the lifting up of the heel, a stark contrast to what had been the case for the psalmist. (Psalms 41:9)

Jesus selected Psalms 41:9 not because it foretold what would happen, but because it contained the ideas he needed to convey to Judas at the last supper in order to orchestrate his behavior (1. cooperation with, and 2. trespass against).

We see Jesus using this same method of operation in his orchestration of the scattering of his other apostles at the scene of his arrest. Again, the scripture he paraphrased was not a prophecy in the sense of being a foretelling of what his apostles would do.

Jesus chose the scripture on scattering because it contained the idea that he needed to convey to his apostles (scattering).

He orchestrated their scattering that his saying might be true, “Of them which you gave me have I lost none.” (Mark 14:27,49b,50; Matthew 26:31,56; compare with John 18:8,9)

After Jesus took up his life again, we see that Simon Peter adopted his method of operation when he replaced Judas, pursuant to the will of Jesus that he tarry until he comes. (Acts 1:15-20; John 21:22*)

*Note 2: Yes, it is my opinion that Judas Iscariot is the disciple whom Jesus loved in the Gospel of John.

Again, according to my opinion, Judas did not fulfill prophecy.

We can blame Judas for becoming a traitor, but we cannot in good faith blame him for handing Jesus over to those who took him.

Jesus himself claimed responsibility for that act at John 13:16:

"Verily, verily, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”

Jesus sent Judas when he said, “That you do, do quickly.” (John 13:27b)

P.S. : The words “betray,” “betrayed,” and “betrayer” do not belong in the canonical gospels. The evangelists did not use equivalents of these words which connote treachery.

The connotation of treachery was not added to the words that the evangelists used until after they wrote. Translations which connote treachery are anachronistic.

If anyone thinks that Jesus said that one of the twelve would betray him, and that Simon Peter responded, “Is it I?,” then he is one poor judge of character.

For him, I recommend “Judas: Betrayer or Friend of Jesus,” by William Klassen.

See Chapter 3 Section II. Judas “Handed Jesus Over”: The Word paradidomi (paradidwmi)

I say these things only in my own name.