How to Spot a Fake: 3 Lessons from Judas’ Betrayal of Jesus

When compared to the other days of Holy Week, Holy Wednesday is relatively quiet. It doesn’t contain any climactic events like Jesus’ cleansing of the temple from earlier in the week or any large teaching blocks like the upper room discourse that will follow. But this does not mean that the day is insignificant—each day in Holy Week plays a particular role in leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Holy Wednesday has traditionally been understood as the day when Judas Iscariot secured his plans with the chief priests to betray Jesus. Because of this, the day has been referred to as “Spy Wednesday,” referencing Judas’ secretive plans of betrayal. While the betrayal was acted out the next night following the Passover dinner, the plans were clearly made in advance, and that is why this event is understood to have fallen on Wednesday of Holy Week. 

Luke’s Gospel provides a brief snapshot of this event, as Luke reports the following: 

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. (Luke 22:3-6) 

Even in this brief, dark episode of Holy Week, the Bible’s words are still meaningful and applicable to us. Below are three points of reflection for our lives based on Luke 22:3-6 and how this scene relates to Luke’s Gospel as a whole. 

Judas’ pre-planned betrayal of Jesus highlights a sad truth that all followers of Jesus must realize–not everyone who claims or appears to be a follower of Jesus is genuine. Judas, who was listed among the 12 disciples and followed Jesus closely (at least proximally), was ultimately disingenuous. Although Satan entered into Judas, it is consistent with the rest of Scripture to understand that Judas opened the door for this influence; it was not something done to him against his will. He ultimately made the decision that 30 pieces of silver and the approval of the religious leaders was enough to forsake following Jesus. 

Some debate does exist as to whether Judas was a true follower of Jesus who made a mistake or was someone who was never truly devoted to Jesus. The latter seems much more likely, and Jesus’ own words help us answer this question. In John 17:12, Jesus refers to Judas as the “son of destruction,” and it is very unlikely that such strong language would be used to describe a genuine follower of Jesus. 

So, even though Judas followed Jesus closely for years, his motives proved to be insincere. The Bible ultimately does not provide the ultimate motivation for why Judas betrayed Jesus. Some have theorized that Judas was a Zealot and was frustrated with Jesus’ lack of political action against Rome. However, since the Bible is clear that Judas profited financially from the betrayal, the motivation of greed is more likely. This is certainly in character with Judas, who held the moneybags for the disciples and took money from it for himself (John 12:6). Some in the early church even connected Judas’ betrayal to the words of 1 Timothy 6:10, which says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 

Learning from Judas’ betrayal, Christians today should be saddened but not surprised when we see similar accounts play out in our time. People choosing to follow or unfollow Jesus for insincere reasons, whether it be financial, political, or some other kind of gain, is nothing new. Whenever a well-known Christian falls away from following Jesus, it is helpful to remember that one of Jesus’ closest followers fell into this category as well. These things do not invalidate or thwart the plan of God; ultimately, Jesus’ mission was carried out because of Judas’ betrayal, not in spite of it. 

After Judas planned his betrayal of Jesus on Wednesday, Jesus made this plan known to his disciples during the Passover dinner on Thursday. After instituting the Lord’s Supper, Jesus stated, “But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” (Luke 22:21-22). While Judas thought that his plan to betray Jesus was carried out in secret, Jesus knew of his plan and revealed it to the rest of the disciples, even though he did not mention Judas by name. It is clear from the text that Jesus did not learn of Judas’ plan by any natural means, but knew of Judas’ motives because he possessed the ability to supernaturally discern the motives of the heart. 

This idea of Jesus knowing the inner motivations of the heart is a key theme in the Gospel of Luke. Shortly after Jesus’ birth, Simeon gave a prophecy over his life, and stated that, through Jesus, “the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:35). Luke pays special attention to this idea, as he included references to Jesus’ divine knowledge (through phrases like “but Jesus knew their thoughts”) more than any other Gospel writer. It should come as no surprise, then, that this feature of Jesus’ ministry is a part of Jesus’ action in Holy Week. 

But there is an interesting point to observe in Jesus knowing people’s hearts. Throughout the Old Testament, the ability to discern hearts is an ability reserved for God alone (1 Sam. 16:7 and Ps. 139:23). Jesus, in possessing supernatural insight to know the motivations of the human heart, is doing something that only God can do. This is a unique but, in my opinion, strong argument in favor of Jesus’ full divinity, and the implications of this are important for us as well. This provides a constant motivation for us to regularly stop and honestly examine not only our actions but the motives behind our actions. This also means that if we know of someone who claims to follow Jesus but we detect some insincerity in their attitude toward him, we can speak up about this to a certain extent, but we must realize that the ultimate judgment is reserved for the One who knows the motivations of their heart. So this provides a conviction for us to consider our own motives and a comfort that Jesus, not us, will be the ultimate Judge to examine the motivations of people’s hearts, and he possesses the ability to do this rightly. 

After Jesus revealed Judas’ premeditated betrayal, the rest of the disciples break out into an argument about who is the greatest among them (Luke 22:24). While the text does not explicitly state this, it can be inferred that they began accusing one another of being the unknown betrayer, and their defensive responses led to an argument about who was greater. 

Our response to reading about Judas’ betrayal should be the exact opposite. Rather than getting defensive and thinking that we would never do such a thing, our response should be honest introspection to see if such an attitude possibly resides in us. Reading this passage requires us to all ask the question, “If I had an opportunity to gain power or wealth and all I had to do was deny Jesus, how would I respond?” I believe this also applies to twisting or contorting our view of Jesus to fit in with certain groups of people. Perhaps we are not tempted to deny Jesus outright, but we could be tempted to downplay aspects of Jesus’ teachings that we know to be true, such as his claims of exclusivity or commands to be generous with our money, to gain the approval of certain people around us. Once we view this passage in this light, this temptation becomes all the more real. The way to combat it is through an honest examination of our hearts and asking the Holy Spirit for perseverance as we seek to follow Jesus with proper motives. 

So, how do we spot a fake? Ultimately, we can’t. There might be hints along the way (like the references to Judas’ greed), but the hearts and motives of others are ultimately a mystery to us. But we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus possesses the ability to stand as the Just Judge to make known “the thoughts of many hearts.” 

On this Holy Wednesday, we should take time to search our own hearts and make it our prayer that Jesus will find us to be faithful, properly-motivated followers of his when he examines our hearts. 

Sam Hitchcock (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the Director of Spiritual Formation at Oklahoma Christian School in Edmond, OK.