In this Easter season, we naturally reflect on the passion of Christ, his resurrection, and all that it entails for the human race. But there is a part of the story, seldom analyzed in depth, that deserves close attention as well, especially in our current cultural moment: What motivated Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus Christ?
A stock answer is that Judas did it for the money. After all, as the apostle John notes, Judas “was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it” (12:6). And Matthew tells us that Judas sought to be paid by the chief priests for his treachery; accordingly, “they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver” (26:15). Thirty pieces of silver was no pittance. It amounted to a few months’ wages—enough to buy a decent plot of land.
