The Heart of Judas
One of the most tragic stories in the Bible is that of Judas Iscariot.
This man had a privilege that only 11 other people in all the history of
the world have had: to have been with Jesus all that time and to have
learned eternal truths directly from the Master Himself. How sad that
many people who never had anything remotely like the opportunities
that Judas had will be saved, while Judas, we know, is now destined for
eternal destruction.
What happened? The answer can be found in one word: covetous-
ness, the desires of his heart.
Read John 12:1–8. What did Mary do that attracted so much atten-
tion during the feast? How did Judas react? Why? What was Jesus’
response?
The Savior’s gentle rebuke to Judas’s covetous remark led him to
leave the feast and go directly to the palace of the high priest, where
Jesus’ enemies were gathered. He offered to betray Jesus into their
hands for a sum much smaller than Mary’s gift. (See Matt. 26:14–16.)
What happened to Judas? Having had so many wonderful opportu-
nities, so many rare privileges, why would he do something so evil?
According to Ellen G. White, Judas “loved the Great Teacher, and
desired to be with Him. He felt a desire to be changed in character and
life, and he hoped to experience this through connecting himself with
Jesus. The Saviour did not repulse Judas. He gave him a place among
the twelve. He trusted him to do the work of an evangelist. He endowed
him with power to heal the sick and to cast out devils. But Judas did not
come to the point of surrendering himself fully to Christ.”—The Desire
of Ages, p. 716.
In the end, we all have character defects that, if surrendered, can be
overcome through the power of God working in us. But Judas did not
fully surrender to Christ, and the sin of covetousness, which he could
have overcome in the power of Christ, overcame him instead, with
tragic results.
Who among us doesn’t struggle with covetousness over one thing or
another? In this case, what he coveted was money, and that covetous-
ness, a problem of the heart, led him to stealing (John 12:6), which
ultimately led him to betray Jesus.
What a frightful lesson for all of us about the danger that covetous-
ness can bring. What seems like a small thing, a simple desire of the
heart, can lead to calamity and to eternal loss.
