Why did one of Jesus Christ's disciples betray him for 30 pieces of silver? Nobody could understand what drove Judas to do it.
World renowned evangelist Billy Graham also could not understand the reason behind Judas' act.
"It doesn't make sense, just as most evil doesn't make sense. Why deliberately do something we know is wrong, when — if we'd only stop to think about it — we also know it will destroy us?" he writes in his advice column for The Kansas City Star.
Even the Bible tells Christians in Proverbs 24:19-20: "Do not... be envious of the wicked, for the evildoer has no future."
Judas' betrayal of Jesus has been the subject of great debate among Bible scholars for several centuries already. "Perhaps he finally realised that Jesus had no intention of becoming an earthly king — something Judas wanted, because he thought he could profit from it. Or perhaps he was convinced the authorities were about to kill Jesus, so why (he thought) stay loyal to a loser?" Graham said.
What Graham is sure of is that Judas' real problem was his self-interest. "He was interested only in himself and what he could gain by following Jesus. Instead of committing his life to Jesus, he allowed greed and envy to rule his heart and mind. His unbelief fed his greed, and his greed fed his unbelief. When Jesus' enemies offered 30 pieces of silver to anyone who would disclose where Jesus was staying so they could arrest him secretly, Judas readily agreed," said Graham.
The evangelist hopes that Christians of today would avoid becoming like Judas, since he "stands forever as a warning of the dangers of stubborn unbelief."
"And in the end, Judas lost everything, even his life. Some of the most tragic words in the Bible are these: 'So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself' (Matthew 27:5). Make sure of your commitment to Jesus, for He alone is worthy of your life," said Graham.
