Section 116, Judas

Section 116
JESUS PREDICTS, THE RULERS PLOT FOR, AND JUDAS BARGAINS FOR HIS DEATH.
(Mount of Olives, Bethany, and Jerusalem. Tuesday after sunset, which Jews regarded as the beginning of Wednesday.)
MATT. 26:1-5, 14-16
MARK 14:1, 2, 10, 11
LUKE 22:1-6

Summary:

The chief priests and elders gather in the high priest's palace (Caiaphas) with the initial plan of killing Jesus but waiting until after the Passover to avoid reaction from the crowds.  Judas went to the chief priests with the intent of bargaining over Jesus.

The words, When Jesus had finished saying all these things, are the last of five such turning points in the book (cf. Mat_7:28; Mat_11:1; Mat_13:53; Mat_19:1). -BKC

"Thirty silver coins were the redemption price paid for a slave (Exo_21:32)."-BKC

"Judas" means "praise." It's a beautiful name, but Judas wasted it and ruined it for future generations. How many parents name their kids Judas today? "Isacariot" most likely means he was from the town of Carioth. Judas of Carioth was the only one of all the disciples from the southern region of Israel—the educated, wealthy region of the country. So impressive was Judas that the disciples appointed him treasurer." -Courson

"And when they heard it, they were glad,.... That such an opportunity offered, and from such a quarter, by one of his own disciples; so that it might be done more secretly and effectually, and with less blame to themselves."  -Gill

Luke makes the most caustic observation: "Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve." Luke 22:3  John also makes this statement but sets it during the last supper.

22:3 Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples. In Joh_13:27, this action is said to have taken place after Jesus had handed him the piece of bread during the Passover meal. We conclude either that this took place in successive stages, or that Luke is emphasizing the fact rather than the exact time when it took place.

"Satan - This word properly means an adversary or an accuser. It is the name which in the Scriptures is commonly given to the prince or leader of evil spirits, and is given to him because he is the “accuser or calumniator” of the righteous (see Rev_12:10; compare Job_1:6-9), as well as because he is the “adversary” of God."

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 

The label, "the Accuser" makes sense to me.  Satan messes with ours minds, ushering in doubt and shame.  He seeks to undermine our trust in God.  Both John and Luke directly point to Satan when explaining Judas' decision. I don't believe Judas' intent was to prompt Jesus to assume his Kingship on earth as a few commentaries suggest.  I think it was the culmination of a seed of wickedness and greed.

"Progressive wickedness
Men do not become great villains at once.
Souls are not like meteoric bodies, that are blazing amongst the stars at one moment, and the next in some dark pit on earth, wrapped in a noxious and sulphurous smoke. They are rather like trees, they fall by degrees. " -BI

"We may learn, also, that when Satan “tempts” people, he commonly does it by exciting and raising to the highest pitch their native passions. He does not make them act contrary to their nature, but leads them on to “act out” their proper disposition." -Albert Barnes