Why did Judas do it? Millions have asked that question ever since. Was it greed? Did he do it for money? Thirty pieces of silver was not that much money. Was it jealousy? Disappointment that Jesus was not turning out to be the Messiah he expected? Resentment at having wasted three years of his life in what had turned out to be a lost cause? The only explanations we can reject outright are those that attempt to exonerate Judas, like saying he was only trying to force his master’s hand and get him to seize power boldly.
We have been moving toward the arrest, trials, and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth for some time, but at last the decisive moment has come. Jesus had prepared his disciples as best they could be prepared. He had prepared himself by his hours of prayer in the garden. Now the band of armed men who have been sent to seize him and carry him off to the hall of the high priest arrive in Gethsemane, and Jesus goes forward to meet them. In the forefront of the arresting band is Judas, the betrayer.
Yesterday we examined some explanations for the idea of being baptized for the dead as found in 1 Corinthians 15:29. There is yet another explanation that I will mention briefly. Some have said that it has to do with our being baptized for Christ who has died, i.e., in honor of Christ who has died. The problem with this explanation is that Christ is singular, and the terminology of this particular portion of 1 Corinthians 15 is plural. Paul is referring to numerous people so that does not seem to fit.
We now come to verse 20 where Paul wrote, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." Christ really has been raised from the dead, and the very fact of that is proof that we ourselves will be raised if we are joined to him in saving faith. He is talking about Christ’s resurrection and our resurrection. As we look at that from the perspective in which he was writing, he is talking about a relatively small span of years.
What are the qualifications of an apostle? First, an apostle had to have seen the risen Lord; and second, an apostle had to have been commissioned by the risen Lord. In the case of the early disciples, they had been with the Lord during the three years of his public ministry, and then he had appeared to them after his resurrection. In Paul’s case, he had not been among that band of disciples, but Jesus had appeared to him on the road to Damascus to commission Paul as an apostle.
