Dr Augustin Sokolovski
On Wednesday of Holy Week, the Orthodox Church commemorates Judas’ betrayal—that is, his decision to hand over the Master. This event had such a profound impact on the circle of the apostles that it has been indelibly and permanently etched into the memory of the Church. In fact, with the exception of the particularly festive periods of the liturgical year—Easter Week, the week after Pentecost, and the Christmas season—fasting is observed on Wednesdays in remembrance of Judas’ betrayal. This is a very ancient tradition, attested to as early as the early Christian text *The Didache*, or the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.
Why did Judas betray the Lord? The liturgical texts of Holy Week offer almost only one answer to this: Judas betrayed the Teacher out of greed. To many today, this seems like a strange oversimplification. This is indeed true, unless one takes into account that every significant era in human history has identified a single sin as the most terrible. For example, the Middle Ages considered pride to be the most terrible sin. The Renaissance believed that the most terrible sin was greed. The Modern Era asserted that the root of all sins was sloth. It seems that the era in which our liturgical texts were composed truly believed that greed was the most terrible and the most primordial of sins. This is precisely why Judas is portrayed in this way and why he is interpreted in this manner.
Judas betrayed the Teacher because, at some point, he stopped believing. In the biblical sense, to believe means “to trust God, to have faith in God, to follow Him.” During Jesus Christ’s earthly life, those around Him—including the Apostles—were not required to believe in Jesus as God incarnate. Indeed, this was not even possible, because the Holy Spirit had not yet descended upon the Apostles. “Jesus, as the Gospel of John says, had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39). In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes that only those who are moved by the Holy Spirit can call Jesus “Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3). For this reason, the divinity of Jesus is denied in radical Christian heresies and in other religions, even monotheistic ones.
Jesus’ contemporaries during His earthly life were required to believe that God had sent Him; they were required to trust His words as words from God and to follow Him, for He had been sent by God. This is faith in the One God and the acknowledgment of His blessed messenger. In other words, during His earthly life, Jesus was to be recognized as the Messiah. Judas rejected this and left the circle of the Disciples. Perhaps he considered himself to be the “Christ the Messiah” and decided that, since—like the other Apostles—he was capable of performing miracles and healing, all he needed to do was begin acting on his own. This would become a temptation for many in the Church, giving rise to schisms and divisions.
Throughout history, and perhaps especially in recent times, there have been numerous attempts to rehabilitate Judas. This is fundamentally a misconception. Judas, as his image is preserved in the Gospels, is neither a literary character nor a simple human biography, complete with emotions, dreams, and fears. Judas is a dogmatic figure. His appearance among the twelve disciples, his selection by the Lord, and the invitation to become an Apostle—which undoubtedly took place but is not described—are expressions of mysteries, and which is very important in the context of Holy Week: the revelation of the voluntary nature of the Lord’s suffering and death.
Jesus did not die by accident; He was not a victim of tragic circumstances. He was not “simply caught,” “simply arrested,” or “simply seized and executed.” “He came down from heaven for our sake, men, and for our salvation. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,” as the Creed states. His life unfolded exactly as it was predestined for Him. But Jesus’ suffering and death were voluntary. At the Last Supper, during the institution of the Eucharist, this free will found its embodiment. Judas’ invitation to join the Twelve Apostles was part of this astonishing, mysterious, and deeply moving salvific will. At the Resurrection, this will of the Lord’s sufferings was transformed into grace. It is this grace that, through the Holy Spirit, communicates to believers the fruits of his saving sufferings.