One of the most hated persons of all time and one of the most infamous must certainly be Judas Iscariot, the Apostle who betrayed Yahshua, which resulted in His execution. We are all familiar with that story. But, are you aware that Judas wasn’t just an ordinary Apostle? In fact, of the 12, Judas was the highest ranked of all of them. Before you dismiss this incredible claim and have a grand mal seizure, consider these facts.

Other than being named as an Apostle, we’re told nothing about Judas until just prior to, then during the Last Supper. While there, he departed the room where they had gathered, went into the Temple and met with the high priest to betray Yahshua for 30 pieces of silver. This moment was not random and did not come as some sort of a surprise to Yahshua. In fact, He had told His Apostles that one of them would betray him a full year before it happened. In John 6:64, He was speaking to the 12 Apostles and an unknown number of disciples when He said “But there are some of you that believe not. For Yahshua knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray Him.” Not only did He know which of the disciples would leave, He fully understood which of the 12 Apostles would betray Him—v. 71: “He spoke of Judas Iscariot [the son] of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.”

Throughout the gospels, many key moments are described in each book, with slight variations. The magnitude of this story—the betrayal of Yahshua Anointed—should have been significant enough to have been described in detail in all four gospels, but here is what is mentioned in the first three:

Matt 26:14-16—“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said [unto them] What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.” V. 21—“And as they did eat He said ‘Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me’.” V. 25—“Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, ‘Master, is it I?’ He said unto him ‘Thou hast said’.”

After reading Matthew’s account, it seems clear that Judas had premeditated to betray Yahshua and asked the question “It it I?” as his way to pretend he didn’t already know. At least, that’s the conclusion one is left with if you read Matthew’s gospel only.

Mark 14:10-11—“And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray Him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.” V. 20—“[it is] One of the twelve, that dippeth with Me in the dish.”

The words [it is] do not appear in the original Greek text of verse 20 above, so once again, the translators have inserted these words for the readers benefit. Why didn’t Matthew or Mark simply refer to Judas as “an Apostle”? Was it just a literary method of identifying any random Apostle as “one of the twelve”? Every other Apostle is mentioned in various places in the gospels, but Judas is referred to as “one of the twelve”. Were these authors describing “ONE” (as in, number 1) of the Apostles, as in highest in rank?

Luke 22:3-6—“Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him unto them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him unto them in the absence of the multitude.”

This introduces a totally different scenario. In both Matthew and Mark’s gospels, we are left with the impression that this was all Judas’s idea and that he had total control over his actions. Luke tells us something entirely different. Prior to convening with the chief priests, Satan himself had entered into Judas’s body. From that point forward, it was no longer Judas’s free will determining his actions. It was Satan himself. But of the 12, why did Satan choose Judas for this task? Or, did someone else control Satan’s actions?

Before I discuss the more detailed narrative in the gospel of John, let’s pause here for a moment and consider what has actually already happened in the first three gospels. Who did Judas meet with? It was the chief priests. What time of year was this? It was immediately prior to the Passover. Why is this important to know?

During certain times of the year, the chief priests left their normal homes and traveled to Jerusalem and resided at the Temple, as was the case at this moment. Mark 14:53—“And they led Yahshua away to the high priest: and with him were assembled ALL the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.”

Nobody was allowed to enter the chamber of the Temple where the above-described plot was hatched, other than priests, so how was Judas allowed to discuss his plan with them in this sacred place? Did they make an exception for Judas? Were they so eager to silence Yahshua that they “bent the rules” in this case? Would they even dare do such a thing? Not likely. Scripture gives us a very detailed description of what would happen to those who violate this command from Yahweh, that this portion of the Temple (or Tabernacle, from the O.T.) must remain the domain of Aaronist priests only.

Jude 11 is an excellent starting point. This is an awkward-sounding verse, but if you look closely into its meaning, staggering facts begin to jump off the page. “Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” I could write a book about this one verse alone. But instead, let’s focus only on the last part.

They “perished in the gainsaying of Core”. What in the world could this possibly mean? How can this verse have any possible connection to this discussion of Judas? Let’s break it down, word for word, starting with the last word, “Core”. This word, found only in the New Testament, is simply another spelling of a person named Korah whose deeds are described in the Old Testament, which I’ll describe in a moment. This still doesn’t make this verse very clear, so we have to dig deeper to uncover its meaning.

Jude has written that something happened, due to the actions of individuals that caused them to be killed, or “perished”, but why? “In the gainsaying” is the reason why. But what in the world does “gainsaying” mean?

Strong’s Concordance defines this word as: contradiction, opposition, rebellion. Other translations of the Bible shed even more light on this verse.

AMP “…and perished in the rebellion of [mutinous] Korah.”

CEB “…They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah.”

CJB “…they have been destroyed in the rebellion of Korah.”

NOG “…They have rebelled like Korah and destroyed themselves.”

NIV “…they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.”

From this, we can see that the word in the KJV rendered “gainsaying” describes an act of rebellion, mutiny, opposition to, or uprising. If we now re-read Jude 11 and insert words that make sense, we have: “…They perished in Korah’s rebellion.” Okay, got it. But who was Korah and what does this have to do with Judas’s presence in the Temple when he talked to the chief priests? The answer is found in Numbers 16.

Setting the stage: In Gen. 36:5, we learn that Korah was the grandson of Esau. Korah’s father, Eliphaz, was one of Esau’s sons. But here in Num. 16:1, Korah traces his lineage back even further to Levi, a son of Jacob (Israel). This makes Korah the great grandson of Levi and a cousin to both Moses and Aaron. And because of his Levitical heritage, he felt that he should be granted full access to the holiest part of the tabernacle, a place that Yahweh had reserved for Aaroninst priests and the high priest only!

Korah’s argument, to be permitted to have full access to all parts of the tabernacle, which begins in Num. 16:3, is met by Moses’ emotional reaction. “And they [Korah and his followers] gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy every one of them [referring to him and his supporters]: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of Yahweh?” Or, to paraphrase: “So, Moses, you think you and Aaron are sooo superior to us that you refuse to grant us access to every part of the tabernacle? Who do you think you are?”

V. 4—“And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face.” Moses knew that Yahweh’s commands were to be strictly obeyed. He knew that just because a person can claim a priestly heritage does not automatically grant them permission to enter the most sacred part of the tabernacle. Moses fell to the ground because he knew that this abomination would bring Yahweh’s wrath upon Korah and his supporters.

Moses tried to appeal to Korah, reasoning with him that he should be more than satisfied that Yahweh has already granted him—being of the tribe of Levi—special privileges not available to the other 11 tribes. V. 9–‘[Do you think it’s a trivial thing] that the Elohim of Israel hath separated you from the congregation [other tribes] of Israel, to bring you near to Himself to do the service of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?” But, this appeal from Moses failed and Korah and his people refused to listen to Moses’s advice. V. 12—“And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, ‘We will not come up…”

Korah and his followers were determined to be permitted to have as much access to areas of the tabernacle and Aaron and his heritage. Moses described what will happen to them if they are wrong in this rebellion against Moses. V. 29-30—“If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then Yahweh hath not sent me. But if Yahweh make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with ALL THAT APPERTAIN UNTO THEM, and they go down quick into the pit; THEN you shall understand that these men have provoked Yahweh.”

Immediately afterward, the ground opened up and swallowed Korah, his followers, their houses and all of their goods. Was that sufficient proof that Korah was NOT permitted into the holiest parts of the tabernacle? Nope—a moment later, Yahweh sent a fire down from heaven and consumed another 250 men that had offered incense. This wasn’t their job! Why not?

V. 40—“…that no stranger, which is NOT of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before Yahweh, that he not be as Korah and his company: as Yahweh said to him by the hand of Moses.” V. 49—“Now they that died in the plague [ground swallowing them up] were 14,700 beside them that died about the matter of Korah.”

Now that we have a clear understanding of Jude’s warning of what would happen if anyone disobeyed Yahweh like Korah disobeyed Moses, we see clearly that this was not an insignificant matter. All of the chief priests and the high priest would have been intimately familiar with this lesson from the Torah. There is ZERO percent possibility that they would have allowed any person, for any reason to enter a part of the Temple that was forbidden to them, EVEN if it meant devising a plan to put an end to the ministry of Yahshua. It is for this reason alone that we can conclude that Judas was not just an ordinary Apostle. He was a priest, of Aaronistic heritage. But, this is just scratching the surface of who Judas really was.

The gospel of John provides the greatest details of Judas’s betrayal, beginning in v. 1—“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Yahshua knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father….” V. 2—“And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” This moment was not something beyond Yahshua’s control. It was part of His plan. Most importantly, now that Satan had entered Judas’s body, he no longer could act on his own free will. In addition, it was Yahshua Himself, who placed Satan inside of Judas. Are you shocked?

John 13:18—“I speak not of you all: I KNOW WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me.” The scripture He was citing was Psalm 41:9—“Yea, mine own familiar FRIEND, in whom I TRUSTED and which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me.” Yahshua knew the precise method of His betrayal and He selected the precise person to do it. This moment, where Satan took over Judas’s actions, was CHOSEN by Yahshua to happen. He was not caught by surprise with anything that Judas did. To the contrary, it was Judas who was shocked by what he did.

V. 21—“…Yahshua…said, Verily, verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” V. 23—“Now there was leaning on Yahshua’s bosom one of his disciples whom Yahshua loved.” This metaphor is a well-known expression for the Apostle John, as the one who Yahshua loved. John uses this expression multiple times, in reference to himself, without having to identify himself by name. The love that John is expressing in this passage pertains to feelings of the heart, which is located on the left side of the chest. This physical description places John immediately to Yahshua’s left, as he leaned on Him.

Now, a very instructive scene plays out in verses 25-29: John asks Yahshua “…who is it [that will betray Him]?” Yahshua answered, he it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when He dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Yahshua unto him, “That thou doest, do quickly.” Now, no man at the table knew for what intent He spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag [of money], that Yahshua had said unto him “Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.”

Interestingly, none of the first three gospels contain any part of this conversation which John records here. There were 13 people in this small room. Yahshua had just given an instruction to Judas that he should depart and fulfill the role which Yahshua has appointed him to do, but nobody else in the room had any idea where Judas had gone. They thought that perhaps he went to buy food or make a donation to the poor (v. 29). The reason they were confused is because the ONLY comment they heard from Yahshua was His final comment, or “that thou doest, do quickly”. They did NOT hear the comment that preceded it. Nobody except John and Judas heard Yahshua’s response to John’s question, asking who it was who would betray Him. If anyone else in attendance had heard His answer to the original question, there would immediately be NO DOUBT as to why Judas had just left the room. They would have all known that Judas was just identified as the traitor and that’s where he was going.

Since only the gospel of John records this conversation and the only other Apostle who heard it was Judas, this places Judas on the opposite side of Yahshua. We already know that John was leaning against Him on His left. Therefore, Judas was to Yahshua’s immediate right.

This was not just some random seating order. During feast days, people sat according to rank. For Judas to be seated to Yahshua’s right, this makes him the highest ranked Apostle; higher than John, higher than Peter and even higher than James (another ½ brother of Yahshua). He was the number 1 Apostle.

Later, in John 18:15-16, after Judas had betrayed Yahshua, and He was taken away to meet with the high priest, both John and Peter followed as they arrived at the Temple, but only John entered while Peter remained outside the door. “And Simon Peter followed Yahshua, and so did another disciple [John is speaking of himself, in 3rd person]: that disciple [John] was known unto the high priest, and went IN WITH YAHSHUA INTO THE PALACE OF THE HIGH PRIEST. But Peter stood at the door without.” A moment later, we see that Peter remained inside the public court of the Temple and stayed with others who did not have authorization to enter the chamber of the high priest.

Most readers continue reading the passage, which results in Peter betraying Yahshua three times, as He said he would, and don’t realize what other significant fact is told in John’s narrative. This prophecy being fulfilled, of Peter denying Yahshua, is also described in several of the gospels. What is different about John’s?

John’s gospel includes word-for-word conversations that the High Priest had with Yahshua. In v. 19, it says “The high priest then asked Yahshua of His disciples, and of His doctrine”. The only way that John could have known about this conversation was to have been present when it took place. Yahshua was in the interior of the Temple, speaking with the high priest, and we already know what severe punishments would occur if disallowed persons were in attendance and John was there to record the entire thing. This makes John a priest also, 2nd in rank only to Judas.

Judas’s actions were not of his own doing. They were orchestrated by Yahshua Himself, when He purposefully caused Satan to enter into Judas’s body in order to allow Yahshua to fulfill the role He came to earth to perform, that is, to die for our sins and as a result of His sacrifice, we may have all of our sins forgiven. He was not going to fail in His purpose on earth, nor leave anything to chance.

As soon as the deed was done, and Judas had succeeded in betraying Yahshua, what happened next? Almost immediately, Judas regretted his actions and tried to return the 30 pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders, here: Matt. 27:3-7—‘Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. Saying I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed himself and went and hanged himself.”

Once again, the setting is inside the Temple, in the area reserved to the priesthood, which continues to validate Judas’s rank as that of a priest. But even more evidence can be seen as a result of what just happened at this moment when he cast the silver down onto the floor (Greek: “naos”—meaning “holy place”) of the Temple, a place where only Aaronist priests could enter. Immediately, the chief priests took the silver (v. 6) and said “It is not lawful to put them in the treasury, because it is the price of blood.”

Very few people ask the question “why was it not lawful” for Judas to have done what he did? And why could the chief priest not keep the silver? It is because they all knew that Judas was a priest and whenever a priest sins, a sacrifice has to be made and blood has to sprinkled (in this case, symbolically) by a priest. This atonement for a priest’s sins is well documented in Leviticus, chapter 4.

The first part of Lev. 4 is a description of what priests must to as an offering for their own sins. V. 3—‘If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto Yahweh for a sin offering.” The rest of this chapter describes exactly what to do with that blood, based upon who sins, but you can see that the comment made by the chief priests in Matt. 27 understood that they just witnessed a sin by one of their own. And, by Judas casting the 30 pieces of silver down onto the floor, this was, symbolically, the “sprinkling” of blood.

This moment was not random. The specific act of Judas casting the 30 pieces of silver back down onto the floor of the Temple was prophesied over 500 years earlier, by the prophet Zechariah.

Zech. 11:12-13—“And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And Yahweh said unto me “A goodly price that I was prised at of them.” And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of Yahweh.”

Not only did Yahshua orchestrate every detail of His eventual execution, He even foretold of the remorse of the Apostle Judas by the prophet Zechariah.

To this day, I dare say that the entire world despises Judas for his evil deed. Does Yahshua feel the same way about him? Is he destined to burn in hell for all eternity for this wicked act of betrayal? Is Judas’s future role also identified in scripture? You bet.

Long before Judas betrayed Yahshua, all 12 of the Apostles were speaking with Him and Peter asked, in Matt. 19:27—“Then answered [asked] Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore [in the future kingdom]?” Here was Yahshua’s response…to all 12 of them. V. 28 “And Yahshua said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That YE WHICH HAVE FOLLOWED ME, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, YE ALSO SHALL SIT UPON TWELVE THRONES, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

How many thrones? 12. Which persons did Yahshua just say would sit on them? Each of the 12 Apostles. Did He say, “Oh, by the way, I actually mean ‘just eleven’ of you…I’m only joking about that ‘twelve’ thing.” Or, “Oh by the way, I know I’m saying twelve of YOU, but I actually mean, I’ll have one of you replaced later on and HE will be one of these twelve.”

He said, to the original 12 Apostles, you SHALL sit upon 12 thrones. This includes Judas. Don’t believe me? Re-read it again. Want more proof of Judas’s future destiny? How about Luke?

Luke 22 is the chapter in which he describes the events of the last supper. All 12 Apostles are still in attendance, v. 21: “…behold, the hand of him which betrayeth Me is with Me at the table”, so Yahshua’s comment in v. 28-29 takes on even greater significance, as nobody had left the room.

“Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. And I APPOINT UNTO YOU [all 12 of them] A KINGDOM, AS MY FATHER HATH APPOINTED UNTO ME.” V. 30—“That ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and SIT ON THRONES, JUDGING THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.” It was only later that Judas departed this room and went to betray Yahshua. But, that act had not happened when Yahshua made His comment above, so Judas was included in the promise that Yahshua had just made to all 12 of them.

This is the 2nd time that Yahshua has asserted that all 12 of the original 12 Apostles already have a future position in His kingdom. But are there any other references to this after He ascended back up into heaven? Yes.

In the book of Acts, chapter 1, Peter confirmed the fact that Judas had fulfilled a role and had performed his duty, as Yahshua directed, and has now attained the same future role as he and the other Apostles.

Acts 1:16-19—“Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas (another reference to Psalm 41:9), which was guide to them that took Yahshua. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man PURCHASED a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”

Peter has confirmed what Yahshua had already told them. Judas, the highest ranked Apostle, will be seated, along with the other 11, on thrones in Yahshua’s kingdom. As a point of clarification, the expression “the reward of iniquity” is not an accurate translation of this verse in Greek. This makes it sound like Judas did something bad, wrong, against Yahshua’s wishes. The actual meaning of this verse can be described as Peter felt like Judas had been dealt a lousy hand, having to be the human instrument that Yahshua used to achieve His goal. Here it is, from the original Greek: “…misthou tes adikias”, or literally “the wages of this injustice”. Peter fully understood why Judas had to fulfill his role, but here in the book of Acts, he’s telling his audience that it was an “injustice” not “iniquity” that Judas, while human, had to perform this deed. He was probably very glad that Yahshua had not chosen HIM to do this awful thing.

For over 2,000 years, Judas’ name has been associated with the worst of the worst. And, to amplify HOW bad a person is, an expression used in the English language: “Judas Priest!” has become synonymous with profanity or the worst expression of disgust a person could utter.

Isn’t it ironic that this pejorative is actually a title?

One final point, in the Bible, the name “Judas” is also rendered “Juda”.  When you look up either spelling of this word in Strong’s Concordance, you’ll find that its meaning is “he shall be praised”.

Funny thing, that Bible, when you do a deep dive into the hidden meanings of scripture.