Why did Judas Iscariot betray Jesus?
Judas was not evil. He expected Jesus to be the kind of messiah that the Jews expected to deliver them from the Romans – a warrior. Jesus was not going to be a warrior. Judas thought that the Sanhedrin could force him into a showdown and he would display his powers and banish the Romans. Jesus was never going to do that. Judas didn’t think it through. When Jesus was arrested, and Judas realized what had happened, he was so ashamed that he couldn’t return to the apostles. It was his “despair” and not realizing that Jesus and Mary would have forgiven him that was his final sin, not the act of “betraying” Jesus. Of course, Jesus knew what was coming and could have stopped it – but he realized it was all part of God’s plan and he accepted it. Judas was indeed human and no one really knows how he was finally judged. Personally, I think he played his part and was treated with mercy.
