Judas’ Rejection of Love

Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I Corinthians 13:7

Today is Spy Wednesday, which is the day Judas betrays Jesus by sneaking off to tell the high priest when and where Jesus would be so they could arrest him. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was a rejection of love. St Paul teaches us about love in his first letter to the Corinthians and in that discourse he says that, “love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” There have been many various motives that have been proposed as to why Judas betrayed Jesus. Scripture doesn’t give us the full story on why he did it, other than he received thirty pieces of silver for doing it. One interesting reflection on this that I have heard is that Judas became impatient with Jesus and he desired Jesus to show himself in all his power, instead of remaining as a poor, somewhat hidden figure in the world. If this were the case then Judas was testing God. Surely Jesus would save himself, reveal his glory and power to the world, if he were sentenced to death. Then the whole world would truly know who Jesus was and his Kingdom would be established in this world.

Whatever the motive of Judas, we can know that through his actions, he rejected love completely. While this verse from St Paul teaches us about three attributes of love, when they are seen in the light of the story of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, these can be linked to three specific rejections of love. There are three main evil inclinations or tendencies toward sin that we all struggle with to some degree, which are called the threefold concupiscence. The seven capital sins stem from these three main categories of sin. What I would like to do is show how these three attributes of love that Paul describes were specifically rejected by Judas through the threefold concupiscence. 

The first attribute of love that St Paul gives in this verse is that it “bears all things”. To bear something is to willingly take on a burden, to support or carry it. It is easy to bear things that are good and beautiful, but what about the things that are unknown to us or those things that are a real struggle to bear. Mary bore both the gift of the incarnation and the sword of sorrow that pierced her heart. We too are called to bear both the good and the bad for Christ because when we do this it is an act of love. Judas was unwilling to bear Jesus’ version of salvation. He wasn’t willing to trust that Jesus’ plan was better than his own version of how things should go. Judas was guided by false expectations of what he thought Jesus was going to do as Messiah and King. 

The threefold concupiscence that is best described here is pride and its kindred vices, namely envy and anger. For Judas, he had come to the end of his rope with Jesus. He had tried to get Jesus to do something more about all of the injustices that he saw in the world, but Jesus’ way was different. Judas was no doubt angry at Jesus for not doing more. He was also probably envious of the other disciples who seemed to have a closer relationship with Jesus than he did. Judas’ pride got in the way of him going deeper into the heart of Christ. Although he was one of the 12 Apostles, Judas seemed to remain on the outside looking in when it came to his personal relationship with Jesus. 

The remedy to pride is humility and we can see here that Judas was unwilling to humble himself before the Lord. Judas was unwilling to go to Jesus in his distress, to be open and honest with him about what he was feeling, and to seek the counsel of the Lord. Judas also couldn’t let go of control. He thought he knew what the Messiah was supposed to come to do and so he was blinded by anything that opposed this view, therefore blocking him from seeing the Word made Flesh right in front of him. Judas was blinded by pride to what God was doing right here and right now in his life.

The second attribute of Love that St Paul describes is that it “hopes all things”. To hope in the Lord is ultimately a surrender to the will of God. Whatever may come, both good and bad, the soul finds peace in knowing that God is good and that he has willed it. When we are hopeful, we look beyond the here and now. We know that this life is not the end and our deepest hope is in our God who far surpasses all the happenings of this world. Judas rejected hope by letting his circumstances and his emotions determine his disposition, which became the slippery slope that allowed him to fall into sin. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was a complete turning away from hope. He willingly chose to break off friendship with God. He lost hope in Jesus, who did not turn out to be who he thought he was. Judas’ false interpretation of God and the promise of the Messiah led him to lean on worldly things instead. 

The threefold concupiscence that goes along with rejecting hope is avarice. Avarice is the inordinate love of earthly goods. Earthly goods are given to us so that we may minister to our physical and spiritual needs. These goods are also given so that may be shared with our neighbor in charity. Judas had a disordered reliance on the material world. He was a man who did what needed to be done instead of waiting around for someone else to help him. He relied on his own strength, his own power, his own understanding all his life. So when Jesus was not who he thought the Messiah should be, Judas was deeply distraught. Instead of drawing nearer to the Lord and abandoning to the will of God, Judas began to grasp even more for material things to help him accomplish the task he thought Jesus was there to accomplish. Judas’ inordinate reliance on the material world denied God the opportunity to lift him up above the world, up above his circumstances, and into the heart of Jesus. 

The remedy of avarice is generosity, which demands that we give away that which we love and that which gives us a sense of security. By intentionally detaching from worldly things as a daily practice, we can begin to grow stronger in hope. Surrendering our wealth, our time, our things to the Lord will ultimately bear much fruit in our lives. When we willingly choose to hope in God in all things, we in effect make an act of our will to love God in this moment through our generosity. To love what God loves is to allow each and every moment to redeem us. When we truly love our neighbor, especially those whom we don’t understand, we are truly loving God.

The third attribute of Love described in this verse by St Paul is that it “endures all things”. To endure is to persevere, to be diligent to the end. When we endure things in love, we are willing to take on an extra burden or long suffering in order to gain in the end. In our spiritual life, endurance is a really important thing to learn. What we are suffering now will bear fruit in the end. We may not see it or ever know of its fruit in this life, but we have faith that God will use it to bring about the salvation of the Body of Christ. 

Judas turned away from love when it became too difficult for him to continue on, when it became too difficult for him to trust in God. Judas’ journey with Jesus into the unknown was very scary for him. He desired something different than what Jesus was preaching and it became completely clear by this point of his betrayal of Jesus that the only way forward was to give up on Jesus. While Judas was seeking an earthly kingdom, Jesus was promising an Eternal Kingdom. While Judas was seeking perfect justice in this world, Jesus was promising perfect justice in our eternal home.

The threefold concupiscence that goes along with this rejection of Love is sensuality, which includes gluttony, lust, and sloth. These are our human comforts. To endure despite being comfortable is an act of love. Judas desired more so to experience earthly comforts. In his mind, if Jesus could become king of this world, he would hold a place in the king’s court. Judas’ sensual comforts were not being met by following this poor man Jesus, who had no home, no riches, no esteem in this world. Thus he decided to reject love in this way and he willingly broke off friendship with Jesus.

The remedy for sensual sin is temperance and diligence. When we make a daily practice of mortifying ourselves instead of indulging ourselves in worldly comforts, we will grow stronger in faith. We cannot escape the sufferings of this world, but we can prepare ourselves to battle them well. The sensual sins are what lull us to sleep while things are good, so that when suffering comes we will be found off our guard. By training ourselves through daily intentional sacrifices, we will begin to learn how to fully detach from our worldly comforts, so that we may enjoy the heavenly consolation of God in both the good and the tough times.  

As we reflect on Judas today and his betrayal of Jesus, let us not forget all the ways that we too betray our Lord. Let us look at these areas of the threefold concupiscence as a guide to identify our own tendencies. To desire to live a virtuous life is only half the battle. We cannot move forward on this journey toward virtue unless we better understand what we are moving away from, which is always vice. Self knowledge is key to becoming a saint!