Longer study: Judas – an ugly steward “Stewards are both a ruler and servant; they exist to please their master.” Luke 9 begins with these words:
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Those twelve included one name that seems out of place for a bunch of preachers, healers and demon-chasers: Judas. Yet it’s true, Judas was once a good and pleasing steward. What happened? How did Judas turn to bad and finally the iconic ugly steward? How did he become the man whose name would forever be associated with betrayal and deceit? To see the seed of Judas’ change we have to move from Luke 9 to Luke 12. There we read that Jesus and the twelve were surrounded by a crowd of ‘many thousands’. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying:
“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy…I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body…Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you fear him.” Jesus is not speaking to one individual here, but to all his disciples. He is reminding his stewards to watch the core, the yeast, and the smallest seed from which sin can grow. In the Biblical Greek the word hupokrinomai means pretending to be something while actually being something else. It is a word that indicates a betrayer of others and self. In Luke 22 Judas prepares to betray Jesus: