Judas Iscariot
John 17:19
Excerpt
It is clear that John regarded Judas as thoroughly villainous, and as an evangelist John took pains to point out his wicked character. Even though Judas’s name is not always used, his evil nature lurks in the background of the Gospel. So as early as John 6:70 John already called him a devil; then at John 12:6 Judas is regarded as a thief; at John 13:27 he is an instrument of Satan, and here John sees Jesus dismissing him as the perishing one, the bad egg, or the weak link in the chain of the disciples.
Not only was Judas the weak link, but he was an evil instrument in his fulfillment of Scripture. Although at this point it would be difficult to tell which Scripture was in the evangelist’s mind, other New Testament texts related to Judas’s actions seem to suggest more specific references such as Matt 27:3–10, which probably refers to Zech 11:12–13 and Acts 1:16–20, which contains a free rendering of Ps 69:25.
Borchert, Gerald L. John 12–21. Vol. 25B. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002. Print. The New American Commentary.
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