ngth fallen in the very midst of this quiet
feast.

This sin of Judas presents us with one of the most perplexed problems
of life and character that the strange circumstances of this world have
ever produced. Let us first of all look at the connection of this
betrayal with the life of Christ, and then consider the phase of
character exhibited in Judas. In connection with the life of Christ the
difficulty is to understand why the death of Christ was to be brought
about in this particular way of treachery among His own followers. It
may be said that it came to pass "that Scripture might be fulfilled,"
that this special prediction in the 41st Psalm might be fulfilled. But
why was such a prediction made? It was of course the event which
determined the prediction, not the prediction which determined the
event. Was it, then, an accident that Jesus should be handed over to the
authorities in this particular way? Or was there any significance in it,
that justifies its being made so prominent in the narrative? Certainly
if our Lord was to be brought into contact with the most painful form of
sin, He must have experience of treachery. He had known the sorrow that
death brings to the survivors; He had known the pain and disappointment
of being resisted by stupid, obstinate, bad-hearted men; but if He was
to know the utmost of misery which man can inflict upon man, He must be
brought into contact with one who could accept His love, eat His bread,
press His hand with assurance of fidelity, and then sell Him.

When we endeavour to set before our minds a clear idea of the character
of Judas, and to understand how such a character could be developed, we
have to acknowledge that we could desire a few more facts in order to
certify us of what we can now only conjecture. Obviously we must start
from the idea that with extraordinary capacity for wickedness Judas had
also more than ordinary leanings to what was good. He was an Apostle,
and had, we must suppose, been called to that office by Christ under the
impression that he possessed gifts which would make him very serviceable
to the Christian community. He was himself so impressed with Christ as
to follow Him: making those pecuniary sacrifices of which Peter
boastfully spoke, and which must have been specially sore to Judas. It
is possible, indeed, that he may have followed Jesus as a speculation,
hoping to receive wealth and honour in the new kingdom; but this motive
mingled with the a