Passover was approaching. The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction. Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and they promised to give him money. So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so that they could arrest him when the crowds weren’t around. Luke 22:1-6 NLT
Judas consummates a deal for 30 pieces of silver. It is humanly impossible to conceive of such an act of betrayal. But that is before taking the Evil One into account. Whatever Judas’s motivation, it ended up a bad deal for him. He later felt remorse, and, after returning the silver, hung himself: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” Matthew 27:4a CSB
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