Over the years many people have tried to answer the question of why Judas betrayed Jesus. The main reasons given by the Gospels are:

1 He was insincere

2 He was greedy

3 Devil had possessed him.

Many biblical thinkers have put forward their own reasons.

4 He had lost faith in Jesus, is another argument

5 Another theory is that he betrayed Jesus because he could not understand Jesus or his teachings.

6 He was expecting a political Messiah who would free Israel from the Romans. But, Jesus had dashed the hopes of him and many others like him, it's another argument.

7 He did so to fulfill prophecies.

8 Another theory is that if Jesus had been in Jerusalem during the Passover, there were chances for a riot to happen. His handing over Jesus to the chief priests was to protect Jesus and make him safe from the riots.

9 There is an apocryphal book called the Gospel according to Judas, written in the second century. According to it, Jesus himself had told Judas to betray him so that he could go to his Father and thus save the humankind.

30 pieces of silver was not all a large sum; nor was it a small amount. It sufficed to buy a field.

The evangelist Matthew, and with a slight hint, Luke, say that Judas hanged himself. Moreover, his end was very horrific.

Perhaps that is what made him so much hated and feared by people.

Whatever the reason for his betrayal of his Master, if he had not taken up such an end, he would have become a figure that gives hope to all humanity.

If only he was moved by any of the messages that Jesus taught, such as: My Father loves everyone; He loves every sinner; I have come to seek out the sinners; I am the good shepherd - who wishes not that anyone be lost; I go after the lost sheep and bring it back!

If only he had remembered for a moment that his Master is an ocean of mercy!

If only he had walked with his head down cast, though at the back end of the crowd of people walking to Calvary!

If only he had heard the first words from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"

If only he had placed his head for a moment close to the cross of his Master!

In that case:

He would have been the first to write, even before Paul:

"I am unspiritual , sold into slavery of sin. I do not understand my own actions. For, I do not do what I want; rather, I do what I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, then it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me."

In that case:

He would have been probably celebrated all over the world today as a saint whom we can all relate to, and whom we can all rely on in our vulnerabilities and failures: Judas!

However, I still have hope, Judas, that if I ever I will make it to the Master, you will be the one to step forward to receive me!