Expert: Sal - 4/12/2006

Question
Since Jesus "Taught daily in the temple" and had just had a triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday} ,He must have been a most recognisable person. Why therefore would it have been necessary for the priests to have Judas identify Him and pay 30 pieces of silver for the task ? Surely all they had to do was to send someone who had seen Him in the temple to point Him out.  

Answer
Dear R. Pickersgill:

Judas was necessary in order to make things as easy as possible. Judas knew where Jesus would be and at what time. They wanted to arrest Jesus quietly so as not to cause the people to riot and thereby prevent Jesus' arrest. Also the arrest occurred at night so it would be a good idea to have someone who could go right up to Jesus to signal to the Roman soldiers who the target was. Judas could walk right up to Jesus without any difficulity. Even if someone else could have gotten knowledge of Jesus' whereabouts he may have been prevented from going up to Jesus by the disciples. So Judas was very necessary to the religious leaders.

Thanks for the question,
Sal