Mark 14 · a question people ask
Why did Judas betray him?
Mark doesn't say. He tells what Judas did: "Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them" (14:10). "They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. He sought how he might conveniently deliver him" (14:11). Mark had named him when he listed the twelve, "and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him" (3:19). At the table Jesus says, "It is one of the twelve, he who dips with me in the dish" (14:20), and "woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born" (14:21). Mark gives no reason, and these notes don't supply one. The other Gospels tell of Judas in their own words, and these notes leave each to its own Gospel.
The verses
“Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them. They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. He sought how he might conveniently deliver him.”
“and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Then he came into a house.”
“As they sat and were eating, Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, one of you will betray me—he who eats with me.” They began to be sorrowful, and to ask him one by one, “Surely not I?” And another said, “Surely not I?” He answered them, “It is one of the twelve, he who dips with me in the dish. For the Son of Man goes as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.””