Did Judas take the funds?

Originally posted on November 18, 2005 – by Andre Piet

But this he said, not that he was caring for the poor, but that he was a thief, and, having the coffer, he took what is cast in.
John 12:6

Judas was a thief because he took from the coffer he managed. That is the idea. However, translated from the original text, it does not say that Judas took the funds, but that he carried them. Nowhere do we read that Judas stole money from the coffer. Until the very end, the other disciples had complete trust in Judas as treasurer, as is evident from John 13:29.

for some supposed, since Judas had the coffer, that Jesus is saying to him, “Buy what we are needing for the festival,” or that he may be giving something to the poor.

Judas was a thief, not because he took from the coffer (as the Dutch NBG translation insinuates), but probably because he did not give away the money that was intended for the poor. He did not care for the poor and kept “a tight grip on the purse.” In a more figurative sense*, then, Judas stole from the poor.

In this as well, Judas is a picture of Judah (the Jewish people), who handed over their Messiah. Not primarily because the Jewish people have built up a worldwide reputation as treasurers, but especially because they have from of old been called to share their (spiritual) riches with a needy world. But instead, they hoarded the riches for themselves and despised those who wanted to pass on God’s Word to others (cf. Acts 22:21,22).

* In Malachi 3(:8–10), God reproaches His people for robbing Him. “And you say, ‘In what do we rob Thee?’ In the tithe and the heave offering.” Here, the withholding of money and goods that belonged to God is called “robbery.” It is presumably in this broader sense of the word that Judas is called a thief.

Delen: