The man who committed this awful crime was _Judas Iscariot_. He was one of the twelve whom Jesus chose, in the early part of his ministry, to be with him, all the time, to see all the mighty works that he did, and to hear all that he said in private as well as in public. He is called Judas _Iscariot_, to distinguish him from another of the disciples of the same name, viz., Judas, the brother of James. Different explanations have been given of the meaning of this name Iscariot. The most likely is, that it was used to denote the place of his birth. If this be so, then it was written at first, Judas-Ish-Kerioth—which means a man of Kerioth. And then this would show us that he belonged to a town in the southern part of Judah, called Kerioth. We know nothing about Judas before we hear him spoken of as one of the twelve apostles. In the different lists of the names of the apostles, he is always mentioned last, because of the dreadful sin which he finally committed. When his name is mentioned he is generally spoken of as “the traitor”—or as the man “which also betrayed him.” Jesus knew, of course, from the beginning, what kind of a man Judas was, and what he would do in the end. But, we have no reason to suppose that Judas himself had any idea of committing this horrible crime when he first became an apostle; or that the other apostles ever had the least suspicion of him. There can be no doubt that he took part with the other apostles when Jesus sent them before his face to “preach the gospel of the kingdom,” and to perform “many mighty works.” Yes, Judas, who afterwards betrayed his Master, preached the gospel and performed miracles in the name of Jesus. His fellow-disciples, so far from suspecting any harm of him, made him the treasurer of their little company, and let him “have the bag” and manage their money affairs. And _this_, may have been the very thing that ruined him. The first time that we see anything wrong in Judas is at the supper given to our Lord at Bethany. We read about this in St. John 12: 1-9. On this occasion, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, brought a very precious box of ointment, and anointed the feet of Jesus with it. Judas thought this ointment was wasted, and asked why it had not been sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor. This would be about forty-five or fifty dollars of our money. It is added—“This he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bore what was put therein.” None of his disciples suspected Judas of being a thief at this time. These words were added, long after the death of Judas, when his true character was well known.