Matthew 26:14

‘Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests,'

‘One of the twelve.' The words have an ominous ring to them. Out of twelve men chosen by the Lord of the Universe for His service, one was a turncoat and a traitor (John 6:70). His name was Judas Iscariot, which may mean ‘man of Kerioth'. He is the only one identified in this specific way. The reason why is clear. Mistaken identities might not matter too much in most cases, but no one wanted to be mistaken for this man. There was only one Judas who was like this.

‘Went to the chief priests.' The attitude of the Chief Priests towards Jesus was clearly known to the disciples, and it was this fact that enabled Judas to see an opportunity of earning some extra money for himself. Perhaps, he thought, they would be willing to pay him for information that would enable them to arrest Jesus, Who was seemingly going to be arrested anyway. It was certainly worth a try.