Why did Judas betray Jesus? Luke Dimyan, the actor who portrays Judas in “The Chosen,” Alaa Safi, who portrays Simon the Zealot, and the show’s creator, Dallas Jenkins, were among those who recently offered their thoughts on the possible motives behind Judas’ actions.
“He’s literally a littering line of mistakes,” said Luke Dimyan, in a video published Sept. 5. “He just makes every mistake in the book possible.”
[Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for “The Chosen.”]
Luke Dimyan: Judas ‘Needs To Calm Down’
One of the curious aspects of “The Chosen,” which recently announced that Season 5 (due next year) was fully funded, is that the writers are careful to be faithful to Scripture but also have a great deal of freedom with imagining certain details that are not specified in the gospel accounts.
So while people familiar with the gospels know how the story of Jesus’ life will play out, Dallas Jenkins and his fellow writers, Ryan Swanson and Tyler Thompson, put their creativity to work in imagining various elements of the story, including the motivations of Jesus’ followers.
“Everyone knows Judas is going to betray Jesus,” said Jenkins. “What would have potentially caused him to break bad?”
“Judas is in a place where there’s such profound lack of understanding at a fundamental level, about what Jesus is offering, about what it means to follow the Messiah,” said Swanson.
Dimyan explained that Judas is “extra tone deaf to what Jesus is trying to represent.” Viewers of the show observe Judas becoming increasingly frustrated and perplexed about Jesus’ decisions, even justifying to himself his decision to steal from the money bag (which he is in charge of), something the Gospel of John tells us he did.
