Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them.
Immediately after the radiant example of the woman’s love comes Judas’s dark-minded, treacherous step. The phrase “one of the twelve” makes the sin heavier: he was not an outsider, but one among the chosen disciples, who had heard Christ’s words and seen His miracles. His going to the chief priests shows a deliberate decision. This warns that outward closeness to Christ does not in itself save, if the heart remains lifeless and under the power of greed. Judas, after seeing the woman’s sacred act of love, goes to betray, and by this it becomes clear how different people’s responses to the same Christ can be.