Was Judas misunderstood?
13th February 2006
According to this article, some scholars within the Roman Catholic church intend to revise the public view of Judas.
Usually, when we think of Judas, images of the “bad guy” or the “betrayer” comes to mind. He is known as the disciple who turned against his Master. He sold the Savior for thirty pieces of silver, a term that is now linked with bounties from acts of treason. Although he later apparently regretted his miscreancy, he is typically demonized in works of art, literature and biblical studies. But, scholars suggest it is time for a rethink:
Father Allen Morris, Christian Life and Worship secretary for the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, said: “If Christ died for all — is it possible that Judas too was redeemed through the Master he betrayed?”
Apparently, this move to clear the name of Jesus’ renegade disciple coincides with moves to publish
the alleged Gospel of Judas for the first time in English, German and French. Though not written by Judas, it is said to reflect the belief among early Christians — now gaining ground in the Vatican — that in betraying Christ Judas was fulfilling a divine mission, which led to the arrest and Crucifixion of Jesus and hence to man’s salvation.
Mgr Brandmuller said that he expected “no new historical evidence” from the supposed gospel, which had been excluded from the canon of accepted Scripture.
But it could “serve to reconstruct the events and context of Christ’s teachings as they were seen by the early Christians”. This included that Jesus had always preached “forgiveness for one’s enemies”.
So, was Judas saved? Was he doing the will of God by delivering the Son of God to be crucified for the sins of the world? Or did he lose his faith? Perhaps he did not even believed from the start? Even so, did Christ’s bountiful mercy and grace reach out to him?
What do you think? Will this campaign by the scholars bring about a renewed vision of Christ’s gracious mercy that overcomes all, as well as throw a renewed light on this disgraced apostle?
UPDATE: If you have landed on this post via a search on the Judas Iscariot or the Gospel of Judas, you might be interested to read my follow-up reflections on this topic as well: “Can We Learn Anything From Judas?” And here is an even more recent post on the same issue: The Judas Phenomenon. Of course, please do not forget to leave me your comment on this post, as well as on the other ones! As a blogger, it is cool to get interactions from readers and I welcome all viewpoints, not just those who agree. Thanks!
Technorati Tags: Judas, Gospel of Judas, theological revisions
February 14th, 2006 at 7:28 am
i agree that Judas had to do what he did in order for the whole situation to come down.
he was redeemed.
he did repent.
i love the portrayal of him in Jesus Christ Superstar
February 14th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
I really love his portrayal in “The Last Temptation of Christ”. Not necessarily Keitel’s performance (Judas was from Brooklyn?) but the character of Judas who deeply loved Jesus and struggled mightily with why he had to do what had to be done.
February 14th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
[...] The bloke in the outer asks, Was Judas Misunderstood? and describes a recent move to revise Judas’ image. [...]
February 15th, 2006 at 12:28 am
Only one knows what was in his hear as to if he was saved. He did what God had pre-ordaned to be done and that gets into a lot of other sticky stuff about free-will or not.
This is my take: Taking your own life comes from a feeling of anger towards yourself and/or a lack of worthiness. I feel for his situation and what led up to his death, the thoughts that went through his mind toward the end must have been agonizing. My hope is that God will have mercy on his soul.
February 15th, 2006 at 1:46 am
Wow, you know I’ve been thought that Judas is evil, Judas is in hell, so much so that I don’t even question it. But yeah, Jesus died for Judas too. That’s an interesting new light on Judas all right.
A preacher once told me that we will be surprised to see who is in heaven, and I agree, I think there are many surprises in heaven.
February 15th, 2006 at 8:01 am
Judas was not a Christian. He was a “so-called Christian.” He went through the motions but he never really surrendered his life to Christ.
We know this because of a few things. First, Jesus called Judas a devil in John 6:70. “Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”"
Secondly, the Bible says in Luke 22:3 and in John 13:27 that Satan entered Judas. Satan cannot enter into a true believer, nor can a believer be possessed by demon.
Luke 22:3 “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.”
John 13:27 “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.”
The third reason that we know that Judas was not a Christian is because of his habitual sin. As treasurer for the disciples, Judas was stealing money from them. John 12:6 says, “He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Sure Christians sin, but they don’t make a habit if it. They can’t, because they are no longer “slaves to sin”, but have become slaves to righteousness.
In Mat 7:16, it says they you will know them by their fruit. The “them” is the true believers. Judas was not one of “them” and this is evidenced by the lack of “fruit”.
I think we will be most surprised at who we “don’t” see in heaven. There are many people going through the outward “Christian motions”, just like Judas did. But on the inside, they have yet to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus as the Lord of their life.
February 15th, 2006 at 8:26 am
Hmmm… interesting takes so far. I often felt for Judas, and I remember a while back someone suggested that it was “unfair” that Judas had to be “singled” out as the one who betrayed. So, did he know that? Was he part of the plan? Also, it certainly appears that Jesus knew that and did not stop him or even reach out to him. Further, his reaction, as Dawn pointed out appears to have been out of huge internal conflict. Finally, what exactly does “one of you is a devil” and “Satan entered him” mean? After all, Peter was identified as “Satan” as well! And, there appear to be no indication that he repented from whatever made him be called one. Finally, are we so sure that Christians don’t habitually sin?
Perhaps Liz’s sentiment that there will be plenty of surprises in heaven might be closer to reality?
February 16th, 2006 at 10:34 am
Rob lays out a pretty good case against Judas. However the case is not ours to make. We can be pretty sure that Judas’ complicity in the Will of God was unintended. If God’s will is not to be thwarted (and it is not) then men’s sinful acts can (do?) serve it. But those acts do not count as righteousness, and even if they did, Eph. 2:8-9 would preclude any salvific effects.
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:41 am
It is easy to look at Judas and call him evil, just like it is easy to look at Satan and speak negatively about him. Is not Satan the fire that is supposed to try Christians? Is he not responsible for leading Eve to Wisdom (re-read Genesis)? For all of the people out there who love to believe that God is playing a chess game with everyone, it is absolutely pointless to subscribe to ideas of “good vs. evil.” But if you must, recall that the Bible speaks of God being “evil” on several occasions. Also note that there is no instance in the Bible where Satan actually tells a lie, as opposed to God sending forth an angel to be a “lying spirit” in the mouths of certain prophets.
Is anyone familiar with the pentagram? That is supposed to be symbolic of Satan. It is a goat. Many people are familiar with “Azazel,” which is commonly understood to be an evil demon (as in the movie “Fallen”). “Azazel” was the scapegoat, which was led into the wilderness to bear the sins of the people on its head. Sound familiar? It should. Isn’t that what Jesus was? Interestingly enough, it appears that Judas has also become a scapegoat.
I believe it was Aldous Huxley who said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.” I wonder if he meant mad as in “angry” or mad as in crazy; from the looks of things, either definition will do.
March 16th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
I came upon this page while trying to find a poem that I read years ago, but unfortunately didn’t keep. I found it very interesting at the time and would like to find it again. It boiled down to this: If you had a destiny to fulfill, whom could you go to who would take on the responsibility of something of this magnitude? The poem suggested that Judas was willing to do this for Christ, just as he knew he would, because he loved him so much.
April 6th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
This finally made the national news so in looking for more info I found you.
I can’t quote verse but as I recall, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ALWAYS referred to Judas as the one who would betray Christ. Like they always knew it. From what I read above, if Judas had the Devil in him, it would have been no secret to them or the other apostles. They could see his evil, greedy, side. Of all those that had their demons or devils cast out, I don’t think that ever happened to Judas?? Didn’t he also leave everything behind when chosen to follow Jesus? Maybe he was chosen because everything about him was good but only he had that devil, that evil streak that could get one to betray his Lord and Saviour? We’ve alway known he betayed Christ. But now it makes sense. It was a dirty job, and somebody had to do it!
April 7th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
4 people MATHEW MARK LUKE AND JOHN have written the new testament.
And all have their version of how Judas betrays JESUS.
It is written in the bible that IF U ARE A BELIEVER UR FAITH WILL BE PUT TO TEST.
MANY THINGS WILL BE SAID AGAINST THE SON OF GOD.
DO NOT PUT UR FAITH TO TEST.
HAVE FAITH.
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN ALL THIS IS “LOVE UR NEIGHBOUR”.
AND REMEMBER NOONE IN THIS WORLD WILL DIE FOR U BY FASTING FOR 40 DAYS AND THEN UNDERGOING TORTURE FOR SAVING YOU AND GIVING U ETERNAL LIFE
PLEASE DO NOT BE THE ONES STANDING IN THE CROWD AND REBUKING THE LORD AGAIN.
DO NOT OPEN HIS WOUNDS AND MAKE HIM BLEED AND PAIN HIS HEART BY ACCUSING HIM AGAIN.
HE HAS DIED ONCE LIKE A ORDINARY HUMAN BEING UNDERGOING THE SAME PAIN AND SUFFERING AND NOONE BY HIS SIDE.
DONOT ABANDON HIM AGAIN.
DONOT OPEN HIS WOUNDED HEART.
PLEASE HAVE FAITH IN JESUS.HE IS A LOVING GOD.
JESUS HAS COME SO THAT WHATEVER HIS FATHER HAD DONE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WHEN THE PEOPLE USED TO MAKE HIM ANGRY HE WOULD SEND FLOODS NOT KNOWING WHY THE ONES WHO HE CREATED DO NOT DO GOOD TO ONEAOTHER AND OBEY HIM.
BECAUSE HE WAS NOT HUMAN SO HE DECIDED TO BECOME HUMAN AND UNDERGO ALL THE SAME FEELINGS AS HUMANS UNDERGO OF ANGER ,TEMPTATION.
HE THEN REALISED HOW IT IS TO BE A HUMAN.
SO HE LOVES US EVEN MORE NOW.
April 7th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
I always felt that Judas got a bad rap in the propaganda of the Church fathers, and as a Jew growing up in 1950s America, I was always hearing antisemitic comments from Christian classmates and in the newspapers and a church services I attended as a guest during summer camp at a YMCA camp, that Judas was “a dirty Jew” and that all Judases were bad and that all Jews, because they never accepted Jesus as son of God were Judases, too. And i hated that. I hate the Christian propaganda for all its sins against Jews, and it is high time this new Gospel of Judas has come forth to teach modern Christians they were wrong. In fact, the entire Christian church is one huge anti-Semitic teaching tool and this is sad. Sad sad sad. I hate the Church for what it has done to my people Israel! All propaganda from an antiSemitic church propaganda machine. All Christians need to apologize and reject the exclusiveness of Jesus. He was not the messiah. He was just another teacher. Get over it. Enough of this Judas stuff!
April 7th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
The other thing all you CHristians and fellow Jews and Moslems need to get over is this: there is NO GOD at all, you are all behaving like kids in an evolutionary sandbox. Grow up. Jesus not god, there is no god, there is no supernatural. Grow up, all of you here. I love you, but you are children. How long must we endure the dictatorship of truth by religious nuts, of all religions. There is no no no God, never was. Dummies!
April 12th, 2006 at 10:56 am
“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God” - Psalm 14:1
July 17th, 2007 at 12:36 am
The answer to this is that Christ Himself said in Matthew 26:
24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
It cannot be said about anyone who ends up in heaven for eternity, no matter how much they may have suffered in this life, that it would be “good for that man if he had not been born”. Jesus was plainly saying the betrayer was not, and would not be saved. There is plenty of commentary literature to show Judas was one fore-type of the antichrist. Should it be any wonder that those who put their desire for truth in literature that contradicts scripture, to declare Judas was just misunderstood? “Yea, hath God said?”, i.e. is this really the truth? - Genesis 3:1.
July 14th, 2008 at 5:50 am
Well, If we gotta get blood on our hands….good thing it’s His
Later Lambchop
August 20th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I’ve heard from a few pastor and they have even showed me (even though I have not reasearched the passage and it might be out of context) places in the Bible where Judas thinks that Jesus is setting up an earthly kingdom instead of a heavenly one. Then in some round-about was that money was supposed to help Jesus. Anyway you look at it these are the facts. #1 Judas Iscariot sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. #2 Jesus was crucified on the cross. #3 Realizing what he had done (before Jesus was crucified) Judas took the thirty pieces of silver back to the Pharasees, ran, and hung himself, he fell on to jagged rocks from the rope and his guts went everywhere (if you don’t belive me, Acts 1:18).
You can do whatever you want with those facts and make any accusation you want but what I know is, Jesus had and still has a plan. He had, and still has a plan to save us from sin. Judas Iscariot was a part of that plan. Whether or not Judas was a christian only Christ knows.