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I'll admit, I have read all of the published accounts of the document known as "The Gospel of Judas Iscariot", and not even the interpretations of this can match the insight I have gained on Judas Iscariot. I received my insights from comparing what this gospel says with that of the four New Testament Gospels.
One thing I've noticed is that the Gospel of Judas portrays Judas as a "man" more than a "betrayor". I can't fully trust the the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to portray an accurate picture of Judas Iscariot because these Gospels were written "after the fact". During the Apostles walk with Jesus, they treated Judas as one of them. When jesus told them that; "One of you will betray me", not one of the Apostles knew at the time that it would be Judas Iscariot. They only realized it "after the fact", so you know the Gospels were written with a biased finger. What the Apostles had to say about Judas in their Gospels was not how they saw him during their walk with Jesus, or else they would have known it would be him. Not one line of reference to Judas saw him as a man, only a "betrayor".
I drew this new view of Judas by examining him as a man. I will say now that Judas was definitely no "hero", as the gospel of Judas portrays him, but he could have been.
Judas was chosen by Jesus to play a role. This story, like any other, had 'two' sides. Only one was played out. Had it gone the other way, Judas would have been the respected hero. Jesus had placed the fate of Christianity entirely in the hands of Judas iscariot. Let me tell you how.
Judas saw with his own eyes the things Jesus had done, the miracles performed, and so he 'believed', but his belief in Jesus as the Christ did not come through faith.
They say "seeing is believing", and that is what happened to Judas. He became disillusioned by what he saw and, like most people today, Judas believed Jesus should "prove" himself, provide the population with some evidence that He is who He claims to be.
It puzzled Judas as to why the Jews had rejected Jesus. He thought that if they could only "see" what he, himself had seen of the things Jesus had done, that they too would "believe" and come to accept Jesus as their Messiah. What Judas did not understand is that Jesus had nothing to "prove". It was written in the scriptures of His coming, and His arrival and the way He was presented to the Jews was a test of their faith in the scriptures. The Jews had their own ideas of who their Messiah would be, and how He would be presented, in all of the glory of God, born into royalty, surrounded by riches and possessing all of the power of a literal "king". But Jesus was none of those. The Jews needed to accept Jesus solely on faith, or reject Him in non belief.
Judas knew that Jesus would reject the idea of going to Jerusalem for the purpose of proving Himself to the Jews. So he went to jerusalem himself to try and arrange with the authorities there to allow Jesus the chance to come to Jerusalem and "display His talents", so to speak. Judas originally planned to bring Jesus to Jerusalem with the aid of the other Apostles, but the romans declined. They were looking for a way to arrest Jesus and this seemed the perfect opportunity. They would allow Jesus to come to Jerusalem, but only on their terms. Instead, they offered to pay Judas to reveal the location and identity of Jesus, then they, the Romans, would approach Jesus and cordially invite Him to Jerusalem. Judas accepted the bribe as this is what he was led to believe. You know how the story ends.
Out of his lack of faith, his shame and humiliation of realizing that he, himself had been set up, and out of his fear of having to face Jesus and account for his ignorance, he took his own life.
Judas Iscariot did not have enough faith to believe that Jesus would forgive him.
Judas did not intend to see his friend and teacher be arrested and mercilessly crucified. His intention was to see his friend and teacher be more respected and accepted among the Jews.
They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Believe it!
But this is not how Judas betrayed Jesus. Judas`s true betrayal of Jesus is found within the sacrifice itself. Only the gospel of Judas reveals this.
Dang, I always figured that he was either a mythological figure like the other biblical guys and gals, or, he was the fall guy, if you are gonna crucify a non-existant figure, you might as well create a fall guy too, anyway, had the bible been created by either bullfinch or edith hamilton it would have been a better read.
Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dusty Rhodes
Dang, I always figured that he was either a mythological figure like the other biblical guys and gals, or, he was the fall guy, if you are gonna crucify a non-existant figure, you might as well create a fall guy too, anyway, had the bible been created by either bullfinch or edith hamilton it would have been a better read.
How embarrassing for you. Even scientists would roll their eyes at your ignorance. Even they have declared Jesus really walked the earth. The only difference is they say he was real. I, like others, say he is.
Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
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To the original poster, I tend to agree with a lot of what you say. I've felt this way since I became a Christian and came across a scripture in bible study that said he repented himself before he hung himself. When asked in class why some say he went to hell if he repented himself, I got answers I didn't agree with but only after a week of waiting for someone to come up with one.
How embarrassing for you. Even scientists would roll their eyes at your ignorance. Even they have declared Jesus really walked the earth. The only difference is they say he was real. I, like others, say he is.
Heck no! today we can if ask a term for coincidences did exist in those days to explain a state of consciousness (synchronicity, including foresight) which even today is not given to everyone..
To the original poster, I tend to agree with a lot of what you say. I've felt this way since I became a Christian and came across a scripture in bible study that said he repented himself before he hung himself. When asked in class why some say he went to hell if he repented himself, I got answers I didn't agree with but only after a week of waiting for someone to come up with one.
I'd love to see that scripture that you say shows he repented.
My church has a lot of messages from Judas. He recounts his betrayal, what it was like for him in hell and his life in the Celestial heavens. Hell is only a correction place so why wouldn't Judas be able to get out? Why would God create us and then not make it possible for us to repent either here or in heaven? Seems kinda stupid to me if one believes that God is not all loving.
So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you [the 12 Disciples], that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Matthew 19:28
Jesus supposedly says this to his 12 Disciples including Judas. Yes, according to the Book of Acts Matthias was chosen to replace Judas long after Jesus supposedly says this to the original 12 with Judas included. Was Jesus holding out on displaying his foretelling skills? Did he not want to tip off Judas and spoil the drama? Does this reflect the alternate idea that Judas was actually just doing what was asked of him and is really not a villain as often believed? What does the scripture up top reflect to you?
To Reverend 1111's response. (i would insert it as a quote but I haven't quite figured out how yet.) But in regards to what you said about - "hell being a place of correction" and " Why would Judas not be able to get out"- is very accurate.
If, as christians say, "Jesus loves!, Jesus forgives!", then why, in their eyes, is Judas not worthy of this forgiveness?
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