Friday, Apr. 07, 2006 - 7:57 a.m.

The Gospel of Judas

OK, this Gospel of Judas thing has got me thinking, and yeah, it hurts *insert rim shot here*.  But seriously.  This news is not shocking to me.  I consider myself a Christian, raised Methodist, but do not attend church, and grapple with issues regarding "organized religion."  The basic gist of the document states that Judas acted on Jesus' orders to turn him in to the authorities, and dispels the notion that he betrayed Jesus, therefore "un vilifying" him.  I find nothing in this that would be controversial and in fact, have always felt that the role Judas played in the whole sequence of events was more essential and important than anything else that transpired, other than the Resurrection itself.  If he had not gone to the authorities, then the scenario would not have played out.  In fact, I had never thought that he had done anything OTHER than to act on his orders.  At the Last Supper, Jesus DOES say that one will betray him, and Judas gets up and leaves.  He later hangs himself, one can only assume, out of the shame and loathing for what he had done.  But doesn't it make sense that he would have done as he was asked?  That if Jesus knew how everything was to play out, and we can only logically assume that he did, that he would have appointed someone he ultimately trusted over all the other Disciples to carry out his wishes?  Perhaps Judas, at the time was the one with the most faith in what Christ was teaching, but then upon the execution, despaired because he ultimately caused the death of his friend and one he loved so much.  I honestly don't know if he killed himself before or after the Crucifixion so someone may want to set me straight on that one.  I guess what I am trying to say here is that I don't find the document to present any new information, or contain anything that would shake my faith, as what it details is what I have felt all along was the way things played out.  I have never felt Judas was a villain.  If not for him, the wheels would not have been set in motion for the ultimate outcome, and Judas, above all others, should have a special place in the hearts and minds of Christians.