Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ for R.3.00 by John Muafangejo
Matthew 2647-50; 273-5
Judas has, for good reason, had a bad press throughout history. In recent years, however, there has been some effort to understand the disciple who led the chief priests and the rabble to the Garden of Gethsemane and who identified the man they wanted to capture, by kissing him publicly.
Some feel that Judas played an essential part in the story of the Passion, being the catalyst that allowed the arrest, trial and crucifixion to happen. I am not keen on that theory, as it smacks of Judas being ‘used’ against his better judgement or will.
Another theory is that Judas, impatient with the slow pace of Jesus towards bringing in the new kingdom, was simply giving him a push in the right direction, assuming that, faced with arrest, Jesus would leap into action.
Maybe the best understanding, however, is that Judas was deeply disillusioned with what he was coming to understand of the new way of life that Jesus appeared to be offering, and he wanted to opt out and punish his fallen idol.
After Peter, frightened for his life in the courtyard of the high priest, had three times denied any knowledge of Jesus, he had the alarming, challenging experience of hearing the cockerel crow and simultaneously seeing Jesus turn to look at him. It is unlikely that that ‘look’ was one of anger or accusation: that wasn’t necessary because Jesus knew that Peter would recall that he, at the Last Supper, had predicted that Peter would deny him three times before cock crow. The tears that Peter then shed led, not to the despair of suicide as was the case with Judas, but to repentance and understanding.
It is interesting to try to imagine what Jesus would have said to Judas if the chance of another encounter had been possible. One can but assume, from reading the gospels, that if Judas had truly repented, forgiveness and new life would still have been possible. But the question remains: would Judas have been capable of accepting that forgiveness and love?