Jesus and Judas

As described in four canonical gospels of the New Testament—John, Mark, Matthew and Luke—Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus of Nazareth’s closest apostles, as well as the person who kept the “common purse” that funded the ministries of Jesus and his disciples. According to Robert Cargill, assistant professor of classics and religious studies at the University of Iowa, “One of the things that might set Judas apart from the rest of Jesus’s disciples is that Judas is not from Galilee,” as opposed to Jesus and 11 of his other disciples, but rather from a town located south of Jerusalem in Judea, which ultimately made Judas a bit of a geographic outsider.

Prophesies his own Betrayal

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus prophesied his own betrayal during the Last Supper, and when his apostles asked who the traitor might be, Jesus answered “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish,” promptly doing so before handing the morsel of bread to Judas, at which point, according to John 13:21-27, “Satan entered him.” John further illuminates Judas’ less than pure intentions by writing that Judas frequently stole from the “common purse” for illicit monetary gain.

Politically Inspired?

While his motives have been hotly debated by religious scholars—including a possible political angle—what is known is that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, before leading Roman soldiers to the Garden of Gethsemane, kissing Jesus on the cheek before calling him “Rabbi,” which led to the prophet’s arrest, crucifixion and eventual resurrection. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas immediately regretted his betrayal of Jesus, returning the 30 pieces of silver to church officials before committing suicide by hanging, while a second accounting in Acts 1:18 describes the traitor’s combustible demise at the hand of an angry God, forever immortalizing Judas as the stereotypical definition of a traitor.

Birth of Antisemitism

According to journalist Joan Acocella of the New Yorker magazine, “Almost since the death of Christ, Judas has been held up by Christians as a symbol of the Jews: their supposed deviousness, their lust for money and other racial vices,” but what is known is that without Judas and his betrayal of Jesus, Christianity would lack its core tenants of Christ’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, in order to save humanity by granting eternal life to Christian believers everywhere.