Judas [work] Review

We’ve all sold something precious for something worthless. We’ve all greeted a loved one with a kiss while our heart was far away. We’ve all tried to force God into our political agenda. Judas is the patron saint of the disappointed disciple—the one who followed Jesus for two years, then decided that the Messiah wasn't moving fast enough or acting tough enough.

If the Prodigal Son gets a robe and a ring, and Peter gets the keys to the kingdom, what happens to the man who hung himself in a field of blood? Did Jesus, descending into Hades during the three days, walk past the corpse of Judas and whisper, "Friend, do what you came for... and follow me still"?

That is the question that keeps Judas alive. Not as a villain to be hated, but as a mirror to be feared—and a tragedy to be mourned. We’ve all sold something precious for something worthless

Many scholars believe Judas may have been a sicarius (a dagger-wielding Zealot) who wanted a political Messiah. He wanted Jesus to overthrow Rome. But Jesus kept talking about turning the other cheek and dying for sins. Imagine the frustration. "If I force a confrontation in the Garden of Gethsemane," Judas might have reasoned, "the Lion of Judah will finally have to roar. He’ll call down the angels. He’ll have to fight."

Jesus acknowledges the divine necessity, but also weeps for the human ruin it caused. Judas is the only character in the New Testament (besides Jesus) who is explicitly possessed by Satan (John 13:27). But he is also the only one who, seeing the consequences of his sin, tries to undo it. Peter denied Christ three times and wept. Judas betrayed Christ once and despaired. Why does Judas haunt us? Because we see ourselves in him. Judas is the patron saint of the disappointed

This places us in an uncomfortable paradox. Did Judas have a choice? Theologians argue this endlessly. If Jesus had to die for the sins of the world, then someone had to betray him. Judas was playing the role written for him since Genesis. But if he was just an actor reading a script, can we condemn him for eternity?

Jesus Himself seems to hint at this horror. He says, "The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born" (Matthew 26:24). and follow me still"

But what if we’ve been reading him wrong? What if, buried beneath the thirty pieces of silver, there is a story far more tragic, and far more unsettling, than simple greed?