The Problem with Judas

The alleged Gospel of Judas that appeared recently in the news was the sort of story that makes Christians think about their religion and the rest of the world doubt whether Christianity is anything more than a cult. For those of you who don't know, the Gospel of Judas alleges, amongst other things, that Jesus asked Judas to betray Him. This sort of touchy-feely Christian message is just the sort of story that some Christians want to hear and, apparently, was one of the central tenets of the Gnostic belief. That it was condemned as heresy by the early church only adds fuel to the fire of those who are looking for the tarnish in every silver lining - as if the only message worth listening to is the one that has been hidden from their eyes for almost 2000 years.

I admit that I questioned the validity of the Gospel from the very beginning, but found the concept intriguing. Our God is a God of Love, after all, and might consider the notion of asking His best friend to betray Him as an act of faith. "It must be done, for I must die, and I'd much rather you did it, Judas. Please, betray me to the Romans." What a guy Jesus is! He's so compassionate that He even allows His favorite disciple the opportunity to betray Him and thus face the acrimony of time as a place of honor in Christ's kingdom.

Its not too hard to see that the early church might think this was a lot of horse hockey. The fact that such a notion flies into the face of the four acknowledged gospels is almost beside the point. Just the notion, just the concept, when really considered is almost comical - its heretical to the point of sillyness. Its Satan's version of the Mother Of All Lies - the Hail Mary of the Lie World. If they buy this one, they'll believe anything!

Here's the problem I have with it. Jesus is fully human. He's your buddy. He's your pal. He's a guy you'd pass on the street. Though He's very together and very wise, it doesn't change the fact that He has human emotions and feelings. Further, we know from the Bible, that even though He knew He was going to His death, He didn't want to go. So, if this is you, and you know that the Romans and the Priests are after you, and have been after you for years, and that the conclusion of their chase has never been in doubt, would you even need to have someone betray you? Further, why would you pick your best friend for the honor?

Andy, I want you to betray me. Honest, I won't get upset.

Does this sound rational to you? Does it sound human? That, my dear friends, is the crux of this matter - does it sound human to you?

We know that Jesus had to die for our sins. God made it that way. And we know that Jesus is God. But when Jesus was on earth, He was fully human. He thought, felt, and acted fully human. He prayed to God. He believed in God. He was righteous towards God. He behaved the way a human might if He walked in the same path as God. But He was not God (even though He was). Everything He did, He did as a human being. And a human being would never ask His best friend to betray Him - especially when there was no need to do so.

God might. God might ask Judas to betray Jesus. But Jesus never would. God had the whole thing arranged since the beginning. God knew that Jesus would be required. God knew that Jesus would go to Earth and save all humanity. God knew that Jesus would be betrayed and die on the cross. God knew that Judas would betray Him. God didn't have to ask Judas to do it because He already knew it would happen. And He already knew the outcome. To have Jesus ask Judas to betray him means that God needed an unwilling participant to send Jesus to His death and that makes God complicit in His own death. Think about it. Isn't that really a form of suicide?

This gospel, and indeed the entire Gnostic view of Christianity, goes at the heart of the Trinity. If God wasn't fully human on Earth, then His teachings are invalidated because how could any human ever live up to them since even God couldn't do it without being God? Therefore, I think its safe to say that we don't need to give any more thought to the Gospel of Judas. Clearly, there was very good reason to label this work as heretical and to have it destroyed.

Now, if only we could disabuse the world of the notion that war amongst ourselves is necessary - but that's a lie not so easily discredited.