Did judas Iscariot really betray Jesus?

The name Judas Iscariot has for centuries been synonymous with treachery. Christening a child Judas Iscariot is akin to inviting a curse in some Christian circles. In Germany, for instance, it is a crime to name your child Judas Iscariot!

Should we condemn Judas? Did he really betray Jesus?

After 1,700 years, an early Christian Greek manuscript, the only known text of the ‘Gospel of Judas’ has emerged with shocking revelations. The revelations leave you wondering –– Should Christians continue vilifying Judas Iscariot?

In a dramatic twist, the manuscript’s account leading to Jesus’ crucifixion directly contradicts what the New Testament gospels of Mark, Matthew, John and Luke attest. It indicates that Jesus requested Judas to hand him over to the Roman authorities.

The papyrus manuscript was discovered in the Egyptian desert in the 1970s. It has now been authenticated by carbon dating to show that it was probably written around 300 A.D. in Coptic script, a copy of an earlier Greek manuscript written around 130 and 170 A.D.

On the other hand, the four gospels in the Bible were written within decades of Jesus’ death.

The National Geographic, which published the story on April 6, 2006, says Bible scholars have studied and translated the ancient manuscript.
The text begins “the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot.”

But perhaps the most significant passage in the ‘Gospel of Judas’ comes when Jesus says to Judas: “You will exceed all of them (the other disciples). For you will sacrifice the man that clothed me.”

According to the scholars, this was meaning to say that Judas would help to liberate the spiritual self by helping Jesus get rid of his physical flesh.

This text is said to come from the Gnostic tradition, a religious-philosophical wave that was popular in the second, third and forth centuries. The Gnostics were an early Christian sect who differed from mainstream leaders of the time.

The discovery of the text might be new but ancient scholars were aware of it and critiqued it. One such critic was Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon, present day France. Irenaeus condemned the Gnostics and denounced the manuscript in the treaties around 180 A.D. His was the first mention of the Gospel of Judas. Irenaeus’ criticism was that it was false and differed from mainstream Christian teaching.

But just as it did in the ancient times, the discovery of the Gospel of Judas has provoked tumultuous reaction amongst Christian leaders across the globe. While many prefer not to comment, just as many have dived into the debate but others are hearing about it for the first time.

Msgr Paul Ssemwogerere, the parish priest of Christ the King Church and Vicar General of Kampala Archdiocese, says: “I have not yet heard about it but it is interesting to hear that.”

Ben Mugarura, the Chaplin of St Francis Chapel, says, “Some of these stories come up during this time (Easter season) because they are part of an orchestrated attempt by some people to discredit Christianity. They are written to imply that not everything Christian should be trustworthy. Why would they wait until this time because this is not a new story?

The Christian story will remain the Christian story whether or not it is being challenged by ancient discoveries.”
The Rev. Steven Tomlinson, a senior pastor of the shelter Rock Church in Manhasset and Syosset, says: “It has been around and talked about. The bottomline is these texts fell into disuse because of their content, or because they were not perceived to be capturing what the volume of what everyone else was saying.”

What is a gospel?
Dr. Fr David Kyeyune, a theologian at the Catholic Secretariat Nsambya, says a Gospel is a genuine text documenting Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and the only true gospels are the ones in the Bible.

He says many gospels were written but rejected because “certain authors called apocryphal, used imagination to twist the message to suit their own interest or make it (gospel) popular.”

Decades after Jesus’ death, many stories were written by people who claimed had authentic stories about Jesus. Examples of such gospels are Mary Magdalene, Philip, Judas, Jacob, and Matadeo were among such gospels that circulated years after Jesus’ death.
“The church sat down and sorted out four gospels. Many where not included because they carried doubtful material,” says Mugarura.

Jesuit Father Gerald O’Collins, a professor of Christology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, said such gospels “did not merit the name gospel. They are texts attempting to bolster the importance of the personalities they are named after, not of Jesus.”

Once they were denounced, it is believed that believers kept the scripts away. It is the Gnostics who kept the gospel of Judas.

The Rev. Richard O. Hill pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Selden is quoted to have said in Newsday newspaper.

“Whether or not it is authentic, it raises questions about Judas and his relationship to Jesus. “How could somebody be a disciple of Jesus and be so close to him and ultimately betray him?”

Just like most Christian leaders, Mugarura advises Christians not to be dissuaded from the truth because of what research is finding.

Compiled by
Raphael Okello