JUDAS - Man or Monster?

Around this time of year I often think of Judas Iscariot. In great part, I’m sure, because I portray Judas at numerous churches during Holy Week. But also because of the important role he played in the life of Jesus -- and the way many of us seem to dismiss him as a "bad seed" or as one possessed by the devil.

I remember once after performing my version of Judas, a young man (maybe 30 years old) approached me in tears and said, "How dare you! How dare you make excuses for what that man did." "I don’t believe I made excuses," I answered, "I just attempted to make him human."

I believe that many prefer to see Judas as something other than human - thereby separating themselves even further from this "devil" - "I could never do what he did, I’m human, he was something less." I believe this line of thinking is "poppycock" - (I don’t know exactly what poppycock is - I don’t know that I’ve ever really seen it. I guess I’ll just have to have faith that it exists.)

We must remember that Jesus chose Judas to be an Apostle. He did not choose him to be a betrayer. Jesus trusted Judas enough to give him charge of the money - the purse.

Jesus loved him enough to not only sit next to him at the Last Supper (Jesus had to have been relatively close to Judas in order to have handed him the bread after dipping it in the sauce) but in addition, just prior to the Supper, Jesus washed the feet of Judas. He did both of these things even though He knew what Judas was about to do.

We are missing a wonderful set of human lessons if we just dismiss Judas as an animal, a devil or as something sub-human. Since the New Testament was written many years after the crucifixion of Christ, it isn’t surprising that the Scriptural references to Judas are not only few in number but are often couched in phrases like,... "he was a devil". I think it allowed the early Gospel writers to distance themselves from "the Betrayer."

Most pieces of literature and art through the centuries that have dealt with Judas have treated him in much the same way. If someone betrays the confidence of another they are labeled as a "Judas". Many bits of prose and poetry depict Judas as part demon, part man eternally damned and burning in the fires of Hell. Even in DaVinci’s great painting of the Last Supper, we see Judas knocking over the salt and as a result, to this day it is considered by many bad luck to upset the salt at the table.

If we accept these depictions as accurate, we are missing the underlying message of Judas and, I believe, the lesson Jesus would like us to learn.

The message is this; Judas was a human being, no more and no less. He had thoughts, desires, hopes, dreams, aspirations, likes and dislikes just as we do. Jesus loved Judas, it didn’t matter what he did or what he was about to do.

Judas’ sin was not the betrayal of Christ, ...his sin was putting his own will before the will of God. He in effect put himself on a higher plane than God. "I know what’s right, I know better than you, God. I’m smarter than God."

These are very human feelings and thoughts. We see many in our society today suffering from the same self proclaimed elevation. "I don’t need God, no one is greater than me."

Judas’ final failing is even more common among our species... after Judas realized what he had done, he allowed his ego and his pride to get in the way of asking for forgiveness, to truly repent.

Judas should not be hated or loathed. He should be loved (as hard as that is to comprehend...) as Jesus loved. He should be viewed not as a devil but as a human who took the wrong path, as one who made the wrong decisions, as one who went wrong, and as one, who in the end, failed to acknowledge his mistakes and ask for forgiveness.

Judas should be viewed as an example, as someone to learn from. The positive message from the life of Judas is that we can learn from his mistakes. That we can learn to rise above those very human failings of Judas. That we can learn to control our egos, our wills, and realize that there is a God, a God that is more powerful and more knowing. We must also learn from the life of Judas that we are loved, always, no matter what. And that we should never allow pride to get in the way of... not only asking for forgiveness, but also extending our forgiveness to others.

A final thought - Had Judas acted differently we would probably call him Saint Judas today.

Have a Happy Easter knowing that you are loved - no matter what.

Respectfully in Christ,

Mark Price