Judas. The story of a betrayal
Judas, one of the Twelve, betrayed Jesus to the enemies: “And Judas, the betrayer of Him, also knew this place, because Jesus often gathered there with His disciples” (John 18:2).
Why did Judas Iscariot betray Christ? From the Gospels it can be understood that the main motive for betrayal is money. But many researchers are not satisfied with this explanation. First of all, they doubt that negligible amount - 30 pieces of silver - for which he allegedly agreed to betrayal (Matt. 26:15). If Judas “was a thief,” as John says (John 12:6), and, while holding the position of treasurer, appropriated part of the public money, then wasn’t it more profitable for him to remain in the “party” and continue to quietly steal money from the public treasury? Why did he have to, figuratively speaking, kill a goose that lays golden eggs?
Over the past two millennia, many hypotheses have been invented to explain the heinous act of Judas Iscariot. For example, we can name only the most famous of them:
Judas was disappointed in Jesus as in the Messiah, and, seething with anger, betrayed him to his enemies;
Judas wanted to see if Jesus could be saved and thereby prove that he was the true Messiah;
Jesus and Judas were in cahoots, intending to provoke the revolt that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would inevitably raise upon the news of the arrest of the beloved prophet from Galilee;
Jesus publicly predicted that one of his disciples would betray him, and when none of them wanted to do so, Judas decided to save the authority of his beloved teacher by sacrificing his own reputation.
As we can see, scholars of New Testament texts can hardly be blamed for a lack of imagination. But the trouble with all these intellectual exercises that they cannot be confirmed by any concrete facts. The extreme scarcity of information even gave rise to serious doubts about the reality of this whole story.
There were researchers who decided that neither betrayal, nor even Judas himself, had ever happened at all, that this was only an idle fiction of the evangelists, who retroactively adjusted their texts to the well-known Old Testament prophecy: “Even a man at peace with me, on whom I relied, who ate bread mine, he lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 40:10). Considering that this prophecy was bound to be fulfilled in Jesus, the evangelists allegedly invented a certain Judas from Carioth, a close disciple with whom the teacher repeatedly broke bread, and who subsequently betrayed him.
In my opinion, there is no reason not to trust the evangelists who claim that Judas committed treason for money. This version, as we will see a little later, perfectly explains both the motives for the betrayal and the logic of all subsequent events. And if everything can be explained simply, then why invent some super-complex semantic constructions? After all, "Occam's razor" has not yet been canceled! In addition, as it is easy to see, all hypotheses that contradict the basic, gospel version of events, Judas is actually rehabilitated, they are presented not as a banal thief and miser, but as a man high idea ready to risk for her not only his own good name, but even by life itself: if he betrays Jesus, then either he is disappointed in him as the Messiah, or he is burning with the desire to push him to the implementation of the messianic plan.
Is not much honor to Judas?
In general, if you choose any one version of betrayal, then, in my opinion, it is best to stop at the gospel. It is both simpler and closer to the truth of life. And if this version is also slightly corrected, then it, perhaps, can become the best of all possible.
As can be understood from the Gospels, Judas committed his betrayal more than once, not at the very end social activities Jesus, but was unfaithful to him for a long time. The Evangelist John has an episode where Jesus, long before his last trip to Jerusalem, announces to the apostles that one of them is a traitor (John 6:70-71). As a rule, this is interpreted as an example of Christ's omniscience: many months before the betrayal, he allegedly already knew exactly who would do it. However, another interpretation is possible: last trip has not yet begun, and will not even begin soon, and Judas is already betraying him with might and main, and this somehow became known to Jesus ...
I think I won't be much mistaken if I say that Judas Iscariot was none other than a paid agent of the high priest, introduced into Christ's entourage.
Eka, that's enough! - doubt, perhaps, the reader. - Where are the facts? Where is the evidence?
In fact, I have no direct evidence (as, indeed, all other researchers who put forward hypotheses that actually rehabilitate Judas), but there are more than enough indirect ones!
Let's start with the fact that Judas, most likely, was among the 12 apostles a stranger. The nickname of Judas - Iscariot (in Aramaic - ish Kariot) - literally means "a man from Kariot." At that time, there were two towns called Kariot, and both were located outside the Galilee. If we agree that Judas was born in one of these towns, then it turns out that he was the only ethnically pure Jew among the Galilean apostles.
And as we know from historical documents, between the population of Galilee and Judea - two Jewish regions - there has long been mutual hostility. Due to the fact that Galilee joined the Mosaic religion relatively late, the Jews considered the Galileans ignorant in the Law and did not want to consider them their fellow tribesmen. We know the statement of Johanan ben Zakkai, a student of the famous Hillel, filled with arrogant contempt towards the inhabitants of this region: “Galilee! Galileo! Most of all you hate the Torah!
The inhabitants of Galilee, of course, paid the Jews in the same coin.
The Jewish origin of Judas in itself, of course, still cannot prove anything, moreover, Jesus himself was “of the tribe of Judah” (Heb. 7:14), but it still leads to some thoughts. Everything is clear with Jesus, he lived in Galilee from an early age, but what about Judas? For what purpose did he, a purebred Jew, show up here? At the call of the heart, or doing some secret task? By the way, there is nothing incredible in this last assumption. Of course, rumors reached Jerusalem about an extraordinary prophet from Galilee, who was gathering crowds of thousands for his sermons and, most likely, was planning to transfer his activities to the territory of Judea.
Worried about the disturbing rumors, the “chiefs of the Jews” could send their man, Judas Iscariot, to Jesus under the guise of an ardent neophyte, with an assignment to infiltrate Christ’s inner circle. Judas, as we know, was able to brilliantly cope with the task, not only becoming one of the chosen Twelve, but also managing to get the position of treasurer.
Another, even more preferable, version of his betrayal is possible. Already being an apostle, Judas was the first to realize that Jesus did not want to become the king of Israel, and, as a result, no high position ahead of him, Judas, shines. And then, disappointed and embittered, he decided to at least earn something on this business. Arriving in Jerusalem, he offered to the enemies of Jesus his services as a secret spy ...
Having become accustomed to the environment of Jesus, Judas began to send secret information to his masters in Jerusalem. Perhaps he himself, under one or another plausible pretext, from time to time went away to Jerusalem. There is an interesting episode in the Gospel of John that suggests just such an idea. Jesus, preparing to feed 5,000 people, asks the Apostle Philip: “Where can we buy bread to feed them? .. Philip answered Him: they will not have enough bread for 200 denarii ...” (John 6: 6,7).
But, excuse me, what does Philip have to do with it?! After all, as we remember, Jesus' "caretaker" was none other than Judas Iscariot! Where was he at this time? Archpriest S. Bulgakov believes that Judas did not immediately become treasurer, and before him this position was allegedly held by Philip. The assumption is doubtful, if only because chronologically this episode refers to the end of the 3-year public ministry of Jesus. The question is, how could the apostle Philip be guilty of a teacher if, having been a treasurer most term, was suddenly forced to cede this post to Judas? Wouldn't it be more logical to make the assumption that Judas was always in charge of the "cash box", and at that time he was simply absent, transferring his functions to Philip for a while?
Kiss of Judas
As you can see, Jesus became aware quite early that one of his closest disciples was a snitch. He could have been warned about this by some influential Jerusalem friends who had, to one degree or another, access to the high priest's entourage. For example, Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, prominent Jerusalem nobles and secret disciples of Christ, could do this. But even they, apparently, for a very long time did not know all the details of this case and, in particular, the name secret agent. "Watch out! - such messages, obviously, they sent to Jesus. - There is an enemy in your environment! True, we don’t know his name yet, but as soon as something turns out, we will immediately inform you!”
Attention should be paid to one important circumstance: Jesus, not considering it necessary to hide from the apostles the information about the presence of a traitor among them, did not immediately give his name, limiting himself at first to hints: “Did I not choose twelve of you? but one of you is a devil” (John 6:70). It is hardly the job of Jesus to intrigue his disciples. Most likely, he himself did not know the whole truth then. And only during the Last Supper, approximately 5 months later, did he finally reveal the name of the traitor to the Apostle John (John 21:26). Such a long delay may be explained by the fact that Jesus recognized this terrible secret only on his last visit to Jerusalem. It was during these few days that his Jerusalem friends were somehow able to find out the name of the secret agent Caiaphas and tell Jesus.
In John's account, the scene looks like this: “Jesus was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at each other, wondering who he was talking about. One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at the chest of Jesus. Simon Peter made a sign to him to ask who it was, about whom he was talking. He leaned against the chest of Jesus and said to Him: Lord! who is this? Jesus answered: the one to whom I, having dipped a piece of bread, will give. And having dipped a piece, he gave it to Judas Simonov Iscariot.” And after this piece Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him: whatever you do, do it quickly. But none of those reclining understood why He said this to him. And as Judas had a box, some thought that Jesus was telling him: buy what we need for the holiday, or to give something to the poor. He, having taken a piece, immediately went out; but it was night” (John 13:21-30).
According to Matthew, the apostles, after Jesus announced to them that one of them was a traitor, began vying to ask: “Is it not me?” Even Judas could not resist, he asked: “Is it not me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered the traitor, "You said" (Matthew 26:25).
To the modern ear, the expression "You say" or "You said" sounds evasive. But at that time it was often used when the answer was not quite pleasant for the interlocutor. The then, different from the present, concepts of politeness forbade saying “yes” or “no” directly.
What endurance Jesus had! Knowing that before him was a traitor, he not only did not shout, not only did not slap the scoundrel in the face, but answered politely, as if trying not to offend him!
None of those present, with the exception of John and perhaps Peter, did not understand the meaning of Jesus' words to Judas. Many of the disciples thought that Jesus gave him, as the treasurer of the "party", some kind of order regarding current economic affairs.
Why didn't Jesus publicly expose the traitor? Hard to say. Perhaps he feared that the apostles would immediately lynch the traitor? Or was he counting on the possible repentance of Judas?
And these words: “What are you doing, do it quickly”? What do they mean? A great many interpretations have been offered, even as ridiculous as the possibility of a conspiracy between Jesus and Judas. Jesus, allegedly planning to suffer without fail in Jerusalem, agreed with Judas to hand him over to the authorities. And with these words I wanted to support him morally, so that he would not doubt.
It would be superfluous to say that this and similar hypotheses look simply offensive to Christ. Judge for yourself: how two farce actors, Jesus and Judas, are secretly arranging some kind of cheap performance ... Brr!
I think everything can be explained much more simply: the presence of a traitor was simply physically unbearable for Jesus, and he, under any pretext, tried to remove him from the house where the Supper took place.
Delete something - deleted, and then what? What else could be expected from Judas? Will he immediately run after the guards, or will he be ashamed of his vile intention? Just think, it depended on Judas the traitor how much time Jesus had left to live!
Will he betray or not betray? This question greatly troubled Jesus right up to his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And the traitor did not think to repent! After leaving Jesus, he hurried to the house of Caiaphas. It is unlikely that a detachment of warriors ready for action could be waiting for him there. If this were so, then Jesus would probably have been seized at the Last Supper. And the evangelists unanimously affirm that quite a long time passed between Judas' departure from the Supper and his arrest in Gethsemane. Jesus managed to address the disciples with a long sermon, washed the feet of all the apostles, instituted the Eucharist, after which, having "sung" the psalms - that means, without haste - they all went out of the city, to Gethsemane (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26). It is clear that all this took several long hours.
During this time, the high priest gathered his servants, arming them with clubs and stakes, and for greater reliability sent to the Roman procurator for help. After all the preparations, the “capturing group” went after Jesus. Judas was the guide - as well knowing the habits of his former teacher. Perhaps the guards first raided the house where The Last Supper, and not finding anyone, then they already went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where, as Judas knew, Jesus often spent his nights: “Judas, the betrayer of Him, also knew this place, because Jesus often gathered there with His disciples” (John 18 :2).
In fact, Jesus was there. Tormented by anxious forebodings, he fervently prayed, hoping that the "chalice" of suffering, if possible, would pass him (Matt. 26:37-42; Mark 14:33-36; Luke 22:42-44).
Why did Jesus not make the slightest attempt to save himself, if, apparently, he perfectly understood that this night could be his last? Why did he stay where he was, knowing that the traitor could appear at any moment with the guards in the garden?
We can only guess about this now. Evangelists do not tell us anything about this, and perhaps they themselves do not know. From their stories it is only clear that Jesus, firstly, was not going to leave the Garden of Gethsemane anywhere and, secondly, did not want to be captured at all. What did he expect then?
Perhaps Jesus hoped that the traitor's conscience might speak, and he would abandon his vile intention? Or that the chief priests would delay the arrest until after the feast, and thus have time for him to elude them? Or did Jesus believe that it was on this night that the ancient prophecy about the suffering Messiah (Isaiah 53), which he fully attributed to himself, was destined to be fulfilled, and decided this time not to run away from fate?
One way or another, but his hopes for deliverance, or at least for a reprieve, did not come true. Soon, the Garden of Gethsemane was illuminated by the wavering light of many torches, and Judas Iscariot appeared at the head of the armed people ...
The Gospels say that for all his "feats" Judas received 30 pieces of silver as a reward (Matt. 26:15). Not much! This fact is very confusing for many researchers. It seems to them that it is necessary to pay much more for such deeds, and if the evangelists insist on this particular amount, it means that the whole episode with pieces of silver is invented, completely adjusted to the ancient prophecy: “And they will weigh thirty pieces of silver in payment to me” ( Zech. 11:12).
Meanwhile, all doubts can be easily dispelled by assuming that 30 pieces of silver were not a one-time reward, but a payment regularly received by Judas. Say, once a month he reported to the high priest, after which he received the due 30 pieces of silver. For a one-time reward, this is, in fact, not much, but if you receive such a bribe regularly, then it is in principle possible to live without particularly luxury. By the way, according to the Book of Acts of the Apostles, Judas, after the execution of Jesus, did not even think of repenting, much less committing suicide. Intending to live happily ever after, he “gained the land with unrighteous wages” (Acts 1:18).
It is unlikely that for 30 pieces of silver it was possible to acquire a decent plot. Most likely, Judas took the money received over several years from the high priest, added to it what he managed to drag from the "cash box", and when a more or less significant amount was made, he went to buy real estate. According to Acts, he died by pure chance, falling from a height: “And as he fell, his belly was split open, and all his bowels fell out” (Acts 1:19).
This version of Judas' death is strikingly different from the one we know from Matthew. According to him, Judas, tormented by repentance, “threw the pieces of silver in the temple” and “strangled himself” (Matt. 27:5). Many interpreters have made attempts to combine these two testimonies into one coherent episode, presenting the case in such a way that at first Judas hanged himself, and then his corpse fell off the rope and “sat down” from hitting the ground. Let's assume that it was. But then what kind of money did Judas throw in the Temple, if he had already acquired the land? Or did you sell the land you just bought specifically for this?
In general, if you choose from these two versions, then, in my opinion, much more believable story death of Judas, told by the author of Acts. There are no far-fetched melodramatic moments and dubious psychological torments in it, which are hardly characteristic of a traitor who decided to cash in on this business. Everything is much simpler and rougher: he sold the teacher - he bought the land! And the death of Judas, described in Acts, is more natural: he died not in a fit of repentance, but as a result of an accident, falling from a height. True, there were attempts to depict his fall as revenge on the part of the supporters of Christ, who supposedly pushed the traitor off a cliff, but this is already the purest water conjectures that cannot be proven.
The main theme of Leonid Andreev's story "Judas Iscariot" can be defined as an attempt at the most important betrayal in the history of mankind. The author interprets the plot in his own way, tries to penetrate into the very depths of the human soul, tries to understand the nature internal contradictions Judas, study his psychology and perhaps even find an excuse for his actions.
The gospel story, in the center of which lies the image of Jesus Christ, is described by Andreev from a different position, his attention is completely riveted on only one disciple, the one who, for thirty pieces of silver, doomed his Teacher to suffering on the cross and death. The author proves that Judas Iscariot is much nobler in love for Christ than many of his faithful disciples. Taking upon himself the sin of betrayal, he supposedly saves the cause of Christ. He appears before us sincerely loving Jesus and immeasurably suffering from a misunderstanding of his feelings by those around him. Departing from the traditional interpretation of the personality of Judas, Andreev supplements the image with fictitious details and episodes. Judas Iscariot divorced his wife and left her without a livelihood, forced to wander in search of food. God did not give him children, because he did not want his offspring. And there is no story about the competition of the apostles in throwing stones, in which the false Judas Iscariot won.
Traitor personality analysis
The author invites the reader to evaluate Judas not from the point of view of his actions, but in accordance with the feelings and passions that raged in the soul of this greedy, deceitful and treacherous Jew. Much attention is given in the book appearance traitor, his duality began precisely with the face. One side, alive, had a sharp all-seeing eye and crooked wrinkles, while the other was deadly motionless, and the blind eye was covered with a white veil. And the whole skull, for some inexplicable reason, was divided in two, showing that there was no agreement in his thoughts either. gave him a demonic look, as if given by the Devil.
The neighborhood of such an image with the divine beauty of Jesus struck and caused misunderstanding on the part of other disciples. Peter, John and Thomas are unable to understand the reasons why the Son of God brought this ugly man closer to himself, this embodiment of a false vice, and pride seizes them. And Jesus loved his disciple as well as everyone else. At a time when the heads of the apostles are occupied with thoughts of the Kingdom of Heaven, Judas lives in real world, lies, as it seems to him, for the good, steals money for a poor harlot, saves the Teacher from the enraged crowd. He is shown with everyone human dignity and shortcomings. Judas Iscariot sincerely believes in Christ, and even deciding to betray him, in his soul he hopes for God's justice. He follows Jesus until his death and believes that a miracle will happen, but no magic happens, and Christ dies like an ordinary person.
The inglorious end of the red-haired Jew
Realizing what he has done, Judas sees no other way but to end his life. By his suicide, he says goodbye to Jesus forever, for the gates of heaven are now closed to him forever. This is how another, new Judas Iscariot appears before us. Andreev tried to awaken people's consciousness, to make them think about the psychology of betrayal, to rethink their actions and life guidelines.
Why did Judas betray Christ?
Judas Iscariot is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, who understood the origin of the teacher and knew the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.
According to L.N. Andreeva, Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus, was an unusual person. From the very beginning and throughout the story, the author showed the mystery, the extraordinaryness of Judas. The appearance of Judas is a face "as if from two halves", his actions: he always lied, the lie was so characteristic of him that those around him did not attach it special significance but only laughed at Judas. His actions raise many questions, such as the act when he defended Jesus. Judas' friends don't think about it. They do not understand why Judas does this, but they do not ask him questions, because Judas is such a person and this cannot be changed. When his listeners do not see anything interesting in the stories of Judas, Judas begins to add a few lies - the public becomes interested; They are laughing.
Then Judas begins to lie more and more and in the end he hears discontent. For example, when he spoke about his parents, the audience did not like it, but Judas remained unconvinced. Or in the story about the dog, where the listeners laughed, he admitted that he lied "a little". By these oddities of Judas, the author wanted to show, to single him out of the twelve, to point out that Judas is special and was sent to this earth for a reason. But unfortunately not for good deeds.
Jesus knew, knew from the very beginning, that Judas was not an ordinary man, not like the other disciples. Jesus loved Judas, but apparently it wasn't enough for him. Judas wanted to more love your teacher. He began an obsessive fight for the teacher's love. His goal was so blind that he did not even understand that Jesus did not encourage his actions, but he continued and without understanding asked the question "Why does He not love me?".
In pursuit of his teacher's love, Judas saw himself as a "beautiful, beautiful Judas", but in fact he became more terrible and tougher.
I believe Judas Iscariot was kind and a good man, his soul was pure, but at a certain moment such temptations as greed, greed began to eat his soul. They did not destroy it to the end, he realized his act, only too late.
Why did Judas betray Christ? I have two answers to this question. Based on Andreev's story, where Judas is an unusual, strange character from the very beginning, we can say that he was sent by fate to betray Jesus. Judas is not to blame, that was his destiny. The second version is Judas, a man who succumbed to temptations, a man who let greed get into his soul and died of remorse.
Jesus - a wise man taught to forgive. Judas must be forgiven. Justifications for his act, questions "Why? Why?" found in literature over the years, but I believe Judas loved his teacher, but was obsessed with His love.
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Updated: 2017-09-27
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COMMENTARY AN AMATEUR.
Is it necessary to justify Judas?.. The question is strange, to say the least. Does a person who sincerely believes in Christ have the right to try to justify the one who betrayed Christ, and whose name has become synonymous with betrayal? Is it a human thing to talk at all about the affairs of God as if oneself, on an equal footing, was their accomplice? Christian theme, I was sometimes surprised - among talented, erudite people - the desire to explain the betrayal of one of the twelve Apostles in some other way than is generally accepted. Over time, I found an explanation for this.
THE EVENT that happened 2000 years ago in Jerusalem is closely within the framework of the Four Gospels - it excites too many hearts and minds, as they say, informally - regardless of trust in every word of the New Testament texts. It worries me too. In the Lord Jesus we have been given the mystery of the Epiphany, which happened 2,000 years ago. To reveal, to know this secret seeks, probably, any indifferent human heart every living mind.
However, I would not have dared to publicly discuss the topic of religion, if not for one very interesting - in its own way, fascinating publication that accidentally caught my eye on the Internet. This is the "Apocryphal Study" by Sergei Mikhailov "The Justification of Judas, or the Twelfth Wheel of the World Chariot". In it, the author tries to destroy the "thoughtless faith of the broad masses in the established tradition", subjecting the analysis of the gospel texts and giving his own explanation of the motives for the behavior of the ex-Apostle.
Immediately after reading, I had a burning desire to object to the author. And without thinking twice, I burst into a comment, which, along with the text of Sergei Mikhailov, I immediately published on my page in prose.ru under the screaming headline “God is not a fryer!” But, having cooled down, two days later, the hasty comment was deleted - it seemed unconvincing to me.
I cannot compete with Sergei Mikhailov in erudition, my knowledge in the biblical (in particular, the New Testament) sphere is extremely meager. Besides, having been baptized in Orthodoxy, I do not dare to call myself fully churched. But I love Christ sincerely and honor Him as the true Savior of the human race. Therefore, I hope that I have the right to give my own - albeit a biased, emotional - assessment of the act of Christ-seller Judas.
___________________
The universe in which we live is conceived and executed by the Creator as a space of restlessness. Everything flows, everything changes. Something new constantly arises, the old dies, under the influence of polar forces. In the spiritual sphere, these forces, being personified in Good and Evil, as a result of interaction, can adopt the external features of each other, remaining essentially unchanged. Good creates, strives for perfection, and embodies the intentions of the Creator into reality. Evil only destroys and cannot create anything durable. After all, Evil is self-destructive. For Eternity, in which God abides, only that remains that corresponds to His plans for the perfect. And a person who is constantly on the field of interaction between the forces of creation and destruction does not have an accurate idea of the final result of such interaction. Therefore, in order not to fall into despondency, not to go crazy, having lost the main instrument of his survival - the mind, he can only hope that in the future he will be numbered with Eternity. In other words, a person needs Faith...
The Son of God appeared on Earth with a specific mission - at a certain historical time when a person's adaptation to environment no longer required the tension of all physical strength. And survival in a hostile environment, among their own kind, required more and more spiritual strength. In addition, the faith of the Jews in the One God - the Creator of all that exists, not directly identified with the elements of nature, and in the Messiah - His Messenger predetermined the appearance of Christ at this particular point in space-time. We can only guess what the ultimate goal of this mission is, and this guess is based on the very history of the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, passed from mouth to mouth, eyewitnesses, participants in those events and their immediate followers. But not only! The appearance of Jesus Christ, whose image has been living in the hearts of people since then, seems to be interpreted excessively narrowly with reference only to Palestine, Judea, Jerusalem at the beginning of our era ... In other words, the Savior is not so much our Past, but the Present and Future. It is between the past and the future - in the time dimension - that Christ was crucified. But with God's help, the Good News about Him has reached us in the form of the New Testament. And I am convinced that the majority of the people who made it up not only sincerely loved Christ, but were also inspired by the Holy Spirit - that power that a person can perceive only with intuition of the most disinterested, self-sacrificing order. However, as Sergei Mikhailov rightly notes, “ Christian tradition was created over many centuries, ”and the canonical text of the New Testament, if I am not mistaken, was finally adopted only at the Fifth or Sixth Trull Council in 692 AD. e. A fair number of apocryphal texts not included in the canon also survive. All these texts - canonical and apocrypha - subsequently became the subject of serious study and many publications that are now available, thanks to the Internet, a wide range readers. Therefore, I will not specifically dwell on this topic - it is immense, but I will only tell about my purely feeling, seeing the image of Jesus Christ and the motives for betraying Him by Judas.
In my opinion, the main task before Christ was to start the healing process human soul from the spiritual blindness born of Original Sin. And also - to morally orient humanity on a new round of its development, in a qualitatively different spiritual space that opens before it, where the same confrontation between Good and Evil takes place. And it so happened on Earth that the Son of God, for the sake of this task, had to sacrifice himself, revealing clearest example the role that spiritually and physically, from now on, a person is called to play as an ally of God in His struggle against Evil - on the side of Good. It is sometimes difficult to reconcile the example of Christ with the way of life and fortitude ordinary person but this is the ideal to which God calls us to aspire.
The mission of Christ came into irreconcilable contradiction with the goals and objectives of Satan, for whom the desire to destroy everything created, created by God, is the meaning of existence. And the devil was very successful in opposing the Son of God, but ... was defeated by Christ's Resurrection. It is in the Resurrection, in the historical reality of this Event - scientifically (a matter of Faith!) convinced atheists hardly ever proven - the main hope of those who believe in Christ!*
As for Judas, he had two ways: to betray or not to betray. Having betrayed, he took the side of the devil, the Destroyer. And any attempt to justify it, even based on the contradictions of the evidence of that time, in my opinion, is doubtful.
Sergei Mikhailov in his research comes to the “paradoxical” conclusion that Judas was “the only one of the twelve Apostles who sincerely believed Jesus and who did not forget a single word of his prophecies.” That "Jesus gave the world a chance, and that chance was in his death." And Judas, they say, who sacrificed himself for the sake of truth, so much so that he did not even wait for the “third day” of the Resurrection to make sure of its triumph by committing suicide, allegedly he was only a conscientious executor of the prophecy given by Jesus and His will. "... for he (Judas) is the only one who understood, fully comprehended the meaning of earthly life and, most importantly, the death of Jesus Christ ...".
In contrast to this statement, I will ask one single question: why did Judas then not go with Jesus to the end - to judgment and death on the cross After all, it is obvious that Judas did not love Christ if, having betrayed Him, he no longer hoped for His forgiveness, because in such a situation, being extremely proud and proud, he certainly would not have forgiven. And Jesus forgave! For, feeling sorry for Judas, at the Last Supper he said about him: “... woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed; It would have been better for this man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). But the paradox is that it was pride and pride, having plunged Judas into disgust from his own betrayal, tightened the noose on him.
However, this is only one of the versions put forward by Sergei Mikhailov. Another one - argued by excerpts from the Gospel, ultimately boils down to the fact that "Jesus came into the world with already ready-made scenario...”, in which “...a special place was prepared for Judas - the place of the “villain”. Jesus played everything as if by notes - and did not miscalculate: none of the actors let him down. End of quote.
Lord, yes there was no "scenario"! God is not a fryer, he sees everything, we cannot play blindly with Him. But He is not a puppeteer, like puppets, pulling our strings! He gave us free will, limited only by the duration of our lives and circumstances that we can not always resist physically, but ALWAYS - spiritually! And we ourselves must make our choice between Good and Evil, spiritual life or spiritual death. That is why God gave us reason. Therefore, the events, as a result of which Jesus was betrayed and crucified, could have turned out quite differently if the “actors” had made a different choice! But what, couldn't they?.. Then Jesus became a hostage of a situation in which, by the will of God, His fate was determined not by God, not by the host of Heaven, but by the rough cruel laws of earthly existence. It was not for nothing that Jesus, in a bloody sweat, prayed in Gethsemane: “My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from me...” (Matt. 26:39). And did Jesus restrict the free will of those around Him? Yes, He prophesied about his Destiny! Not only that, He certainly knew what would happen, as it later happened. And this knowledge was based on His deepest insight into the souls of people. But they, as reasonable people, had freedom of choice. And did God the Father, from the time of Adam, limit it for man? He sent his Son to Earth not so that people would reject Him and crucify Him, but with the Good News about the approach of the Kingdom of Heaven, about reconciliation with man and about releasing him from the bonds of hell, where man imprisoned himself.
The problem of choice was even before Jesus the man - earthly, feeling physical pain. But I doubt very much that we have the right to somehow separate the divine essence of Christ from the purely natural, human. In other words, the spiritual and physical principles in Him, merged together, were presented in such a completeness that it did not mean that Jesus could make any other choice than the one He did - the most severe torments of torture and death on the cross - as the sacrifice of God, in the name of the Salvation of the human race.
The problem of choice also confronted Judas. Known and final result: He betrayed Christ. And not from some, albeit erroneous, but sincere motives of an orthodox Jew who saw in Jesus the “destroyer” of the Temple of Faith. Moreover - not for the sake of the exaltation of Christ and then the subsequent approval of a new - Christian Faith. And for the sake of deceived their expectations, unsatisfied pride! Judas, as a close disciple, who saw the miracles performed by Jesus and, perhaps, partially and for a time also endowed with the gift of miracles, may have judged quite earthly sensibly: Jesus will not sacrifice himself in a situation where EVERYTHING turns against Him and His mission . Surely He will find a way to save Himself and His Teaching. As a last resort, as the Son of God, he will call on the Heavenly host for His salvation. So, thanks to this, he will gain fame and become the Messiah, the King of the Jews. When he realized that he had miscalculated, then - out of annoyance, out of vile, but useless revenge on the crucified Jesus - he strangled himself. What did he hope for by committing suicide? After all, without the hope of deliverance, some change in fate, a person does not even lay hands on himself! The question is beyond the earthly answer...
Sergei Mikhailov, on the other hand, gives the following explanation: “Jesus was resurrected - and with his resurrection brought back to life eleven of his cowardly disciples. What about the twelfth? Did he learn about the triumph of his faith - there, in the other world? Perhaps there, next to God, he finally found peace and eternal life, free from human curses against the "traitor" and the shameful stigma of "Judas"?
Well, well: Judas “found” THERE, but how can we be HERE? Rejoice that the traitor does not care about our curses, and evil - and not evil at all, and so ... the path to virtue? .. Yes, the Lord has the right to forgive even Judas, but a person does not have such a right! Because then, following the justification of the sin of Judas, who betrayed the Son of God (God, in fact!), any sin by a person can be justified. And what then - "forgive-goodbye" spiritual foundations human being?.. But the MIND, THAT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ANY MORAL LIMITS OVER ITSELF, IS LIMITED IN ITSELF AND IS POSSIBLE ONLY FOR DEGRADATION AND SELF-DESTRUCTION. This is what history proves – and the fate of those who undertook to determine history by transgressing, or even “saddling” the commandments of God.
Of course, not only Judas was to blame for the captivity and crucifixion of Jesus. Under the yoke of Rome, Palestine lived at that time in anticipation of the Messiah - the ideal King, the Redeemer from Roman rule and the Organizer ** of the just, worthy order of the EARTHLY life of the Jews ... And so: “Someone came from Galilee, calling himself the Son of God, then Son of Man, hobnobs with the common people, heals the blind and lepers, performs miracles, and you ask him: "Are you the King of the Jews?" - answers: "My kingdom is not of this world..." (John 18:36), "Are you the Son of God?" - "You say that I..." (Luke 22:70). Moreover, he drives out merchants from the Temple, promising, moreover, that he will destroy this Temple and raise it up again in three days (Matt. 26:61). Did God send him?
Perhaps this was the reasoning of those on whom the fate of Jesus the man depended. Therefore, no matter how bitter, the tragic feat of Christ's self-sacrifice was inevitable. And God knew that He was sending His Son to certain death! To death, but also to the Resurrection, the trampling of death! He knew that surely His Son would be betrayed and crucified. Nevertheless, He did this to show people how limitless He is to them - beings, limited by time, circumstances of earthly life and opportunities. human feelings and understanding - trusts. He then showed how much he loved the people He had created, that he even determined his Son to LIVE, to die as a martyr, but also to RESURRECTION among them - mere mortals. And His Son lived among us, not just like that, out of “rational considerations” – “to found a new religion”, to sacrifice himself. Not in order to impose, "arrange" paradise, the kingdom of heaven on Earth. And so that for the Kingdom of Heaven, following His example, we ourselves change - according to our free will. This, I think, is the meaning of the high mission of Christ!
As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the world, the beginning of which was laid by Original sin, by physical suffering before death. As the Son of God, He saved our souls from eternal hell. No wonder he is called Christ the Savior. In the person of Jesus, for the first time since the fall of Adam, God was reconciled with sinful man, giving him an example of humility and showing him the way to gain the fullness of being. Adherents of other beliefs, teachings, or atheists are free to share or not share this point of view. You can love Judas and hate Christ. You can appeal to historical facts”, “refuting” even the very fact of the existence of the Son of God on Earth. But you have to be suicidal and insane so that, remaining one-on-one with your conscience, in front of the black future hole of bodily self-non-existence, do not recognize the moral correctness of the Teachings of Christ, do not hope for the salvation of the soul!
Now one can only guess why Jesus chose Judas among the other disciples. Perhaps he hoped that Judas would nevertheless overcome in himself that dark thing that managed to incarnate into him, sinless at birth. Perhaps meeting Jesus was his only chance to escape the chains of hell. And not at all in order to fulfill "destined from above", Judas was included in the number of Apostles chosen by Christ. For Jesus, being, in essence, the Son of God, then lived on Earth as a mere mortal - and was only inspired by the Holy Spirit and infinite Divine Grace. And so, in order to try to save the "unsaved", Jesus chose Judas among the twelve. That is my point of view. It seems that it was Judas that Jesus cherished and pitied more than the other disciples. And not because he loved more than others - He shed His Light on everyone equally. But because he saw how the soul of the future Christ-seller is far from lofty selfless aspirations. Judas, however, not only did not take advantage of the chance to save his own soul, but completely excluded it for himself. Worldly grasp, mundane mind forced him to choose a different path. But his calculation - to rise next to the "King of the Jews" - did not materialize. Whether Judas hung himself out of annoyance that he had miscalculated, whether from fear of retribution or too late, in his own way, he realized the extent of the evil he had done, is not important. Another thing is important: Judas did not see Christ's Resurrection, not because he hanged himself until the "third day", but because he was spiritually blind even earlier, and even Jesus could not heal him of this blindness. Judas destroyed his soul, completely surrendering to the power of darkness, in the vain hope that it was from darkness that he would receive retribution. The abyss of despair that opens before the betrayer of "Innocent Blood" (Matt. 27:4) is the result of such a choice.
Jesus said of him, “It would have been better if this man had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). Sergey Mikhailov, as a result of the analysis, puts forward the assumption that Jesus said so because “... human anger is righteous and terrible! However, often - too often! – unjust...” But was it fair that Jesus was put on trial and crucified? Is it in just anger: "Crucify Him!" (Mark 15:13 - 14) - shouted to Pilate the inhabitants and guests of Jerusalem who had gathered in the square near the praetoria? Yes, they were deceived. This was not the kind of Messiah they expected. But Jesus did not claim to be king either. He entered Jerusalem not as the Ruler of the earth, but as a Teacher, a preacher with pure (white donkey) sincere thoughts - to serve God. However, the high priests saw in Him their enemy – the destroyer of their lifetime well-being. Surely through the servants and false gossip about Him spread. Perhaps these gossips and the argument were “deadly”: “How is it!?. He entered Jerusalem as the King, the Messiah, and drove out not the adversaries-Romans, but the merchants from the Temple! ..” How many lies sometimes need to be mixed in order to direct the crowd in the “right direction” ... And how could Jesus justify himself before the angry crowd even if His most faithful disciples fled in fear!
In the end, Sergei Mikhailov comes to the conclusion: “If Judas had not committed “betrayal”, Jesus would not have been crucified on the cross and the miracle of the resurrection would not have happened on the third day. The work begun by Jesus would not have been crowned with success, and new religion– Christianity – would not take root in ancient land Jewish. Without the sacrifice of Judas, the sacrifice of Jesus loses all meaning. The "betrayal" of Judas thus became a powerful catalyst and a necessary component of the religious-historical mission of Jesus."
That's how it is!.. A good deed, but it started with evil?.. It turns out that one person must drown in the pool of sin in order for another to rise to heaven? Is this elevation true? And then what's the point of becoming a "drowned"? Or, if Judas hadn’t rushed in “so in time”, Jesus would not have been seized by those who hated Him? every day I sat with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not take Me.” (Matthew 25:55)
Yes, and religion - a cult, a ritual - are alive only as long as the adherents of the cult communicate with the LIVING God in their souls, as long as they follow the example of the Living God. Even if, making mistakes, “giving up the slack”... The Creator knew beforehand that He would deal with a being, only conceived by Him to aspire to perfection. But - to aspire, and not to freeze in inertness! Or more than that, hiding behind the name of God, to do evil, spiritual and physical obscenity. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword…” (Matt. 10:34) The sword is not for fratricide on the battlefield, but the “sword” of struggle for disinterestedness, sincerity alive in the hearts of the Faith! Are all who call themselves Christians ready for such a mission?
And further (quotation inside the quote): "Indeed," God became a man completely, but became a man down to his baseness, a man down to his abomination and abyss. To save us ... he became Judas ..." "God did not want so that His terrifying secret would become known on earth" - and therefore hid from the world his second - dark, or human - hypostasis (Judas), opposing it to the light, or divine (Jesus). End of quote.
What can I say? .. I see a substitution here. The ways of the Lord, though inscrutable, are not cunning, sinless. Only our perception of the Creator can be crafty, due to the sinfulness that has taken root in us by willfulness. And in God - all the Good, all the Good, to which no abomination will stick - visible or invisible to man. And, in my opinion, the very fact of the appearance of the God-Man on Earth is much more important - a living, unfading shoot from the seed of His earthly life and the Good News about it, rather than the subsequent "paradoxical", for the sake of dubious purposes, interpretation of this event by certain "experts" ... And Judas, truly, only God is the judge! For us, if not to justify, then to explain this betrayal by some higher considerations - how to put it mildly ... - is incorrect in relation to God. For what is this loving God if He pushed a person to the path of Evil? Even - based on some of their lofty goals. And that means that it was not God who hid the “dark or human hypostasis” under the guise of Judas, but Satan, who completely took possession of the soul of Judas! After all, even at a moment of extreme despair, Judas, not before God, not at the Cross, before Jesus crucified, but before those who crucified Christ, hastened to “repent”, indirectly blaming them for betrayal: “... I have sinned, betraying innocent blood .. "...what is it to us? See for yourself." (Matt. 27:4).
In conclusion, I ask again: is it necessary to justify Judas?.. Yes, it is necessary! It is necessary for those who, simply speaking, feel sorry for the seller of Christ more than for Christ!
And what about when Everyday life we now and then, - whether because of the prevailing circumstances or out of spiritual laziness, committing meanness, violating the commandments, then we look for an excuse for ourselves? Thus, do we not betray Jesus, the Son of God Who exists in Heaven, and the Son of Man, in ourselves? And then our choice - malicious - sooner or later, a heavy burden falls on us. "...I have sinned by betraying innocent Blood..."
Man is a complex, contradictory being...
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* However, even an atheistic, "scientific" desire to know the nature of our world suggests the original non-randomness (reasonableness) creative beginning of this world and about the original non-randomness of us, who call ourselves “reasonable” and creatively explore this world.
** I believe, such a "Organizer" for the inhabitants of the Earth, before the End of the World and Last Judgment and become the Antichrist.
