Information has been released about a recently discovered codex containing a work called "The Gospel According to Judas" among several other works of the early Christian period. Tentatively this codex has been dated around the 4th to 5th centuries of the Common Era when other Gnostic writings were copied. However, it is estimated that the original document was written before 180 AD. The news probably created more of a stir because it was released just prior to this year's holy season in the Christian church.
According to the traditional gospels, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, supposedly betrayed Jesus with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was then arrested and executed the next day by crucifixion on a cross. One explanation in the gospels is that Judas did the dastardly deed for a ransom of 30 pieces of silver. Later he repented and was to have tossed the silver into the temple and went out and hung himself.
According to the Judas version in the codex, Judas claims that he was Jesus' favorite disciple and betrayed Jesus because Jesus told him to do so. In a direct quote from the text, Jesus was to have said to Judas, "You will exceed all of them [the other disciples] for you will sacrifice the man who clothes me." This would refer to Jesus' mortal body. This is an interesting interpretation because at the last supper, Jesus indicates that he knows who is to betray him. Of course this was all written after the fact, and we don't really know what was said at that meal. Much of it would be a re-casting of the event by the gospel writers in light of material found in the Hebrew Scriptures, a process that Biblical Scholars refer to as proof-texting.
When the news of this discovery broke, I was in the midst of reading John Shelby Spong's latest book, "The Sins of Scripture," published by HarperSanFrancisco. Spong devotes a whole chapter to this Judas Iscariot. I will not go into all the details here. I would suggest you read it for yourself. This book, like all of Spong's books, is exciting and easy to read. I couldn't put it down until I finished reading the book.
Spong makes an excellent case for a later fabrication of the whole story of Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus. First we should understand that the name Iscariot literally means traitor. Spong makes the point that none of the early Christian writings mention this betrayal until the Gospel of Mark was written about forty years after Jesus' death. Paul does use the term betrayal in his description of the sacraments. He says, "Jesus Christ on the night when he was "betrayed," took bread..." However, the word that is usually translated betrayed, literally means "handed over." The word implies no traitorous act.
More importantly, Spong quotes a number of references from the Hebrew Scriptures that describe events similar to those described in the gospels, concerning this event. Were the gospel writers simply creating the betrayal to fit their proof-texting style? He also makes a strong case that the name Judas itself is simply the Greek word for Judah, the nation of the Jews. He suggests that because of the severe persecution of the Jews by the Romans when Mark's gospel was written, it became important for Mark to write in such a way that blame could be laid on the Jews rather than the Romans so that the Christians could avoid the same fate as the Jews. This is an interesting conjecture.
I don't know what really happened back there in Gethsemane on that fateful night, but it is interesting that new information is being uncovered and that modern theologians are taking a new look at this whole troubling situation. Personally, I never understood why it was necessary for someone to finger Jesus. He evidently had become pretty well known around the temple during that week preceding his death. Surely it was not necessary for the authorities to have someone pick him out for them. Spong also makes this point.
If I have intrigued you, I suggest you pick up Spong's latest book. This is just part of his book. He looks at those scriptures from the bible that have led to such things as the destruction of the environment, the case for slavery, the abuse of women and children, and the persecution of homosexuals. However his major point is the creation of anti-Semitism within the Christian church. I agree with him that it is time we expose these few scriptures that have caused so much pain for what they really are. The results of their application surely are at odds with the gospel that Jesus brought to us. The price he paid is too dear to allow these things to fester without exposing the truth. I am sure that those who hold the scriptures to be inerrant would not agree with me, but so be it. I write what I believe, and that is the only honest thing I can do.