Judas is who? How did Judas Iscariot betray Christ?

Biblical stories are the most studied part of the world literature, nevertheless they continue to attract attention and cause heated debates. The hero of our review is the apostle Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ. Iscariot's name as a synonym for betrayal and hypocrisy has long become a household name, but is this accusation fair? Ask any Christian: "Judas is who?" You will be answered: "This is the man guilty of the martyrdom of Christ."

The name is not a sentence

To the fact that Judas - a traitor, we have long been accustomed to. The personality of this character is odious and indisputable. As for the name, then Judas is a very common Jewish name, and these days they are often called sons. In Hebrew it means "praise the Lord." Among the followers of Christ there are several people with this name, therefore, associating it with perfidy, at least, tactlessly.

The History of Judah in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the story of how Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ is presented in an extremely simple way. On a dark night in the Garden of Gethsemane, he pointed to the servants of the high priests, got thirty silver coins for it, and when he realized the horror of the deed, he could not stand the tortures of conscience and managed to get carried away.

For the narrative of the period of the Savior's earthly life, the hierarchy of the Christian church was selected only by four works, sponsored by Luke, Matthew, John and Mark.

The first in the Bible is the Gospel attributed to one of the twelve closest disciples of Christ - the toll of Matthew.

Mark was one of the Seventy Apostles, and his Gospel dates back to the middle of the first century. Luke was not among the disciples of Christ, but presumably lived in the same time as Him. His Gospel is attributed to the second half of the first century.

The last is the Gospel of John. It was written later than others, but contains information missing in the first three, from which we learn most of the information about the hero of our narrative, the apostle named Judah. This work, like the previous ones, was selected by the Fathers of the Church from more than thirty other Gospels. Unrecognized texts began to be called apocrypha.

All four Books can be called parables, or memoirs of unknown authors, since it is not established for certain, who wrote them, or when it was done. The authors question Mark, Matthew, John and Luke. The fact is that the Gospels were at least thirty, but they were not included in the canonical Assembly of Holy Scripture. It is assumed that some of them were destroyed at the time of the formation of the Christian religion, while others are kept in strict secrecy. In the writings of the hierarchs of the Christian church there are references to them, in particular Irenaeus of Lyons and Epiphany of Cyprus, who lived in the second or third centuries, refers to the Gospel of Judah.

The reason for the rejection of the apocryphal Gospels is the Gnosticism of their authors

Irenaeus of Lyons is a famous apologist, that is, the defender and in many ways the founder of the emerging Christian dogma. He belongs to the establishment of the most basic tenets of Christianity, such as the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as well as the primacy of the Pope as the successor to the Apostle Peter.

He expressed the following opinion regarding the personality of Judas Iscariot: Judas is a man who held orthodox views on faith in God. Iscariot, according to Irenaeus of Lyons, was afraid that with the blessing of Christ the faith and establishment of the fathers, that is, the Laws of Moses, would be abolished, and therefore became an accomplice in the arrest of the Teacher. Of the twelve apostles, only Judah was from Judea, for this reason it is assumed that he professed the faith of the Jews. The remaining apostles are Galileans.

The authority of the person Irenaeus Lyonsky is beyond doubt. In his writings, there is criticism of the works about Christ that existed at that time. In the "Refutation of heresies" (175-185 gg.), He writes about the Gospel of Judah as a gnostic work, that is, one that can not be recognized by the Church. Gnosticism is a way of knowing, based on facts and real evidence, and faith is a phenomenon from the category of the unknowable. The Church requires obedience without analytical reflection, that is, an agnostic attitude toward oneself, to the sacraments and to God Himself, for God is a priori unknowable.

Sensational document

In 1978, during the excavations in Egypt, a burial was discovered, where among other things there was a papyrus scroll with the text signed as "The Gospel of Judah". The authenticity of the document is beyond doubt. All possible studies, including textological and radiocarbon methods, gave the conclusion that the document was written in the period from the third to the fourth century of our era. Proceeding from the above facts, it is concluded that the document found is a list from the Gospel of Judah, about which Irenaeus of Lyons writes. Of course, his author is not the disciple of Christ, the apostle Judas Iscariot, but some other Judas, who knew the history of the Son of the Lord well. In this gospel the personality of Judas Iscariot is more clearly represented. Some events in the canonical Gospels are supplemented in this manuscript with details.

New facts

According to the text found, it turns out that the apostle Judas Iscariot is a holy man, and not a scoundrel who has become a trust in the Messiah with the goal of enriching himself or becoming famous. He was loved by Christ and devoted to him almost more than other disciples. It was Judah Christ who revealed all the secrets of Heaven. In the "Gospel of Judas", for example, it is written that it was not the Lord God Himself who created the people, but the spirit of Saklas, the helper of the fallen angel, who had a formidable fire, defiled in blood. Such a revelation contradicted the basic doctrines that were consistent with the opinion of the Fathers of the Christian Church. Unfortunately, the way of the unique document, before it fell into the hands of scientists, was too long and thorny. Most of the papyrus was destroyed.

The myth of Judah is a crude insinuation

The formation of Christianity is truly a mystery with seven seals. The constant cruel struggle against heresy does not paint the founders of the world religion. What is heresy in the understanding of priests? This opinion contradicts the opinion of those who have power and power, and in those days power and power were in the hands of the papacy.

The first images of Judas were made by order of church officials to decorate churches. It was they who dictated how Judas Iscariot should look. Photos of the frescoes of Giotto di Bondone and Cimabue, depicting the kiss of Judas, are presented in the article. Judas looks at them as a low, insignificant and repulsive type, the personification of all the most vilest manifestations of the human personality. But is it possible to imagine such a person among the Savior's closest friends?

Judas cast out demons and healed the sick

We well know that Jesus Christ healed the sick, resurrected the dead, cast out demons. In the canonical Gospels it is said that He taught the same to His disciples (Judas Iscariot is not an exception) and told them to help all those in need and not to take any offerings for it. The demons were afraid of Christ and when they appeared they left the bodies of the people they tortured. How did it happen that the demons of greed, hypocrisy, betrayal and other vices enslaved Judas if he was constantly near the Teacher?

First Doubts

Question: "Judas is someone: treacherous traitor or the very first Christian saint who is awaiting rehabilitation?" Millions ask themselves during the whole history of Christianity. But if in the Middle Ages for the scoring of this issue inevitably relied on the auto-da-fe, then in our days we got the opportunity to get to the truth.

In the years 1905-1908. In the "Theological Bulletin" a series of articles by Professor Mitrotan Dmitrievich Muretov, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, an Orthodox theologian, was published. They were called "Judas traitor".

In them, the professor expressed doubts that Judas, believing in the deity of Jesus, could betray Him. Indeed, even in the canonical Gospels there is no complete agreement on the avarice of the apostle. The story of thirty pieces of silver seems unconvincing, both in terms of the amount of money, and in terms of money-loving apostle - too easily he broke up with them. If the craving for money were his vice, then the other disciples of Christ would hardly trust him to dispose of the treasury. Having in his hands the money of the community, Judah could take them and leave his comrades. And what is the thirty pieces of silver that he received from the high priests? Is it a lot or a little? If a lot, then why the greedy Judas did not go away with them, but if a little, then why did he even take them? Muretov is sure that avarice was not the main motivating motive of Judah's actions. Most likely, the professor believes, Judas could betray his Master because of his disappointment in His Teaching.

The Austrian philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano (1838-1917), regardless of Muretov, expressed a similar opinion.

Jorge Luis Borges and Anatole France in Judah's actions saw self-sacrifice and submission to the will of God.

The coming of the Messiah according to the Old Testament

In the Old Testament, there are prophecies telling about the coming of the Messiah - He will be rejected by the priesthood, betrayed for thirty coins, crucified, resurrected, and then a new church will arise in His name.

Someone had to pass the Son of God into the hands of the Pharisees for thirty coins. This man was Judas Iscariot. He knew the Scriptures and could not help but understand what he was doing. Having accomplished the commandment of God and sealed by the prophets in the books of the Old Testament, Judas performed a great feat. It is possible that he discussed the forthcoming with the Lord in advance, and a kiss is not only a sign to the servants of the high priests, but also a farewell to the Teacher.

As the closest and most trusted disciple of Christ, Judas took upon himself the mission of being one whose name would be damned forever. It turns out that the Gospel shows us two sacrifices - the Lord sent His Son to the people, so that He took upon Himself the sins of mankind and washed them away with His blood, and Judas offered himself a sacrifice to the Lord so that the spoken through the Old Testament prophets would be fulfilled. Someone had to fulfill this mission!

Any believer will say that, confessing faith in the Triune God, it is impossible to imagine a person who felt the grace of the Lord and remained unchanged. Judas is a man, not a fallen angel or demon, so he could not be an ill-fated exception.

The history of Christ and Judas in Islam. Foundation of the Christian Church

In the Quran the story of Jesus Christ is represented differently than in the canonical Gospels. There is no crucifixion of the Son of God. The main book of Muslims claims that the image of Jesus was taken by someone else. This one was executed instead of the Lord. In medieval publications it is said that the appearance of Jesus took Judas. In one of the apocrypha there is a story in which the future apostle Judas Iscariot appears. His biography, if you believe this testimony, since childhood, was intertwined with the life of Christ.

Little Judas was very sick and, when Jesus came to him, the boy bit him in the side, in the very side, which was later pierced by a spear one of the soldiers guarding the crucified on the crosses.

Islam considers Christ a prophet, whose teaching has been distorted. This is very similar to the truth, but the Lord Jesus foresaw this state of affairs. One day He said to his disciple Simon: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will create My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her ..." We know that Peter denied Jesus Christ three times, in fact, he betrayed Him three times. Why did He choose this person for the foundation of His Church? Who is the greater traitor - Judas or Peter, who by his word could save Jesus, but refused to do it three times?

The gospel of Judah can not deprive true believers of the love of Jesus Christ

To believing people who experienced the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is difficult to accept that Christ was not crucified. Is it possible to worship the cross if facts contradicting those recorded in the four Gospels are revealed? How to relate to the sacrament of the Eucharist, during which believers eat the Body and Blood of the Lord, who martyred on the cross in the name of saving people, if there was not a painful death of the Savior on the cross?

"Blessed are those who have not seen and believed," said Jesus Christ.

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ know that He is real, that He hears them and responds to all prayers. This is important. And God continues to love and save people, even though in the churches again, as in the time of Christ, there are benches of merchants offering to buy sacrificial candles and other items for the so-called recommended donation, many times higher than the cost of the items sold. The carefully composed price tags cause a sense of closeness to the Pharisees who betrayed the Son of God. However, do not wait for Christ to come to earth again and drive a stick from his Father's House with a stick, as he did two or more thousand years ago with the merchants of the pigeons and lambs. It is better to believe in the Providence of God and not to fall into the sin of condemnation, but to accept everything as a gift of God for the salvation of immortal human souls. It is no accident that He commanded to establish His Church a triple traitor.

Time for a change

Probably, the discovery of the artifact, known as the Chakos Code, with the Gospel of Judah is the beginning of the end of the legend of the villain Judah. It's time to reconsider the attitude of Christians towards this person. After all, it was hatred for him that gave birth to such an abominable phenomenon as anti-Semitism.

The Torah and the Koran were written by people who were not attached to Christianity. For them, the story of Jesus of Nazareth is only an episode from the spiritual life of mankind, and not the most significant one. Is the hatred of Christians compatible with Jews and with Muslims (details about the crusades are made to terrify the cruelty and greed of the knights of the cross) with their main precept: "Love each other!"?

The Torah, the Koran, and well-known, respected Christian scholars do not condemn Judas. Nor will we. After all, the apostle Judas Iscariot, whose life we briefly touched upon, is no worse than the other disciples of Christ, the same Apostle Peter, for example.

The future is for the renewed Christianity

The great Russian philosopher Nikolai Fyodorovich Fedorov, the founder of Russian cosmism, gave impetus to the development of all modern sciences (cosmonautics, genetics, molecular biology and chemistry, ecology and others), was a deeply religious Orthodox Christian and believed that the future of mankind and his salvation - namely in the Christian dogma . We must not condemn the past sins of Christians, and strive not to make new ones, to be kinder and more merciful to all people.