For the last 2000 years, many Christians have placed Judas in a special category of evil. To sell Jesus into the hands of Israel's Priesthood is a sin most Christians feel they would not be capable of doing. Most Christians seem to categorize sins. In doing so, it allows them to separate themselves from the worst of sinners like Judas. Was Judas a worse sinner then Paul or Peter? The Bible says the wages of sin is death and all (not some) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The purpose of this thread is to raise Judas up from the false representation he has received from the self-righteous Christian and to bring down our self-righteousness to where we can look at the Judases of the world in the eye and be able to say, "I am the guilty one. I put Jesus on the tree of crucifixion. He died for my sins." Christians must do away with their scapegoats.
Some facts about Judas that might commonly be overlooked by the majority of Christians:
Judas is the Greek form of the Hebrew Judah, which means praise.
The 30 pieces of silver was a small sum of money, the value of a slave (Exodus 21:32). ($15 according to the American Tract Society Dictionary). If Judas were really covetous and greedy, why didn't he barter for much more?
Jesus chose Judas, not the other way around.
Jesus knew them before He picked them.
Prior to the betrayal, Judas' only recorded sin was stealing from the money box. The other eleven apostles had accounts recorded of them of sins which included unbelief, lust for position and power, not being mindful of the things of the spirit but of man, all the disciples left Him, Peter denied Him three times in one night, falsely condemning people to fire when Jesus said He came to save, etc., etc..
Judas repented and made restitution (Matthew 27:3) then declared Jesus innocent and confessed his sin (Matthew 27:4).
All these things happened to fulfill prophesy that the Creator planned to be fulfilled at this time.
Judas was called "friend" (hetairos) by Jesus at the "betrayal" (Matthew 26:50). A word for friend indicating partnership, comrade, companion as opposed to "philos" indicating endearment. In other words, there was a partnership of some sort involved in this "betrayal."
So, was Judas really the ultimate bad guy of the NT as is so commonly taught from the traditional teachings of men?
Let us begin to weave all these pieces together and see if we can see some things we have never thought about before. Perhaps we can get a glimpse of the wisdom of our Father which will leave us amazed and a little more humbled.
FR
Some facts about Judas that might commonly be overlooked by the majority of Christians:
Judas is the Greek form of the Hebrew Judah, which means praise.
The 30 pieces of silver was a small sum of money, the value of a slave (Exodus 21:32). ($15 according to the American Tract Society Dictionary). If Judas were really covetous and greedy, why didn't he barter for much more?
Jesus chose Judas, not the other way around.
Jesus knew them before He picked them.
Prior to the betrayal, Judas' only recorded sin was stealing from the money box. The other eleven apostles had accounts recorded of them of sins which included unbelief, lust for position and power, not being mindful of the things of the spirit but of man, all the disciples left Him, Peter denied Him three times in one night, falsely condemning people to fire when Jesus said He came to save, etc., etc..
Judas repented and made restitution (Matthew 27:3) then declared Jesus innocent and confessed his sin (Matthew 27:4).
All these things happened to fulfill prophesy that the Creator planned to be fulfilled at this time.
Judas was called "friend" (hetairos) by Jesus at the "betrayal" (Matthew 26:50). A word for friend indicating partnership, comrade, companion as opposed to "philos" indicating endearment. In other words, there was a partnership of some sort involved in this "betrayal."
So, was Judas really the ultimate bad guy of the NT as is so commonly taught from the traditional teachings of men?
Let us begin to weave all these pieces together and see if we can see some things we have never thought about before. Perhaps we can get a glimpse of the wisdom of our Father which will leave us amazed and a little more humbled.
FR