Today,
Christians all over the world celebrate their most important feast on their
yearly calendar. It is Good Friday. Over the centuries, there have been several
arguments over the whys and wherefores of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal which
brought the cruel death of the Lord Jesus Christ, a charismatic, virile young
man who was only 33 years of age. The most interesting question is: was Judas
wrong in betraying Jesus?
It is
common knowledge within the world’s Christendom that the whole crucifixion saga
that climaxed in the death of Christ on Good Friday was triggered off by a
singular act of betrayal of one person –Judas Iscariot, an apostle of Christ.
A quick
recap of the essentials of the events will reveal facts: Midnight. The branches
of the bushy brambles and the blooming olive trees that stood in the dark
Gethsemane Garden sadly bowed in still silence. Occasionally, they nodded
disapprovingly to the pitiable prayers of the agonising Jesus.
Suddenly,
some trudging footsteps of soldiers, led by Judas himself, came on over. A kiss
on Jesus’ cheeks by Judas, a stampede in the darkness. Jesus was arrested. And
as he was whisked away, the disciples ran helter-skelter through the bushes.
Now followed
some rapid cascading pietas –those mournful scenarios depicting severe slaps in
Jesus’s ear, and bitter beating and floggings that opened wounds and oozed
blood. This blood dripped alongside blood droplets from the nailed palms and
feet, all to drench Christ’s sweating dying body on the Cross!
This sad
episode is known to have been caused by Judas’s betrayal, an act which has
earned him the contemptuous tag –the traitor.
But some
analyst do not agree to that condemnatory tribute –“traitor,” which to them, is
wrongly pinned on Judas. Their point is that since without Judas, it would not
have been possible to have had Jesus arrested and crucified to save mankind
from God’s wrath over sins, he (Judas) did no wrong in betraying Jesus. And
therefore he does not merit the “traitor” insignia, or any condemnation.
But
without Judas to betray Jesus, how were the prophecies going to be fulfilled?.
It is imperative to note that he is a medium through which part of the
Christological prophecies were fulfilled. By his betrayal act, Judas was
proving to the world that the scriptures are true, and Christ’s prophecies that
someone would betray him, were true.
One of my
friends, a Pro-Judas lawyer and an atheist intellectual argues that People
mistakenly condemn Judas for betraying Jesus. But if the betrayal had to be
carried on by somebody else who never knew the movements and whereabouts of
Jesus, how effectively could that have been implemented to cause the arrest of
Jesus which led to our salvation?
True,
Jesus had been a slippery figure who had, on several occasions, mysteriously
disappeared from the hands of the scribes and Pharisees (his sworn
enemies) whenever there was an attempt to arrest him. Indeed, to arrest him in
the ordinary manner was always illusory, impossible.
He add,
it was hard for a stranger to locate precisely the particular secluded spot in
the vast Gethsemane woodland where Jesus often retired with his disciples to
pray in the night (Luke 22:39). Of course, it was the place where he could
easily be “caught”.
In this
connection, there was, it was held, the need for an insider to be used to show
the person of Jesus, or where he is, for an effective arrest. It was here that
Judas, an insider, came in handy.
It is on
this view the argument is built to the effect that it was not the intention of
Judas to betray Jesus so to be killed.
Two
motives are said to be hidden behind Judas’s pressure on Jesus for a coup
d’état in Israel. First, his desire to bring into reality the ‘Hossana… blessed
is (Jesus) the king of Israel’ idea (John 12:13) loudly proclaimed on Palm
Sunday. The argument was firstly, Jesus should by all means, be a practical
king in Israel.
And
secondly, as argued elsewhere, Judas was to create opportunity for himself so
to realise his much-desired political office of Minister of Finance in Christ’s
expected earthly kingdom of Israel. After all, he had experientially held the
position of treasurer of the apostles’ money for three years (John 12:6), why
couldn’t he be the Minister of Finance?
Interestingly, as Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 cents, most
Ugandans would do so for 10 or 20 dollars.
And Judas’s return of the ‘betrayal money’ (the 30 pieces of silver) to
the high priests, when he had found that his political kingdom manoeuvres had
backfired.
But what would a clever Ugandan do in such a situation?, I think he/she
would squash these cents rather than repenting.
With our own corruption, most Ugandans would betray Jesus. No argument.
Happy Easter
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