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Judas Iscariot and me
Judas Iscariot often takes a big hit on this day because today is the the day when we remember Judas’ deal with the high priests to betray Jesus (Mathew 26:14-16). It’s all Judas’ fault that Jesus got handed over and crucified, right? Right? You’d think so because of the vitriol hurled at Judas. A very vivid illustration of our rather negative reactions to Judas can be found in this Spy Wednesday custom noted by CatholicCulture.org:
In Poland, the young people throw an effigy of Judas from the top of a church steeple. Then it is dragged through the village amidst hurling sticks and stones. What remains of the effigy is drowned in a nearby stream or pond.
Diana Carver, playing St. Monica, comforts Logan Bennett, playing Judas Iscariot, during rehearsal of the "Last Days of Judas Iscariot" at Battery Park Christian Church. Alexa Welch Edlund/Richmond Times-Dispatch
The thing is, I’m just not convinced that Judas is the “enemy” (and if he is, what did Jesus tell us about how to treat our enemies??). Granted, he did mess up big time. There is no excuse for what he did.
So why not go ballistic on Judas? For me, it’s because when I look at Judas, I see a bit of myself in him. I see someone who struggles to follow Jesus and who sometimes makes bad choices with consequences that go horribly wrong. Scripture doesn’t tell us what was in the mind and heart of Judas. It’s probable that the guy had no idea what the outcome of his actions would be. What led to his visitation to the chief priests? Did he truly believe Jesus was in the wrong? Did he need the money? Was his entire discipleship under Jesus a farce or was he truly trying to find God and do good in the world?
Again, I’m not excusing the actions of Judas. But I think that focusing on Judas as the reason for the passion and death of Jesus is an undue distraction from facing and owning our own attitudes and actions that are contrary to the life and teaching of Jesus. It’s always easier to blame the other guy, especially the one who made such an egregious error. But that doesn’t exonerate me or any of us. For if Judas is deserving of our contempt, why not also ourselves?
And so I try not to go to contempt but to compassion, recognizing that we are in this mess with Judas. I believe that it broke Judas’ heart when it finally hit him what he had done. I feel badly that he did not know the healing power of forgiveness and redemption while he was still of this world. I pray for him, strange as it may sound.
And I reject all forms of violence towards Judas not because it hurts him any, but because it hurts those who are rehearsing violence, as it were. It hurts all of us and the whole world because it sows the seeds of violence as an answer to violence. Maybe that’s one of Judas’ gifts to us … a reminder that violence is never an answer and that God is compassionate and merciful, even when we mess up big time. I pray that Judas knows this now and I pray that we do too.
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{ 9 comments }
Amen!
It was the musical “Godspell” that helped me understand Judas’ motivation. Of course, it’s all speculation, but it made sense. Essentially, Judas was the group’s money man. He worried that there would not be enough money to carry out their mission. In the play, he was really worried about the fact that what Jesus was doing was definitely going to bring them into conflict with the authorities, both Jewish and Roman. He thought that all they had built, all they had worked for, was about to come crashing down because of Jesus’ actions. So it became necessary to get rid of Jesus before he brought ruin to them all. And if he made a little money for them while he was at it, it could help fund the propagation of the ministry? Logical, understandable, rational, yes. Real? Who knows!
You could get into all kinds of arguments about free will and all that. If Judas had not done what he did, how would the prophecy have been fulfilled? Could Judas have escaped his fate? What if he hadn’t hanged himself? So much to speculate on! It’s hard to avoid injecting 21st-century logic into first-century history. And, as Sister Julie said, there’s a little bit of Judas in almost all of us.
As my 8th grade teacher used to say, “Don’t be condemning Judas to hell! You don’t know if he ask for forgiveness at the very end.”
This story during the homily made me cry at Mass today:
A priest asked the First Communion class what Jesus did between the time he died on the cross and rose from the dead. After a while to think, a boy raised his hand and said, “Jesus went to the lowest part of Hell to look for his friend Judas.”
Wow. That is beautiful, ASJ.
Whoa! That little kid is very theologically astute! He would fit right in with the Orthodox who emphasize the Harrowing of Hell.
Or maybe it’s an apocryphal story to illustrate the concept of the Harrowing.
Either way, I sure hope he (and the Orthodox) are right.
Don’t think that Polish custom is what Jesus would want. He told his violent companion at his arrest in the garden that he should put his sword away. Today as I mediatated on the Gospel I thought, “What was it that bound Judas up, that had him so tied in knots that he could not fully access the teaching that Jesus was offering so ‘up close and personal’? What encrusted layer of the false self, what layer of protection for self- preservation remained in place no matter what Jesus said or did in the presence of Judas? Why couldn’t he receive the message of love? I could not come up with an answer but I did turn the questions around and ask them of myself. What DOES keep me from fully accepting, from fully participating in the love and life Jesus offers me every day? Now that is meditation material.
i’ve always had a soft spot for judas. someone had to betray jesus for the world to be saved. god knew who it would be. did judas really have a choice? according to what we profess, yes, but someone had to be the one. whoever it was was going to be reviled throughout history. i have always imagined and believed that judas begged forgiveness; look at how incredibly remorseful he was.
as for those practicing violence on effigies of judas, i can’t imagine it makes them feel any better. once, a therapist had me pound on a punching bag. it backfired. i ended up being overwhelmed by my anger, not relieved of it. violence begets violence, and practicing it fills our hearts with all the wrong things. judas is gone, these displays aren’t hurting him, and hopefully these folks do not simply feel a need to share a common hatred in order to be acceptable followers of christ. jesus never wanted any of us to hold on to hatred.
i have felt alone in my defense of judas for years. today, not so much. thanks for the post.
I think about Judas. I am torn – did Judas *have* to betray Jesus? If so, did God preordain for that to happen? Did God create Judas specifically for this task? Then how can we condemn him? His betrayal yields our glory. It makes my head hurt to wrangle these thoughts out.
Mostly though, I think similarly to Marg. I think Judas might have felt betrayed by Jesus, almost like letting Mary anoint Jesus was the last straw… that Jesus had not fulfilled his promises and had, in fact, betrayed his own teachings by putting himself first. I always think Jesus’ attraction was his role as a political revolutionary; perhaps Judas simply thought that Jesus had not done what he SAID he was going to do, and in his hurt and anger, he turned him over. And perhaps he thought, “they won’t KILL him; maybe they’ll imprison him, maybe they beat him up… he’ll be out of the way, we can regroup, and i’ll even have a little money to keep us going.” Maybe after three years of walking around, Judas felt enough was enough. I certainly can relate to that sort of feeling.
I was thinking about this same thing this morning. I thought about how Judas was so close to Jesus, but yet so easily seems to turn on him. It makes me inspect my own heart and look at my own dedication and love for our Lord. I don’t know how to answer your questions about Judas, but you have definitely given me more to think about.