An odd query
Jun. 15th, 2004 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bktheirregularI'm not as familiar with the Bible as some, though I have read through a good portion of it. But an odd "spin" on the Last Supper, the Passion, the Crucifixion, and all that, has wormed its way into my skull, and may someday wish to be written.
I was struck by the Bible's assertion that the spirit of Satan entered Judas when Jesus handed him the bread at the Last Supper, marking Judas as the one who would betray him. Judas Iscariot is, of course, the archetype of traitors, reviled, condemned. But before, if I remember, he had been considered the closest of Jesus' apostles, and it was at that moment - not before - the moment when Jesus said "the one I hand this bread to will betray me" and handed the bread to Judas - that Judas became one with the enemy.
But what if ...
...what if Judas' response to Jesus had been "I will not betray you; I refuse to betray you?"
And if the betrayal of Jesus was a necessary part of the death and resurrection of Jesus, what then? Would it have taken an appeal from Jesus to convince Judas to carry out the betrayal?
Bible scholars on the friends list, I ask: is it blasphemy to question the motives of Judas Iscariot?
I suppose it's a plot bunny. Even has its own name: I've filed it under "Iscariot the Loyal".
I was struck by the Bible's assertion that the spirit of Satan entered Judas when Jesus handed him the bread at the Last Supper, marking Judas as the one who would betray him. Judas Iscariot is, of course, the archetype of traitors, reviled, condemned. But before, if I remember, he had been considered the closest of Jesus' apostles, and it was at that moment - not before - the moment when Jesus said "the one I hand this bread to will betray me" and handed the bread to Judas - that Judas became one with the enemy.
But what if ...
...what if Judas' response to Jesus had been "I will not betray you; I refuse to betray you?"
And if the betrayal of Jesus was a necessary part of the death and resurrection of Jesus, what then? Would it have taken an appeal from Jesus to convince Judas to carry out the betrayal?
Bible scholars on the friends list, I ask: is it blasphemy to question the motives of Judas Iscariot?
I suppose it's a plot bunny. Even has its own name: I've filed it under "Iscariot the Loyal".
no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 09:27 am (UTC)Basically, Judas was all about Jesus as the Son of God, and couldn't understand why Jesus was trying to convert people by teaching rather than by burning some bushes or something. In the end, he betrayed Jesus not for the money, but to force Jesus into showing his God-like powers. Which Jesus, of course, didn't, and died on the cross.
So it is not blashphemy to question Judas' motives. Your Biblical Plot Bunny (complete with period robes and a leedle Grail cup) will not be struck by lightning.