‘Judas, in suicide, was embraced by God.’
Twelve good men? Hilary Johnson takes another look at Judas Iscariot
‘Thoughts came to me as I prepared my Simnel cake.’
Recent editions of the Friend have considered the question of whether Quakers are institutionally antisemitic. This has led me to ask whether Christianity itself is fundamentally antisemitic. That is our heritage, after all, and many Friends maintain Christian leanings. But the Christian tradition may bring with it some unexamined perceptions of Judaism, learned from particular interpretations of the Bible. Some of these may lead to negative views of Jews and, in the light of the conflict in Gaza, attitudes towards Zionism.
Over the years, I have been involved in various ecumenical and Quaker study groups, hearing remarks ranging from Biblical ignorance, to wounding religious insensitivity, to downright antisemitism. These have come to the fore since the October 7 attacks:
• The God of the Old Testament is violent and vindictive; the God of the New Testament is Love.
• Jews are exclusive; Jesus preached good news to the poor, teaching compassion, forgiveness and healing.
• Christians are interested in Jesus. He said, ‘I am the New Testament’; we don’t need the Old Testament.
• The vine is an image for the children of Israel. Jesus poured scorn on the people of Israel who turned away from him; they will be the snapped-off branches.
• God cancelled the covenant with the Jews, giving it to followers of Jesus, i.e. Christianity.
• The Jews tried to destroy Christians.
• I don’t like the Jews; they trumped up charges against Jesus.
• I don’t like the Pharisees; they were hypocrites, inflexible with the rules of law.
• Christians understand the spirit of the law – ‘the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life’.
• Jews are usurers, rich money-lenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest.
• ‘His (Jesus’) blood be upon you’…
• Jews claim to be God’s chosen people; they think themselves better than the rest of us. They keep themselves separate from us.
• Jews choose to live under their own faith; the Nazi regime happened because they refused to give up their Jewishness.
• Judas Iscariot, the Jew, went to hell.
How do we unravel this? I’ll begin with the thoughts that came to me between Easter and Pesach (22-30 April), as I prepared my Simnel cake. This cake, traditionally decorated with eleven balls of marzipan for the eleven disciples, excludes Judas, even though his betrayal may be seen as necessary to the fulfilment of God’s purposes. Recall the song ‘Green Grow the Rushes O’: twelve for the twelve apostles; eleven for the eleven who went to heaven, implying that Judas was cast onto the fires of hell.
I have yet to explore theological arguments claiming that suicide, indicating total despair and lack of faith, is irredeemable. Whatever we imagine about the fate of Judas, his kiss is frequently used in general speech, literature, plays and films to refer to treachery. In common parlance Judas is synonymous with double-dealing, money-grabbing deception – and, by extension, since the name is associated with Judeans and Jews, his story feeds into subliminal ideas of antisemitism generally.
The word ‘Iscariot’ may refer to a man: ‘Ish’, from the town of ‘Kerioth’. Or it could derive from the Latin sica – dagger – or from sicarius, meaning murderer, contract killer, assassin. Sicarius can also mean one of a party of Zealots, resorting to murder in attempting to expel the Romans from ancient Palestine. However we choose to look at him, Judas comes across as a dubious, nasty character and, so by association, do Jewish people.
But ‘Judas’ is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Judah, meaning ‘praise and thanksgiving’, so the story is not so simple. The Jews are master storytellers: stories with deep hidden insights. It can be no coincidence that Judah is the name of one of the brothers of Joseph, and Judas is the disciple who betrayed Jesus. In fact, let’s look at the story of Joseph.
You may recall that the somewhat bumptious youth Joseph, the dreamer in his coat of many colours, informed his family that there would come a time when they’d all bow down to him. Joseph goes to meet his brothers only to learn they want to kill him. They throw him in a pit. Judah advises selling him into slavery; Joseph is taken into Egypt where he rises to be second in command to the pharoah. There is famine in the land; Joseph’s brothers travel to Egypt to ask for grain. He recognises them but not they him. Hence, he can understand their language when they acknowledge their guilt among themselves. He arranges for Benjamin to be found guilty on a false charge of theft. Judah, responsible for the sale of Joseph, steps forward, offering to remain as a slave, to take Benjamin’s place – thus demonstrating perfect repentance. According to Maimonides the three stages of repentance – teshuvah – are: the acknowledgement of guilt; the attempt to put right the wrong; and refraining from repeating the error. Judah, understanding the pain he caused his father with the loss of Joseph, cannot allow further pain by losing Benjamin. He is thus an inwardly changed man, truly penitent.
Now let’s consider Judas. He acknowledges his sin, returning the thirty pieces of silver to the temple authorities. They purchase the Potter’s Field, since ‘blood money’ cannot be returned to the treasury. Judas has fulfilled the first two stages of Maimonides’ principles of teshuvah. He will not have the opportunity to repeat his sin; it is highly improbable there will be another leader like Jesus whose disciple he will become. He commits suicide, indicating to me his repentance. Hence, I ask whether his suicide may be understood as his giving his life back to God? The idea that he is condemned to eternal hellfire raises serious questions: What human being has the authority to make the judgement that some sins are irredeemable, and why? Who has the audacity to assert that Judas is condemned to hell, always presuming there is such a place? Was the sin of Judas not simply a sin against another human but also a sin against God? Rather than get into a discussion about the meaning of the Christian doctrine of the trinity, I’ll put it another way. We are all created in the image of God and are required in this life to nurture and grow that image. The image of God in Jesus, as a holy man, was mature. As such there is a sense in which the crucifixion was an attempt to kill that image. Since Judas was an accessory to the murder, I’m suggesting that he sinned against God, in which case no human is qualified to sit in judgement upon him.
Is the Love of God unconditional? If so, we may presume that Judas, in suicide, was embraced by God. If the Love of God is conditional upon repentance, Judas has fulfilled the condition of perfect repentance and is, therefore, redeemed. To suggest otherwise is effectively saying that God is rejecting and unforgiving towards this tormented soul.
I looked again at my cake. Eleven balls of marzipan was too few. I reinstated Judas, and added a twelfth.
Comments
When reading the Bible, it is easy to miss what is staring you in the face. Hilary Johnson has clarified – Judas did wrong and repented. He should not be demonised.
Elizabeth Coleman
By ElizabethC on 16th May 2024 - 11:13
Theologian and Biblical scholar John Shelby Spong argued that Judas was a fictional character https://chqdaily.com/2016/07/john-shelby-spong-argues-character-of-judas-was-created-to-implicate-jews/
By gturner on 6th June 2024 - 9:16
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