{"id":28830,"date":"2015-12-12T16:18:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-12T23:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=28830"},"modified":"2015-12-12T16:18:32","modified_gmt":"2015-12-12T23:18:32","slug":"new-testament-335","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/new-testament-335.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament 335"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Welch<\/a>
This anonymous manuscript illumination from 1503-1504 shows the betrayal of Christ. Peter, standing (from the viewer\u2019s perspective) to the left of Jesus and clad in brownish red, raises his right arm with a sword. The man in blue may be Judas, just after kissing Jesus on the cheek to identify him for the arresting soldiers. \u00a0On the left margin of the illustration, Judas, shown \u00a0now in yellow against a green background, has hanged himself.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 27:3-10<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the gospel of John, Judas hanged himself out of remorse after his betrayal of Jesus. \u00a0(The \u201cfield of blood\u201d mentioned is still visible \u2014 its traditional site, anyway \u2014 from the grounds of the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, outside the walls of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Judas\u00a0is generally viewed by Latter-day Saints \u2014 and not without good reason (see, for example,\u00a0John 17:12<\/a>)\u00a0\u2014 as the very model of an unredeemable \u201cson of perdition.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m inclined to universalism, though, and always hold out hope for the salvation of everybody. \u00a0I\u2019ve long\u00a0liked the response given by Pope St. John Paul II to a question about whether Christians must believe in Hell. \u00a0\u201cYes,\u201d he replied. \u00a0\u201cBut we may hope that it will be empty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve wondered about Judas.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not portrayed very positively in the gospels. \u00a0John 12:6<\/a>, for example, describes him as a thief. \u00a0Could that, though, possibly be the retrospective bitterness of a former apostolic colleague at his betrayal of both Jesus and their fellowship? \u00a0It\u2019s a wan hope, I grant, but it seems to me a theoretical possibility.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One suggestion that has been made is that Judas remained a believer in Jesus as Messiah, but that he was one of the Zealots or the sicarii<\/em><\/a> (which might explain his somewhat puzzling title, Iscariot<\/em>) and that he was frustrated by Jesus\u2019s failure to use his great, divine, messianic power to drive the Romans from the land of Israel. \u00a0His betrayal of Christ, on this hypothesis, was an attempt to put Jesus into such peril that the Savior would be forced to defend himself. \u00a0And then, when Judas saw that Jesus had no intention<\/em> of saving his own life, the apostle, realizing with despairing horror what he had done, killed himself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If this suggestion is true, Judas would probably not be a \u201cson of perdition\u201d in the strict sense, and there might even still be hope for him. \u00a0His act would have been grievously mistaken, but not done with evil intent and certainly not meant as a gesture of overt rebellion against God.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an attractive thought. \u00a0But I have no idea whether it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Matthew 27:3-10 \u00a0 According to the gospel of John, Judas hanged himself out of remorse after his betrayal of Jesus. \u00a0(The \u201cfield of blood\u201d mentioned is still visible \u2014 its traditional site, anyway \u2014 from the grounds of the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, outside the walls of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City.) \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament 335<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Matthew 27:3-10   According to the gospel of John, Judas hanged himself out of remorse after his betrayal of Jesus. \u00a0(The "field of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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