Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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GTE O JUDAS ISCARIOT By Chris O'Brien Since the death of Jesus Christ, sotne two thous,tnd years ago, one man has been condemned to hatred. as the evil betraycr ofthe Christ. This man is Judas Iscariot. .-'sud Judas lscariot was an attthentic man. liltls is. to say the least, a fragile topic, and this is recognized. lint to stop a thought, a firtn belief for fear of being rejected or abused is not only tlishonottrablc but inanthentic. To deal with this topic, we must first admit that there can be only one first hand source V- that being the HOLY BIBLE. We must also understand that this long standing document was written by Christians treferring to the New Testamentl. Judas lscariot was not one ofthe early Christians' tnost beloved heroes, and in fact it would not be ttnfair to say that they could, and most likely would, have been a little prejudicial towards him. Therefore, if Judas is to receive any justice, one must read into w hat the scriptures say -- perhaps even theorize. We can assume, l believe, that Judas was a fairly important disciple, for he was the treasurer of the group. But in the Gospel of John, where we learn of this fact. he is called a thief. We can dismiss this fact to the prejudice of John, for nowhere else is it mentioned, neither does Jesus ever even allude to it -- and he mO5l likely would have known. We can also assume that .ludas was a ty'pe of outcast from the rest of the group. For he is never mentioned, except during his betrayal and the above passage from John. Now for the theorizing, that can never be proved, but merely made convincing. l believe that Judas lscariot did not betray Christ for greed of some small amount of silver, nor do l believe that it was predestination. l believe it was due to a break in ideology, and l shall try to explain myself as clearly as possible. During the time in which these events took place, religion guided the lives of all Jewish folk, and touched most others as well, in different forms. lncrything was affected by religion, religion was the law, the society. But that is not to say that it was all theological religion, bttt merely everything was in a lortn ot cult. Judas was w hal l would call 'socially rcltgtous'. il hat is to say he strove forthe betterment of life, for as many people hc could possibly affect. Jesus, too, was socially religious during the first half of his preaching life. He, too, wished to help as many people as possible. That is why he is close to the poor, the harlots, and the like. That is why he preached ofthe meek inheriting the earth. But during his last year, or perhaps earlier, he switched to being 'theologically religious', which is to say that he began to preach that he was the Sort of God. Now this may or may not have been true, and either way does not concern us here. John writes that, when Jesus was questioned by Judas over the washing of his feet in perfume, he said, You will always have the poor people with yott, but l will not be with you always. l Here is a pessimistic view of the social conditions, from a reformer. This is where Judas, in this theory, first began to drift away from his teacher. Over a period of time, Judas was to weigh his thought carefully and he came to the conclusion that all would be lost if he allowed Jesus to continue in his theological preachings. He decided that if he betrayed him to the Pharisees or Sadducees, who would then whip him and humiliate him, part of the following could change their sights to more socially religious inclined activities. He never suspected that it would culminate in the death of his teacher. But he could not, being a fairly highranking disciple, merely walk in to the place of worship and betray Jesus. He must have some reason that the Pharisees could understand. They were most likely to believe greed as being a reason for betrayal. ln Matthew, Judas asks what they will give him, and in Mark and Luke's testimony the Pharisees 'offer' him the thirty silver pieces. Then he begins to search for a time to betray his friend and teacher. Judas was betraying a friend and his teacher for a higher ideal that he was dedicated to, that he believed in totally. When he did betray him, it was with a kiss, symbol of love. ln Matthew, Judas betrays him while saying Peace be with you, Teacher . Jesus replies Be quick about it, friend! 2 There was love bet- ween the teacher and his pupil, perhaps there was even understanding for the betray'al. Death was never meant to come to Jesus.