New Light on Judas

I was reading this book by Frederick Beuchner called "Peculiar Treasures" last night before I went to bed and in it, he mentions an old Jewish legend/story/account of Judas Iscariot that I'd never heard before.

Judas, as you know, was the guy who sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. The Bible is unclear what motivated Judas exactly, although in teh Gospel of John, we read that Judas had a habit of digging into the treasury for more than his fair share of the loot, so his heart might have been ruled by greed. Or maybe he was like all the other disciples, and was constantly looking to see where he was in the pecking order, and was upset because of some perceived slight by The Master. Or maybe, he was tired of waiting around for this "Kingdom of Heaven" thing that Jesus was talking about, and wanted to force Jesus' hand, one way or another. Or maybe - because people are rarely uncomplicated - it was some weird collusion of all three, plus other factors we don't know about.

At any rate, most Bible scholars point out that Judas died, and in an effort to drive home the point that suicide is bad, they point out that Judas didn't "accept the redeeming love of God in his heart and was filled with hopelessness" which is a great crime indeed. Christians, most of the Old Masters says, should never be filled with hopelessness.

But this is what Beuchner wrote:

"There is a tradition in the early church, however, that Judas' suicide was based not on despair, but on hope. If God was just, then Judas knew there was no question where he would be heading as soon as he'd breathed his last. Furthermore, if God was also merciful, he knew there was also no question either that in a last-ditch effort to save teh souls of the damned as God's son, Jesus would be down there, too. Thus, the way Judas figured it, Hell might be the last chance he'd haveof making it to Heaven, so to get there as soon as possible, he tied the rope around his neck and kicked away the stool. Who knows?

In any case, it's a scene to conjure with. Once again, they met in the shadows, the two old friends, both of them a little worse for wear after all that had happened, only this time it was Jesus who was the one who gave the kiss, and this time it wasn't the kiss of death that was given."