Every good story needs a villain. In the passion narrative
of the New Testament that role is played by Judas Iscariot. He is the one Christians
love to hate. I have been thinking about Judas because of something a pastor friend
said recently. She believes that Judas is in heaven.
Is that true? Is Judas
chumming around with Peter and Paul in the heavenly Jerusalem? I never gave it
much thought. I know the conventional wisdom concerning Judas’ fate. I know that
Dante’s Inferno places Judas in the
ninth circle of hell, not far from the prophet Muhammad, Pope Boniface VIII and
several of Dante’s personal enemies (which says more about Dante than these
men.)
Dante pictures Lucifer as
having three mouths, and in each of them he eternally devours one of the three
greatest sinners of human history (in Dante’s opinion). In the left and right
mouths dangle Brutus and Cassius, who murdered Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate.
Judas Iscariot is given special treatment by being placed head-first into the
devil’s central mouth with his back eternally clawed by the devil's talons. Ugh!
It is not a pretty sight.
But my clergy friend insists
that Judas repented of his sin and thereby qualifies for a place in paradise.
This is in spite of the fact that he took his own life, which for much of
Christian history was considered an unforgivable sin. Thank God that is not
the Christian consensus any longer. Now suicide is viewed as a result of mental
illness and does not disqualify one from heaven.
When I read the gospels, I
find that Judas did indeed “repent.” (Matthew 27:3) At least that is the way
some versions translate it. Other translations use words like remorse and
regret. In any case he had a change of heart that prompted him to try to set
things right by returning the thirty pieces of silver. In the end he was so consumed
by guilt that he took his own life.
Another biblical account tells
a different story of Judas’ end. The Acts of the Apostles says that he used the
blood money to buy a field “and falling headlong he burst open in the middle
and all his bowels gushed out.” (1:18) Double ugh! Why do these religious
punishments have to be so gory?
On the other hand the
non-canonical Gospel of Judas insists that Judas didn’t do anything wrong. Judas
was privately instructed by Jesus to betray him. It was all part of God’s plan.
Judas was acting under divine orders to turn Jesus over to the authorities.
Judas was actually a faithful disciple and the first martyr. Interesting take
on the old story!
So is Judas Iscariot strolling
the streets of gold or is he an everlasting snack for the Prince of Darkness? I
don’t know. I am not in any position to judge anyone, not even Judas Iscariot.
At least that is what Jesus taught me: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For
with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you
use it will be measured to you.” Therefore to avoid being a Devil’s food snack,
I will withhold judgment.
Personally I have a difficult
time with traditional depictions of heaven and hell anyway. I don’t take the
biblical descriptions of afterlife literally. I certainly cannot conceive of my
loving Lord sentencing – or even allowing - anyone to suffer torment eternally,
not even his betrayer. That is not the God I know. The one who taught me to
love my enemies and forgive those who persecute me surely would not turn around
and do the opposite.
In any case the problematic figure
of Judas should teach us to be careful how we judge another’s soul and faith.
Anyone who thoughtfully reads the Passion story can see themselves reflected in
the faces of all the characters – including Peter who denies Christ, the
apostles who abandon him, and the crowd that shouts “Crucify him!” If we look carefully, we can even glimpse the
face of Judas Iscariot in the shadows of our own soul. So let’s be careful how we
judge … lest we be judged.
1 comment:
This might be beneficial to those who cringe at the picture of judgment offered in the scripture but are not so eager to deny it: https://www.faithtacoma.org/judgmnt/the-judgment-of-unbelievers
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