Thread by @firstladyship

Judas Iscariot: WHAT WAS HIS REAL REASON FOR BETRAYING JESUS?

1. After the “Last Supper,” the gospel says Jesus & his disciples went to an olive roof; called the Garden Of Gethsemane. In this garden, Jesus prayed while his disciples slept.

2. The traditional location of the Garden Of Gethsemane, is at the foot of the Mount of Olives. By been out in the open, so close to the city walls, Jesus was showing himself to be unafraid of the religious authorities, & his impending arrest.

3. But how could they have known exactly when & where to find him? The gospel says it was one of those closest to Jesus, who betrayed him. A man called Judas Iscariot.

4. Judas leaning forward to Jesus, said; “oh master!!”

Then Jesus said to Judas; “this is the hour Judas, the hour of shadows. You betray your master with a kiss.”

But there is no historical account of exactly how Judas betrayed Jesus.

5. The kiss was put into the story as a way of portraying the irony of one of Jesus’s closest disciples, being the one who turned him in.

Traditionally, Judas has been portrayed as the villain of the story. But his motivation for betraying Jesus has always been unclear.

6. Possibly for greed? As the gospel suggested he did it for money. But the actual sum (Thirty pieces of Silver), might have kept him going for a month or so, but not for very long.

So what other reason might Judas have had? There has been numerous theories over the years.

7. One theory is; to force Jesus hand: Jesus wasn’t doing anything to form a rebellion, & so Judas decided that he would force his hand!

Judas thought by having Jesus arrested, Jesus would be more or less forced to call out for help, then the crowd would gather,

8. & then they would form a rebellion, & it would spark an uprising against the Romans in Jerusalem.

This is supported by the idea that Judas may have been a Zealot. Zealot means; an “enthusiast.” We could translate it as “fundamentalist, terrorist, or a freedom fighter.”

9. It depends on which side of the fence you’re on.

Zealots were a group of people fighting for Jewish freedom. That made them enemies of Rome.

Traditionally, the second part of Judas’s name, “Iscariot,” may have been derived from the Latin word; “Sicarios.”

10. A Sicari means a hitman. So, if Judas was a Zealot, then it’s possible he may have wanted to use Jesus in his quest to free Judaea from Roman rule.

Whatever his true motivation was, all 4 gospels, agree that Jesus was arrested, less than a week after he arrived in Jerusalem.

11. Finally, in the 1st century Jerusalem, Jesus was not seen as the messiah by the Jews.

Jesus was seen as a “political figure,” who came to free the Jews from Roman oppression, & taxation. This supports my theory about Judas as a Zealot & of his quest to free Jews from Romans.

12. The four Gospels, that of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, was in fact written many years after the death of Jesus, between AD 66 & 110, by highly educated Greek scholars. The disciples of Jesus were known to be ordinary fishermen, craftsmen, & tax collector.

13. So it’s inconceivable, that the Gospels was written by the disciples themselves. It’s in fact not an eyewitness account, but accounts of long oral & written communication

The church selects its own agenda, & leaves out texts & accounts that doesn’t subscribe to its teachings