Written sometime in the second century, the Gospel of Judas opens with Jesus' twelve disciples piously offering a prayer over bread. Jesus sees them and laughs. The disciples don't understand why their teacher is laughing. They tell him that they are doing (what they believe) is right. Jesus explains that they aren't performing the prayer through their own will, but by their actions their god receives praise. He tells them that they are praying to the creator god of the physical world. This god is an inferior deity. They still don't understand because they think that they know him and that he is the son of their god. When Jesus tells them that no one among them really knows him, they become angry. He asks them what provoked their anger and tells them that their god, who is within them, has done it. He invites whoever is strong enough to stand before him. The others hold back while Judas alone dares remain. He does not look at Jesus (perhaps out of respect) but says that he knows who Jesus is and from where he has come. Jesus, he says, is from the immortal realm of Barbelo (thereby acknowledging Jesus' divinity).

This initial image of Judas being the only one of the disciples who recognizes Jesus and who finds the strength to stand before Jesus contrasts with the conservative or Catholic view of Judas as being traitorous and greedy. The Gospel of Judas, edited by Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst with commentary by Bart D. Ehrman, is an excellent source for the study of this lost gospel; not only is the translation clear and presented with plenty of footnotes, but the book contains the story of the Codex Tchacos with fascinating commentary by the translators and scholars studying the Gospel of Judas.

The Canonical Version of the Betrayal

At the Last Supper, Jesus announced to his disciples that one of them would betray him. The disciples, of course, became bewildered and asked aloud which one of them would do such a thing. Judas's name was not spoken. Jesus, however, whispered to John that it was the one to whom he would give the honorary morsel (piece of food given to the host of a feast). “When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon” (John 13:21–26).

Judas was responsible for handling the group's moneybox. When the soldiers of the High Priest Caiaphas went looking for Jesus in order to hand him over to the Roman authorities (who would then crucify him), Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. For his part, Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver. The orthodox Christian view was that Judas's action was one of free will and that he alone was responsible for what he did. The gospels say that Jesus knew that Judas would betray him and yet still showed him love, patience, and compassion. When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, he also washed Judas's feet.

The canonical Gospel of Matthew portrays Judas Iscariot as someone whom Jesus condemns. Mark's portrayal of Judas seems more ambiguous because he does not mention the one who betrayed Jesus by name. John said that Satan entered Judas at the Last Supper. How did the early church fathers portray Judas in their writings?

Judas Iscariot's Portrayal in Church Writings

Irenaeus mentions Judas in his writings in conjunction with his polemic against the Gnostic views put forth in a certain Gospel of Judas, which troubled him. The emerging orthodox church believed in one God, so the notion of many gods as revealed in the Gospel of Judas would be troubling for a bishop such as Irenaeus, who believed in the supreme Almighty, the one God, the maker of all that existed. Origen, another early church father, knew about a tradition that acknowledged that a group of Jesus' disciples betrayed him, but did not specifically name Judas. Celsus, a pagan whose written works have not survived but were mentioned in the writings of Origen (who wrote a refutation against Celsus's ideas in the third century), claimed it was unthinkable to believe literally in the betrayal story, since Jesus knew in advance about the act, announced it to all the disciples at the Last Supper, identified his traitor with the morsel, and made no attempt to avert the betrayal. Interestingly, Celsus also believed that Jesus claimed to be a god on the strength of magical abilities that he had acquired in Egypt.