Judas: What Might Have Been

by Charles W. Christian

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. (Matthew 26:14-15 NIV)

What Was Not
In the 1970s, researchers found an ancient collection of writings likely dating back to the middle of the Second Century. This manuscript became known as the Gospel of Judas, and while it was too late to have been written by Judas Iscariot, it claims to be a series of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot about the “true Gospel,” which, according to the writings, Jesus only revealed to Judas.

The text is one in a relatively long line of “pseudo-Gospels,” which tell us much about groups and movements that for centuries have been deemed heretical by the Church than they do about orthodox Christian theology. In the case of the Gospel of Judas, as with another well-known manuscript called the Gospel of Thomas, the point is to extol the greatness of a heretical group that came to be known as the Gnostics. The Gospel of Judas, according to most scholars, is more helpful in reconstructing the roots of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism than it is telling us much about Christianity.

However, getting to know more about this discovery has often made me wonder: What if Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus in the Gospels, had chosen another route?

When I first heard anything substantive about the Gospel of Judas, I was in seminary. The same question emerged then: What if the real Judas had been redeemed instead of, as the Gospels share, taking his own life after betraying Jesus to the authorities?

Peter and Judas
In my first encounter with the Gospel of Judas, I remembered a church Easter musical I participated in back in high school. The entire musical was about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, but from the perspective of two characters: Peter and Judas Iscariot. The comparisons were astonishing to me at that time.

Both Peter and Judas were handpicked by Jesus to follow Him and to be the earliest exponents of new kingdom. Both Peter and Judas had some sway among the other disciples (Peter was often a spokesperson, Judas was the treasurer).

Both Peter and Judas had times when they “corrected” Jesus publicly, disagreeing with a particular decision or direction of Jesus and needing to be corrected by Jesus in return.

Both Peter and Judas ultimately denied and betrayed Jesus in events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion.

So, what was the difference? Peter, like Judas, had times of bitter regret and even weeping in the face of the betrayal and denial of Jesus in which both participated. But Peter’s story took a decidedly different turn. Judas, bereft of hope, took his own life. Peter, also bereft of hope, stayed around long enough to encounter the risen Christ and was forgiven. Not only that, but Peter was also elevated to a position of leadership in the mission of the Early Church.

What If?
So, what if Judas had taken Peter’s course of action instead of suicide? I recognize that throughout the history of the Church, people have speculated about the Judas’s role and his ability to say “no” to the role of betrayer. Some say that Judas was simply predestined to betray and could do nothing else. Others say that Judas, although exposed to Jesus and the Gospel, became too self-centered or self-deluded, which led him to betray the Son of God and ultimately to turn away altogether. Room exists for speculation.

Even in the Bible, in Acts 1, when Peter leads the discussion to replace Judas, there is some sense in hindsight that Judas simply had to do what he did to fulfill what Scripture had prophesied: “the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus” says Peter in Acts 1:16.

Perhaps the reminder of betrayal was too painful for Peter, and so he pronounced Judas’s betrayal as a “given.” Or, perhaps Peter was expressing the idea that someone (Judas) had to put things in place for the ultimate act of sacrificial love to occur (i.e., the crucifixion of Jesus). Personally, I think Judas did what Judas did by his own volition, for the same reasons you and I betray Jesus and His ways in our actions all the time. Regardless of how or why Judas did what he did, though, one thing we do know about the situation comes to us, ironically, from Peter: Judas, like Peter, could have been forgiven and restored!

Peter’s crimes were comparable, yet Peter was not only forgiven, but also restored, and then appointed as a key leader in the church. The Apostle Paul’s crimes, which included overseeing the killing of followers of Jesus, were just as hideous Judas’s crimes. Yet, when confronted by Jesus (see Acts 9), Paul was not only forgiven, but was also called to become the greatest missionary and church planter in the early Church. And by the way, Paul—called the Apostle of Grace—also ended up writing about two-thirds of the New Testament.

The Real Gospel of Judas
So what might have become of Judas? Of course, we can only speculate. It seems, though, that if Judas’s fall from grace was the furthest, as some claim, then perhaps his restoration by grace could have been the most spectacular. If this man, known even to non-Christians due to his ultimate acts of betrayal (note how many people know that being a “Judas” is a bad thing), would have allowed himself to encounter his brothers and sisters, as well as Jesus, in a moment of grace, one wonders what great impact the life of Judas—and perhaps his authentic writings—would have had.

One thing of which we can be sure: they would have been incredible testimonies of grace, overflowing with thanksgiving and boldness of the Gospel. How do we know this? Because folks just like Judas, people like Peter and Paul and people like us, who were, in the Bible’s own language, traitors, dead people, enemies of God and God’s ways, are still overflowing with thanksgiving and joy over the fact that Jesus came to us not in harsh judgment or rejection, but in redeeming love.

That might have been Judas’ legacy. It can still be ours. Thanks be to God.

Charles W. Christian is pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Cameron, Missouri.

Holiness Today
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