The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot

7. Judas left his Master to go in search of lodgings where Jesus and the other disciples might lay their heads for the night. He searched in vain, as there were no longer enough coins left in the common purse to cover such an expense, if he were also to purchase sufficient food so that they might eat.

8. Judas returned empty-handed, to find Jesus surrounded by many new followers, as he continued his slow progress through the streets of Jericho.

9. Suddenly, without warning, Jesus stopped. He looked up into a sycamore tree and saw, perched in its branches, Zacchaeus, the city’s chief tax collector.

10. Zacchaeus, a corrupt man in the pay of the Romans, was despised by his fellow Jews, not only for being a sinner, but also because of his tiny stature.

11. The startled man peered down at Jesus. A hush fell upon the crowd as they waited for Jesus to mock him. After all, the tax collector had made his fortune as a Roman lackey and was now surrounded by a hostile crowd, allowing him no visible means of escape.

12. The crowd began to jeer, and only fell silent again when Jesus raised his hands in greeting and said: Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for I must abide in your home tonight.

13. Zacchaeus scrambled down from the branches of the tree and joined Jesus as he stood among the crowd.

14. Judas looked on in disbelief as Jesus embraced a man who had been shunned by his fellow Jews, and worse, he now intended to spend the night under the man’s roof.

15. Zacchaeus was so overcome by Jesus’ compassion that he declared to a startled crowd: Behold, Lord, the half of my possessions I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any man, I will return it to him, fourfold.

16. The local people greeted this offer with loud acclamation. They then allowed Zacchaeus to run on ahead to his house so that he could warn his servants that Jesus and his disciples would be guests in his home that night.

17. Judas could not understand why his Master had commanded the rich young man to part with all his goods and distribute his wealth among the poor, while allowing Zacchaeus to retain half of his wealth.

18. Peter could offer no explanation, and was also puzzled as to why Jesus was willing to rest his head in the home of a man who had been banned from the Synagogue for his public sins.

19. The crowd that engulfed Jesus was equally bemused. The majority looked on in silence, while some burst out laughing and others turned their backs on him.

20. Jesus left them to make his way to the home of Zacchaeus, while Judas and the other disciples followed reluctantly in his wake.

21. When Jesus first entered the tax collector’s home, he addressed the startled servants with the words: Today salvation has come to this house, since he is also a son of Abraham.

Luke 19:2–9

22. Judas was outraged that his Master could mention Abraham and Zacchaeus in the same breath. Was not one the father of the nation, while the other remained a despised sinner?

23. After they had broken bread, Jesus spoke to his disciples. He warned them yet again that his time was nigh, for he was about to return to his Father, but after three days he would rise again from the dead and once more come among them.

see Matt 26:1;

John 13:1

24. Judas was disheartened by Jesus’ speaking of his own death, but did not at that time press the Master for an explanation.

25. Judas was unable to sleep that night while he remained under the roof of an impure man who owed his wealth and position to a race of disbelievers.

26. While others slept, Judas wrestled with the multitude of problems Jesus had revisited.

27. Since they had descended from Mount Tabor, the Master’s actions had not been those of a messianic leader intent on entering Jerusalem in triumph to claim the Davidic throne of Israel.

28. Without an army to support him, Judas was fearful of what might happen to the Master when he finally entered the Holy City.

29. So many of Jesus’ enemies, among them the Elders and Pharisees, would be looking for the slightest excuse to discredit him, even destroy him.

30. Judas recalled the exhilaration he had felt when he had first joined Jesus’ band of followers. He had been overwhelmed by the authority of the Master’s teaching and proud to be numbered among the chosen twelve.

31. But would he now have to accept that Jesus was no more than a prophet, and that the rich young man might turn out to be right when he had warned: You have chosen to follow a dangerous man, who will lead to the fall of many in Israel?

see

Luke 2:34