The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot

19. When Jesus dismounted the donkey, he entered the Temple and prayed.

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20. As it was the evening, he returned to Bethany with some of his disciples to spend the night with Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary.

see

John 11:1–4;

Matt 21:17

21. Judas did not accompany his Master to Bethany, but remained in the Temple, where he sought out the Scribe who had befriended him on the road from Jericho.

22. And when Judas found him, he went to the Scribe’s home, broke bread, and they shared wine together.

23. And the Scribe said: ‘What will he do tomorrow?’

24. Judas answered: ‘As it is the Passover, he will return to Jerusalem and go to the Temple. He may perform miracles and cast out demons, and many will believe that he is the Messiah, and for this they will follow him.’

25. The Scribe responded: Your Master is a good and holy man, but if he allows his followers to indulge in false hopes, it will only end in bloodshed, and the Romans will surely destroy the whole nation.

see

John 11:48

26. Judas knew that the Scribe spoke the truth and, fearing for his Master’s safety, decided to put his trust in this powerful interpreter of the law.

27. Judas confessed: ‘I no longer believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but John the Baptist proclaimed that he was a man of God, and therefore we must not let him die at the hands of the Romans.’

see

John 1:32–34,

Mark 1:11

28. The Scribe agreed, and promised to assist Judas with his plans. ‘You must spirit Jesus out of the city and, along with the other disciples, accompany him back to Galilee, where the Romans will not trouble him.’

29. Judas agreed, and before he left, promised the Scribe that when the time and place were right, he would inform him.

see

Mark 14:10;

Matt 26:15;

Luke 22:6

30. Judas left the home of the Scribe to return to Bethany.

31. As he passed the Antonia fortress, he could hear the Roman soldiers shouting ‘Ioudaei sunt porci!’, an insult that they were well aware was offensive to all Jews, especially at the time of the Passover.

32. As he left the city and made his way back up the h

ill to Bethany, Judas felt a great yoke had been lifted from his shoulders, because he alone among the disciples could now save his Master, and with him the fate of Israel.

Chapter 18

He must die to save our nation