Why judas betrayed jesus with a kiss

In this specific act, Jesus publicly proclaimed himself to be the restoration of the fallen house of David. Psalms 89, bemoans this situation. Psalms 89 looks back on the original promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7. Nathan endorses the plan but then suddenly changes his mind when he receives a message from God. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. Note that the Son of David has a special relationship to God.

By this point you should be recognizing the echoes in the Gospels. Jesus acts accordingly. And the people respond with appropriate anticipation. We know this is how the Gospel writers see it because of the details they choose to emphasize. Jesus warns them not to tell anyone what Peter has just said and at the same time begins to teach them that he will be rejected, killed and three days later rise again.

The disciples, however, choke on this prediction. Peter rebukes him. But Jesus in-turn rebukes Peter, teaching his disciples that to save ones life is to lose it and to lose ones life is to save it. This pattern is repeated two more times in the journey to Jerusalem. When Jesus predicts his death, the disciples express pride in their earthly position and Jesus in turn must once again adjust their perspective through a paradoxical teaching.

To be the greatest you must become the least. To be first you must be last. To rule you must become a servant. The last example of this pattern occurs when James and John approach Jesus with a request to sit on his right and left in his glory. Judas brought soldiers to the Garden of Gethsemane and gave Jesus the infamous kiss of greeting which identified him to his enemies.

Once the Jewish authorities decided to get rid of Jesus, they had to find a way to do it without inciting a riot or an uprising. They knew that Jesus had supporters among the ordinary people, many of whom might take up arms on his behalf. They had to arrest Jesus quickly, without a fuss. But there was a problem. Since there would have been something like , people in and around Jerusalem at Passover that year, the chances of locating and arresting an individual, especially one who did not want to be found, were slight.

Suddenly a solution to their problem appeared. Once Jesus was arrested, even his popularity with the people would not protect him. He could be taken into custody and dealt with before the general populace was even aware of what was happening. Judas was, and still is a riddle. He walked with Jesus and knew him well. Judas did not betray Jesus for the money.

The equivalent modern value of thirty pieces of silver is not known, but it was a comparatively modest sum. When Judas faced the Temple authorities he did not quibble at the amount, or bargain for more. Perhaps he had been won over to the politics of the Zealots, ancient-day terrorists who aimed to seize power and violently end Roman domination of Israel.

Judas realised he was never going to get this through Jesus. On the other hand, maybe Judas was afraid for his own safety. Did he think Jesus was becoming too radical, too dangerous?

The attack on the money-changers had occurred only a few days before. Judas may have decided to get out while the going was good — and prove his loyalty to the Jewish leaders by handing over Jesus. This should not be confused with demonic possession. We know from the Qumran documents that many Jewish people at that time believed that there were two universal forces, good and evil.

A person turned to one or the other in his actions, and in this case Judas aligned himself with evil. Where it happened: the city of ancient Jerusalem lay in the lower left and centre of this 19th century photograph; the Kidron valley is lower right ; the Mount of Olives is extreme lower right.

What happened? On the day in question, Jesus stayed in Jerusalem for the evening meal instead of eating in Bethany, where he had probably been staying since he arrived in the Jerusalem area. Like some other ancient texts, the Gospel of Judas is written in Coptic. The text was translated by a team of scholars working with National Geographic. The translation suggests that Jesus asked Judas to betray him so that his execution could take place.

According to the translation, Jesus told Judas "Step away from the others [the other disciples] and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their god. However, the team's translation and interpretation of the text has been criticized by other scholars.

April DeConick, chair of the department of religion at Rice University in Houston, wrote on her website that there are a number of errors in the translation and that the Gospel of Judas is actually a "parody about a 'demon' Judas written by a particular group of Gnostic Christians we call the Sethians.

A new translation and study of the Gospel of Judas is scheduled to be published in April, , by Oxford University Press. An ancient Coptic manuscript dating from the third or fourth century, containing the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas. Without Judas, you don't have the central component of Christianity—you don't have the Resurrection.

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