How Did Judas Betray Jesus?
In the Gospels that we have, Judas was one of Jesus’s twelve disciples but envied him (or was possibly disillusioned because Jesus seemed to be uninterested in earthly revolution.) In exchange for thirty pieces of silver (a very large sum) he agreed to identify his leader in public, so that the Roman officers would know who to arrest. He did this by kissing him (“Judas kiss” was a common expression at one time.) Jesus was arrested and later crucified. He had foreseen that this would happen; he had also known that his most loyal follower, Peter, would deny friendship with him to save his own skin (this also happened.) Judas later hanged himself in remorse. In some countries, such as Greece, he is still burnt in effigy every Easter. Quite recently a document known as the Gospel of Judas has been found, which claims that Judas was in fact a loyal supporter and the “betrayal” happened very differently. There is still a debate going on about this document.
