The
Attempts to Justify
The Sin of Judas
PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to refute the most recent abominable
attack on Christianity: the alleged salvation of Judas Iscariot, and
its nefarious consequences.
INTRODUCTION
We have heard every groundless allegation about Jesus so far: A gay (1)
Jesus; a Jesus married to Mary Magdalene with offspring still running
around today; a Jesus Who really was not crucified, thus not
resurrected; a Jesus Who did not resurrect at all - it was all a
bait-and-switch operation; and a Jesus that never existed in history.
Thus now, the logical step for the enemies of true Christianity is to
glorify Judas.
As it is customary (2), rivers of ink and untold
gigabytes have been used to defend the "honor" of the Opus Dei from the
alleged (3) Da Vinci Code slander, but when it
comes to defending the true
Faith we seem to be the proverbial "Lone
Ranger" - and for that, we are humbled and unceasingly Praise God for
the privilege.
BACKGROUND
As of late, the printed and electronic press (4)
has been buzzing about the upcoming publication of the "Gospel of
Judas" as well as his possible restoration to Divine Grace. An
atmosphere of "let bygones be bygones" and "no matter what, everyone is
automatically forgiven
for anything and everything" seems to be
enveloping the Earth.
Although this developing scenario appears to be just a another random
theological development (5) with intent of
profit, it is not. This time, anyway, financial gain is not the
ultimate intent. But this redemption-of-Judas effort is not new.
On February 16th, by a clear act of Divine Providence, miguel de
Portugal came across (6) a movie, in DVD, titled
JUDAS, copyrighted in 2001 and
which premiered on ABC TV in 2004. Five years after its first release,
the film has not been yet relegated to the "final closeout" bin of a
discount store. No; the DVD, with two soundtracks - English and Italian
- and with the choice of subtitles in Portuguese, Check, Dutch, Polish,
Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Greek and English for the deaf, is
available for the outrageous price of 24.00 US Dollars (outrageous in a
country where the minimum wage is about 2.50 US Dollars an hour) (7).
But why market that movie now? You may guess it when we give you a
bird's eye view of the film:
In the film...
1. Judas was traumatized by his own father's crucifixion.
2. He is portrayed as a suffering hero from the beginning
to end. His
mother gets the same sympathetic treatment.
3. He "mistakenly" betrayed Jesus.
4. When he realized the "mistake" he comes seeking the help of the
other Apostles and disciples to try to save Jesus. In a heart wrenching
scene where the viewer is sure to be moved to compassion, they will not
even open the door to him.
5. Rejected and in despair he runs away and hangs himself - a scene
accompanied by the suitable flashback of scenes and words when Jesus
originally invites Judas to follow Him, promising Judas life in
Eternity with Him. This leaves the viewer with the impression that
Judas will get to paradise before the good thief does.
[Luke 23: 39-43]
6. Judas is then given proper and prayerful burial by the other
Apostles.
DETAILS
What does the Bible says about Judas
and his betrayal of Jesus
Jesus speaks about the future
of the betrayer
John 17
11
And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come
to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me;
that they may be one, as we also are. 12 While I was with them, I kept
them in thy name. Those whom thou gavest me have I kept; and none of
them is lost, but the son of
perdition, that the scripture may be fulfilled. 13 And now I come to thee; and these
things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in
themselves. 14 I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated
them, because they are not of the world; as I also am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldst keep them from evil.
Matthew 26
21
And whilst they were eating, he said: Amen I say to you, that one of
you is about to betray me. 22 And they being very much troubled, began
every one to say: Is it I, Lord? 23 But he answering, said: He that
dippeth his hand with me in the dish, he shall betray me. 24 The Son of
man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom
the Son of man shall be betrayed: it were better
for him, if that man had not been born. 25 And Judas that betrayed him,
answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He saith to him: Thou hast said it.
Mark 14
21
And the Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to
that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for
him, if that man had not been born.
Luke 22
21
But yet behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the
table. 22 And the Son of man indeed goeth, according to that which is
determined: but yet, woe
to that man by whom he shall be betrayed.
Judas actions after the
betrayal
Matthew 27
3
Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that he was condemned, repenting
himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests
and ancients, 4 Saying: I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. But
they said: What is that to us? look thou to it. 5 And casting down the
pieces of silver in the temple, he departed: and went and hanged
himself with an halter.
Commentary About the Biblical Texts
It is quite clear what Jesus said about
the fate of the man - Judas Iscariot - who would betray Him. We cannot
ascribe such harsh and clear statements to mistranslation,
misinterpretation or text manipulation. (8)
Regarding Judas actions after the betrayal - They certainly agree with
the prophecies of Jesus regarding he who was going to betray Him. In
reality - Jesus was so clear about the fate of "that man by whom he
shall be betrayed" that we
only needed Matthew's text for the purpose of confirming the
prophecy of Zecharias [Zec.
11:12] regarding the thirty pieces of silver.
The Theology of the betrayal of Jesus
Amazingly enough, it is quite simple. As we pointed out above, Jesus
left no room for doubt as to the fate of Judas, i.e. "but woe to that man by whom the Son of
man shall be betrayed. It were better for him, if that man had not been
born." (Remember - Jesus came from Eternity where everything in
Time (9) has already been completed; therefore
He knows Judas' fate.)
The logic the enemies of God are using now to glorify Judas is that, if
Jesus is Mercy and He came to save sinners, how would He not be
merciful with Judas; after all, "thanks to Judas" humanity was saved.
"Is He going to punish this instrument of salvation? After all, Peter
denied Him three times and yet he was made the First Amongst Equals."
the enemies of God will ask.
Borrowing our Lord and Master's words, miguel de Portugal asks today's
chief priests, pharisees and scribes and their equivalents and their
blind followers: "O unbelieving and
perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I
suffer you?" [Matthew 17:16]
First
- In Matthew 27:3 we
read that
Judas "...repenting himself he..."...
First of all, the correct translation is "...full of remorse he..."
Judas may have been full of remorse and, even if you will, repented
himself, but he committed suicide because he despaired, thus,
did not believe that
he could be forgiven even
after all the examples Jesus had given him of His Mercy
"And
thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down
to hell; for if the mighty
works, which have been done in thee [witnessed by thee], had
been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say
unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment, than for thee." [Matthew 11:23-24]
A Very Important Note:
That is basically the scene each one of
us will have in the Final
Judgment. Jesus does not send anyone to hell - Love Itself cannot do
that. The individual being judged, not trusting in the Mercy of God, is convinced by satan that
he/she is unforgivable and freely chooses hell because he/she believes
that it is what is deserved. Why does the faithful think we keep asking
Mary: "...pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."
Not "before the hour", not "after the hour" but "at the hour"? We pray thus
so that with the help of Mary satan cannot convince us to choose hell.
Actually, a more mystically correct prayer would be "...pray for us
sinners now and at the hour of our judgment."
Secondly
- God did not
cause Judas to sin so that He could save humanity. "The end justify the
means" is not part of God's
methodology even though it is the "Creed"
for many leaders of organized religion and the "Foundation Stone" to
some of the sects within the Roman Church.
God allowed the free
will of Judas to act in the manner which led to the betrayal of Jesus
and the redemption of mankind. God did not cause it; He
could have
stopped it. But, by not stopping the crucifixion of His only Son, God (and only God!) gave the opportunity of salvation to
mankind.
If there is one human that we need to be thankful to in this context it
would be Abraham [Genesis 22]. Through his selfless abandon to the Will
of God and his complete faith in Him, he fulfilled the Divine requirement
set before God would offer His own and only Son in
sacrifice for all of humanity.
CONCLUSION
The reason for this "Save
Judas" campaign is very simple: Those who have been justifying
their nefarious actions for centuries in the Name of God (10)
using their "The end justify the means" principle, are "greasing the
wheels" for their behavior as some of them plan to stage the
manifestation of the False Christ (11), while,
at the same time, the others exonerate themselves for their past
behavior (12) which, not even Jesus would
forgive. We remind you:
But
he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his
neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. [
Matthew 18:6]
Unrepentant scandalization of the innocent (13)
- the specialty of far too many organized religion leaders!
The consequences would be
atrocious:
(a) The Gospels would be "proven" so
wrong that they would become of no use as the guiding light to the
steps of humanity; and
(b) Humanity will be counting on an "automatic salvation process" -
regardless of their actions and their degree of repentance. This
"automatic salvation process" does not exist; the souls entrapped by
this snare will experience untold suffering as the result of having
accepted this illusion.
EPILOGUE
Once again, Divine Providence intervenes to provide additional
confirmation. After the final draft of this document was finished on
February 27 another film found its way to miguel de Portugal's hands.
This one is part of a Planet Agostini series about Great Mysteries of
History - its title: "Who is
responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus" - Copyright 2004.
Recognizing Divine Providence, miguel viewed the documentary film
before the text of this document was completed and the Divine
intervention he suspected was confirmed.
Summarizing it: The only
three "suspects" in this mystery are Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate and
Jesus. Judas' name is only mentioned twice in the entire film.
In this film the viewer is led to believe that Judas acted because Jesus told him
to do so at the Last Supper: "And
Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly." [John 13:27]
Thus, in no way Judas is presented as responsible for the crucifixion
of Jesus.
Another mere random coincidence? Only for those who do not have Eyes to
See (14).
Part 1
(this document): The Attempts to Justify
The Sin of Judas
NOTES
(2) Letter
to VISÃO : Opus Dei defends itself and not God nor
Christianity nor the Catholic Faith
(6) On a shopping trip
with no known objective
250 km from current home base
(7) Obviously the target
customer is not your
average cannot-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-month citizen, but your noveau
affluent Portuguese yuppie seeking for ways to justify the ditching of
the traditional and greatly
misunderstood Christian "yoke".
En Español: Los intentos de blanquear
el Pecado de Judas
Published on March 1st, 2006 -
Ash Wednesday
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