Judas Iscariot was the disciple who betrayed Jesus. According to the gospels, he led a group of armed guards to Jesus and identified him with a kiss. After a brief scuffle, the guards seized Jesus and took him to the Jewish religious authorities for interrogation. The next morning he was taken to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who eventually gave the order to crucify him.
The Jewish leaders paid Judas a bribe for his help. Matthew 26:15 says that it was "thirty pieces of silver", possibly referring to a silver coin known as a Tyrian shekel. But Judas began to feel remorse shortly after the betrayal. Matthew 27:3-5 says that he returned the money and then hanged himself. A somewhat different account can be found at Acts 1:18, which says: "with the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out." Thus it isn't clear exactly how he died.
After his death, the other disciples chose a man named Matthias to take his place as one of the twelve apostles.
Because Judas was a common name in ancient Palestine, the gospel writers usually identify him by adding the surname Iscariot. John 6:71 calls him "Judas Iscariot the son of Simon." He was put in charge of the disciples' money, keeping it in a special box and making purchases for the group as needed. John 12:6 says that he sometimes stole money from the box for his personal use.
Matthew 26:14-16 implies that Judas betrayed Jesus out of simple greed for the bribe money, whereas Luke 22:3 and John 13:27 suggest that the Devil entered into him and made him do it. But some biblical scholars have put forward another theory. They say that Judas wanted Jesus to lead a revolt against the Romans, and turned against him when it became clear that no revolt was planned.
Jesus was fully aware of the coming betrayal. He talked about it several times, and though he never mentioned Judas by name, he identified him indirectly. This fore-knowledge has led some people to argue that the betrayal wasn't an act of free will, but was imposed on Judas as part of a divine plan for the atonement between God and humankind.
But most theologians contend that Judas did act in free will and should be punished for it. And in Matthew 26:24, Jesus says "woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." Even so, the Catholic Church has no official position on whether Judas was punished. However, In Dante's Inferno he is condemned to the lowest circle of Hell, doomed to be chewed for eternity in the mouths of the triple-headed Satan.
Yet some people still argue that Judas shouldn't be blamed. Some scholars have suggested that he was merely the negotiator in a secret prearranged surrender, and that his later portrayal as a traitor is a historical distortion. Variations on this idea were put forward in the book The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield, and also in the controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ.
This idea surfaced again with the discovery of an ancient copy of a previously lost "Gospel of Judas". According to some scholars, this gospel suggests that Jesus showed special favor to Judas and gave him secret revelations. Later Jesus told him about the need for a betrayal and asked him to take the blame for it. But the only existing copy of this gospel is badly damaged, and much guesswork is involved in determining exactly what it says. As a result, questions have arisen as to how it really depicts Judas. In any case, because it probably wasn't written until the second century, most scholars doubt that it is a reliable source of information.
Another suspect book called the Gospel of Barnabas makes the outlandish claim that Judas, not Jesus Christ, was the person who actually died on the cross. The book alleges that this happened because Judas was miraculously transformed to look exactly like Jesus shortly after the betrayal. As a result, he was mistaken for Jesus and crucified in his place. The disciples didn't realize what had happened and thought Jesus was dead, so he temporarily returned from heaven to show them that he had survived. Of course this entire story is a obvious fabrication.
The origin of the surname Iscariot is uncertain. According to one theory, the name means "man of Kerioth", and refers to a town or area in ancient Judea. If correct, this would suggest that Judas came from southern Palestine, whereas all the other disciples were probably Galileans from the north. Another theory holds that the name Iscariot comes from the Latin word "sicarius", meaning "dagger-man". The Sicarii were a group of rebel assassins who were resisting the Roman occupation of the country. Thus Judas might have originally been a member of this group. (The released prisoner Barabbas also may have belonged to this group.)
Perhaps the best-known artistic depiction of Judas is the The Kiss of Judas by Giotto di Bondone, c.1306, a fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Another well-known depiction can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. Here the artist shows Judas as somewhat smaller and darker than the other disciples, and he appears to be clutching a bag which may contain the bribe money.
Note: For more information about this topic, go to this Judas Iscariot Discussion
