More on Judas
Submitted by Drifter on 2002-11-1 07:13:28, Friday
In reply to Re: Is Hell forever? submitted by Reason Filled on 2002-10-30 23:54:49, Wednesday
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If you study Judas, you find out that Judas was a zealot. Zealots were an extremist branch of Judaism (similar to how Al Qaeda is an extremist branch of Islam). Ive heard two theories on why Judas betrayed Jesus and Im sharing them here. Here he was, following this great leader. A man who could heal the sick, raise the dead, and create food. Surely, this was the messiah. Who could defeat an army whose dead come back to life, whose wounded are healed and who never run out of food? No one could defeat such an army and Judas knew this. He spent several years following Jesus, he staked his life on this being the messiah who would liberate his people. But here he was, at the last supper and Jesus begins talking about his own death, he begins talking about this being their last meal together. From this point on, Ive heard two different theories on Judas' motivations. Theory 1: Judas felt betrayed. It dawned on him that if Jesus was going to die, if this was their last meal together, then Jesus wasnt the messiah. Being the zealot that he was, Judas became angered and even more so when Jesus pointed him out as the betrayer. Out of a sense of anger, a sense that he had wasted these years following a false messiah, Judas decided to denounce Jesus as the false messiah that he believed Jesus to be. Theory 2: Judas still believed that Jesus was the messiah. He had been following this man for 3 years, he had seen what he was capable of, he knew this was the messiah, and he wanted the war to begin. In an attempt to kickstart the war, he betrayed Jesus, hoping that his arrest would spark the war. Peter apparently also felt that this is what was going to happen. We know this because when the detachment came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and attacked the servant of the high priest. Did Judas make it into heaven? According to Dante's "Divine Comedy" Judas occupies the 9th and final level of hell. That level reserved for the greatest of betrayers and for Lucifer himself. But is this realistic? I dont really know the answer but my guess is that in his heart, Judas truly believed he was doing the right thing. If theory 1 is correct then Judas renounced Jesus, he did not accept him as the messiah, and thus he wouldve gone to hell had he not apparently realized the mistake he made. Under theory 2, he always accepted Jesus as the messiah and thus he was saved. So, in my opinion, chances are that Dante was wrong. e-mail: webnomad@ziplip.com url: http://www.fpc.net/sites/drifter/ |
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