Judas Iscariot and the Q Source
Judas Iscariot is infallibly a man who is the most important next to Christ Jesus, St. Paul, and St. Peter.
Even in Germany in the 20th century, some people regarded all the Judaists who were living in Europe at the time as a kind of Judas Iscariot, resulting in tragic deaths of six million innocent Judaists and other unlucky people.
But what are theories about Judas Iscariot?
Was Judas a betrayer?
Did Judas truly betray Jesus? There are a number of theories:
- Jesus was unable to foresee Judas' actions. This theory is inconsistent with a number of passages in the Christian Scriptures which specifically state that Jesus was aware of Judas' betrayal from the time that Judas became a disciple. It is also inconsistent with most Christian groups' concept of the Trinity and of the omniscience of God.
- Jesus knew of Judas' actions in months in advance but was unable to prevent it. This also conflicts with the idea of the omniscience and omnipotence of Jesus.
bullet Jesus knew of Judas' intent to betray him, but chose to allow him to continue because it would allow the God's plan to come to fruition.
- Judas and Jesus worked together to make certain that Jesus would be crucified, in order to facilitate God's design for humanity. This is the belief of many Gnostic groups and is the theme of the Gospel of Judas. This conflicts with Jesus' threats of Judas' future punishment found throughout the gospels.
- Author William Klassen suggests that Judas did not betray Jesus at all. 5 He suggests that the word "betrayal" found throughout English versions of the Bible is a mistranslation of the Greek word "paradidomi." An accurate translation would be "handed over." Klassen suggests that Judas was only planning to give Jesus over to the Jewish authorities so that they could evaluate his claims. This theory cannot account for the word translated as "traitor" in Luke 6:16. The "traitor" could have been a mistake by the author of Luke, or a copyist's error.
- Another possibility is that the story of Judas' "betrayal" and Jesus' subsequent arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial(s), his appearance before Pontius Pilate etc. might be a work of fiction.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/gospj3.htm
To understand Judas Iscariot, we have to understand Christ Jesus without any mistakes.
For example, if you shallowly think that Christ Jesus is God but He could not prevent Judas' betrayal to be arrested by Roman soldiers and eventually be killed, you may think that God is so incompetent. You may surely think that God lacks some kind of ability. Therefore, God, you would conclude, cannot be omnipotent, since He can be betrayed so easily.
In other word, to correctly understand Christ Jesus, we have to understand God without any mistakes.
At least, you have to think that God is almighty. His plan is beyond our imagination and ability to understand. So, God drew up a scenario that He, in the mere capability of a human being, should be betrayed by a mere man Judas Iscariot for some reason that is beyond our ability to understand.
Then what is the very reason, if the act of Judas Iscariot is called a betrayal?
As I once wrote some years ago in this blog, Judas Iscariot was probably intimidated by the Roman authority in Jerusalem. If Judas Iscariot had not sold out Christ Jesus, Judas Iscariot should have been killed. In order to save Judas' life, Christ Jesus had to allow Judas to betray Him. Of course, this is one theory.
And another theory of mine concerning this "betrayal" issue is that Christ Jesus was well aware that Judas was a spy sent by the Roman authority. Judas, travelling with Christ Jesus and other Apostles, was writing a report on every movement of Christ Jesus, and he sent it secretly to some Roman officer. Christ Jesus let Judas continue this clandestine mission for Romans. But why? It is because He knew that reports Judas Iscariot wrote would later become the so-called Q source. The Q source became underlying material Luke and Mathew referred to in their writing their own Gospels.
The crucial point at issue is that Judas Iscariot is the very author of the Q source, which was the plan of God Almighty.
Note that "Double Tradition" in the above figure means the Q source.
Note also that in my theory Mark was actually Christ Jesus.
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Luk 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.