Jesus answered and said, “You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by

The betrayal of Jesus by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane may be the most tragic of all the stories concerning the life of Christ. For the payment of 30 pieces of silver, Judas handed his master and friend to the Pharisees. While Jesus prayed in the garden, Judas approached him and identified him with a kiss. Beset with grief over his actions, Judas later hung himself. This betrayal has been immortalized in our language, the name "Judas" having become synonymous with "traitor," and a "Judas kiss" the term for a symbol of friendship used to do harm to another.

But how is his condemnation deserved? How can Judas be condemned as a traitor if his actions fulfilled ancient prophecies of the Jewish faith? A Gnostic text discovered in the 1970s and likely written in 2 CE, known as the Gospel of Judas, suggests that Judas acted on Jesus' instruction. Though the gospel is tattered and missing many lines of text, it grants incredible insight into a new interpretation of the events surrounding the betrayal.

The work depicts him as the most trusted of all of the disciples, as he is the only one entrusted with carrying out the betrayal. The text itself consists largely of conversations between Jesus and Judas, the latter sharing his visions with the former. These visions include one of a great mansion whose doors cannot be opened and another in which he is stoned to death by his fellow disciples. In their final discussion, Jesus explains his purpose on earth to Judas, and the role that he is to play in it. No longer a traitor to Christ, he is the catalyst to the salvation of the human race, and in return for his role in the completion of prophecy becomes the first of the "holy generation." Jesus warns his disciple that mortal men shall rail against him for his actions, but that he will rule over them in Heaven. 

Despite the negative reception that the gospel has received from religious figures, it has recently gained popularity (though an admittedly small amount) among Gnostic sects and non-denominational Christians who have long struggled with the questions surrounding Judas Iscariot's life and legacy.