Glad you do not feel persecuted Darren
Judas a betrayer.
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Judas was not a Galliean , he was Judean and must have had more prestige than Matthew because he was given the job of handling the money. Perhaps Matthew turned down the job. I also found it interesting that the two Cananite brothers were paired with Simon the Zealot and Judas iscariot. We think it normal that Judas was always named last because of what he did but Jesus taught the last will be first and the first last.
Think about it you yourself went out in pairs cast out demons and came back rejoicing then you see your leader raise people from the dead, feed thousands and walk on water...
Contrast that with the fact that you hate the romans and the corruption in Judaism. Wouldn't You want the confrontation to occur...Judas's pride and carnal desires were easy to be played on.
Jesus chose him as one of the 12 himself. When jesus told him to do it quickly I can see that Judas may have taken it as sign of approval. Jesus even washed his feet before he left.
Judas could not have been the only one to know where Jesus hung out after dinner , it would have been an easy feat to accomplish. I doubt that jesus and his company of people were clandestine except perhaps in that final week.
In gesthename, the mushey kiss was for Jesus because he was about to 'make history" and in Judas eyes make things right. The problem was it was what Judas wanted but not what God had planned.
Why is it that Judas threw the money back when he saw things turn sour. Why didn't he leave he country. He saw himselh as a worthless scumbag who was responsible for this death and he killed himself. It is remorse at its extreme.
It must have been the disciples who buried him at least. It had to be after the ressurrection because they were too scared to come out before that.
Harod tried to kill Jesus his home town tried to stone him and the pharisees loooked for ways to corner him so they could get him.. All Eleven ran out of the garden that night and despite the bravado of Peter, he vehemently denied him three times, and even after the ressurrection Peter was still bother by a statement made about John.
There is a little of everyone in the scriptures in us. Nothing special about Judas except in the physical...
spiritually we are all betrayers, liers adulterers thiefs etc in essesnce we are no better ....except for the mercy of God. beloved