Judas? I think he needs forgiven.

Judas? I think he needs forgiven., originally uploaded by Star Cat.

If you get offended easily when questioning Christianity...please don't read this:

First of all..here is a Good Friday joke for you. (I know, bad...I know.)

Was Judas the Fall Guy? No, Lee Majors was.

Secondly...Duane, that is the bread we are eating for dinner tonight.

I'm a Christian, but I always like to question the ideals of religion. (I consider myself 1/4 Buddhist) I have always felt very badly for Judas. I mean, you needed Judas! Jesus knew it. I know the arguments about free will and all that. So what if Judas said, you know what? He's my bud, I'm not gonna turn him in. Does God rally up another fallguy? This was always part of the plan, free will had nothing to do with it. They were all in on it. So to speak.

Any way you look at it, the subject of Judas, whether you believe that Jesus was the Son of God or not, is a fascinating subject.

E.J. Dionne Jr. ["A New Twist on Judas," op- ed, April 14] said, "It can be argued that by betraying Jesus, Judas set salvation in motion." He also said that reconsidering Judas "might be consistent with the [Easter] season's message of salvation and redemption." Those ideas may be in keeping with our culture's "feel-good" approach to life, but they hardly are in tune with the Bible.

From the UK Independent...which is a GREAT article by the way:

Scholars have, however, been questioning his role, and asking why the Church for centuries laid such stress on it. That role has actually always been ambiguous, if only because the Gospels insist that Jesus knew that one of his apostles would betray him, "that the scriptures might be fulfilled" . If so, then Judas may be seen almost as a scapegoat, the man forced by destiny to play this part. One may ask why it was necessary that one of the apostles should betray him since Christ's arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection could, one assume, have taken place without any act of treachery. Was Judas, one wonders, necessary to the authors of the Gospels principally for dramatic effect?

and since I've been listening to it on my IPod all day, Judas and Jesus excerpt form The Last Supper, Jesus Christ Superstar:

Judas
Cut out the dramatics! You know very well who -
Jesus
Why don't you go do it?
Judas
You want me to do it!
Jesus
Hurry they are waiting
Judas
If you knew why I do it . . .
Jesus
I don't care why you do it!
Judas
To think I admired you
For now I despise you
Jesus
You liar - you Judas
Judas
You wanted me to do it!
What if I just stayed here
And ruined your ambition?
Christ you deserve it!

Jesus
Hurry you fool, hurry and go,
Save me your speeches
I don't want to know - Go! Go!