It is fast coming on Eastertime and I spend my evenings playing 'Last Supper' with my "Jesus and the Twelve Disciples" action figures on my bedroom floor and pretending my backyard is the garden of Gethsemane. This year's season has provoked many new thoughts however with the translation of newfound gnostic Gospel of Judas.
I have always worried about Judas Iscariot. This new gospel claims that J.I. turned Jesus in to the authorities at the request of J.C. himself. I have always been moved by the notion that, following his betrayal of Jesus, J.I. returned the 30 pieces of silver that he had been paid and hanged himself. How sad is that? What despair!
I feel a closeness to J.I. ("that dirty little coward") that I could never feel for J.C. I'm not a theologian, nor am I a Christian, but there is a great deal of humanity to the idea of "the right thing to do" being the thing that makes you feel the worst and look despicable in the eyes of the others. Of course, I may also just be a man who thinks too much and does too little, which is how my mom describes me, since, after all, I was supposed to be telling you about my mom.
