In my last post, I talked about AI as the “new fire.” This turns into the old fire of betrayal.
Judas Iscariot is one of history’s most enduring images of the ultimate sinner. Even today, “Judas’ Kiss” represents intimacy destroyed by greed, malice, and fear.
No one really knows why Judas betrayed Jesus. The Gospel of John says that he managed the disciples’ money and sometimes helped himself, so greed may have been a factor. Pride may also have played a role, such as anger, competitiveness, imagined contempt, or a feeling that one’s position in the group was less than deserved.
Or perhaps they were tired of waiting for Jesus to take over the world and hoped that through betrayal they would be sidelined too. It’s probably a combination of motives. Whatever the reason, things quickly went awry.
Judas leaves the table, leads the soldiers into the garden, and identifies Jesus with a kiss. He then attempted to return the money and took his own life.
Early church tradition suggests that Judas died by suicide, not out of despair, but out of hope. Reasoning that God’s justice will lead to hell, and God’s mercy will send Jesus to hell to save the damned. Judas sought to meet Christ in the depths, seeking one last chance for salvation. It was a gamble against grace. [*]
That sounds like overkill. Not as much as the proper piety that Judah needed to achieve salvation.
The soul is revealed through attention. Love is all about attention above judgment, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Jesus was not deceived. Judas deceived himself. If Judas really was no ordinary sinner, he could be kept at arm’s length. He isn’t. The kiss, the deal, and what happened next warns us of something that is often overlooked. That is, sin is not necessarily separate from intimacy, loyalty, and faith. Sometimes it grows inside them.
A wise devil does not ask anyone to choose evil overtly. He gives it a reason, a plan, and sometimes a conscience. Imaginary good excuses the harm done because of it.
Being deceived is not just a mistake due to ignorance. Intelligent people can be fooled by the very habits of mind that prevent them from feeling their most vulnerable. Political leaders call betrayal “necessary,” convincing themselves that staying in power is the same as defending the republic. A friend repeats his confidence that “it’s good for me,” but realizes too late that with better manners, that worry could be a selfish one.
The form changes. The betrayal remains. Modern “practical” betrayal often appears as a strategic necessity. The faithful servant chooses the “greater good” over personal integrity, puts on a public show of solidarity, and begins dismantling what he was entrusted with protecting. It’s a Judas kiss disguised as duty.
Literature keeps returning to this tension. Two favorites come to mind: Herman Melville’s billy budd and Arthur Miller’s crucible. In Melville’s novella, Captain Vere sacrifices innocent humans like Christ to the “necessity” of martial law, proving that even the noblest of hearts can disguise betrayal as duty. In Miller’s play, John Proctor risks his life if he signs a false confession. He refuses because he knows that the survival he gained by betraying his name is not life.
Classically Dante’s inferno It places Judas in the frozen center of hell and suggests that the ultimate sin is not heat or passion, but the ruthless and intelligent choice to treat a benefactor as a means to an end. Betrayal completely isolates the soul.
A Midrashic maxim turns this issue in another direction. “Blessed are the righteous who turn the quality of judgment into the quality of mercy.” [**] It’s a more difficult task. Judas can criticize from a safe distance. The bigger challenge is knowing how judgment becomes mercy without pretending that betrayal is less than betrayal.
“If an enemy insulted me, I could deal with it. If an enemy attacked me, I could avoid it. But it is you, my companion and best friend, whose words are smooth as butter, soft as oil, and yet like a drawn sword.” -Psalm 55
Sometimes evil is ourselves in disguise. We know how to be kind. But when the truth is revealed, love may become stronger and judgment may become mercy. You can also blame others. Only truth produces mercy.
notes and reading
[*] For a more in-depth treatment of this kind of radical compassion, see the writings of David Bentley Hart. that all will be saved. The heart is based on the ancient hope of the restoration of all things, that God’s victory is not complete until all souls are reconciled.
Considering this, we can imagine Judas’ death not as a mere exit, but as a desperate attempt to directly experience the misery of hell. “Hell” here refers to Sheol or Hades, the realm of the dead, rather than a later image of final damnation. The tradition of Christ’s coming to the dead appears in the Apostles’ Creed.
It’s easy to praise mercy until it reaches those who no one wants to be forgiven.
[**] Genesis Rabbah 73:3ff. Weitze. The midrash contrasts the wicked, who turn the quality of mercy into the quality of judgment, and the righteous, who turn the quality of judgment into the quality of mercy. Translations vary. I used a slightly smoother rendering here.
Redemptive Dissolution: The Mystery of Betrayal in the New Testament and the Gospel of Judas, published online by Cambridge University Press, December 14, 2016, pages 111-124. The recently discovered Gospel of Judas has caused much controversy among scholars. Although Judas is clearly involved in Jesus’ crucifixion in this document, scholars debate whether his actions should be understood positively or negatively.
What do we need to forgive? Not only Judah’s sin, but the conviction that makes his sin beyond mercy. In Job, God rebukes his godly friends for defending God’s justice too neatly, even as Job is humble, respecting Job’s suffering honesty. Judas presents a more difficult case. It is a test of whether mercy, not the innocent, can reach beyond what moral certainty allows. The important thing is not to forgive betrayal. It is a question of our certainty that we know in advance where God’s mercy will end.
Giotto di Bondone—The Kiss of Judas / The Arrest of Christ. Giotto helped move Western painting from stylized reverence to embodied human reality. This fresco is part of a series that is often considered his best work, and shows an inner drama conveyed through outer gestures. Judas reaches out to Jesus, puts on a yellow cloak, and faces Jesus. Judas’ expression does not have to reveal everything. A kiss is enough. Betrayal takes the form of love.
To visit Scrovegni ChapelPeople first wait in a temperature-controlled room before going indoors. Each visit lasts about 15 minutes, and the automatic door opens only once when entering or exiting to stabilize the air inside.
new fire
sacred unknown
Approximately 2+2=5
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
