The Death of Israel in the Death of Judas

by Virgil Vaduva
When it comes to "Replacement Theology," Judas the Iscariot, of all people, seems to be the epitome of this theological construct; furthermore, a look into Judas’ origins, life and death can really help us understand how first-century Israel has indeed been utterly destroyed and how the followers of Christ replaced Israel as God’s chosen people.When it comes to "Replacement Theology," Judas the Iscariot, of all people, seems to be the epitome of this theological construct; furthermore, a look into Judas’ origins, life and death can really help us understand how first-century Israel has indeed been utterly destroyed and how the followers of Christ replaced Israel as God’s chosen people.Many Christians over the centuries have been fascinated by Judas. The truth is that we know very little about him, but what we do know could perhaps help us learn more about God’s way of relating to mankind. I say this because there are aspects to Judas’ life that are being overlooked by most believers, perhaps out of ignorance, aspects that are important when it comes to studying the Word of God.

Judas was also called Iscariot. Iscariot in Hebrew means "a man of Carioth;" Carioth being a city in Judea (Joshua 15:25). Likewise, Judas (Ioudas) is a Greek transliteration of Judah, which in Hebrew means "praised." Furthermore, in a highly-relevant way, Judas was the only one of the twelve apostles who was not from Galilee; rather he was Judean, as most Temple priests were. In fact, many Judeans, because of their priestly heritage were arrogantly looking down on Galileans.

Some scholars have proposed that Judas was even from the tribe of Dan. Hermann Olshausen attempts to narrow down Judas’ exact origin when he writes: "Perhaps the passage, Gen. xlix. 27, Dan shall be a serpent, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward, is a prophetic intimation of the treachery of Judas, whence we might conclude that he was of the tribe of Dan." (Bible Commentary 2, s. 458 Anm.) This is a viable possibility that shouldn’t be ignored.

We see that Judas was in a very distinctive situation in relation with the other apostles. Perhaps that is why Judas is often perceived by Christians to be arrogant and faithless, or even a crook. When depicted in art, Judas is often portrayed with a large nose and hunched over. In John Fiester's Apostolic Clock, Judas’ height is half of the other apostles’ and we again see him hunched over, and having an exaggerated nose. This was purportedly because the artist viewed Judas as "less of a man" than the other apostles.

In Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, there is an upside-down salt-cellar painted in front of Judas, which signifies bad-luck or bad-news and in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Shylock, the Jewish money-lender has, "Judas-colored" red hair. Likewise, in Dante’s Inferno, Judas is condemned to the last circle of hell where a three-headed Satan is chewing him for eternity.

Ultimately, whatever the reasons may be, the common references to Judas are meant to be demeaning and indicative of the evil this man represented.

But my questions regarding Judas are not as much about how evil his actions were, but about their prototypical meaning within the context of the entire Scripture. Some liberal scholars even suggested that the Judas character has been added later to the New Testament narrative in order to promote anti-Semitism. The English word “Jew” is based on the Latin "Judaeus" and the Greek "Ioudaios" which both mean "Judean" or "someone from Judea." There is evidence that the author of the Gospel of John went out of his way to even point out the link between Judas and the Jewish people:

"Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas (Ioudan) Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry (Ioudaia), because the Jews (Ioudaioi) sought to kill him." (King James Version)

If this is a coincidence, it is truly fascinating, but perhaps the coincidence is only in the minds of those willing to see anti-Semitism everywhere, including in the Bible. Perhaps these are not coincidences, and they are teaching us a more important lesson about God’s relationship to humanity today.

Interestingly enough, while many Christians recognize that Judas betrayed Christ, they rarely teach that Judas also repented of his sin and professed Christ’s innocence. (Matthew 27) What is even more remarkable, some Church Fathers believed that there was a very good reason behind Judas’ early demise. Origen for example peculiarly believed that Judas hanged himself before the Resurrection of Jesus in order to await Him in Hades and ask His pardon (In Matt., tract. xxxv).

Betrayal of Christ by Judas by Theophanes of Crete 16th Century at Stavronikita Monastery, Mt. Athos

Leaving his repentance aside, there seems to be evidence of Judas’ betrayal being representative of Israel’s global betrayal and rejection of Christ. The High Priests were obviously involved in the betrayal process. In fact, when Judas’ repented of his deed, he "threw the thirty pieces of silver into the naon," naon being the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies areas of the temple. Since only a priest was allowed to enter that area of the temple, we can only speculate as to the level of corruption within the ranks of Israel’s priests since they allowed the betrayer of the Messiah to enter the Holy Place.

Furthermore, as we know, the thirty pieces of silver were used to purchase a piece of land called "The Field of Blood" or "Potter’s Field." Interestingly enough, this field is mentioned in Jeremiah 18 and 19 where imagery of the potter and the clay is being used to describe how God viewed Israel:

"Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make." (New American Standard Version)

In chapter 19 we read something along the same lines:

"Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods..."I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. "I will also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters. "I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them. Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial. "This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants," declares the LORD" (New American Standard Version)

There is no questions that there are many hard-headed believers among us, but I believe that they are the reason for God’s use of typological language. There is clearly very little question regarding the relation of those verses with Israel’s demise in the first century, but if that is not enough, we need to consider the purpose of the Potter’s Field purchased with Judas’ money: Potter’s Field was ultimately used for the burial of gentiles in Israel. If this is just another literary coincidence, then the odds must be astronomical! Apparently God's exact promise of voiding the counsel of Judah in that place can be taken at face value. Judas' actions are evidentiary for voiding God's relationship with Judah and Israel, and for the remaking of Israel into something pleasing to God, the Potter.

Judas’ betrayal and death are the epitome for Israel’s betrayal of the Messiah and Israel’s death in relation to their God. This in itself demonstrates that what Dispensationalists call "Replacement Theology" is in fact a valid theological construct. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the Scripture is truly inspired, and that Judas is not a "late-developing legend" created by Christians in order to blame the Jews for Christ’s death, as some liberal theologian are suggesting but a beautiful and amazing story written by God in an attempt to show us more of what is in His heart.

Judas, the lone outsider of the twelve, the deceiver and betrayer, the one bearing the name of his people, and the one who repented and called Jesus "innocent" in the Holy Place is personifying Replacement Theology. Judas made it possible for gentiles to be buried in Israel, and his life, story and death are representative of God’s punishment of first-century Israel, and the cessation of the unique relationship with the unbelieving Israel. How typical of us humans to turn God's word upside down and villify a person who at the very least repented and asked for forgiveness, and at most was used by God to personify the beautiful extension of God's grace and forgiveness to us gentiles.