Judas kiss no betryal, lost gospel reveals

JUDAS was not a traitor but a close friend of Jesus who was only doing his bidding when he turned him in with a kiss, a newly translated ancient document unveiled in the US suggests.

The Gospel of Judas, which dates from around 300 AD and was discovered in Egypt in 1970, may shed new light on the relationship between Christ and the apostle reviled for so long.

The four New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John depict Judas Iscariot as a back-stabber who betrayed Jesus for “30 pieces of silver”, identifying him to Roman soldiers with a kiss so he could be captured and crucified.

But in the document made public yesterday by the National Geographic Society, Judas emerges as a favourite disciple whose apparent treachery enabled the foundation of Christianity, as a result of the crucifixion.

The new account is likely to cause heated worldwide debate, challenging one of the most firmly rooted beliefs in Christian tradition.

Rodolphe Kasser, who led the translation project, said the lost gospel “bears witness to something completely different from what was said about Judas in the Bible”.

“You will be cursed by the other generations - and you will come to rule over them,” Jesus tells his disciple in the 26-page papyrus text, which is in the Coptic language and is said to be a copy of an earlier Greek version.

The translation begins: “The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot.”

Jesus tells Judas: “You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”

Prof Kasser, a clergyman formerly of University of Geneva in Switzerland, said the statement meant Jesus needed to be freed from his human body and wanted this to be done by a friend rather than an enemy.

“So he asks Judas, who is his friend, to sell him out, to betray him.”

“It’s treason to the general public, but between Jesus and Judas it’s not treachery.”

In another section, Jesus singles Judas out for special status, telling him: “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star.”

But critics were quick to respond to the document.

“It really would be a miracle if Judas was the author of this document, because he died at least 100 years before it was written,” Bible Society chief executive James Catford said.