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.