Did Judas betray Jesus? Not according to a distinguished scholar of the Biblical School in Jerusalem, who feels that the idea of ‘Judas the traitor’ only developed after the Resurrection, in time to be included in St. John's Gospel. He believes the idea depends on a mistranslation of what the first three Gospels say.

The figure of Judas Iscariot is a haunting and baffling one. Was he chosen by God to betray His Son? And then commit suicide? How could God allow that? Jesus suffered death but rose again. Judas had to extinguish himself. Did saving the world really require that price?

The betrayal of Jesus by Judas always seems odd because (a) everyone knew who Jesus was; if they wanted him, he was there already, (b) in a 'small-town' place like Jerusalem Jesus' hidey-hole in Gethsemane would have been a secret to nobody.

Possibly, our scholar suggests, Judas wanted to provoke a disturbance and speed up the pace. The Jews would grab Jesus, there would be a commotion, the Romans would intervene, a riot would begin prompted by Jesus' followers, and then Jesus would show his divine powers and eliminate the worthless and faithless of Jerusalem, Palestine and the whole world. Cleansing the Temple had shown Jesus had a temper. He could do it!

But Jesus was to disappoint. There was violence in the Garden as the high priest's servant had his ear cut off. But Jesus quelled that violence. To Judas this must have been a bitter disappointment. Was the Mighty One really going to let himself be handed over and killed? And then, too late, in his misery and disillusionment, Judas realised why: Jesus was the Just One. Too just for Judas to bear.

The fact is that those who wanted to see fireworks in the saving of the world would wait in vain for the bangs. Just as in taking flesh ("he came all so still"), Jesus was tried, sentenced, died, lay and rose in stillness. So it is with the Christian experience of Christ. Not in the crash of drums, but in a tiny awareness of presence. Like the spring flowers now peeping into our gardens, the Resurrection comes ever so discreetly into all our lives. We really have to trust it is there - and not despair! DS.