Adonis Diaries

Judas Iscariot: at a par; (October 8, 2009)

The Greek word “paradidomi” in the original Testaments means:

First, to deliver or to recommend. In this positive sense it means to consecrate;

Second, it could also means to transfer or to transmit but not to betray as John and later the Catholic and Orthodox churches would like you to admit.

The tradition in those times was: when important formal meetings are to take place that a third-party of equal rank and agreeable to both parties be the intermediary.

Judas was the appropriate messenger between the Sanhedrin (constituted of the highest priests of the Pharisee and Sadducee Jewish sects in Judea) and Jesus.  Judas was a “true” Jew from the Benjamin tribe and the only one from Judea among the disciples; the other disciples were from Galilee and at least four of them were Jesus’ cousins and from his home town of Qana in Lebanon., the administrative district of Tyr

The ancestors of Judas’ father Simon Kariot were of the town of Kariot from where the revolt of the Maccabees started against the Seleucid King over 150 years before Jesus was born.

Judas was the closest and most trusted disciple to Jesus; it was Jesus who selected Judas for disciple because Judas’ family was beloved by Jesus: Marie Magdalena and Martha were the sisters of Judas; Lazarus was the brother of Judas; and Jesus had cured Simon the father from leprosy.

Simon had purchased a residence in the village of Magdala in Galilee to hide his disease away from his hometown close to Jerusalem where customs against sick people were harsh.

Judas was rich in his own right and held the purse. Judas was the most educated among the disciples. Judas sat on the right hand side of Jesus when Jesus offered him the first mouthful of food in the opening ceremony in the Last Supper as sign of his high rank among the disciples.

Judas kissed Jesus when he “transferred” him according to customs to the apprehending party for recognition; kissing on the cheeks meant the two persons where of equal ranks or that Jesus accepted Judas’ position as a messenger of third-party.

Whether Judas suspected that the Sanhedrin decided to harm Jesus is debatable, but for sure Judas never contemplated that Jesus could be sentenced to death because only the Roman Consul in Jerusalem had that power.

If Jesus had committed a crime against Rome he would have been apprehended by the Romans.  The story that Jesus was taken at night proves that the formal meeting to represent the Essonite sect (in which Jesus was a high priest) in the Sanhedrin along the Pharisee and Sadducee was cancelled.

Judas obeyed Jesus who ordered him during the Last Supper “What you are doing, do it quick” and Judas left the ceremony promptly.  Jesus had decided to confront the Sanhedrin knowing full well that his objective to be inducted in the Sanhedrin has failed.

The dates of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus do not fit the customs of the Jewish religious tradition.

It is well-known that the Jews of Jerusalem cooked on Friday morning for two days because on Friday evening the Sabbath or Day of Rest starts. All activities cease until Saturday evening.

Consequently, it is not possible that the lengthy peregrinations of Jesus from the Sanhedrin, to Herod, to Pilatus, and back could have occurred in this time span.

Jesus was of the conservative Essonite sect in northern Palestine and he would not celebrate the Last Supper before the Sabbath; more likely, the Last Supper must have taken place on Saturday evening.

Sunday is another day of business where all legal courts in Jerusalem are opened.  Thus, most likely Jesus was apprehended at the earliest on Saturday night when most pilgrims have vacated Jerusalem and no commotion could be contemplated.

Marc said that the High Priests (of the Sanhedrin) had decided to finish with Jesus but not during the festivities for fear of the tumult among the pilgrims.

When Jesus was apprehended he said: “Every day I was among you teaching in the Temple and you did not arrest me. But it is for the Scripture to be accomplished”

The whole story is concocted so that Jesus’ resurrection falls on a Sunday.  The Christian Day of Rest on Sunday was a political decision adopted after Christianity became the official religion of Byzantium or at least four centuries after Jesus’ death.

Sunday is the next day to the Sabbath. The same is true for a Friday for Islam.  Saturday was always the Day of Rest for the Moslems as was the customs in Mecca until the Jews in Yathreb and neighboring towns with high Jewish concentrations like in Khybar decided on open wars against Muhammad and his followers and allied to the rich tribes of Mecca.

The Moslems even faced Jerusalem for prayers before the Jews antagonized Islam. Friday precede the Sabbath because Muhammad is the last of the prophets and thus takes precedence.

In any case, Bibles are not even historical documents and include no facts whatsoever, in dating or eye testimony.

All dating are references to major events or seasonal rituals.  I would suggest being highly suspicious of these proselytizer who vehemently “speak the truth”.

Note 1:  In the first three centuries of Christianity there were at least 30 “apocryphal” Testaments that each sect had written and abided by its stories.

The Gnostic statements of what Jesus said were banished by the Orthodox Church after the year 325 and only four books were retained.

The best venue to comprehend Christianity and the Jewish religion is for researchers to dig up manuscripts of the religion of the Land (Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria) two centuries before the birth of Jesus.  Then, it would be possible to comprehend the Gnostic and statements of Jesus and the belief systems of the various sects before and after.

Note 2: Religious antagonisms are based on the natural inertia of the masses to change habits of what they were indoctrinated to know, tell, and memorize.