Editing Judas Iscariot (section)

===Role as an apostle===
[[File:Ghirlandaio, Domenico - Calling of the Apostles - 1481.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|''Calling of the Apostles'' (1481) by [[Domenico Ghirlandaio]]]]

Although the canonical gospels frequently disagree on the names of some of the minor apostles,{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=30}} all four of them list Judas Iscariot as one of them.{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=30}}{{sfn|Stanford|2015|page=}} The [[Synoptic Gospels]] state that Jesus sent out "the twelve" (including Judas) with power over unclean spirits and with a ministry of preaching and healing: Judas clearly played an active part in this apostolic ministry alongside the other eleven.<ref>See Mark 6:6; Matthew 10:5–10; and Luke 9:1</ref> However, in the Gospel of John, Judas's outlook was differentiated—many of Jesus's disciples abandoned him because of the difficulty of accepting his teachings, and Jesus asked the twelve if they would also leave him. Simon Peter spoke for the twelve: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life," but Jesus observed then that although he himself had chosen the twelve, one of them (unnamed by Jesus, but identified by the narrator) was "a devil" who would betray him.<ref>John 6:67–71</ref>

One of the best-attested and most reliable statements made by Jesus in the gospels comes from the [[Gospel of Matthew]] {{bibleverse-nb||Matthew|19:28|9}}, in which Jesus tells his apostles: "in [[Kingdom of God|the new world]], when the [[Son of Man]] shall sit on his glorious throne, you will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]]."{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=30}} New Testament scholar [[Bart D. Ehrman]] concludes, "This is not a tradition that was likely to have been made up by a Christian later, after Jesus's death—since one of these twelve had abandoned his cause and betrayed him. No one thought that ''Judas Iscariot'' would be seated on a glorious throne in the Kingdom of God. That saying, therefore appears to go back to Jesus, and indicates, then, that he had twelve close disciples, whom he predicted would reign in the coming Kingdom."{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=30}}

[[File:6852 les deniers de judas.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A 16th century fresco depicting Judas being paid the 30 pieces of silver]]
Matthew directly states that Judas betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "[[thirty pieces of silver]]"<ref>These "pieces of silver" were most likely intended to be understood as silver [[Shekel of Tyre|Tyrian shekels]].</ref><ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|26:14|131}}</ref> by identifying him with a kiss—"the [[kiss of Judas]]"—to arresting soldiers of the High Priest [[Caiaphas]], who then turned Jesus over to [[Pontius Pilate]]'s soldiers. Mark's Gospel states that the chief priests were looking for a way to [[Arrest of Jesus|arrest Jesus]]. They decided not to do so during the feast [of the [[Passover]]], since they were afraid that people would riot;<ref>Mark 14:1–2</ref> instead, they chose the night before the feast to arrest him. According to Luke's account, [[demonic possession|Satan entered]] Judas at this time.<ref name="Luke">
{{cite web
|url         = http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022:3&version=31
|title       = BibleGateway.com&nbsp;– Passage Lookup: Luke 22:3
|publisher   = [[BibleGateway]]
|access-date  = 21 June 2008
|url-status     = live
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090115192359/http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022:3&version=31
|archive-date = 2009-01-15
}}
</ref>

According to the account in the Gospel of John, Judas carried the disciples' money bag or box ({{lang|grc|γλωσσόκομον}}, {{transliteration|grc|glōssokomon}}),<ref>{{bibleverse||John|12:6|131}}and{{bibleverse||John|13:29|131}}</ref> but the Gospel of John makes no mention of the thirty pieces of silver as a fee for betrayal. The [[John the Evangelist|evangelist]] comments in John 12:5–6 that Judas spoke fine words about giving money to the poor, but the reality was "not that he cared for the poor, but [that] he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." However, in John 13:27–30, when Judas left the gathering of Jesus and his disciples with betrayal in mind,<ref>John 13:2, [[Jerusalem Bible]] translation</ref> some [of the disciples] thought that Judas might have been leaving to buy supplies or on a charitable errand.

Ehrman argues that Judas's betrayal "is about as historically certain as anything else in the tradition",{{sfn|Ehrman|1999|pages=216–17}}{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=31}} pointing out that the betrayal is independently attested in the Gospel of Mark, in the Gospel of John, and in the Book of Acts.{{sfn|Ehrman|1999|pages=216–17}}{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=31}} Ehrman also contends that it is highly unlikely that early Christians would have made up the story of Judas's betrayal, since it reflects poorly on Jesus's judgment in choosing him as an apostle.{{sfn|Ehrman|1999|pages=216–17}}{{sfn|Gubar|2009|pages=31–32}} Nonetheless, Ehrman argues that what Judas actually told the authorities was not Jesus's location, but rather Jesus's secret teaching that he was the Messiah.{{sfn|Ehrman|1999|pages=216–17}} This, he holds, explains why the authorities did not try to arrest Jesus prior to Judas's betrayal.{{sfn|Ehrman|1999|pages=216–17}} [[John P. Meier]] sums up the historical consensus, stating, "We only know two basic facts about [Judas]: (1) Jesus chose him as one of the Twelve, and (2) he handed over Jesus to the Jerusalem authorities, thus precipitating Jesus's execution."{{sfn|Gubar|2009|page=33}}