by Paul Schingle

Created on: May 04, 2009

Ever since I was a little kid I always thought that Judas got kind of a raw deal. I don't really know that Judas was necessarily a good guy, but I write for this side because I definitely don't believe that he's a bad guy. If the mythology is true, then Jesus had to die on the cross "for our sins." If you read the interactions during the last supper, it fell on Judas to betray Jesus. If you're a fatalist-in other words you believe the whole thing was played out the way God intended, then how can you blame Judas for betraying Jesus? He was just doing his job-as God intended. If Judas is a bad guy, then God is a bad guy.

Personally, I am not a fatalist and I don't necessarily believe in the whole mythology of the crucifixion. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the person we call Jesus was crucified. I just don't know that the whole last supper, passion play thing went down exactly the way most people believe. My own personal belief is that Jesus was a poor guy who preached some pretty noble concepts. He got a lot of people to questioning things and viewing the world in a different light. The overwhelming majority of Jews in Israel were miserable under Roman rule. But, the Pharissees and the Saducees had it pretty cushy. They needed to get rid of Jesus (and others who got the masses to thinking). Once murdered, people who followed Jesus made a martyr out of him. Hell, they made a God out of him. That, of course, is only my opinion. The rest of this article will focus on the "what if." From here forward, we will act under the assumption that the biblical (new testament) myth is fact.

The story in the Bible goes that Jesus was sent here to save mankind. He was the messiah. He was the son of God and, in a weird dichotomy, was also God on earth. He had but one job and that was to die for man's sins. This was the scene in the secular world when Jesus lived and died. What we now call Israel (or Palestine) was a largely Jewish settlement in Asia Minor. The Roman Empire had expanded and Israel was actually occupied-under Roman rule. As a people, the Jews were essentially enslaved. The Romans had a governor-Pontius Pilate to oversee Israel. Obviously, with a large population under slave rule, Pilate couldn't govern alone. Yes, there were Roman soldiers, as well, but the Romans had to enlist the services of some of the locals in order to keep the peace. This is where the High Priests (Pharissees and Saducees) came in.

The High Priests were essentially Jewish leaders who were allowed

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