1Though the Gospel of Matthew (and only that Gospel) shows Judas repenting for his “betrayal” and committing suicide as a result (see Matthew 27:3-10 & Acts 1:16-19), it is much more likely that Judas wasn’t a traitor at all, but was rather a known & needed facilitator of Jesus’ plan to have himself crucified. Indeed, there is a massive amount of evidence to support this contention – Consider: 01) The timing of Judas’ betrayal-offer to the high priests is simply too perfect to be mere coincidence. Matthew 26:2 & Mark 14:1 both note that it was a mere two days before Passover when the priests met to conspire over Jesus’ death – just two days prior to Jesus’ ultimate crucifixion (which would need to be carried out before the Passover began – and which did indeed take place on that very day – “or there might be a riot among the people” ~ Matthew 26:5 & Mark 14:2). This means that Judas would have had to approach the priests, organize the logistics of Jesus’ arrest (including him being brought before Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod), and then carry out the same all in well under 48 hours – a highly improbable scenario, to say the least … 02) Jesus made it symbolically clear that he had himself asked Judas to “betray” him by breaking bread with him at the same table where Jesus announced his foreknowledge of said “betrayal” (see Matthew 26:21, Mark 14:18, Luke 22:21, & John 13:21) … 03) Just as telling, there is strong evidence showing that Judas was sitting next to Jesus (or at the very least quite close by – in a place of symbolic honor) at the Last Supper, with Jesus noting that the one who would “betray” him was “the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me” (Matthew 26:23; also Mark 14:20) … 04) When Judas directly (and probably coyly) asked Jesus if he was the “betrayer”, Jesus responded with “You have said so” (Matthew 26:25), an answer which for Jesus – probably just as coyly – meant “No” (see the juxtaposition of John 6:15 with Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3, & John 18:37) … 05) In the Gospel of John, Jesus comes right out and says the same, admitting outright that “I know whom I have chosen” to intentionally “fulfill the scripture [that says]: ‘The one who has eaten my bread has lifted his heel against me” (John 13:18)… 06) Just thereafter, Jesus is again asked as to the identity of his supposed traitor. In response, he says “It is the one to whom I give the piece of bread I dip into the dish.” He then takes a morsel of bread, dips it into the dish, gives it directly to Judas, telling him to “Now go and do quickly what you are going to do” (John 13:25-27) … 07) Jesus reveals the Judas-assisted setup once more in the Garden of Gethsemane, telling Judas to “do what you are here to do” (Matthew 26:50), proclaiming to the angry mob “let the Scriptures be fulfilled” (Mark 14:49), and finally rebuking Peter’s concern by asking “Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11b) … [For a more exhaustive proof of the highly viable theory suggesting that Jesus orchestrated his own crucifixion, see Part 2 (starting on page 35) of my book Exhuming Easter.]

2Matthew is the only Gospel that records the exact amount of the payoff; a probably intentional reference to the supposed “prophecy” of Zechariah 11:12-13.

3This account, mentioned only in the Gospel of John, has Jesus being taken by “the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police” (John 18:12) first to Annas (the father-in-law to the then current high priest) – who had been high priest himself before Caiaphas took the job. Evidence suggests that Annas was still a highly respected member of the Jewish religious community, and is probably still called “high priest” in the Gospels (see Luke 3:2 & John 18:19) because Jewish high priests tended to hold their position for life (see Numbers 35:25-28) and Annas had been deposed of his reign by the Roman procurator Gratus … This fact is particularly intriguing because this particular encounter shows Jesus seemingly being almost rude to Annas (leading him to be slapped by a policeman – see John 18:20-22); an act which would have been a direct violation of Exodus 22:27b‘s mandate to show respect for all judges.