BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
For Luke, Satan takes a leading role in transforming an apostle like
Judas into a shameful enemy of Jesus and the noble movement. Luke
23: 34 report that, Jesus continued to exude love despite such open be-
trayal as shown by his table fellowship with all his disciples. The contra-
diction comes when it is reported that, Judas’ death was a fulfillment of
scripture and at the same time the just punishment of God for his terri-
ble act of betrayal. The gruesome death is stereotypically presented as
something that was deservedly expected to fall on Judas. Kim Paffenroth
dismisses all the negatives about Judas Iscariot as an attempt by evangel-
ists to render their narratives more believable and have a tragic impact in
the rhetoric of Christian anti-Semitic stereotyping.^18 Judas was a Jew
which would imply that, the depiction is meant to put all the Jews in bad
light in terms of their contact with Jesus. The role that Judas Iscariot
played is something that H J Klauck regards as worthy for Judas to be
thanked for than blamed as done by the New Testament writers. The
gospels try to exonerate the Romans (represented by Pilate who washed
his hands symbolizing innocence on Jesus- Mat 27:25) as having not
been responsible for the death of Jesus and conveniently placing the
blame on Judas. Judas could have truly handed over Jesus to the high
priest, but now with the change of venue to Pilate, we find a different
scenario altogether.
According to A Harvey, Jewish sources are clear about when and under
what circumstances Jews are in a position to hand over fellow Jews to
pagan authorities.^19 It is clear that the form of punishment (crucifixion)
meted on Jesus was Roman and not Jewish. This was meant to court the
friendship of the Romans by shunning and stereotyping the Jews. The
blame put on Judas and the Jewish opposition of Jesus sealed the fate of
the Jews as having killed or led to the death of the son of God.^20 In the
Zimbabwean context, the labelling of those engaging opposition politics
as “sell-out” puts away the blame on perpetrators of violence on innocent
victims and forcefully makes victims of violence accept being violated
against. The statement purported to have been said by the Jews accept-
(^18) Paffenroth, Judas, 37; See J D. Crossan, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-
Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus, San Francisco: Harper, 1995, 71.
(^19) A E Harvey, Jesus and the Constraints of History, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982, 25.
(^20) J S Spong, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of
Love, New York: HarperCollins, 2005, 204; J S Spong, Liberating the Gospels: Reading the
Bible with Jewish Eyes; Freeing Jesus from 200 Years of Misunderstanding, San Francis:
HarperCollins, 1996, 258.