In the Eastern Orthodox hymns of Holy Wednesday (the Wednesday before Pascha), Judas is contrasted with the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and washed his feet with her tears. The hymns of Holy Wednesday contrast these two figures, encouraging believers to avoid the example of the fallen disciple and instead to imitate Mary's example of repentance. Also, Wednesday is observed as a day of fasting from meat, dairy products, and olive oil throughout the year in memory of the betrayal of Judas. The prayers of preparation for receiving the Eucharist also make mention of Judas's betrayal: "I will not reveal your mysteries to your enemies, neither like Judas will I betray you with a kiss, but like the thief on the cross I will confess you." In a derelict bathhouse, Judas Iscariot waits for judgment. He’s not in heaven, but he’s also not in hell, and the question of whether his betrayal of Jesus is worthy of forgiveness drives the narrative of this play by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Directed by experimental theater and performance artist Kendra Ware, and presented by the UCSB Department of Theater & Dance, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot brings characters of questionable morality (such as Satan and Pontius Pilate) to Judas’s “trial” to explore guilt and forgiveness. It’s a courtroom drama, says Ware, but there’s no court. Instead, there’s an empty pool in a decaying structure that represents, on some level, our crumbling justice system. ‘The Last Days of Judas Iscariot’ tells the story of a court case over the ultimate fate of Judas Iscariot. | Credit: Jeff Liang Judas then went on his own to the priests of the Temple, the religious authorities at the time, and offered to betray Jesus in exchange for money—30 pieces of silver, as specified in the Gospel of Matthew. Like the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Luke also cited Satan’s influence, rather than mere greed, as a reason for Judas’s betrayal. John, however, made clear that Judas was an immoral man even before the devil got into him: He kept the “common purse,” the fund that Jesus and his disciples used for their ministry, and stole from it.

As a visiting assistant professor, Briggs offers a fresh style for Gustavus Theatre & Dance. “With all the discussions we had over the course of the month, I found myself asking questions and wanting to explore other possible answers,” said Courtney Leonard ’22, who plays Mother Teresa and Gloria. “This open-minded way of working has helped me add depth to my characters and overall made this experience unlike any other theater experience I’ve had here at Gustavus.” To sum up, this fantastic production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a must-see show where the hard work of the cast and crew shines through in every moment. A truly splendid piece of work. 4.5/5 stars.Reed, David A. (2005). " 'Saving Judas': A Social Scientific Approach to Judas' Suicide in Matthew 27:3–10" (PDF). Biblical Theology Bulletin. 35 (2): 51–59. doi: 10.1177/01461079050350020301. S2CID 144391749. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2007 . Retrieved 26 June 2007. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, which mentions Judas Iscariot several times, wrote that he possessed "motive unworthy" when he entered the priesthood and was thus sentenced to "eternal perdition." [101] Furthermore, Judas is given as an example of a sinner that will "despair of mercy" because he looked "...on God as an avenger of crime and not, also, as a God of clemency and mercy." [102] All of the council's decrees were confirmed by Pope Pius IV on 28 January 1564. [103] Thus, an ecumenical council, confirmed by the Magisterium of a Pope, affirmed that Judas Iscariot was condemned to Hell. The Council of Trent continued the tradition of the early Church fathers, such as Pope Leo I ("...had [Judas] not thus denied His omnipotence, he would have obtained His mercy..." [104]) , and Pope Gregory I ("The godless betrayer, shutting his mind to all these things, turned upon himself, not with a mind to repent, but in a madness of self destruction: ... even in the act of dying sinned unto the increase of his own eternal punishment." [105]) Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many Gnostic sects. Irenaeus records the beliefs of one Gnostic sect, the Cainites, who believed that Judas was an instrument of the Sophia, Divine Wisdom, thus earning the hatred of the Demiurge. His betrayal of Jesus thus was a victory over the materialist world. The Cainites later split into two groups, disagreeing over the ultimate significance of Jesus in their cosmology. John Parker (2018) [2007]. The Aesthetics of Antichrist. From Christian Drama to Christopher Marlowe (2nded.). Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-80146354-9. However, Vatican II was a pastoral rather than dogmatic council, and Christopher J. Malloy (assistant professor of theology at the Constantin College of Liberal Arts at University of Dallas) states that Ludwig Ott's reference book Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma should be regarded, "... as being current on the infallible teachings of the Church taught by the extraordinary Magisterium." [99] That reference book identifies Judas Iscariot as an example of a person receiving punishment as a particular judgment. [100]

Pitre, Brant (2 February 2016). The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7704-3549-3. Stanford, Peter (2015). Judas: The Most Hated Name in History. Berkeley, California: Counterpoint. ISBN 978-1-61902-750-3. [ permanent dead link]Liturgical institutions are part of the expressions of Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church. [107] Within the 1962 Roman Missal for the Tridentine Latin Mass, the Collect for Holy Thursday states: "O God, from whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt, and the thief the reward of his confession ... our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a different recompense according to his merits..." [108] In his commentary on the Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B. states that the Collect reminds Catholics that both Judas and the good thief are guilty, "...and yet, the one is condemned, the other pardoned." [109] Thus, the Tridentine Latin Mass, as currently celebrated, continues to foster the tradition within the Catholic Church that Judas was punished. Before the magazine's edition was circulated, other news media gave exposure to the story, abridging and selectively reporting it. [75] Matthew directly states that Judas betrayed Jesus for a bribe of " thirty pieces of silver" [28] [29] 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 Jesus. They decided not to do so during the feast [of the Passover], since they were afraid that people would riot; [30] instead, they chose the night before the feast to arrest him. According to Luke's account, Satan entered Judas at this time. [31] Set in a time-bending, seriocomically imagined courtroom in purgatory where saints talk street slang and lawyers barter with Satan, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot features witnesses from across history such as Mother Teresa, Sigmund Freud and Simon the Zealot who are made to stand at the revolutionary trial of Judas, the ultimate betrayer of Jesus Christ. Cunningham’s argument is that forgiveness is solely in God’s hands; it is up to Him to dole out forgiveness, mercy, and justice. If God’s justice is perfect, t