Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use
- Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use
________
In the prologue of his Gospel (1:1–4:16), Matthew tells of the origin (γένεσις) of Jesus Christ and in so doing already focuses on essential characteristics of Jesus’s activity. Among the ancestors of Jesus, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Joseph are especially highlighted in the genealogy of 1:2–16. These figures are regarded in biblical tradition as compassionate and righteous. In a hidden way then it is already intimated here that Jesus in 4:17ff. will fulfill the divine requirement of compassion by his going out to the sick, sinners, and hungry persons (see 9:13; 12:7; 23:23). His activity in so doing stands in contrast to the behavior of the three kings David, Herod, and Archelaus who showed themselves to be “bad” shepherds of the people, in this anticipating the activity of the Jewish authorities of Jesus’s time. [Translated from published abstract—C.T.B.] [End Page 266]
This Cahier studies how Judas, the mysterious apostle, has been interpreted over the centuries by theologians, poets, and artists. The four Gospels, with minor differences among them, present Judas in largely similar terms as a coherent figure who approaches the authorities in Jerusalem to deliver Jesus over to them and leads the soldiers who arrest him. Already here, one sees a growing tendency to blacken Judas, Mark is not clear on Judas’s motivations, while Luke and John make him a diabolic figure. In the first centuries a.d., this tendency increases; though Origin, whose comments on Judas are moderate, is an exception. From the 4th century on, Judas is presented as unbelievably bad, his greed for money being ascribed to the Jews as a whole, an anti-Semitic trope that has continued until today. In the Middle Ages (from the 7th cent. on), in light of the stories of the NT (especially those of Matthew, John, and Acts) which were well known, Judas’s betrayal of Jesus became even proverbial. In their interpretations of the NT texts, theologians raised various questions, e.g., concerning the role of the devil in Judas’s betrayal, the attitude of Jesus, the true sin of Judas and his repentance, his possible presence at the Eucharist, and his death. In the 12th cent. there appears the “Legend of Judas,” which endows Judas with essential elements of the Oedipus myth. The Reformation (from the 16th cent. on), with Luther and Calvin, found in Judas an excellent test case for its theology: was Judas free or predestined in doing what he did? Was his repentance sincere or superficial? In the period from the 18th cent. until today, one finds a more human Judas, based on psychological or political approaches, in line with Origen’s view, Judas now being seen as a fragile person. In our own days, some continue to adhere to the ancient images of Judas the “traitor,” while others try to understand and rehabilitate him: Judas is the “friend,” or Judas is the disciple and apostle, who acted in accordance with God’s plan since Jesus had to die. The Cahier ends with remarks on Judas in visual art, painting, and film, in music, and finally in the Church Dogmatics of Karl Barth.—W.V.
In this volume, C. brings together the results of many years of study on the Scrolls, the people who wrote and used these, and the...
