Cross-Purposes in the Gospel of Judas: What Judas Intended for Evil, God Intended for Good

The Gospel of Judas exhibits striking similarities with the Genesis story of Joseph. Projecting the logic of the latter onto the former creates a framework within which readers can reconcile the gospel’s negative evaluation of Judas with the apparent positive effects of Jesus’s death. Readers familiar with the Joseph story possess categories for thinking through this dichotomy: Judah’s profit-motivated betrayal of Joseph was bad, but it resulted in the rescuing of many from famine. Accordingly, readers can hold in tension the idea that Judas’s profit-motivated betrayal of Jesus was bad even though it resulted in salvation for the incorruptible race.