The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot by Jeffrey Archer Page A

centurion, who was stationed at the foot of the cross, looked up at Jesus and said: Truly, this man was the Son of God .
    48. Judas remained on his knees praying, until the cross was finally lowered.
    49. Now there stood by the cross Jesus’ loyal women followers .
    50. The soldiers checked to be sure the prisoner was dead before they would allow the women to take away his body.
    51. Once they removed his body from the cross, Mary Magdalene bathed his wounds, while Mary, the mother of James, cleansed his body. They covered him in a white robe and carried him away .
    see
Mark 15:25–47;
Matt 27:35–61;
Luke 23:33–56
    52. As Jesus’ body was carried away, Judas looked up to the heavens and repeated John the Baptist’s words: Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?
    Luke 7:19;
Matt 11:3
    53. That was the last time Judas saw the Master.

Chapter 24
Cursed is anyone who hangs from a tree
    1. The Passover was at hand, and already some Jews were murmuring among themselves that it had been a mistake to condone the killing of a holy man.
    2. These were the same people who had willingly chanted the words, Crucify him, crucify him , only days before, but were now quickly shifting the blame for the death of Jesus on to Pontius Pilate and his Roman cohorts.
    3. The rest of the disciples had gone into hiding, while the name spat out of everyone’s lips was that of Judas Iscariot, the man who had betrayed Jesus .
    see
Matt 26:15
    4. Rumours were already spreading through the city, each new one quickly overtaken by another.
    5. It was said that the rock that had closed Jesus’ tomb had been rolled aside and that there had been a vision of angels .
    see
Mark 16:4–7
Matt 28:2–7;
Luke 24:2–5
    6. It was even claimed that Jesus had risen from the dead, and had been sighted on three occasions: by Mary Magdalene – she had seen him outside the tomb on the third day and mistaken him for a gardener; by two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and by eleven of the disciples while sharing supper together .
    see
John 20:14–15;
Luke 24;
Mark 16:19–20
    7. The Elders and the Pharisees were attempting to ridicule any suggestion that Jesus had risen from the dead.
    see
Matt 28:11–15
    8. However, they were losing their authority with the people, andcould do nothing about those Jews who were forsaking the faith of their ancestors to join a new sect, which believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.
    9. Peter had become the leader of these converts and was claiming that the spirit of God had been given to this small group in Jerusalem .
    see
Acts 2:2–13
    10. Judas could not accept that Jesus had risen from the dead, and he parted company with Peter.
    11. He held on to John the Baptist’s belief that Jesus was a holy man, even a prophet, who followed in the tradition of Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel.
    12. But Judas no longer accepted that Jesus was the chosen one, destined to rescue the Jews from their oppressors.
    13. Judas continued to believe that YHWH was their god, and Israel the chosen people.
    14. Had not Moses prophesied, Cursed is anyone who hangs from a tree?
    Deut 21:23
    15. Because of all that had taken place, Judas was now a marked man, with no friends to protect him.
    16. Whenever he showed his face in the Synagogue, the Elders rejected him, as they did not wish to be reminded who had led them to Jesus.
    17. Shunned by the Jewish leaders and abandoned by the followers of Jesus, after thirty days Judas departed from the Holy City and set out on the long journey to Khirbet Qumran.
    18. There he joined the community of Essenes, who lived in a fortress on the shores of the Salt Sea and were committed to spending the rest of their days in the solitude of the desert.
    19. Although the Essenes detested the Romans, they despised the Sadducees with equal passion.
    20. They considered the Sadducees had forfeited their moral authority to be the chosen leaders