Jesus and Judas: The Christian Messiah and the Disciple Who Betrayed Him

*Includes pictures *Discusses various theories surrounding Judas's betrayal *Includes excerpts from Scripture *Includes a bibliography for further reading The life story of Jesus of Nazareth, considered by billions of Christians to be the Messiah prophesized in the Old Testament of the Bible, is perhaps the most famous in history. Described in detail in the New Testament, Jesus comes from both divine yet humble roots, born in a manger to a young woman, but in time he leads a fervent following as tales of his miracles spread across the Holy Land. Some of the details are vividly depicted and instantly familiar. Jesus announces the imminent rule of God, the time when the true owner of this world will intervene decisively in Israel´s history to make right all the wrongs, once and for all. He leaves his footprints by the lakeside. He has no shoes, just like the multitude of dispossessed behind him; he doesn´t carry a money bag, not even a stick. He is followed not by the poor, since most of the people here live in poverty and resent in every way the invasive process of large-scale urbanization that the Roman Empire brought to Israel; he is instead followed by the dispossessed, the people who have nothing left, except their debts, the tax burden and the institutionalized violence that took away their means of livelihood, leaving them with not even a place to rest their heads. They avoid the roads full of armed rebels who have been resisting the Pax Romana for years, and they follow a leader who proclaimed himself Son of God throughout the Empire.