Since Judas Iscariot did something so critical and necessary for Jesus’ mission, why is he reviled? Why isn’t he also a saint like the other disciples of Jesus?1 If Judas was the disciple of Jesus, he could have loved Jesus as much as other disciples so wasn’t his job as much harder than Peter and others considering that the power of prophecy was in support of his actions as narrated by the gospels? (Mat 27:9 John 17:12). Even if Judas had not betrayed Jesus, someone still had to do it and in this case Judas was there to play the role of a facilitator in the Messiahship of Jesus. As much as Jesus is accorded that place the same must be done to Judas Iscariot as he fundamentally played a theological role in betraying Jesus. Jesus occupies a special and important place in the major religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam due to the facilitative role played by Judas. Yet the role that was played by Judas Iscariot in the Messiahship of Jesus (Mk 14 Mat 26-27 Lk 22 and Acts 1:18-19) cannot be overlooked, considering that ‘had Judas not betrayed Jesus, all the volumes of heroic narratives, books and articles about Jesus would not have been there’. People who politically do not subscribe to their ideas and policies are stereotyped as ‘sell outs’. Besides the concept of ‘selling out’ having a political background, the present Zimbabwean political leadership has found the biblical character of Judas Iscariot, a willing pony in their fight and bid to close up any political space.
This includes physically and psychologically “subtracting” opponents from either the religious or political scene. However, the vocabulary of ‘selling out’ (Mutengesi in Shona or Umthengisi in Ndebele) dates back to the struggle for the liberation of Zimbabwe where the concept of ‘selling out’ was used and is still used for political mobilization as well as justification of politically motivated violence against opponents. The concept of “selling out”, although having its background in the world of the Bible, that is, the gospels, has created a fertile ground in the contemporary religious, social, economic and political environment of Zimbabwe.
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