Sympathy for Judas

Why must we be so critical of Judas, attributing to him the worst of intentions, post-dating his designs so that even in his call he was lacking the capacity to respond?  Why do we paint him so darkly since it adds to light either to Jesus or to anyone else?  We have over time allowed the man to become a caricature, a model of evil to share with Pilate, the model of ignorance, a stage where they may have been over their heads, but where they still had a right to be.  When called, Judas had more to recommend him than his weakness.  We would do well to assume he was a basically good and prayerful man, that when they were all sent out he too preached with fervor and cured in wonder.  We would do better saying his presence added to the company he shared rather than seat him at the edge with a dour expression.

It might even be wise to say he left the rest out of his dedication to God, a God he no longer saw in Jesus.  It was a good God, and seemed better than what Jesus was saying, a God more faithful to what Judas thought ought to be.  His despair that leads to death is more the pain at betraying a friend than the loss of a friend.  Perhaps he saw adherence to his faith as the motivation for turning over his friend.  Judas was driven then by a belief unworthy of him, and in that there should be sadness.

Had he just been the way we picture him, it is unlikely the rest would have tolerated him for so long.  He added something but he did not take from the experience what the others thought they saw in it.  If Jesus looked with pity on Peter, he would have cast the same eyes on his other friend's pain.