Free The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot by Jeffrey Archer Page B

crows twice, you will deny me three times .
    20. Judas followed Peter as he stole out of the courtyard to hide among the milling crowd. His head was bowed, and he was weeping bitterly .
    see
Matt 26:69–75;
Mark 14:66–72;
Luke 22:56–62
    21. Although both of them had failed their Master in his hour of need, Judas still believed they could be redeemed.
    22. Peter turned to discover who was following him, and when he saw it was Judas, he shouted: It would be better for you not to have been born .
    Mark 14:21;
Matt 26:24
    23. Judas felt betrayed. He had not run away when the Master was arrested.
    24. He had not, like Peter, denied Jesus three times, just as theMaster had foretold. Why was he the only one to be branded as a sinner?
    25. Judas returned to the courtyard and waited hour upon hour for the Master to reappear.
    26. Priests continued to enter and leave the home of Caiaphas so that the latest scraps of information could be passed on to willing ears that only wanted to hear bad news.
    see
Mark 14:62–64;
Matt 26:65–66;
Luke 22:70–71
    27. Jesus of Nazareth is claiming that he is the Son of God .
    28. The Sanhedrin has found him guilty of blasphemy. He is a sinner .
    29. The word quickly spread that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.
    30. ‘Name him,’ shouted a well-placed onlooker.
    31. The Scribe immediately stepped forward. ‘Judas Iscariot,’ he declared so that all might know his name.
    32. Judas bowed his head as the crowd began to chant: ‘Betrayer, betrayer, betrayer.’
    33. Judas turned to the Scribe and pleaded with him to confess what had actually taken place.
    34. The Scribe smiled and, pointing to Judas, declared: ‘Behold the betrayer.’
    35. Judas wept.

Chapter 23
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    1. Jesus emerged from the house of Caiaphas bound but unbowed, his face covered in spittle.
    2. He was led away to the Governor’s fortress, where the Chief Priest handed their prisoner over to Pontius Pilate.
    3. The Scribes and the Pharisees did not want to be seen passing judgment, as they had no desire to have Jesus’ death laid at their door.
    4. If anything were to go wrong, they would insist that it was the Romans who had made the final decision.
    5. A large and boisterous crowd was assembling at the fortress gates. They were being whipped up into a frenzy as they waited for Pilate’s judgment.
    Mark 15:14;
Matt 27:22;
Luke 23:21;
John 19:6
    6. The Scribes and the Pharisees mingled among the crowd, coaxing Luke them to demand: Crucify him, crucify him .
    7. Judas remained powerless as he searched among the crowd for a familiar face, hoping to find a disciple who would join him, and counter, ‘Save him, save him.’ But his was a lone voice, overwhelmed by the brutal cries of the masses.
    8. The roar grew louder as Pilate led Jesus out on to the balcony.
    see
John 19:5
    9. Jesus was clothed in a purple robe and wearing a crown of thorns .
    10. Pilate said: Behold the King of the Jews in whom I can find no fault .
    see
Luke 23:4
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    11. The crowd responded with raucous chants of: Crucify him,crucify him , and so loud became the clamour that Pilate retreated into the safety of the Antonia fortress.
    12. The crowd fell silent as they listened to the lashes being administered by Pilate’s guards, and when Jesus appeared a second time, he was wearing only a loin cloth and his body was cut and bleeding.
    see
Luke 23:22;
Mark 15:14;
Matt 27:23;
John 19:4
    13. Pilate said: I bring him to you, but I find no fault in him .
    14. But the cries of Crucify him, crucify him , only grew louder, causing Pilate to retreat once again, fearful that he might be the cause of an uprising among the people.
    15. When Pilate appeared a third time, Jesus stood on one side of him, while a murderer called Barabbas, who had been brought up from the dungeons, stood on the other.
    16. It being the Passover and that time of