Now Judas and His Redemption

In this book, John Hueter assumes the role of the eternally maligned Judas who, according to Mr. Hueter, was not guilty of the accusations against Christ. Here’s how the author describes the situation: “Nothing indicates Christ ever did anything by stealth or that He hid from anyone. A public figure, He was in the eye of everyone nearly at all times while in Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, He was all-present. Why must anyone in authority have to connive with an individual for simply His whereabouts? It would have been an easy matter to follow Him from sundown until dark overcame Him. This was my only act--evidently doing what could have been done as easily without me [Judas]; and if the Chief Priest was such a great man of plotting and intrigue as scripture attests to, in his having ready a controlled mob at the Roman trial, then I doubt not he was aware of Jesus' every move not only that fateful day and night, but every minute of His stay in Jerusalem. They did not need me to locate Him. That is most obvious!
No person in the history of the world has been as despicably portrayed as Judas Iscariot. Dante Alighieri cements him alongside the mythical Devil in the most silent ice region of Hell, at the pole opposite that of God. In the popular traditions, to this day, mention the name of Judas and it quickly becomes synonymous with betrayal of the worst order. Attempting to redeem Judas, therefore, would require uncommon courage and, perhaps more necessarily, unusual faith.
Judas need not have revealed Jesus’ identity to his enemies, because Jesus was well known by his fellow Jews and by the Romans themselves. There was no need for anyone to identify him to the chief Rabbi, who prosecuted him, or to Pontius Pilate, who executed him. Having not committed the crime, therefore, Judas now needs to be redeemed.
After about twenty years of assiduous, unassuming and solitary research, John Hueter has finally given us the reasons why the time is ripe for Judas’ redemption.
Unfortunately for Judas, there is no direct document going back to him or to Jesus to either dispute or affirm actual facts, as it happened with the Donation of Constantine, wherein the Emperor gave the Pope certain empowering rights. Philologist Lorenzo Valla discovered that the document had been fabricated long after the death of Constantine. Were modern scholars to scrutinize the many canonical documents, including the Lost Gospel, they would have to conclude along the lines of Valla, that they are all based on hearsay. In this respect and in a way, John Hueter has taken the role of Valla in dealing with the authenticity of Judas as a man, a Jew, and an ardent follower and confidant of Jesus. In so doing, Hueter brings out the most plausible attributes of Judas the man, the Jew, and the authentic and faithful follower of Jesus.