A ROPE FOR JUDAS

A novel reimagines the life of Judas and his relationship with Jesus.

Nearly everyone knows the biblical story of Judas’ perfidy—he handed over Jesus to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver. Turner bases his thoughtful dramatization of the life of Judas—Youdias in the novel—on a tantalizingly original conceit: that he composed a suicide note before taking his own life. The book is this note, an explanation of the manner in which he met his spiritual master, Yeshua (Jesus), whose ideas he finds “exhilaratingly novel.” Unfortunately, Youdias has nothing but contempt for Yeshua’s “uncouth band” of disciples, a sheepish tribe of ignorant peasants. Youdias becomes obsessed with convincing Yeshua not only to explicitly assume the mantle of the Messiah, but also the Son of David and fashion himself a political liberator of Israel. As far as Youdias is concerned, only a revolution will spread Yeshua’s ideas: “We must fight fire with fire.” Yeshua, though, is committed to “nonviolent resistance” and opposes a reduction of his mission to worldly terms. When Youdias learns of a plot to assassinate Yeshua, he contacts Natan, an aristocratic priest. Youdias pretends to conspire against Yeshua in order to force his master’s hand in declaring himself the Son of David. In this illuminating book, the author doesn’t waste the novel’s inventive premise, painting a vivid picture of Yeshua’s charismatic ministry and the complex spirituality of his message. In addition, Youdias is intelligently portrayed as arrogantly confident of his own opinions but finally tortured by doubts that his scheme is prudent: “I was not at all sure that even the instinct for self-preservation would be enough for Yeshua to take up arms if he had not heard from his Abba. Might he not simply surrender and take on the role of the Suffering Servant?”

A theologically perceptive and dramatically enthralling work of historical reconsideration.