Obeying Men Rather Than God

If you have ever watched Franco Zeffirelli’s 1977 film Jesus of Nazareth, you might have noticed how Judas Iscariot’s character doesn’t quite match his description in Scripture. In the gospel narratives, he is motivated to betray Jesus by greed and little else. In the movie, his motivations are more lofty and good. Judas wants to incite a political revolution and break Rome’s stranglehold on the Jewish people. His haggling with the religious leaders is merely a means to an end—for the good of God’s people. It’s only after Jesus is killed that Judas realizes his folly and hangs himself in shame. Zeffirelli’s characterization is a lot more interesting to viewers looking to be entertained—and a lot more palatable to modern audiences that might be uncomfortable with the anti-Semitic undertones of reducing Judas to a “greedy Jew.” But it’s far from the truth.