My father and paternal grandfather were both ministers; when I was very young, I spent a lot of time listening to them and others discussing the Scriptures. Judas's name would come up, and I could not understand why Judas would betray Jesus for any amount of money and why so many people viewed him as a villain. Judas must have known he would have been put to death by many of Jesus's followers who loved him very much. As time went by and I was reading the Bible on my own, I discovered that Judas was Jesus's friend and was only doing what Jesus asked him to do. This book, A Lesson in Faith, was written to emphasize the utmost importance of having faith in what Jesus said. On numerous occasions, the priest, scribes, and elders consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him, so there was really no reason for betrayal (Matt. 26:3, 4). I think the reason for the betrayal in the beginning was to give all twelve of the apostles a chance to have enough faith in Jesus to give their lives as they said they would (Matt. 26:35). Only Judas had enough faith to give his life by hanging himself. Then the other eleven apostles forsook him and fled; they did not have faith in what Jesus said to them, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall loose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it" (Luke 9:23-24). The eleven apostles lost their life in the end, but with Jesus's help, Judas's life was saved. Therefore, Judas must be the disciple whom Jesus loved!

A very good source for more information on the relationship between Jesus and Judas can be found in the book, THE LOST GOSPEL by Herbert Krosney.