Last time I was checked, the core of Christianity was based on a simple premise: Jesus died, and we were forgiven. There are a few thousand more words in the New Testament, of course, not to mention the scads of tales in the Old and reams of commentary from Augustine to Kierkegaard to, um, Robertson. Nonetheless, the main difference between Christianity and Judaism is that Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah and that his death served as a symbol of God's redemptive grace--and Jews don't. Christians believe in the "new covenant," God's promise of redemption in Jesus. Jews still hold the Ten Commandments and the laws in Leviticus as valid. That Christians are the ones planting Ten Commandments monuments around still baffles me.

Anyway, I knew enough about all this when I was seven or eight to ask my Sunday School teacher why Judas got such a bad rap. More likely, I simply asked what was it that Judas did that was so bad? After all, without Judas you don't get a crucifixion, and without Jesus dying there's really no point in a resurrection, is there?

I don't have any idea what my teacher said, though it obviously didn't convince me. When I read about the publication of the Gospel of Judas, I smiled a little to myself. Never mind that the Gnostics believed in salvation by conspiracy theory. I was simply pleased that someone somewhere had the same thought I did. And then I read a lot of pieces from a lot of folks that, by and large, agreed with my juvenile dogma as well.

As I grew older, I would occasionally hear someone ragging on "the Jews" because "they killed Jesus." And my thoughts went to Judas. Judas (a Jew) and "the Jews" (also, of course, Jews) were being stuck in the same boat for no good reason. I've read the scriptures quite a few times, and the telling of the Last Supper, for me, is indeed telling. When Jesus announces that someone in his group will betray him, he already knows what's going to happen. Three gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) read almost identically, with Jesus announcing that his death has been foreordained but still pronouncing a curse (or, if read another way, a simple observation of fact) on the betrayer. John, however, has Jesus identifying Judas as his betrayer and then sending Judas out to do the betraying--without the curse. That story is much more compelling, and from a logical standpoint it makes much more sense.

Here's the rub: If you believe in an omnipotent God, and you believe that Jesus was the human manifestation of that God, then it's hard to believe that Judas could do anything that Jesus didn't want done. Even if, as all four gospels tell it, "the devil went into Judas," the point is that God intended for Jesus to be betrayed and die. Judas was merely the facilitator of divine desire. And even if "the Jews killed Jesus," which isn't exactly what the Bible says, then Christians ought to be praising Jews every chance they get. After all, without the crucifixion, there's no Christianity.

I know that most Christians believe the resurrection is more important than the crucifixion, but the Bible and most theologians come down on the other side of this. Jesus died for our sins. He didn't rise from the dead for our sins. The Easter story is a wonderful one, and it is most fitting that it is celebrated (in the northern hemisphere, anyway) in early spring, just as the leaves are returning to the trees. "He is risen!" is undoubtedly one of the great slogans in history.

But the whole rolling away of the stone, the angelic spokesman, etc., always struck me as a bit heavy on the stagecraft. The story of sacrifice that leads up to the crucifixion--and the redemptive grace that act promises--is much more powerful. Mel Gibson knew this when he made The Passion of the Christ. Never mind that the core audience for that film is made up of people who consider the resurrection the big magilla (they can't imagine Christianity without the divinity of Jesus). The suffering and the promise of forgiveness are the engine of the religion. Without them, the joy of renewal and of the resurrection would not exist.

So Mr. Pope, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Preacherman on the Corner: Lay off Judas. He was only human, after all. And please, for the last time, lay off "the Jews." If you truly believe, then you must believe that Jesus died for their sins, too.

Jon Worley doesn't believe in the resurrection or angels or virgin births. But he knows a good story when he hears one.