Done, done, and done. This book solves three important problems: What role did Jewish leaders play in the death of Jesus (it certainly wasnt to help Rome execute him)? What was Judas role (he certainly was no traitor)? And how does Barabbas fit into this? These problems were solved in the authors previous book, The Ghost in the Gospels, but here even more evidence is presented and in a more compact way for a faster ride. The first chapter is a knock-out punch, proving it is absolutely impossible that Judas betrayed Jesus. Not merely improbable. Impossible. Absolutely. What Judas actually did awaits a later chapter, after reviewing the historical context from Josephus and all the evidence in the New Testament that exonerates Jewish leaders of any blame in Jesus death. What has blinded us to the evidence is theology: An obsession with surrounding Jesus with Jewish enemies and portraying him as an alien and threat to his own culture. Pure theology. That’s all it ever was. No solid pattern of evidence in the Gospels ever supported it. Could the great majority of scholars have been wrong about this for the last two centuries? Yes.
