Judas is the most problematic of the disciples. His fervor and commitment to the Lord have never been in question. His behavior in sacrificing Jesus was undoubtedly motivated by his deep belief that Jesus would escape the snares of his enemies as he had done many times before. On this occasion, we can assume, Judas believed that Jesus would establish his earthly kingdom.
The betrayal of Judas is the same betrayal of which each of us is guilty. We seek an earthly kingdom and sacrifice our spiritual gifts to achieve our vision.
The image of Judas as co conspirator with Jesus is not a contemporary view. It is based in a belief that spirit can only escape flesh through death. This is not our understanding of Jesus. Traditional Christianity views Jesus as the perfection of the human condition fulfilled by the perfect presence of God. Jesus' death is a terrible sacrifice. His ressurection from death, His return to life, provides a Way for mankind to overcome sin sickness and share in the perfection of Jesus as Christ. It is not at all clear that the writer of this early heresy accepted the earthly divinity of Jesus.
The fragment is from the Persian tradition of Manichaeism, a Roman view from the 3rd century that held a belief in cosmic dualism in which the flesh and material existence are evil and the realm of the spirit is good. The early church was very clear that this view is heretical.
One of my friends in church pointed out that Judas seemed to be the most disappointed in the fact that Jesus did not establish an earthly kingdom right away. Apparently, there was a school of thought at that time which expected the descendant of Old Testament kings to kick out the Romans and other undesirables and establish a new Holy Land. Of course, Jesus repeatedly explained that was not God's plan but some people never listen...