"Judas" is a form of "Judah," a name which means "Yahweh leads."  The New Testament contains some 20 references to the most famous person by this name, Judas Iscariot.

The biblical version
Each time we meet Judas in the New Testament, we are reminded that he was a traitor or a sinner.  To summarize:

* Jesus knew that Judas would betray him (John 6:70-71).
* Judas was a man of greed (John 12:1-8).
* He betrayed Jesus under the prompting of Satan (John 13:26-30).
* He then led the soldiers to Jesus (Matthew 26:47), where he identified him with a kiss (v. 49).
* He was then remorseful, and committed suicide (Matthew 27:3-5); his decaying corpse later fell from its rope and burst (Acts 1:18-19).

Scripture does not define Judas' motives for the most despicable act in biblical history.  Some historians believe that Judas was a member of the Zealots, a band of revolutionary insurgents committed to the violent overthrow of the Roman occupation.  When Jesus would not be a military conqueror, Judas betrayed him in disgust.

Others see him as a coward who betrayed Jesus to save himself.  Still others point to his greed in selling Jesus for money.  A minority position is that Judas betrayed Jesus to force his hand as a military hero, or even to turn him over to the Jewish authorities in the hope that they would hide Jesus from the Romans.  The infamous disciple did eventually admit, "I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood" (Matthew 27:4).  But by then it was too late.

The Gnostic version
Marvin Meyer summarizes well the Gnostic viewpoint set forth in the Gospel of Judas:

Jesus teaches Judas the mysteries of the universe.  In the Gospel of Judas, as in other gnostic gospels, Jesus is primarily a teacher and revealer of wisdom and knowledge, not a savior who dies for the sins of the world.  For gnostics, the fundamental problem in human life is not sin but ignorance, and the best way to address this problem is not through faith but through knowledge.  In the Gospel of Judas, Jesus imparts to Judas--and to the readers of the gospel--the knowledge that can eradicate ignorance and lead to an awareness of oneself and God (The Gospel of Judas).

The book describes events said to have occurred in the week before Jesus was arrested and executed.   It states that "often [Jesus] did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child" (20).  The book describes the priests of the day: "[some] sacrifice their own children, others their wives, in praise [and] humility with each other; some sleep with men; some are involved in [slaughter]; some commit a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness" (26).  And it quotes Jesus to say, "Each of you has his own star" (29, following the Platonic idea). (Readings are taken from translation contained in The Gospel of Judas.  The bracketed sections contain words supplied by the translators to fill in missing text).

Judas was more enlightened than the other disciples, for he said to Jesus, "I know who you are and where you have come from.  You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo" (22-23, a reference to the divine realm).  In response to his wisdom, Jesus said to him, "Step away from the others, and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom" (23).  Later he invited Judas, "[Come], that I may teach you about [secrets] no person [has] ever seen" (33).

In the book, Jesus proceeds to explain the Gnostic worldview to Judas.  There are some 360 "aeons" (a kind of offspring) from the true God.  One of them is El, the wicked god of the Old Testament which made the physical universe.  He worked with Yaldabaoth (which means "bloody rebel") and Saklas (which means "fool"; 37).  They created the material world which imprisons our souls.

But eventually Judas would set Jesus free from his physical jail.  His betrayal was precisely what Jesus wanted him to do, and would be greatly rewarded in contrast to the other, unenlightened disciples: "But you will exceed all of them.  For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me" (43).  "The man that clothes me" refers to Jesus' physical body, which must be killed so his soul can be liberated.  For such obedience, Judas will "come to rule over" the other disciples (33).

And so the Gospel of Judas tells us that Jesus was a great teacher of enlightened wisdom, and that Judas alone understood his true nature and purpose.  Judas' betrayal accomplished Jesus' desire to be rid of his physical prison so that his soul could be liberated.  For such obedience, Judas would be greatly rewarded in heaven.  He is not the despised traitor of God's Son, but his closest friend, confidant, and associate.  He is the model of enlightened wisdom we are all to follow.