Thanks to Michael Barber at Singing in the Reign for restoring Judas Iscariot’s good ol’ bad reputation. The so-called Gospel of Judas appeals to anti-Christian impulses because it promises a complete reversal, an overturning of Christian faith and values. It calls good evil and evil good. It makes a joke of the Mass, while it turns history’s greatest villain into a sainted pope and evangelist. Michael Barber, though, turns it all right-side up again, as he explains the Old Testament background to the New Testament’s Passion story.

Michael is a great young scholar, a doctoral student at Fuller, with a remarkable command of the ancient languages. But he writes like the best journalists, so ordinary folks can understand — and make use of — his arguments. He is a teacher of the first rank. You can tell that by listening to his tapes or reading either of his two books, on the Psalms and on the Book of Revelation. They’re all available on his blog, as are his three excellent posts on the Gospel of Judas. Don’t miss them.