Moreover his name is a Greek translation of Judah. He is typologically connected to one of the twelve sons of Jacob who betrayed Joseph. The name Judah is also where the term 'Jew' comes from which makes Judas a kind of representative of the whole of Jerusalem which rejects Christ the true king and eventually turn to revolution and are destroyed in 70AD.
Discussion
Very interesting, typology ftw
Yeah, I'm not sure we could say Judas was named for Judas Maccabeus. It's possible, but Judah was a common Jewish name at the time. Jesus even had a brother by that name, who wrote the biblical Epistle of Jude. And one of Jesus's other disciples was named Judas, who is always distinguished as being "not Iscariot."
I've seen a portrayal in some Jesus movie of Judas Iscariot trying to push Jesus to be a revolutionary, however. In a couple of the lists in the gospels of Jesus's 12 apostles Judas Iscariot is mentioned together beside Simon the Zealot. It may have been that when Jesus sent them out in pairs to preach those two were partners. The Zealots wear Jewish revolutionaries who opposed the Roman occupation of Judea, as well as taxation, and their idolatry, etc. Being a libertarian/anarchist myself, I'm happy to see Jesus had a disciple with views like this! 😃
No king but King Jesus!