text: Huh? It's not my interpretation. It's the history of Christianity.
  
  Of course I'm not sure what Judas's hope was. Neither is anyone else. I speculate that Judas (or someone) may have believed Jesus was the Messiah, only to panic after the disruption at the Temple. But we will never know.
  
  The ONLY thing Paul ever said about his experience of the risen Christ was that Jesus "appeared" to him. The Damascus event is described by Luke, not Paul. Invoking Damascus and throwing in a Greek term has what exactly to do with the early Christian conception of the kingdom? Likewise the Feast of Saints Peter & Paul? Try to focus.
  
  I agree with kari2. For the early Christ followers the kingdom was near; Jesus commanded the disciples to anticipate the kingdom by conducting themselves as if it had already arrived. It is for us to create the kingdom "on Earth, as it is in Heaven."