Apostle (Latter Day Saints) he chose and ordained (John 15:16) to be his closest disciples during his ministry on earth, and whom he sent forth to represent him after his ascension into heaven. The calling of an apostle is to be a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all the world, particularly of his divinity and of his bodily resurrection from the dead (; ). Twelve men with this high calling constitute an administrative council in the work of the ministry. When a vacancy occurred with the death of Judas Iscariot, Matthias was divinely appointed to that special office as a
Judas Iscariot Kroeger, recites the fate of Judas from Matthew 27:5 (King James version) at the episode's conclusion. The 1971 novel "I, Judas" by Taylor Caldwell and Jess Stearn () was one of the first published novels to portray Judas in a more sympathetic light. In Martin Scorsese's 1988 film "The Last Temptation of Christ", based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, Judas Iscariot's only motivation in betraying Jesus to the Romans was to help him accomplish his mission by mutual agreement, making Judas the catalyst for the event later interpreted as bringing about humanity's salvation. In "The Last Days of Judas