Poem about Judas....?

Question

I'm analyzing a poem for class and it's about Judas (one of the apostles who betrayed Jesus).
Or at least I hope so, I'm not Christian so I know very, very little about Judas and his story etc.

I just wanted to know if I'm understanding the poem correctly. I was a little confused by the soldiers and by the last few lines..
This is what I gathered: Basically Judas was going to kill himself but when he saw a man being beaten, he immediately forgot about his own problems and ran to help the man despite all the soldiers that were after him.

So yeah, basically I just wanna know if that's the gist of the poem? Thanks xx

Anyway here's the poem
------------------------------------------------------------------
Saint Judas by James Wright
When I went out to kill myself, I caught
A pack of hoodlums beating up a man.
Running to spare his suffering, I forgot 
My name, my number, how my day began,
How soldiers milled around the garden stone 
And sang amusing songs; how all that day
Their javelins measured crowds; how I alone 
Bargained the proper coins, and slipped away.

Banished from heaven, I found this victim beaten, 
Stripped kneed, and left to cry. Dropping my rope 
Aside, I ran, ignored the uniforms:
Then I remembered bread my flesh had eaten,
The kiss that ate my flesh. Flayed without hope,
I held the man for nothing in my arms.

Martina · Accepted Answer

I beleive your poem is to St. Judas Tadeo. Judas the apostle was not made a saint, but Judas Tadeo (another person) was made saint, patron of lost causes.
I sort of freaked out when I saw a sort of statue dedicated to Judas inside a church, and then read closely and found out that it was made for another person in christianity. 
Im not positive, but its worth googling.
gOOD luck

kiley · Answer

Saint Judas Poem

Carol F · Answer

Among the 12 Disciples of Jesus two of them were named Judas. The most famous of these (or rather infamous) was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was a thief and a traitor and this poem is probably not about him. The other Judas is  also known by the names "Thaddaeus"  and "Lebbaeus".  He remained loyal to Jesus and  helped spread the Christian faith in it's earliest period.  The Catholics (I'm not one, but a protestant)  call him the Saint of lost causes. The poem is probably about him.

Anonymous · Answer

Ya, you got it. 

Judas, however, did hang himself. He was deceived by Jewish clergy into ignorantly betraying Jesus. Being one of the handful of Christ's apostles, but Christ had an enormous following, he wouldn't knowingly do that. But it was the amount of followers that the Jews didn't like thinking that he was taking their authority away.

Anonymous · Answer

Yes you are understanding it just fine

Poem about Judas....?

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