Judas?
Yeah, so sometime this school year all of the announcements regarding the newly rediscovered "Gospel of Judas" began coming out. Being so wrapped up in trying to graduate I really didn't give this the attention it deserved. So, with nothing better to do this summer I started doing some homework.
After reading this gospel I can't say that I'm at all surprised at it. It reads like a typical Gnostic text. In this text, Jesus has secret knowledge of the universe that he imparts to Judas, which makes sense in a Gnostic text as gnosis itself means (secret/hidden) knowledge. Some interesting parts:
"He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would
take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child."
"The disciples said to [him], “Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.”
He answered and said to them, “I am not laughing at you. are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god [will be] praised.”
They said, “Master, you are […] the son of our god.”
Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.” - This I found to be very interesting. In the canonical Gospels, Christ is often asked if he is the son of G-d etc., and his answers vary. This Gnostic text is peppered with Christ referring to G-d in this way, as if the G-d of the apostles was different from his G-d.
(Jesus speaking) [Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.”
They all said, “We have the strength.”
But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot.
Jesus seems to give preferential treatment to Judas throughout this gospel, especially when it comes to imparting important knowledge of the universe. No other apostles are named throughout this gospel; when the other apostles do speak it is as one. I also was shocked to find that there wasn't a more direct command from Christ telling Judas to have him offed. From the hype that I do remember coming out of this, I was surprised, and even slightly disappointed, that there wasn't a conversation like the following:
"Hey Jude."
"Hey Josh, what's up?"
"About those damned Temple officials that want to kill me."
"Are they seriously up to that again?? Geez, what about it?
"Yeah, I want you to go turn me in."
"WTF?! Why!!??"
"BECAUSE I SAID SO! The prophecies aren't going to just fulfill themselves y'know!!!"
"Yeah, so, you want me to kill the son of G-d... Very funny, Joshua... You realize people go to Hell for stuff like that."
"You're not going to go to Hell... We're Jewish, Judas, we don't believe in Hell."
"Oh yeah..."
"Besides, you have to do this, Jude. Without you being forced to kill me, the Calvinists would have no basis for their dogma!!!"
"The who?"
"Don't worry about it.... Say, you have a tiny bit of bread and fish layin' aorund? I'd like to get started on dinner before the other 11 disciples get home. You know they're not going to catch anything without me helping...."
[end scene]
So yeah, as usual, I'm really not seeing where the hype was. Sure, it was an interesting read. And I've always been one to root for Judas. It's not his fault that the entirety of the Tanakh woule have gone unfulfilled without him. I'm not the only one who feels this way either:
Lyrics to "Damned for All Time/Blood Money" from Jesus Christ Superstar
Lyrics to "Until the End of the World" by U2
So that's pretty much all I've got. I'll leave you with some interesting links i came upon while researching this stuff:
Wikipedia - Barbelo
National Geographic Site on the Gospel of Judas
"A Gospel in the Gospel of Judas?"
"The Gospel of Judas - Some Observations"
After reading this gospel I can't say that I'm at all surprised at it. It reads like a typical Gnostic text. In this text, Jesus has secret knowledge of the universe that he imparts to Judas, which makes sense in a Gnostic text as gnosis itself means (secret/hidden) knowledge. Some interesting parts:
"He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would
take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child."
"The disciples said to [him], “Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.”
He answered and said to them, “I am not laughing at you.
They said, “Master, you are […] the son of our god.”
Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.”
(Jesus speaking) [Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.”
They all said, “We have the strength.”
But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot.
Jesus seems to give preferential treatment to Judas throughout this gospel, especially when it comes to imparting important knowledge of the universe. No other apostles are named throughout this gospel; when the other apostles do speak it is as one. I also was shocked to find that there wasn't a more direct command from Christ telling Judas to have him offed. From the hype that I do remember coming out of this, I was surprised, and even slightly disappointed, that there wasn't a conversation like the following:
"Hey Jude."
"Hey Josh, what's up?"
"About those damned Temple officials that want to kill me."
"Are they seriously up to that again?? Geez, what about it?
"Yeah, I want you to go turn me in."
"WTF?! Why!!??"
"BECAUSE I SAID SO! The prophecies aren't going to just fulfill themselves y'know!!!"
"Yeah, so, you want me to kill the son of G-d... Very funny, Joshua... You realize people go to Hell for stuff like that."
"You're not going to go to Hell... We're Jewish, Judas, we don't believe in Hell."
"Oh yeah..."
"Besides, you have to do this, Jude. Without you being forced to kill me, the Calvinists would have no basis for their dogma!!!"
"The who?"
"Don't worry about it.... Say, you have a tiny bit of bread and fish layin' aorund? I'd like to get started on dinner before the other 11 disciples get home. You know they're not going to catch anything without me helping...."
[end scene]
So yeah, as usual, I'm really not seeing where the hype was. Sure, it was an interesting read. And I've always been one to root for Judas. It's not his fault that the entirety of the Tanakh woule have gone unfulfilled without him. I'm not the only one who feels this way either:
Lyrics to "Damned for All Time/Blood Money" from Jesus Christ Superstar
Lyrics to "Until the End of the World" by U2
So that's pretty much all I've got. I'll leave you with some interesting links i came upon while researching this stuff:
Wikipedia - Barbelo
National Geographic Site on the Gospel of Judas
"A Gospel in the Gospel of Judas?"
"The Gospel of Judas - Some Observations"
Labels: Christianity, Gnosticism, Jesus, Judas
posted by Holly at 12:46 AM
4 Comments:
It seems strange to me that Judas is referred to in the third person in what is supposed to be his gospel. The other apostolic gospels all use the first person when referring to the applicable disciple. It is as if the "Gospel of Judas" was not written by Judas, but about him.
I have not done any research at all, other than reading your post. Is this to be expected? Is it anywhere purported to be Judas's actual words? Is it possible that its just a translation glitch?
In one conception of Hell I read about, the Devil has three faces, and each mouth chews on the body of a famous betrayer, Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. The message was that Judas was the most vile, or evil, for those who like anagrams, betrayer ever. Judas, especially reading what is called his gospel, seems less a backstabbing asshole and more a misguided devotee. It is only through a desire to see Jesus's initial style of life perpetuated rather than become more publicized and commercialized that Judas decides to take action (in the traditional apostolic gospels flavored by JCSuperstar). The Judas I always heard about when I was in Sunday School was painted as an evil evil man out to get Jesus. Such a man would not have hung himself after perpetrating his crime, at least not out of guilt. Judas strikes a very tragic pose; it makes sense to have a gospel for him, if only to point out the dangers of refusing to adapt a point of view to changing environments.
These are very fledgling thoughts, and uneducated ones at that. Let me know what you think?
i concur RE: feeling sorry for judas. not that my opinion counts much, considering i am not a religious scholar or even truly interested in judeo-christian studies. but, i do agree that perhaps it was not totally judas' fault. i'd be interested to read more on the subject now that you've mentioned it, though.
-kb
yeah, luke kinda refers to himself in the first person, but matthew/mark/john really don't. otherwise you're spot-on alex. i'm assuming the concept of hell was the Inferno... right?
yeah, i think it is. I get confused, because the source for my information is not the book itself, though I have it. I read it in a gaming magazine a while back. I'm not sure why they were talking about it, but there was like a 4page article with a 2page spread picture, a map through the, is it 7 or 9, circles of hell. Good wholesome stuff for impressionable teens to be reading! MtG was almost banned a few times for referencing demonic and satanic items. They had to change some cart art depicting burning pentagrams and whatnot. Good stuff.
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