The Gospel of
Judas
The Blasphemy of the Week:
THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS
Setting the record straight on a document the early Church called
“ a fictional history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.”
by Fr. Jason Kappanadze
There is a tidal wave of blasphemy heading for the hearts and minds of every
human being, seeking to wash away any serious relationship with the true and
living God—our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is time for Christians to
awaken from our comfortable slumbering to proclaim the Truth of our Lord
Jesus Christ in the face of a growing number of media spectacles and
re-discoveries of ancient lies seeking to undermine His divinity and
humanity, the truth of His revelation to the world and any shred of human
instinct to take Him seriously.
The enormously popular work of pure fiction, “The Da Vinci Code” will soon
be released as a movie, claiming that Jesus conveyed secret information to
the Apostle Thomas (leaving the other Apostles clueless) and was married to
Mary Magdelene with whom He produced offspring. Hoards of otherwise
intelligent people have swallowed this fiction as fact.
This week, we began to hear of “The Jesus Papers,” purportedly written by
Jesus Himself, in which He claims to have avoided death on the Cross.
And currently getting major media attention is “The Gospel of Judas” which
some claim to be a legitimate “gospel” of the early Church in which Jesus
sets up His own betrayal and death with His “co-conspirator” Judas.
Always ready to run to something “new,” a bored humanity (and even many
unprepared Christians) have forgotten the words of the Apostle Paul in which
he described the Church as our protector from error: “...so that we may no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him
Who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit
together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working
properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.” [Ephesians
4:14-16].
The Church, in Her constant care of God’s revelation to mankind, has known
and combated these “strange winds of doctrine” and the “cunning, crafty and
deceitful” false teachers from Her earliest days. Already in the first
century, the mother of all false teachings—Gnosticism—was already
flourishing. St. John the Evangelist and Theologian was already challenging
this Gnosticism in his authentic Gospel. “Gnostic” is the root of the word
“to know.” Gnostics trusted their intellects more than any revelation from
any god. Gnostic intellect, not God’s revelation, is the source of these
blasphemies.
Rightly-believing Christians knew that the True and Living God had looked at
His creation and “saw that it was good;” that what God created was “good” by
nature. But the Gnostics, still drinking from pagan streams, saw the
creation as “evil” by nature, and therefore not the creation of the True and
Living God. They taught that the God of the Old Testament was an evil
god—the source of many demigods—and that the world was the evil creation of
that same evil god. To them, it could not be conceived that the True God
would unite Himself with an evil creation, but a demigod would. So to them,
Jesus was the incarnation of an evil demigod.
This Gnosticism which appeared in many forms, eventually morphed into the
Arian heresy that denied that Jesus was of the same divine nature as God the
Father—that Jesus was just a created being like all created humans. The One,
Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church, meeting in the First and Second Ecumenical
Councils in the fourth century, refuted this blasphemous heresy of Arius,
proclaiming in the Nicean Creed that Jesus is:
“the Son of God. The only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages”
(not one of many evil demigods from the evil god);
“Light of light. True God of True God.” (the same God as God the Father);
“Begotten, not made.” (not a created being, because no created person can be
a divine person);
“Of one essence with the Father by Whom all things were made...” (Jesus is
of the same divine essence/nature/substance as God the Father, and, it is
Jesus’ Father Who is the True, Good God and Creator of the good creation,
not the evil god).
In proclaiming this, the Church defended Jesus as the God-Man and Savior of
the world, since no mere created being could save mankind from sin and
death.
With this background, it is important to understand that documents such as
the Gospel of Judas were written by Gnostics. There were over fifty such
false gospels known and refuted by the early Church. It was because of the
proliferation of such false gospels—telling every manner of conflicting and
false stories about Christ—that the Church was compelled to preserve His
life and revelation in a written form of the oral tradition that had been
held in the collective mind of the Church community since the time that
Jesus Himself walked the earth and spoke to humanity.
The Gospel of Judas which is now receiving great attention was written by a
certain sect of Gnostics called Cainites. They especially held Cain (the
first murderer, the killer of his brother, Abel) in high esteem. In fact,
they worshipped any Old Testament personality who gave the “evil god /
creator of the evil world” a hard time.
Is it any surprise, then, that this Gnostic sect—believing in a very
different Jesus and hell-bent on denying the real One’s divinity and
compromising His revelation to the world—would introduce a written teaching
that seriously challenged both His and His Church’s credibility? No surprise
at all!
The great Father of the Church, Irenaeus of Lyons, wrote specifically
against the Gospel of Judas in the 2nd century: “Some declare that Cain
derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah,
the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves… They declare
that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that
he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of
the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown
into confusion. They produce a fictional history of this kind, which they
style the Gospel of Judas. “A fictional history!”
The portion of the manuscript that has been translated tells of Judas being
the favorite disciple of Jesus, possibly intended to be interpreted as the
beloved disciple (who was actually St. John the Theologian). Like much
Gnostic writing, which was written only for those who had attained a certain
level of initiation, the Gospel of Judas claimed to be a secret account,
specifically: “The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in
conversation with Judas Iscariot.” This secrecy and revelation to
individuals instead of communities is a sure mark of cultish false teaching.
On the other hand, Christ revealed Himself openly to a community of human
beings. As He said: “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught
in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together; I have said
nothing secretly.” [John 18:20].
While through the ages many philosophers have contemplated the idea that
Judas was required to have carried out his actions, in order for Jesus to
have died on the Cross, and hence fulfill theological obligations, the
position was frequently condemned as heresy, and was not supported by any
canonical account. However, the Gospel of Judas not only asserts that the
actions of Judas were necessary, but that Judas was acting on the orders of
Jesus Himself. The Gospel of Judas states that Jesus told Judas: “You will
come to rule over them, and that you will exceed all of them. For you will
sacrifice the man that clothes me.” Some scholars interpret these words to
mean that Judas would be helping Jesus get rid of His physical body in order
to liberate His spiritual self. This is consistent with the Gnostic’s belief
that an evil creation means an evil body from which the soul is eager to
escape—a belief that Orthodox Christianity has successful avoided.
Another part of the Gospel of Judas shows Jesus favoring Judas apart from
the other disciples, saying: “Step away from the others and I shall tell you
the mysteries of the kingdom,” and later, “Look, you have been told
everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it
and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star.” The
text concludes with Judas turning Jesus over to the high priests but does
not mention the Crucifixion or Resurrection.
Muslim scholars enjoy this false gospel, pointing out that the discovery of
the new manuscript is historical evidence of the Koran’s narration that it
was actually one of Jesus’ beloved disciples —namely Judas—who was to die on
the Cross. They cite portions of the manuscript that describe Jesus praising
Judas, “You will exceed all of them,” Jesus says, and that Judas would
“grieve a great deal” [be crucified] to enable him to ascend to the heavens.
But in the canonical Scripture and Holy Tradition, there is no hint of this
“deal” between Christ and Judas.
In the Gospel reading for the 5th Sunday of Great Lent, James and John ask
Jesus to guarantee them a place in His Kingdom with no further effort on
their part. But Jesus tells them: “You do not know what you are asking. Are
you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with
which I am baptized?” [Mark 10]. In other words, “are you willing to
sacrifice yourselves like I will?” The other ten Apostles, Judas among them,
become indignant with James and John, and Judas, realizing that the Kingdom
is not easy to acquire, begins to turn against his Savior. This is not a
set-up for the kind of deal the Gospel of Judas suggests. The reading ends
with these words of Jesus: “For the Son of man also came not to be served
but to serve, and to GIVE His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus GAVE His
life as a voluntary sacrifice. His life was not taken from Him. No deal with
Judas was necessary to accomplish His mission.
Judas was present at the Last Supper. Does this text from Matthew reveal a
deal? “When it was evening, He sat at table with the twelve disciples; and
as they were eating, He said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray
Me.” And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to Him one after
another, ‘Is it I, Lord?’ He answered, ‘He who has dipped his hand in the
dish with Me, will betray Me. The Son of man goes as it is written of Him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been
better for that man if he had not been born.’ Judas, who betrayed Him, said,
‘Is it I, Master?’ He said to him, ‘You have said so.’ Now as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the
disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And He took a cup, and
when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of
you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
the forgiveness of sins.’”
In the same chapter of Matthew, Judas “the betrayer” leads the authorities
to Jesus. “’Rise, let us be going; see, My betrayer is at hand.’ While He
was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great
crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the
people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I shall
kiss is the man; seize him.’ And he came up to Jesus at once and said,
‘Hail, Master!’ And he kissed Him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, why are you
here?’ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.”
St. Peter, quoted in the Book of Acts [Chapter 1] reminds the Jews that the
betrayal and Crucifixion of Christ had been foretold many hundreds of years
earlier, as well as the horrible end of Judas’ life: “In those days Peter
stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a
hundred and twenty), and said, ‘Brethren, the scripture [prophecy] had to be
fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David,
concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was
numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. (Now this
man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong
he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became
known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in
their language Akel’dama, that is, Field of Blood.) For it is written in the
book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one
to live in it’; and ‘His office let another take.’” Judas’ end was that “he
burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.” Not the sweet end
of a deal with the Savior!
The Church reveals the sin of Judas in this hymn from the reading of the
Passion Gospels on Holy Thursday: “When the glorious disciples were
enlightened at the washing of their feet before the supper, then the impious
Judas was darkened, ailing with avarice, and to the lawless judges he
betrays Thee, the Righteous Judge. Behold O lover of money, this man who
because of money hanged himself. Flee from the greedy soul which dared such
things against the Master. O Lord Who art good towards all men, glory to
Thee.”
Was a deal his motivation? No! He was “darkened, ailing with avarice... this
man who because of money hanged himself.”
The motive of the Gnostics, from whose minds the Gospel of Judas came, was
to undermine the Incarnation of the Son of God, reducing Jesus to just
another teacher who we can take or leave at will; just another wise man with
opinions in a gaggle of wise men and a deep sea of opinions and human
rationalizations. The frenzy of interest we will witness in the coming weeks
will be triggered by humanity’s fallen but constant desire to have a
manageable, bendable, relevant god who may suggest but who never commands; a
god with no standards or expectations, who can be ignored unless he agrees
with any and every whim of mankind. The Gnostics trashed Jesus then, and
they will continue to until He comes again in glory. The faithful Orthodox
Christian, marinated in the Church—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and
physically experiencing the Lord—will know the real God from the
counterfeit; will know the authentic teachers from the false ones; will be
able to discern the light of truth amidst the darkness.
What is miraculous here is how perfectly the yearly cycle of the Church’s
liturgical services prepares us to avoid the seductions of these false
gospels. It is as if the Holy Trinity knew before time began the temptations
and seductions that would besiege God’s people in our times, and through the
Church provided all the necessary help to prevent our falling away. It is as
if God knew how our culture would hate and deny any absolute standard or
truth in its quest for a user-friendly god of its own making. Yes, the Holy
Trinity—the True and Living God—always knows what lies ahead for us and
always prepares us through the impregnable Church—out of His pure love for
us—to endure and remain faithful to the end.
GLORY TO HIM FOREVER!
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Orthodoxy in America
