Gospel of Judas, The

Judas. The name evokes so many different images and feelings in the 21st century. Doing a search online reveals incredible negativity and animosity for this person. He is perhaps more reviled and demonized than Hitler, if that is possible, due to the centuries that he has been accused of basically being the worst human on the planet.In his introduction, Marvin Meyers asks a very telling question, “Without Judas and his kiss, would the crucifixion and resurrection ever have taken place?” (Loc. 76-77) This is a question truly worth pondering. Reading The Gospel of Judas left me with a far different view of this enigma of a man. The Gospel of Judas opens with a clear statement that this teaching was not for general publication, but was based private conversations Judas had with his dear friend, Jesus. “The secret word of declaration by which Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot, during eight days, three days before he celebrated Passover” (Loc. 317-320).The Gospel quickly identifies Judas as one of the few Apostles that seems to be able to express as a “perfect human,” which I interpret as one who is able to truly express the Love of God while in human form. A scene is described where the Apostles had become indignant because Jesus was laughing at their prayer of thanksgiving over bread, which was seemingly being offered more as ritual than with heartfelt meaning.[And] the disciples said to him, “Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? Or what did we do? [This] is what is right.” He answered and said to them, “I am not laughing at you. You are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your God [will receive] thanksgiving.” (Loc. 332-335)The Disciples apparently did not like his answer, and Jesus challenged them to stand before him as a “perfect human.”[Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.” And they all said, “We have the strength.” But their spirits could not find the courage to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away. Judas said to him, “I know who you are and where you have come from. You have come from the immortal aeon of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.”Judas’ ability to stand before Jesus in this fashion showed his Master that he was aware of the deeper truths, and Jesus confided in his friend, Judas, with many secrets. “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom, not so that you will go there, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their God.” This is a clear foreshadowing of what was to become Judas’ fate. He was to eventually grieve a great deal about being kicked out of the Discipleship by the others, and Matthias was to take his place.There are multiple interpretations of underlying meaning of the Gospel of Judas. Without comparing them, my view on this amazing story seems to follow what is called the more Gnostic or “Sethian” viewpoint.Let’s start with some basic assumptions.1) Jesus became fully enlightened in his lifetime;2) Jesus realized that his message would transcend time, and that what he wanted to teach had to be so significant that everyone could not deny His truths;3) He knew how the entire sequence of the crucifixion and resurrection needed to unfold;4) He needed to put the pieces in place for the most important teaching of His life, the resurrection.5) The Disciples were not all on the same level of understanding that He was, as His teaching regarding life as a “Perfect Human” was perhaps understood, but not necessarily lived fully by even his closest students.With those basic assumptions, we now enter into Judas’ portion of the teaching process. Ancient wisdom teaches us repeatedly that we must reconsider everything we think we know about being Human and being a body. We are asked to understand the truth of who we are with statements like, “Love created me like itself. I am in the likeness of my Creator. I cannot suffer, I cannot experience loss and I cannot die. I am not a body” If Jesus wanted to teach this lesson in way that was undeniable, He accomplished it by using His death and resurrection to prove that point throughout time.If you were Jesus, and needed to have assistance in teaching this important lesson, who would you trust? Wouldn’t you ask someone who truly understood everything that you were teaching to help you? Perhaps Judas was one of the few Disciples that also understood that even in death, Jesus would not suffer, would not experience loss, and could not die - that Jesus was not a body. (Since Mary was the first to see Jesus after He exited the Tomb, she might have known the truth as well, but that is a different reflection.)I posit that Judas DID understand all of this, including taking on the painful inevitable judgment that was cast upon him by those that did not understand. That would require either an incredibly brave man, or someone who actually accepted the truth Jesus teaches. I further suggest that each person’s interpretation of Judas’ part of the teaching process that Jesus gave us is filtered through a very simple lens. Either you agree with Jesus that you are not a body, and that you are an immortal being just as God created you as an expression of Love, or you glorify the body of Jesus and feel that He and everyone else actually die.Enjoy your journey!

Ok, so now we're in the midst of a comedy that only the demon Saklas could have concocted for the poor scholars caught up in National Geographic's super-hype of a few years back. We admit, we were quite familiar with the "news" of this Gospel before it even appeared. It's been written of, and treated in fictional manner well before the drum beat began for the discovery of the "true" book. Once it arrived, of course we bit and bought both the Gospel and the Herbert Krosney companion volume explaining the history of the discovery and eventual publication of the codex, and when we sat down to inhale both in almost a single sitting, we were not disappointed. The Gospel itself treds familair ground with a cast of characters straight out of The Nag Hammadi Library. There were the lower forms or "demiurges" that set themselves up as the titular creators of this world of darkness and pain, and there was the Christ of the Sethians--smiling as he revealed the "truth" of the whole set-up to Judas and the rest. The truth being, of course that there was a real Creator beyond the horror masters like Nebro and Yaldaboath and EL with faces of bears and blood-spattered shapes, and that there was a paradise out there in the after-worlds that was a mighty cool place to be. Judas has a vision of something like palaces there as Christ speaks. In addition Christ tells Judas that not all humans have permanent souls, but only "borrowed" spirits that must be given back at death, so therefore being a follower of the true Christ was great thing indeed. At the end of the Gospel, Judas has a transcendent vision of more coolness and is engulfed in a glowing cloud (UFO fans take note!) Finally this inspires him to turn Jesus over to the authorities for those thirty pieces of jingle and the rest is--as they say--pseudo-history. Or is it? Now it appears that after reading all of the explanations and leap-frogging across the scholarly apparatus of the text (ellipses, brackets and all) several times, all was probably in vain for--(laughter worthy of Nobodaddy himself!)--the translation by Randolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, et al. appears to have been incorrect, and the "good" Judas, may have been a bad--even a demonic guy after all! Yes, this is the latest wrinkle in this Coptic codex comedy, with Meyer and company racing like Keystone Cops for their scholarly fig leaves, even as we write. So stay tuned, folks! Can't wait for the next act! Keep your eye out for the future "correct" version of the codex, and for further corrections after that, and after that, and after that. And so it goes all the way up to the Uncreated Uncreator of this world!

A necessary addition to any collection of Christian Gnostic texts.

I admired after reading. Every so called Christians should read this book. Certain things we should research and follow...

For those who are aware of a certain hidden part in life of JC, this book is recommended. Although translated by someone who was definitely a Christian, there is on one page an indication of the true religion of Christ.

I enjoy light reading, so I won't go into depth as some of the other reviewers have done. I don't read many books but I found this one to be particularly fascinating. I've had this book for some months now and I think I will read it again! Not many books get read twice by me!

As we read　through　the　gospel　according　to　Judas,　we　will　be　surprised　how　close　the　original　teachings　of　Jesus were to the teachings of Gautama Buddha. There is actually no wonder for that because the truth is one and the difference of religion was made only by men.There is only one truth, and no second one. When we come to understand this, all the conflict will vanish.( Gautama Buddha)邦訳「ユダによる福音書」の原著。この書を読み進めると、私たちは、「仏典を読んでいるのか？」という思いに囚われる。イエスのオリジナルな教えは、ブッダの教えと如何に近いものだったかが良く解る。だが、これは不思議なことではない。真理は唯一であり、宗教の違いは、人間の無知によって生みだされたものだからだ。真理は唯一であり、第二のものは存在しない。そのことを理解すれば、全ての争いは止む。（ゴータマ・ブッダ）